Toy Chest Tuesday! Sea Wees and Shimmers!

It has been a long time since there has been a Toy Chest Tuesday on Diary of a Dorkette. So click the link below for a flipping good time!




I love mermaids. This statement has been discussed before numerous times on this very blog and elsewhere. One of my favorite toy lines growing up that featured mermaids was Shimmers. Released by Kenner in the mid 80's, Shimmers was a glittery buffet of fantasy inspired hybrid moms with their cute little hybrid babies. To catch up on all things Shimmers, check these links out-

Shimmers 1
Shimmers 2
Shimmers, Miss M, and Acid Reflux

So as you can see, I love me some Shimmers. However, Shimmers was not the first line to create this mixture of hybrid fantasy mommies and babies. A few years before Shimmers, Kenner had another line out called Sea Wees. Sea Wees were bath time dollies of colorful mermaid moms and their little babes in toy land. This line started out in '79 and faded away by '85 right before Shimmers debuted in '86, so I missed the boat so to speak on Sea Wees dolls. However through my years of collecting I have learned and seen a great deal of Sea Wees items and I was obviously curious about owning a Sea Wee at some time or another.

However Sea Wees are expensive. At least on secondary markets like eBay and the like. I've never seen one of these out in the wild. Loose Sea Wees can go from upwards of 40.00 dollars and you do not want to even bat an eye at what some people want to charge for a mint Sea Wee. It's ridiculous. So I've never really bought one, until very recently.

Every now and then a seller on eBay will have a Sea Wee on the cheep-cheep. Sometimes bidding wars will ensue and other times they go for the low low price of like 7.99. Incidentally I think that is still too expensive to pay for a used bath toy, but whatever, I get the supply and demand of nostalgia. I was fortunate enough to come across a Sea Wee and comb for a very reasonable price. I can't stress this enough for anyone who might not know, but never pay an arm and a leg for a vintage toy on eBay. Sometimes there are exceptions, I understand, but if it is a loose used toy, it is highway robbery to spend more than ten dollars on it. I don't care how nice it looks. (I also know I am guilty of overpaying for loose toys. There was a loose Entrapta I once paid over twenty dollars for, but she was worth it! You try finding a loose Entrapta with her braids looking fly and in place. It is not possible!)

Anyways, behold the Sea Wee!

She's missing some hair. And a grass skirt. None of that truly matters though because she is so cute! This is Camille from the TropiGals wave of Sea Wees. This wave of dolls featured a tanned momma mermaid, baby, and pet as well as the requisite sponge for the dolls to float on in the water.

My first impressions upon getting this Sea Wee in the mail was that she was very small. I don't know exactly how big I was expecting the Sea Wee dolls to be, but she can really fit in the palm of your hand. Of course I also had to remember that I am 32 and practically a giant. Had I been five this toy would have been huge to me.

There is some work I need to do on this doll. Her hair is really bad. This is probably why I got such a good deal on her.

However her face looks nice, the paint is all in place.

Her tail also has a good amount of paint still on it. These dolls are notorious for missing paint on their fins and other areas. I washed her and spruced her hair up (it's just what I do on a Friday night) and now I am looking into ways of making her hair even better.

She also came with this really cute comb. I think this is so adorable! While not as epic as Shimmers, I am glad to own a Sea Wee now and see what all the fuss was about.

Of course I also picked up a new Shimmer as well.

This is Marina. There were two mermaids in the Shimmers line, and I had the pink haired mermaid growing up. At first I was fine with that, but the toy bug bit me a few weeks ago and I found myself wanting to have this Shimmer mermaid. I don't know why. These things just happen.

They both share the same sculpt, just different hair styles and coloring. I think these are such whimsical dolls. It is hard for me to resist fantasy themed toys like this. They were such a big part of my childhood. Mermaids, unicorns, and other fun creatures were as real to me as zebras, sharks, and dinosaurs. To be able to find these cute relics and add them to my collection is fun and exciting. Plus I am really enjoying the collecting possibilities of loose items. I enjoy mint items for the packaging and stuff, but there is something fun about being able to display and play with the item. Washing doll hair on a Friday night is amazing fun. Trust me on this.

Anyways, I hope you are all doing well. I am working towards the All My Toy stories for the month of October. This is going to be an epic month for the toy stories. For the first time ever my toys are going to do something they have never done before. There will be ramifications. Dun-dun-duuuun!