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Weibo user Starscream has fed us out another new look at Titan Class Devastator. Today dressed in an ascot, we get a demonstration that the giant's right forearm actually escapes having a hollow side. It turns out Scavenger's chest plate is made to rearrange itself and act as a gap filler to both solidify the look of the arm and make it feel a bit more incorporated to the whole. Sadly it seems Bonecrusher-arm has no such benefit, at least according to some scrutiny given to Toy Fair photos. Click through and check out the photo!

It was way back in 1982, while Toto was singing about Rosanna Arquette and Olivia Newton-John was coaxing you to get Physical, that Remco released one of their best remembered lines – The Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior. The toy line was released a little before the 11-issue Marvel comic book series of the same […]

I can clearly remember the day I bought my first toy. And the ones that followed soon after. After I got my first minifigure from LEGO, it took me awhile to pick up more LEGO. I was still very much … Continue reading →

set database: LEGO 75917 raptor rampage

image courtesy of amazon

set number: 75917
set name: raptor rampage
theme: jurassic world
year: 2015
pieces: 324
price: us$50
minifigs: 3

the jurassic world theme.
come with a mobile vet unit car, a motorbike and 2 raptors.
the car has a driver cockpit, an openable rear door, a detail interior and a rotatable rooftop shooter.
the raptors has movable arms, legs, neck and jaws.
minifigs included an owen minifig, a claire minifig and an ACU trooper minifig.
great playability.
overall design is great.

The Vitaminamulch Box set was supposed to be a Walmart exclusive but has turned up at the Mattel Outlet stores. What does this mean? It’s hard to say. The bad news is that this seems to be a common occurrence in the toy industry – a big retailer committing to an exclusive and then changing […]

Tada! She’s finally here! Honestly, I hate pre-ordering. All those months of waiting. ;w; But anyway, she’s here!!!!!!!! Honestly, I would’ve never ordered something so pink. I mean. Look at it. Geeeeez. This is going to be a short review … Continue reading →

Liveable Toy http://ift.tt/1Jhiy68 @RemcovanDaalen: BabyEendje | Baby Duckling, Mallard | Anas platy

Well, my RC flying has been on a bit of a hiatus recently due to a combination of weather, illness,

At our house, we play with a lot of STEM-style toys. We love to build and tinker, so most of our toy

Great vintage find by PendragonFarm (9.56 USD) http://ift.tt/1A6fXKg

As the “bear doctor” at the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, Nancy Robert takes care of the stuffed animals mailed in for repairs.

As you all know I absolutely love dolls of all kinds, shapes, and sizes. However, while doing my research on the "History of Faceless Dolls" I read an article about Penny Wooden Dolls, like the doll pictured above from Wikipedia.org, and fell in love with them.

According to Wikipedia.org, " Peg wooden dolls also known as Dutch dolls are a type of wooden doll from Germany and the Netherlands. They originated as simple lathe turned dolls from the Val Gardena in the Alps. These dolls were sold undressed. Young girls would then make their clothing from scraps of fabric."

"Other similarly constructed wooden dolls, using a jointing technique where the arms and/or legs are attached to the body with pegs, are some of the oldest surviving dolls, and were made worldwide. Sometimes a peg wooden doll's arms or legs are locked together by the jointing system, so if one arm is moved the other will move. An advanced form of peg joints is where the body pegs are "split" and attached separately allowing independent movement."

"Tuck comb dolls are a special style of peg wooden doll, named for their carved hair comb. The head and body is turned as one piece. The hair is usually painted with curled bangs and with a painted comb. Early tuck comb dolls had elongated, graceful proportions, nicely carved details, painted slippers, and sometimes with wood pendant earrings. Some dressed as merchants were called pedlar dolls."

I was intrigued by the picture, shown here, and wanted to know more. So, of course, I had to do some research. Here's what I found.

Page 146 of the Information Please Girls' Almanac by Alice Siegel said this about Pennywooden Dolls, "These are English dolls carved out of wood. The joints are moveable and fastened by pegs. These are also know as dancing dolls."

My question was whether Peg Wooden dolls and Penny Wooden dolls were the same thing. I had to find out.

