My Fashion Blogger Sindy

Stock Photo of Fashion Blogger Sindy

The name on the box is Sindy Fashion Store Playset. Sold only in parts of the United Kingdom, (but made in China), I have her thanks to a wonderful doll friend. They know who they are, and I've already thanked them several times for getting Sindy for me. 

I opened the shipping package the morning after Sindy arrived and was and still am thoroughly pleased.  I took several pictures of the doll in the box before opening it. The following three are the best of the several initial photos.

The initial photo illustrates Fashion Blogger Sindy in the unopened box with the backpack and laptop visible through the cellophane.

A large illustration of Sindy is on the back of the box. A removable wrap-around piece of cardstock on the lower box illustrates this Sindy and others.

A close-up headshot while still in the box

I gingerly removed all the adhesive stickers that held the lower wrap-around piece in place and those that held the box closed before removing the doll and accessories from the box and photographing additional box details.

This is the front of the lower wrap-around cardstock. On the far right, Sindy is shown with the doll box decorated with the fashion display cutouts that are included.

 

The back of the lift-out box lining contains cutouts to create a clothing display with rack and hangers.

Fashion cutouts and a mannequin or clothing form for displaying the fashions are on one sheet of heavy cardstock.

This is the flip side of the fashion and mannequin cut-out sheet.

The open box illustrates store shelves and clothing racks.

Next are out-of-the-box photos of Sindy and her accessories.

Sindy poses in front of her undecorated box with her three accessories.

A backpack, a laptop, and a Sindy Fashion booklet are the accessories. The laptop can fit inside the backpack.

Wearing her backpack, Sindy strikes a pose...

...and takes a final headshot.

Spreadsheet Entry Description

11-inch vinyl fashion doll with articulated elbows, wrists, knees, ankles, and the usual other five points has brown side-glancing painted eyes, slightly parted lips painted coral, thickly rooted waist-length brunette curly hair held away from the face with a lavender cloth headband. Each earlobe has a preplaced area for piercing. Sindy wears a purple-trimmed silver lamé jacket, a lavender T-shirt that circularly reads "Since 1983" above and below the centered "Sindy" registered signature. A purple and lavender tulle tutu, black and metallic-silver leggings, and purple mock-lace sneakers complete her fashion. Accessories include a black vinyl backpack that can accommodate a gray plastic laptop, and a Sindy Fashion booklet that contains a quiz, puzzles, crafts, fashion design activities, haircare instructions, and other dolls and accessories to buy. At the beginning of the booklet, Sindy introduces herself as Fashion Blogger Sindy. The box transforms into a fashion store with box graphics, fashion and mannequin cutouts, and hanger and rack cutouts. Licensed by Pedigree Toys and Brands, 2021; manufactured by Kid Kreations, Ltd. Mulberry House, the doll was made in China.

So she is actually Fashion Blogger Sindy as indicated in the accompanying booklet.

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Circa 1970s Tammy/Sindy Competitor

Circa 1970s Tammy/Sindy Competitor

Found in June on eBay at an acceptable price, based on the prices dark-skinned 1970s fashion doll clones/competitors usually sell for, I snapped up this circa 1970s Hong Kong-marked fashion doll in a buy it now. The auction was offered by a Canadian seller. My BIN price after converting to US dollars was a little less than the Canadian dollar price.  The small packets parcel arrived within two weeks.

I love her face, which is different from any clone/competitor I own.  Her thin plastic body and the quality of it is similar to that of dolls by Shillman , with Shillman possibly being slightly better in quality.  The face is reminiscent of Ideal's Grownup Tammy and/or Sindy's friend Gayle by Marx.  Her face, however, is not as full as Gayle's.  Her swivel waist is her only extra articulation and her fingers and toes are fused.  A new body would be a nice upgrade for her pretty face, but I will probably leave her as is.

She arrived wearing a Barbie-tagged red blouse with sailor collar, a red/yellow/green floral-print pencil skirt, and a brown plastic belt, the length of which I shortened to fit her thin waist.  Her feet were bare.

Initially, I was very disappointed in this purchase because of the poor quality of the body.  It screams today's dollar store fashion dolls.  My displeasure led me to immediately remove this type doll from my eBay saved searches.  After being on my desk, standing alongside my CPU (waiting to be photographed and spreadsheet documented), she seemed to peek out at me each time I glanced in her direction, appearing to sense how I felt about her.  She almost looked ashamed.

I have since warmed up to her and found shoes to match her clothes. The eBay search for this type doll, however, will remain deleted from saved searches.  



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Sindy's Friend Gayle

Gayle is an 11-inch fashion doll distributed in the US by Louis Marx in 1978. Gayle's friend Sindy originated in England in the 1960s, manufactured by Pedigree but was later distributed in the US by Marx. The 1970s Sindy and Gayle share the same sculpt. Pedigree also made dark-skinned Sindys for the British market. Active Sindy was an articulated ballerina.  A non-articulated Sindy is shown here.  Gayle was sold exclusively in the US.

Without their original clothes and original hairstyles, black Sindy and Gayle will look alike.  Made in England is marked on the Pedigree dolls (if there are other marks, I am unaware of those).  As documented in Black Dolls an Identification and Value Guide 1820-1991):

Gayle's head is marked:
2GEN 1077
033055X

The body marks are:
Made in
Hong Kong

The book continues:  "1978.  Gayle was a friend of Sindy..."

Sindy and Gayle remain popular, but dark-skinned Sindy are the most popular and highly sought.   Gayle holds her own with reference to value and price commanded on the secondary market.  I have had my 1978 Gayle since the late 1990s and paid $75 for her then.  I recently reconnected with the doll while looking for my Mego Diana Ross. 

Gayle was stored on a shelf with Mr. T., Pilot Barbie (that I didn't know I owned), Radiant in Red Barbie, Doctor Barbie, Working Out Barbie, Totally YoYo Nikki, Hollywood Nails Christie, Generation Girl Nichelle, Baby Sitter's Club Jessie (the playscale version), Sharnell (a fashion doll by Fiesta), Father-to-be and Mommy-to-Be dolls, Bead Blast Barbie, Cut and Style Barbie's box only, Magic Moves Barbie (I thought I'd found Ross until I pulled this box out fully), and several other boxed, long forgotten fashion dolls.

Sindy is said to be England's answer to Barbie, but she and Gayle remind me more of Ideal's Tammy.  Perhaps Tammy is America's answer to Sindy. 

More info on Sindy and Gayle dolls that were made for the American market can be read here.

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