Doll-A-Day 2017 #189:Shrunken Saturday:Remco Pocketbook Dolls:Heidi,Hildy,Jan

  A couple of days ago we looked at a clone of Remco's Heidi doll. Today we take a look at the real thing. Our Shrunken Saturday doll this week is actually a group of dolls. It's Remco's Heidi and friends.

The 'star' of this group of dolls is Heidi,third from left. No connection to the Heidi from the book by Johann Spyri..

Heidi was made by Remco,for several years from around 1964. She measures about 5 1/2" tall. Heidi and friends were called 'Pocketbook Dolls'. The phrase isn't used much these days, but my parents always referred to purses as 'pocketbooks'. That's where the dolls got their name, because they came in plastic purses.

Like Heidi's sister Hildy here.

Heidi was so popular that she spawned a plethora of friends, relatives, playsets,and other items. Hildy is one of Heidi's siblings.

Two Hildy's in slightly different original dresses,and one Hildy in a different dress entirely. Also notice how different their faces are. Just like Penny Brite, who also has eyes that look machine painted,there must have been some handpainting going on,because there is endless variety. Those were the days, eh?

The inside of Hildy's pocketbook has two clear plastic strips to hold the doll in place.

Hildy is only 4 1/2" tall.

Hildy had to borrow one of the other Hildy's single shoes, to wear with her single shoe,so she could stand upright.

Since Hildy is smaller than Heidi,her pocketbook is smaller than Heidi's too.

Heidi's pocketbook is red. There are those red boots Hildy #3 was wearing above.

Heidi had a brother,too. His name was Billy. But she also had another set of siblings named Herby and Pip.

 This is a little confusing actually. Available separately,Herby is described as 'Heidi's little brother, but Pip is described as 'Heidi's lil friend'. As a set they were Heidi's 'lil brother and sister'.

Hildy and Pip:Sisters,or just 'lil friends'?

Hildy and Pip are the same size.

And they share a body mold. Pip is wearing a Heidi dress.

But their faces are all their own.

Heidi also had friends,Jan and Spunky.

Heidi on the left,Jan in the center, and Spunky on the right.

Jan is Japanese.

Jan came in a blue pocketbook.

I actually have the dress Heidi is wearing above. I found it at school when I was a kid. You may have seen it on a little doll I featured on the original Doll-A-Day. You can see her HERE.

Jan came in either a yellow dress, or a red and blue dress.

That yellow dress is around here somewhere.This is a Heidi and friends dress too though.

And she had her own Japanese tea set,available separately.

Jan is the same size as Heidi.

Except this Jan has a smaller head.

There were apparently two versions of Jan.

Are they both Jan? They have different heads. Jan on the left has a much smaller head.

They have the same hairdo,and dimples.

Jan on the right is wearing a strange homemade dress that is sewn on her.

They are both the same size as Heidi.

Although Jan on the right has a head the size of Heidi's, and small-head-Jan has ahead more the size of Hildy's.

They both say Remco on their head.

There was also a rare African American version of Heidi.

There were also wardrobe and accessory sets made for Heidi and her friends.

I had this coat for ages and couldn't figure out who it would fit,before I found out it was Heidi's. The coat was part of a 'Ski Outfit',which also included blue pants, and the red boots.As you can see, the boots fit Hildy and Heidi.

The hood really can't go up on her head though.

The lining of the hood matches the fabric in the Hildy dress.

There's that Ski Outfit,top row,middle. Since Remco also made Beatles dolls, they had a guitar mold already. Heidi reuses a Beatles guitar for the outfit at the bottom left. And there are those red boots again. They were part of at least 4 outfits.

And Heidi and Jan's magic House and Garden.

Heidi had a dining room, a kitchen,and a bedroom. 

There was also a 'Bar-be-cue Set' with a grill and patio table with umbrella and benches.
Spunky even had a golf course.

But Heidi had a bowling alley.

 Remco even made a Swimming Pool and Cabana set,and a Little Red Schoolhouse set, which both made the audacious claim that they were "For every tiny doll made". 

They both used the Heidi dolls photos on their packaging.
There were also paper dolls,(...and why do you need paper dolls of real dolls?),a Heidi game...

The Heidi Elevator game.

 and even a record.

This reminds me of the Tammy doll record I have.

There were loads more sets,including a Powder Puff Derby airplane, and a 'pony cart n' horse'.

Most unusual of all, I think, is Heidi's Honda motorcycle and snack stand set.

 To see a very comprehensive collection of photos of items produced for Heidi and friends,you can visit The Action Figure Archive HERE.

There were a few different versions of Heidi. The first, and most common version waves when a button in her stomach is pressed.

Well, I say 'waves'. What actually happens is that when you place her arm in the down position and then push the button, her arm will fly up. Makes my Dad's term for waving,"I throwed my hand up.", make a lot more sense!

There was also a winking version...
 

...and a growing version.The winking version came in a box, rather than a purse.The red dress Heidi in the picture below is the growing version,and is wearing the same dress as my Remco Growing Sally.(You can see my Growing Sally HERE.)

Growing Heidi has the same grown up dress as Growing Sally too. The dress for the little girl version of Sally that my African American doll has is on the bottom right Heidi.The dress on the Growing Heidi at the top right usually shows up on the Caucasian Growing Sally.

I have never collected Heidi and friends dolls,but as I have said before, we used to do doll shows and toy shows,and I still never pass up a good doll deal when I see one,so there are alot of things around here that aren't actually 'mine'. That's where these guys come in. I do remember kids at school having Heidi and Jan when I was little,but I don't remember ever being covetous of them. I do like Pip and Hildy, and some of the others I don't actually have,like Herby,Billy, and Spunky.
See you tomorrow for another doll.