According to an article on eHow.com entitled Penny Wood Dolls History by Christy P., "Penny wood dolls were known by a variety of names, including peg wooden dolls, penny woodens and wooden poppets. These dolls typically resembled wooden clothespins with simple peg joints."

So now we know they may be called Dutch dolls, peg wooden dolls, penny wooden dolls, pedlar dolls, and tuck comb dolls.

The doll pictured above was listed as a Grodnertal Wooden Peddler Doll and sold for tousands of dollars on the Rubylane.com website. Her description was as follows:

"Let's face facts, Grodnertal Wooden Peddlers just don't get much better than this. This face, this costume, this tray of wares all in excellent condition -- it all adds up to a spectacular example in an impressive larger size. Details include a lovely Grodnertal with very good paint (save for one nick on the right temple) and all on a jointed wooden body. She wears her original costume of printed cottons, and of course there is the classic woolen cape (very slight moth issues on reverse) and a marvelous poke bonnet. The tray of wares features a delightful assortment -- shells, beads, sewing goods, and even a pair of tiny knitted house slippers. We are pleased to offer such a marvelous Peddler, and you will certainly be pleased when she arrives at your door. Measures: 13 1/4" tall, overall."

The doll shown above was from the PBS.org WGBH Roadshow Archives and was listed as a Grödnertal Carved Wooden Doll, ca. 1820. This doll was also appraised at several thousand dollars.

According to the appraiser, Marshall Martin, "It's a doll that was all carved in wood, carved in Grödnertal. It's called a Tuck Comb doll because of this little comb up here, but it's also called a peg wooden doll, and that's because the areas where they're jointed, there would be a wooden dowel or a wooden peg holding it together. It's amazing to find dolls that are in original clothing and all the original undergarments, but to find a doll of this period is even more amazing. I believe, because of the style of the clothing, the doll dates to about 1820, possibly into 1830, because this is what we call the Empire style of clothing with the high waist."

So now we know they may be called Dutch dolls, peg wooden dolls, penny wooden dolls, pedlar or peddler dolls, tuck comb dolls, Grodnertal Wooden Peddler, and Grodnertal carved wooden dolls.

The doll pictured above is from a wonderful post on the Dolls from the Attic...Mis Muñecas blog, which I absolutely love, about Grodner Tal, "Tuck Comb," Peg Wooden Dolls. This post is filled with information on these dolls as well as a ton of beautiful pictures. If you would like to read this post please click here.

According to this post, "From the home industry of the Groden Valley, Grodner Tal and South Tyrol, came the little peg wooden dolls. These are some of the oldest surviving dolls. Although the term peg-wooden refers to a jointing technique the term came to be synonymous with lathe turned dolls from these areas of the Alps. They were the inexpensive play dolls of generations in both Europe and America."

"Most of the dolls had combs carved into their heads-hence the term Tuck Combs. Their heads and bodies were lathe turned as one piece and had simple peg joints, but the larger dolls had ball joints and even swivel waists. They had elongated graceful proportions, nicely carved details, painted slippers and sometimes with wood pendant earrings."

"The hair is usually painted with curled bangs. Once painted and varnished they were ready for whatever adventures their little owners could conjure up. They are often referred to as German Tuck Combs, probably because they were sold in the German Nuremberg Toy Market, and sometimes incorrectly they are called Dutch dolls but this was a mispronunciation of the word Deutsch."

This was confirmed by a excerpt from the Early North American Dollmaking: A Narrative History and Craft Instructions by Iris Sanderson Jones in 1976 which said, "Long before the American Revolution, Grodner Tal doll salesmen carried great containers of toys and dolls into Italy and Spain. By the Civil War these dolls were known to English children as "Dutch dolls," probably the same distortion of the word "Deutsch," or "german," which occurred with the "Pennsylvaia Dutch" in the United States."

So, now we know they aren't actually Dutch dolls, but mispronounced Deutsch Dolls. This means they've been called Dutch aka Deutsch dolls, peg wooden dolls, penny wooden dolls, pedlar or peddler dolls, tuck comb dolls, Grodnertal Wooden Peddler, Grodnertal carved wooden dolls, Grodner Tal dolls, and Grodner Tal peg wood dolls.

