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Thursday, August 27, 2015

Baby Catch-A-Ball


After the spilled milk and Cheerios mishap mentioned, here, Baby Catch-A-Ball and I made a reconnection. Unlike Giggles, I had not considered her missing in action because I knew she was in the doll room.  In my mind she was either in the corner where she was found or at the back of the room where other mint or never removed from box dolls are stored.   I removed her from the box for a quick exam and found her in the pristine condition she was in when I purchased her sometime prior to 2003.  Like Giggles, she is illustrated and described in my first book, The Definitive Guide to Collecting Black Dolls.   See her entry below:


Side panel box graphics illustrate how Baby Catch-A-Ball can throw a ball.

Made by Topper in 1969, this battery-operated doll is supposed to be able to catch her ball and throw it back (as illustrated in the photo immediately above).  I have never inserted batteries to check her functionality.

Before returning the boxed doll to the corner where she was originally, I took photos of the box graphics, the doll, and her instructions, which are shared below:

Box graphics describe the doll's function.
Baby Catch-A-Ball is holding her ball.  The two metal bracelets on her arms activate her catch-a-ball function.  

Isn't that face adorable?
Instruction sheet.
I found the following online description of how Baby Catch-A-Ball works:
The two* balls that she came with have a metallic coating.  Each of her bracelets are part of an open circuit to her arm cocking and releasing mechanism, which is actuated by a battery operated motor. The circuit is closed when the ball connects with both bracelets simutaneously. When this happens, the motor starts to turn, her arms lower, and the ball (hopefully) rolls into her cupped hands. Then, after a moment, her arms pop up, throwing the ball to you! http://www.bigredtoybox.com/cgi-bin/toynfo.pl?babycatchindex

*My doll has only one ball.

No, she is not one of the dolls I have decided to sell.

 dbg

at

14 comments:

  1. FarrahAugust 27, 2015 at 8:41 AM

    What a sweet little face! I love learning about all of these dolls (old and new) on your blog. It's so fun to hear about all of these collectibles that I may have never known about. What a precious little doll. :)

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    1. Black Doll EnthusiastAugust 27, 2015 at 9:41 AM

      That face, Farrah Lily, is one reason I "needed" Baby Catch-A-Ball.

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  2. jSarieAugust 27, 2015 at 12:26 PM

    That face really is adorable - and not an expression that you see every day! Thanks for sharing her!

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    1. Black Doll EnthusiastAugust 27, 2015 at 8:51 PM

      I am glad you enjoyed "meeting" Baby Catch-A-Ball, jSarie.

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  3. BriniAugust 28, 2015 at 9:03 PM

    She has the cutest face! Her expressions says she is a big girl and she can and will toss that ball. Me and my son are still laughing about the Giggle doll. She has been under your nose the whole time, lol. My son can't believe you have a spreadsheet, lol.

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    1. Black Doll EnthusiastAugust 29, 2015 at 7:08 AM

      Tell your son, I wish I had been wise enough to begin the spreadsheet with the first doll purchased in 1991. Unfortunately, I was several years into collecting before I created the workbook that contains doll purchases on separate sheets for the years 2008 to present. Tell him this year's page in the workbook has a new feature. With each doll's entry, I add a photo. (I backtracked and added some photos to the 2014 sheet, too.)
      :-)

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  4. Georgia GirlAugust 28, 2015 at 10:27 PM

    She has the sweetest face! I actually laughed out loud @ No, she is not one of the dolls I have decided to sell". I was thinking the whole time that I was reading your post, "I wonder if she is going to sell her". Lol! Your collection is beautiful. It makes owning two of your books even more treasurable!

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    1. Black Doll EnthusiastAugust 29, 2015 at 7:12 AM

      Aww... thanks, GG. Some of the rediscovered ones, like Baby Catch-A-Ball are definitely keepers. Those in the must-go stack are getting ready for eBay listings this weekend.

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  5. Petite Plangonophile au chocolatAugust 29, 2015 at 5:37 AM

    Hi Debbie, she is so cute. I love her hair, her face and I would like to play ball with her.
    Hugs!
    Arlette

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    1. Black Doll EnthusiastAugust 29, 2015 at 7:23 AM

      Thank you, Arlette. She does have the sweetest face! I really need to check out her mechanism before I replace all the dolls in the corner that I plan to keep.

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  6. MuffAugust 29, 2015 at 10:29 PM

    I really wanted to see her in action so I went to Youtube to see if there was an old commercial on her. Looking up "Baby Catch a Ball" just showed an insane amount of people who drop their kids while trying to catch a foul baseball.

    I think I would have enjoyed an interactive doll like this as a kid.

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    1. Black Doll EnthusiastAugust 30, 2015 at 4:42 PM

      I searched the Internet for videos or commercials about this doll, too, Muff, and found nothing. She must be quite rare. You would think someone would have shared a video of her in action. Had I found one, I would have included the link in this post. But... stay tuned.

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  7. UnknownMarch 15, 2020 at 4:03 PM

    Hi Everyone. I located this doll recently and if anyone is interested in adding her to your collection it is for sale I am taking all offers. The doll comes with the original box. Thank you.

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  8. AnonymousJuly 29, 2022 at 10:24 PM

    Delightful

    ReplyDelete

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