Help re:Bitty Baby made in West Germany

[coffeykids]

Hello, I am new to the forum and hope there are some members who can educate me and answer a few ?'s about Bitty Baby. I would like to find at auction an older Bitty Baby (one of the original babies made in W. Germany for Pleasant Company)but I am ignorant of the markings on the back of the neck for the older baby, and how to tell them apart from the newer ones when I am looking at pictures of their faces on Ebay. Are there any Bitty Baby fans out there who can help me out? Thank you.

[Janie3082]

I just wanted to welcome you to the board! You'll love it here! [img]graemlins/rainbow.gif[/img]

[calyndra]

Older blonde bittys have blonde eyelashes. The arms of the very earliest bittys and pre-bittys are oriented differently from newer bittys. When the baby is laid on her back, her arms fall natrually with the palms up and her hands sort of by her ears. New bittys arms are more at their sides. The neck should say Pleasant Company. That hasn't changed a lot. My New Baby palms up bitty also has a number on her neck (14). Her body is a very peachy flesh tone and her strings are on the right side of the back of her neck as she's laying on her tummy in front of me. I believe new Bitty bodies are more tan than peach and the strings are on the left side.

Hope this helps!

~Abby

[MarianneR]

Hi, I agree with Abby...My main collection are the original Bittys, called "Our New Baby". (I have a treasured group of some original clothes, basket (handles permamently up: another defining feature) and diaper bags, etc all in that sweet blue & white check with tiny drk pink hearts: if I can help with info about any of these items, let me know). If you can get a catalogue from early 90's, they're great for resource on these gorgeous baby dolls. Defining feature is very, very long eyelashes that are almost white on the Caucasian dolls. And, the palms up...The only markings I can ID are that for awhile (around 93-97 ?) they became Bitty Baby and have a 14 under the Pleasant Co. In our family, we have 3 Bittys from 1994-2003 and 4 Our New Babys from 90-93. I'm not sure if Mattel has changed the markings yet. Our latest in 03 was the Black Bitty and I was thrilled that she came in older box, from older stock and still said Pleasant Company on neck. Her ID mark didn't have the 14 anymore. But, I imagine that will change: aren't all the names going to American Girl, not Pleasant Co...does anyone have a brand new Bitty they can check the neck? I'm curious if they say AG now. Like with the bigger dolls, it's easy to see how the molds, colorings, features have changed over the years. Have fun: the older ones are worth hunting if you love baby dolls...and, they are all SO holdable/huggable!

[coffeykids]

Thank you both, I am so appreciative for your information, it was extremely helpful--I am going upstairs right now to look over the three Bitty's I have! Kellie

[QNPoohBear]

I have catalog scans of the Our New Baby collection if you would like to see any of them.

[coffeykids]

I would love to see the pics--I am hoping to someday be able to find and purchase a "our new baby" but I need to be more familiar with what I am looking for so I'm not taken advantage of....there is a bitty baby on ebay that is listed as a 1990 made in W. Germany...and the claim is that the outfit on Bitty is tagged "1990 made in West Germany for Pleasant Company" but the outfit is the white footed sleeper with the red hearts (the one my daughter's Bitty arrived in--1997) That seemed so unlikely that I emailed a question to the seller and asked if they were sure the outfit was tagged 1990...I received a very snotty reply that they don't lie!! So, now I am questioning whether I know anything about Bitty and how to spot the Our New Baby!

[MarianneR]

The sleeper that the ONB arrived in was a very pale blue/pink tiny dotted sleeper that zips up the FRONT and has a ruffled collar, tiny blue bow. It does say made in Germany, etc. The second sleeper is the white with brighter red hearts/ ruffleneck with zip in back...mine also says made in Hungary for Pleasant Co. Third was torquoise, mine says China and the last/latest is the peach. Simply because an outfit has a tag > does not mean the doll is wearing it's original sleeper, it can be switched, and even more deceptive can be if someone easily switched the clothing tags & claimed the whole setup to be an earlier version. Unless the seller is the original, only owner it can be easy for anybody to misunderstand. You will ID the ONB definitely by the eyelashes and can find the original sleepers on eBay. Good Luck: IMHO: they are worth the wait!

[coffeykids]

Everyone has been so kind to me, thank you--I have been searching the net for a week trying to learn about the "our new baby" doll, and I couldn't find a thing--just stumbled by chance across this message board and I am so impressed! What a lovely group of people.

[MarianneR]

Years ago, several ONB "experts" from eBay sales shared so much info & interest in these dolls with me, that it seems right to keep sharing! I go through spurts where I have the energy to add my 2 cents; but, when I get the urge to respond, I try not to over-ride that :-) This Board & these dolls have provided the ritual & sanity that all good hobbies can add to a life. "Doll People" seem to be a very good bunch!