Fairies of Cottingley Glen: Hob

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I recently purchased something from my childhood and that I was excited to show her to you all. Well she arrived last Saturday and I've spend this week taking lots of pictures (I mean it there are a TON of pictures in this post!) and totally falling in love and now I'm finally ready to share her with you guys! But first a little back story!

Some of you may recognize this picture:

It's of Frances Griffiths and the famous Cottingley Fairies. To make a long story short in 1917 nine year old Frances and her sixteen year old cousin Elsie took the first of five photographs showing the fairies that lived in their garden. The pictures were examined by experts and came to the attention of many important people including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who embraced them as the real deal. Eventually the girls admitted that the pictures were faked using cutouts from books and hatpins but they maintained that they really did see the fairies!

So what do these two girls have to do with what I bought? In 1997 a movie was released telling the story of Elsie and Frances. It was called FairyTale: A True Story and released with it were a series of ten fairy dolls. Today I want you to meet Hob:

 

Here she is in her box! I had a very hard time taking her out of the box. I waffled! She's a vintage toy after all but then in the end I decided that the box wasn't in great condition and I like my toys to be out so I can play with them! But before we get to that part let's take a closer look at the box. It is really pretty!

Each fairy in this line has a particular talent. Hob is the dream weaver:

If anyone does go looking for these keep in mind that the bonus royal fairy necklace does not come with any of the dolls. I saw a few auctions on ebay claiming that the necklace came with the doll but they had no actual pictures of the necklace; just pictures of that sticker. You had to send in to get the necklace and that offer ended in December of 97 so I don't think you're going to get it now!

Here she is through the plastic. Oh so very pretty even with that curl in her face!

I love the back of the box:

yay pretty pictures!

You can see Hob's full description here.

There were six "regular" fairies. I had Lutey as a child; you can see her there next to Hob! She is the musical fairy.

And there were four royal fairies! I had Morgana. I don't remember what the cost was originally but the prices on ebay vary greatly! I managed to get Hob for $11.05 plus shipping but I've seen her for as much as $50 new in package.

Speaking of packages, let's get her out of her's!

You can see the info for the bonus necklace there.

Why can't all dolls be this easy to get out? You just peel the tray off the cardboard back and

She comes right out! No tape, no strings, no sewing on to the cardboard just one little plastic covering over her chest and that's it!

Have I mentioned how beautiful the packaging is?

With Hob out of the way you can see the lovely artwork and:

The directions for her stand of course!

Her stand comes in two pieces and can hold her leaf mirror and her comb!

 

It just pops together!

Her feet go in the little slot on the base and she is supported by the vine and the leaves around her legs.

Like this:

Hob in her stand front and back. Oh the pretty wings!

As far as stands go I like this one. Unfortunately it doesn't give her much posing ability but it looks adorable and it's very fairy appropriate!

Hob has six points of articulation. At her neck, shoulders, hips and a nice little waist joint! Not too bad for such a teeny doll!

Teeny!

Seriously check her out next to Veau!

She comes in a painted on, glittery white body suit.

Her arms and feet are very glittery too and I will show you that in just a moment!

See her waist joint?

Her wings do come off (obviously!) and attach to her body with a peg that goes in that square hole in her back. They are actually very secure!

Her wings are made of a translucent, iridescent plastic like material.

I'm honestly not sure what they are made of but they are pretty tough! I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to break them if I really wanted to though so I'm very careful!

The rest of her outfit consists of a blue collar and skirt.

My Hob's little fluttery pieces there were stuck to her body. It was probably because of her age but I was able to get the off without damaging anything!

Ready to see the glitter?

Ooooooooh!

Yeah that's a lot of glitter! The only part of her body that isn't glittery is her head!

Unfortunately my Hob had a very dirty forehead! Probably caused by styling product.

Also here you can kind of see her pointy ears. I had a hard time getting a good picture of them!

Luckily it came right off with a little water!

I love her sweet little face and her pointy ears!

Hob has beautiful blue eyes, nice straight eyebrows, just a touch of brown eyeshadow and the teeniest little pink lips!

Her bright blue hair is pulled on top of her head in a simple pony tail.

And she has about the rooting pattern you would expect from a doll who's hair is supposed to be up! It's not staying down anytime soon!

I thought that the waterfall picture on her box would make a good backdrop so I tested it out!

And it does!

But only for closeups!

So then I took her outside and this is really where she shines!

 She looks so at home with the trees.

And in the plants!

And her wings look incredible in the sun!

Are you totally in love yet?

I'm so glad I purchased Hob! Since there are only ten of these and I love them so much I'm planning on slowly collecting them. This is one of the great things about being an adult collector I can buy what I want!! Till next time!