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| Image from Wikipedia.com |
If you are thinking about the 1960s song Twist and Shout, first recorded by the Isley Brothers (1962), then The Beattles (1963) that is not what I want(ed). I am referring
instead to friend-of-Poppy Parker, Twist
‘N Shout Darla Daley by Integrity Toys (IT) from the 2011 collection whose bio reads as follows:
Introducing Poppy's best friend, Darla Daley. They met in a record shop and now, they are inseparable. Darla is an upcoming young singer who just made her television debut on the Ted Mullivan show. Thanks to her appearance on the show, she now has her first hit single!Limited Edition of 400 Dolls Worldwide
After seeing a Facebook
friend’s headshot of the original Darla Daley and asking, “who-is-that-doll?”
my I want one antennae rose. The mission to find Darla was not immediate,
but she loomed in the back of my head for weeks to months. Occasionally I would search eBay for her, but
knew I did not want to pay one hundred+ dollars. For a while, I waited for Toonaroona.com to discount Hit Single lower
than their sale price of $70, but quantities sold out at that price first. Thank
goodness that happened because I would have been very disappointed with the purchase.
I recall Facebook Friend
writing, “I’m glad I got her before the mold changed.” I wasn’t quite sure what she meant, but later
discovered some interesting history about the original Darla Daley… the head
sculpt I desired.
Thanks to Dolly Panic’s
blog of March 2, 2012, I discovered why the one I had been hoping would be
discounted would not be the version of Darla I wanted. Dolly Panic wrote:
…someone at the factory Integrity uses broke the original Darla face mold (so I've heard ... apparently, this was revealed at Integrity's convention this past October). They had to re-do the Darla sculpt, which is why the original promo photos of "Hit Single" look so different from the production doll. She even managed to go from left-glancing eyes to right-glancing.
See
the comparison shots of the original and the new Darla Daley here. Dolly Panic’s PoppyParker-dedicated blog again mentions Darla’s damaged sculpt.
After nailing down for
certain which Darla I wanted, I googled “Darla Daley Twist Shout” in hopes of finding
a reduced price doll. Bam! I found one down under, literally, in
Australia for $59 shipped from the merchant's American store. The seller accepted Paypal so I immediately ordered and a few days later received a shipping
confirmation minus tracking number. After waiting a couple of weeks for the doll
to arrive, I contacted the seller to request tracking
information and to find out if the doll was shipped from Australia or from
their American store (if shipped from Australia, that could have been the reason for the delay, I thought). That email went
unanswered. Panic and worry set in.
Long story short: After no word from the seller, I filed a Paypal
dispute that was later escalated to a claim.
Because the seller failed to answer Paypal’s inquiry about my purchase, they sided in my favor and issued a refund on September 29th
(the doll had been ordered on September 2nd, the claim filed on the
12th and escalated to a dispute on the 14th).
The day after Paypal
issued the refund, I found a nude OOAK repainted Twist 'N Shout Darla Daley waiting for me on eBay. The auction had been listed for several days with two more days to go. I wondered why no one had purchased it for the low, buy-it-now price with free shipping, a price that was less than what I paid for the one that never arrived. After emailing the seller with my routine questions to ensure I would be happy with the doll, I completed the buy it now and realized the seller had spelled Darla's surname incorrectly. I must have inadvertently spelled it "Dailey" like she had in my final eBay search for the doll.
After the postman rang my
doorbell this past Wednesday, I felt like twisting and shouting when I saw one
of two packages left on the porch. Based
on the size and shape of the smaller package, I knew it contained my original-sculpt
Darla Daley... at home at last.
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| Twist 'N Shout Darla Daley |
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| Twist 'N Shout is temporarily dressed in SIS Trichelle's dress and Top Model Nikki's extra shoes. |
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