I've really enjoyed relating the story of Baby Face, as I remember it. Even as I typed I could feel details slipping away, like a vivid dream that fades away even in mid-telling. But we have saved a few memories here, that teetered on the brink of oblivion, and that is all, that will remain. When we first set out on this journey, neither of us imagined it would turn into such a long one and I'm sure we lost many of our few readers along the way. For those that stuck with it, my Many Thanks! I hope I've managed to answer many of your questions, and shed some light on some of the Mysteries of Baby Face, and her short life. Two Mysteries, yet, remain, and like
the Extra Attraction at the Sideshow, you're
invited to step through the flap, to the next
tent, where for a few pennies more of your
valuable time, I will endeavor to enlighten you!
The first mystery is "The Magic Diaper
Babies"! Who are they, and Do they have
anything, at all, to do with Baby Face?
("not that that matters".)
This was the first attempt at anything
that resembled sculpting, since Outer Space Men,
eighteen years earlier. I then, assembled the
parts and played with them, until they showed me
a pose I liked, and that was that! I used the
blunt end of a flat tooth pick as my tool, as at
that time I had forgotten all about the tool I
had used on Outer Space Men. I poked the end of
the tooth pick into the soft Sculpy to form the
eyes and poked around with it to create facial
expressions! Premonitions of Baby Face to come! I
made twelve figures like this and Noah Kislevitz,
Andy and Adams youngest brother, who had joined
Kiscom, by then (and who I should have mentioned
earlier) took them out and presented them, on a
slab of black marble to LJN Toys, who bought them
on the spot! (Sounds like this happens all the
time! Believe me it doesn't.)
They then gave, about eight of these
sketches, each, to six different sculptors to do
finished sculptures. Some were a lot better than
others, and all had to be simplified to come out
of molds with no undercuts. I kind of hated what
I saw, but as Eunice often remarks, "You'd
like it even less if there wasn't any"! There's a long story to tell about how the molds for Oodles were "stolen" and used to make and sell millions of Oodles throughout Europe, where they became a "rage" and we knew nothing about it, until Hasbro introduced them here, calling them "LIL BABIES". It was the Biggest Success we NEVER HAD! But the story is too long to tell! Whoops! I Just Did! One of the worst things about inventing toys, is that you can work for weeks on something that will never see the light of day! One of the best things about inventing toys, is that you can work for minutes on something that will feed your family [and your collecting habit] for Years! Alas, knowing that makes you work all the harder, lest you miss those few minutes, the next time they come around! And here it is the only known photo, of the sketch that became, "The Magic Diaper Babies"! It just took me longer to clean up the dark photo on Photoshop, than it did to draw it in the first place! The "bows" were eliminated, and the name was changed, [I think it was Gary Niles himself, who came up with the name Magic Diaper Babies], And along with my original Sculpy sketches for the Oodles, The whole project was given to Sue Beatrice who Did the Rest!! |
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Sue
Beatrice is by far one of the most
Extraordinarily Talented, Generous and Good
Looking people, I have ever had the pleasure of
knowing. You can easily verify the Talent and
Good Looks part of that, by looking up her web
site at: http://www.beatricedesignsinc.com Not everything that was produced did
justice to her skills, as the eyes were put on as
decals and sometimes they would be positioned
badly, with unattractive results. But such minor
inconsistencies didn't prevent them from being
beloved, especially, in Europe, where they were
sold in individual closed bags, and became a hot
collectible! Magic Diaper Babies Commercial! Next Page: 33. Galoob Soils Their Diapers |