According to the Wood Dolls article by By Denise Van Patten, Doll Collecting Expert, on the About.com website, "Dates of Production Of Wood Dolls: As mentioned, wood dolls are known from ancient times. Italian creche figure examples are known as early as the 1500s (very rare) and English wood dolls from the late 1600s and early 1700s are quite rare. English wood dolls are more plentiful from the late 1700s and early 1800s, and German Grodner Tal and Peg Wood dolls are from the 1800s. A cottage industry created peg woodens well into the 20th century, and there are artists today still making wood dolls."

We learn from an exhibit on the Illinois State Museum website that, "Berechtesgaden, Grödner Tal, Oberammgergau--Peg-wooden Dolls - In several German-speaking areas of central Europe, the making of wooden dolls with peg jointing became an important part of the local economy. Most of these dolls were made in the mountainous area surrounding St. Ulrich, which was part of Austria until World War II, and is now part of Italy. In this area, called the Grödner Tal (Valley), wooden dolls and doll heads were being carved as early as the 1700s. By 1800, about 300 wood carvers in the Grödner Tal were making dolls, and sales agents took their work all over the world. The farm families living in the mountains spent their winters making dolls in a wide range of sizes from local wood, mostly pine. Most of the attention was put into the head, which required the most skill in carving and painting. The peg-jointed wooden bodies allowed for movement of the arms and legs. Peg-wooden dolls were also made in the forests of Thuringia (a northern area of Germany) and in the Berchtesgaden and Oberammergau Tyrolean area. Craftspeople making these dolls were also working in England, America, and China, but the quantities produced could not match those of the Grödner Tal. The Verlagers in Grödner Tal were important middlemen who organized production, purchased dolls from the carvers, stored them, and marketed the dolls for export. By 1873 almost the entire population of the Grödner Tal (3,500) were involved in the doll business, and one Verlager had thirty large showrooms containing millions of dolls."

There is an utterly adorable children's book published in 1895 entitled "The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a 'Golliwogg' by Florence K. Upton" that is visible on the Gutenberg.org website that is so charming you have to read it. I loved the story and the adorable illustrations. If you would like to know more about the author, Florence K. Upton please click here.

The two peg wooden dolls, mother and son, shown above were listed on the Theriaults.com website. Here's what they had to say about them:

"TWO GRODNERTAL WOODEN DOLLS,MOTHER AND SON,WITH ORIGINAL COSTUMES - Lot Number: 78 - 9" (23 cm.) Each is all-wooden with one-piece head and torso,dowel-jointing at shoulders,elbows,hips and knees,the woman with black painted hair decorated with highly- stylized spit curls and tuck comb,elongated throat,and tiny centered painted features; and the boy with short black hair,suggestion of sideburns,painted features. Condition: good,unrestored,costumes are original albeit frail. Comments: Grodnertal,circa 1830,the dolls were featured in Ackerman's Dolls in Miniature. Value Points: both dolls wear their original stylized costumes."

How beautiful are they? Are you in love with penny wooden dolls, too?

In case you ever wondered … View post on imgur.com Tweet This Post

Last week at the library we found this mesmerizing book. Like magic, it creates animals out of random shapes and layers of acetate. The colors and simplicity are a designer’s dream. The story within Wild About Shapes is super basic, letting the animals speak for themselves. Asking questions like, “what can you see?” when all […]

The post you’ll be wild about these magical shapes appeared first on Small for Big.

Coming off an Australian tour that boasted 145 sell-out shows, the children’s entertainment group, The Wiggles, will return to the U.S. this fall for their Rock & Roll Preschool tour. The Wiggles will be touring in support of their brand new CD and DVD, Rock & Roll Preschool, as well as a new season of [...]

One of the biggest highlights of the record-breaking Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron is the introduction of the new characters in the film. Hot Toys has announced details about turning one of those new characters into a 1/6th scale version, in the Vision collectible figure. The movie-accurate Vision features a newly developed head sculpt with detailed texture and […]

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