Here go the rest

After all of Thursday's cathartic whining over five stuffed animals, bagging up the rest was surprisingly easy. I figure I basically expended all the emotional energy I had lamenting the loss of that small group, thus making it a snap to do away with the rest (there's a creepy metaphor in there about man's susceptibility to evil, but I neither choose to pursue it, nor do I actually believe that toys are living things, despite all this week's hubbub).

I had more of an emotional attachment to some of these dolls and animals than others. Some of them I barely recognize. Some, you'll notice, are both simultaneously covered in dust AND still have tags on them. Five of the following were granted pardons from my parents, and now take up residence in their room. I will leave you to guess which.

 

I believe I called this one Mr. Moo. He mooed when you squeezed him. I was always bursting with originality. 

 

Pretty sure this guy originally belong to someone else. Probably ended up in my care after losing that ear. "Give me your tired, your poor, your dismembered masses..."

There are wires in the legs of this cat, making her somewhat posable, but just enough to decide if she would be sitting or standing. Still, I thought this was the coolest thing when I got her. I remember taking her to kindergarten a lot. 

Another kindergarten companion.

 

I believe we called this one Norman Bates. I think I got him in high school. When you squeezed him, he would grunt a little then go "Ahhhh... That was a great hug!" then 5 seconds would pass and he would say, "Hug me again" then another awkward pause before, "Come on! Hug me AGAIN!" Kind of psycho... get it?

 

These are my and Bethany's Kid Sister Dolls. They are historically significant for two reasons. One, the doll on the right was mine; one of the only times Beth and I got the same Christmas gift and I got the superior model (I say that because she's the one featured in the commercial, not because she is blond). Two, we rarely got toys popular enough to be attached to an actual ad campaign. I can still sing this jingle:

 Sam the lobster. He came from a field trip to Plymouth Plantation.

 This one I named Flipper. See above note on my creativity.

 

This guy used to have overalls and boots. I had vaguely remembered him being one of a broader mass-marketed collection. A little research tells me he was a Furskin bear. Anybody? 

 This one used to have a pink bow... or something. I recall that I cut a lot of the accessories off my bears; not because I didn't like them, I think I just wanted the option to take them off or put them back on. In reality, that translates to, "take them off or set them on top of their heads... or loose them behind the couch."

 Peter Rabbit doll. Most likely from my Grandma Warren. Wonder where his blue coat went?

This is Rosie's  doppelganger.  This bear belong to Beth and yet somehow I ended up with her. We had a multitude of Christmases when we got matching presents from our Uncle Marty. 

 

I won this guy out of the claw machine at the Peterborough Friendy's. It was a high school hot spot that sadly no longer exists. 

 One of the three of us made this in Consumer Family Science at Great Brook. Since it was in my room, let's pretend we know for sure it was me.

I have no idea where the following came from.

 

I feel like these were somehow "fancy" Happy Meal toys or were somehow purchased at McDonald's. I also want to say they were Muppet Christmas Movie promotional items, but I'm 90% sure I'm making that up.  

This was a 18th birthday gift from a couple high school friends. I remember thinking, even then, "Great. Another stuffed animal to take up space."  Then proceeded to hang on to it for 11 years. 

  I distinctly remember starting to like things ironically in middle school, though I didn't know at the time that that is what it was called. I was committed. I watched Blue's Clues everyday during the summer between 7th and 8th grade.  While it was probably a waste of my time, it did make me fully appreciate this presentation from The Moth:

This guy was a going away gift from my college roommate Laura when I went to study abroad. She knew I would miss my dog Skippy. 

 

Believe it or not, this was one of those, "Mom, can I have that doll? Please... please? PLEASE? I neeeeeeeed it!" type of toys. I think I first saw her in a catalog. The magic didn't last long once she actually got here. We soon discovered that all her limbs and her head detached easily from her body and could simply be popped back on later. We laid her out in pieces on the grill one year as a Halloween decoration. Mom did not care for that.

Accidentally left this guy off the original version of this post. I believe he was some sort of Cabbage Patch Pet...?