In Europe and America there's a real boom for collecting dolls. We could find: unique dolls, an expensive and single copy; also what's called the classical china copies, limited editions where after making the specified number of figures form for casting solemnly broken in front of witnesses; and the textile dolls. Precisely, in recent years become popular doll replicates. They are pieces of art. Fortunetly, Elton doesn't escape this trend. A variety of artists, amateurs or professionals, have developed their own creations. Jack Rabbit has made a journey around the world looking for those most remarkable recreations. Here are some examples.
Yaboom was a toy company that produced only celebrity musical toys. The Elton John limited edition celebrity was manufactured by
Yaboom Toys in 1999. The plastic incarnation of Elton stands at 11" tall and sings "Crocodile Rock" version. Cartridge refills were made available and included Rocket Man and Daniel. A button on the doll’s stomach is pushed for it to sing. Yaboom made 5 different models of this talking doll: Elton in a red suit; Elton in an off white suite with red roses; Elton all in black with a sparkle jacket; Elton with a yellow jacket with black pants and Elton in black and white suit. Proceeds from the sales of the doll went to his aids foundation.
Elton started his
BobbleHead industry in 2003, a collection made by Bobble Dobble. The multi-color Elton John bobble-head stands approx 7-8 inches tall and most of these were sold exclusively at the Elton John Store, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas during Elton's "Red Piano" appearances. We had the following figures: the Pinball Wizard with the iconic pair of boots and the unforgettable moment in the rock opera, "Tommy"; The Captain Fantastic, flying away on his magical piano, like the original 1975 album cover; Elton on his green boa; Elton with his flamboyant piano hat costume he wore on September 13, 1980 in New York City; Elton with the straw skimmer hat he wore in the 1983-84 period; and, finally the pink jacket he wore on his 50th show in his favourite place, MSG New York. One bobble head doll preceed the ones listed above. The 5 1/2" tall doll found Elton in his Dodger baseball outfit from the huge Dodger Stadium concert in 1975, the place where Elton played two sold-out concerts.
"I just can't get enough of bringing a real person to life in wool" explains Kay Petal, about their wide collection of li'l' dolls. Her specialty is in caricature art dolls, needle felted wool dolls. An average 12"
Felt Alive Doll usually weighs between 3-5 oz, this is without the use of wire armatures. Some of her earliest pieces were recognized with honors in the Alaska State Fair with the rendition of Albert Einstein winning Best in Show in the Fleece and Fiber Dept. That was unbelievable since she had only started felting earlier that year: "I never knew I was artistic until I discovered needle felting", she likes to explain.
Un Món de Feltre is another way to work with felt, and it could be adapted to different type of products: brooches, keychains, magnets and what they call "Papirrachus", the personalized felt dolls. Vanessa and Tania, the creators, began with some of the best known celebrities as the Beatles, Elvis or Marilyn and, gradually, they extended the replicas to a vast collection of dolls: "We like to have characters which can be different and people continue to recognize who they are", they said.
Released in Argentina, this figurine doll by
Eitileda has enjoyed a good reputation for a good quality, considerate service and reasonable price! 2.75" tall (7 cms), this miniature is made in solid resin, it's hand made in hand painted polymeric resin (colors might slightly vary from picture).
Celebrity and historical figures find a second life in these paper miniatures by
people too, the collaborative efforts of russian designers Alexei Lyapunov and Lena Ehrlich. Using a range of knives, scissors, tweezers, and other tools on wire and a combination of construction and specialty papers, the team creates not only miniature furniture and figures but also entire sets for the pieces.
'Music Royalty', the
Mickey Mouse statuette, was designed by Elton John. Disney had a contest of sorts and asked many celebrities to design a themed Mickey Mouse. The originals were about 6 feet tall. They all toured the country and were sold for charity. Elton John's Mickey Mouse fetched the highest of all, $62,400! Sotheby's and The Walt Disney Company concluded the celebration of Mickey Mouse's 75th anniversary by auctioning 75 statues of Mickey Mouse designed by popular celebrities and Disney legends. TivoliToo, a Minnesota-based design and sculpting studio, transformed the remaining statues for each artist.
The Magnetic Rocket by Janod is made up of 6 brightly coloured pieces that stack up and connect together by magnets. With has a moving propeller and a removable space man, little ones can slot together the tactile wooden pieces of this beautiful flying machine and zoom off in to outer space. It was presented to Elton and David and gave the toy for their son, Zachary.
Firestar Toys presents a fantastic range of creative, collectible and rare
LEGO Mini-Figures. On the website, there's one of the best selections of the most populates figures you could find: from Mutant Turtles, Spiderman, Liberty Statue, Elvis Presley, characters of Star Wars series or Lord of the Rings, just to name only a few. Elton John has his own particular mini-figure, playing at a black piano.
"The Elt's eyes like stars, with his imaginery covers started to live a world of fables, aliens with boundless rhythms. The lively image where the colour of sound has born". This quote reads
Stor Dubiné's website and it's his particular homage to the ones that influenced his life, his childhood idols. The 23 x 23 vinyl figure has been designed using acrylic, clay and various metals.
In honor of Elton's visit to the Green Mountain State, Essex Junction, a one-of-a-kind Sir Elton John
Vermont Teddy Bear was created for the rock ‘n’ roll legend and presented to him.
Spain, back on the 70s. Bimbo, famous for its loaf bread and cakes, presented all international singer stars with a collection of beautiful and colorist stickers. On Elton's, a brief bio, described the singer as a Dick James' pupil who was doctorated in "harmony, direction and composition". It was considered the most famous pop singer of the time. On the back, "Daniel" and "Crocodile Rock" emerged as his definitive hits. A type mistake remarked Elton's year of birth in 1942 instead of 1947. Also in Spain, a "Super Musical" collection of spanish and international musicians and groups were released in the 80's by Eyder Ediciones, and presented Elton in his straw boater typical in his 1983-1984 era.
Joepie sticker cards were an interesting cards featured in an European magazine, printed in Belgium and Netherlands. They mainly featured music entertainers of the time and also a few celebrities. Elton's appeared different times. The 70s one, described Elton as the author of "Empty Sky", self titled album and "Tumbleweed Connection", it mentioned Bernie Taupin as the lyricist and gave Rocket Records then address.
Elton John wearing white winter fur coat and hat was a released by the world's leader in the published collectable sector, Panini, in Italy, Portugal and other European countries, in the early 80's, as part of a Rock and Pop album collection. Years on, in 1988, same artist with his 1987 style and dark glasses, as he followed his Wembley show after throat surgery. On the back of each sticker, it was information related to the artist.
This one was issued in 1975, at the Captain Fantastic time, by Stig of Torino, Italy, and it was released in the British market. The collection was called "Superstars: A Top Sellers Production". The back side of the sticker read a brief bio of the artist.
Finally, two pages of the England's Soccer League, when Watford FC was in the Top. Players like Barnes, Blissett, Armstrong, Rice or Sheewood were in the unforgettable team that reached the Final Cup. Elton John featured as the Charmain, although it was no sticker about him. Graham Taylor, manager and Elton's friend, was on the first page, explaining his debut as a Grimsby Town FC player, and mentioning the rising of First League since Fourth Division.
