Christmas With Pullip Latte and Namu Trunk
December, 2007

(Originally written on December 27, 2007)

Here is a brief Christmas photostory starring my two Jun Planning dolls--the girl is a Pullip Latte and the boy is a Namu Trunk. There is no dialogue because I think the pictures do an adequate enough job of telling the story. (Click on any of the photos to see a larger version open in a new window.)

Here is some information about the Santa Claus in the photos. He is basically a jack-in-the-box and he squeaks when you open his lid and he pops out. This Santa jack-in-the-box is one of the few childhood toys that I still own. My parents gave me this toy when I was around six or seven years old and it may have been either a birthday present or a Christmas present. (My birthday is on December 15 so it would not have been unthinkable that I got something Christmas-themed for my birthday.)

I think the main reason why he still survives to this day is because I was only allowed to play with him during the Christmas season and he was routinely put away in storage with the Christmas decorations once the holiday season was over. This not only saved this Santa from the ravages of continuous childhood play but he was also spared from my mother's periodic purges of my toybox (where she gave away the toys I had lost interest in to Goodwill) since he was stored in a place that my mother couldn't get at every easily.

This jack-in-the-box is still in relatively good shape. He still squeaks when he pops out of the box. The paint on his face and hat is still in good condition. (There are a few minor chips in the white trim of his hat but they are noticeable only if you view the area really close.) The only problem is that the lid of the jack-in-the-box keeps on separating from the rest of the box. The lid originally had some cheap cloth-like tape for hinges and that wore through a few years back. (This is why you can see the silver duct tape in some of these pictures.)

I don't know anything about the original manufacturer other than the "JAPAN" that's printed on the bottom of the box. (It looks like it was done with a rubber stamp of some sort.) I assume that this toy was made in Japan, which would make sense since there was a time when many U.S.-based toy companies used Japanese factories to make cheap toys. (Today Chinese factories are used to make cheap toys.)

I don't know if a toy like this would really be worth anything as a toy collectible. The only reason why I still hang on to this toy is because of the sentimental value. The toy seems very kitschy by today's standards. That's okay, there are times when I like kitsch.

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