The stuff that Dream Pets are made of...Saw Dust!

Dakin Dream Pets...I love them! I only started picking them up recently, but with over 2000 different Dream Pets made between 1957 and sometime in the late 70's, I think the collection will be exploding in no time. Every time I buy one, it seems, some old lady in the antique store/at the garage sale tells me how "Dream Pets are the original Beanie Babies", which to me, is like saying "The Damned are the original My Chemical Romance"...Dream Pets Rule, Beanie Babies are fun to light on fire, and that's about it. Fun fact...Dream Pets came about when the Japanese R. Dakin & Company wanted to ship toy trains to the US and decided to use these adorable little sawdust and velveteen bastards as a cheap and original packing material. The Dream Pets were super popular and the trains, not so much.

These three hang out down at my girlfriend's cake shop. The deer came from our local antique mall...The same booth where Melanie picked up those masks in my last post. I don't remember how much it was...less than $10. All the Dream Pets were picked up for $10 or less...Dream Pets are perfect for the collector on a budget. The Skunk(as seen on our X-mas card) and the Octopus were found in a junk box in the swap meet area of the Auburn, Indiana classic car auction(which I hear may not happen this year, 'cuz they're millions in the hole...bummer). I don't know any of their names(Dream Pets all came with a cardboard tag with their name on it), or what year they were made(some of the later ones have years printed in their tags). My guess is early 60's on the deer, late 60's or early 70's on the other two...not that it really matters.



This guy is called Bernard...real original. He came in a box of a dozen or so Japanese Sawdust toys that I got for 99 cents on Ebay. This is one of the ones that was reproduced in 2004, but this one is an original from 1965. Not that it matters. As far as I know, none of the Dream Pets are worth big money, and that's one of the things I love about them. When I was a kid, I collected Hot Wheels. I used to be able to pick up some of the early ones for $10 or so, but then the Hot Wheels market exploded (no)thanks to Ebay, and everyone started thinking every Hot wheels should cost in the triple digits...ruined the whole thing for me. Sorry 'bout the rant.



Dunno the Giraffe's name either. He also came in the big box from Ebay. I think it's the ugliest of my Dream Pets.



This turtle is from 1975. Also from Ebay box. He's a less cool version of Honolulu Harry, which is also in this post...guess I should have thought more about the order when I uploaded pics.



Ebay box poodle. It looks dirty in the picture, but it's not. My shirts(Black Sabbath and The Teeners) acting as the backdrop look washed out too...they're actually neon green. I suck at photography...and life.



Also From Ebaybox...



...So is this. This is my favorite of all the Ebay box crew(including the non-Dream Pets that are not included here). It's also one of the ones remade in '04, but this one is also an original from 1967. It's name is Hawaiian Hound Dog. The sticker on the surfboard says 'Souvenir of Cypress Gardens, Florida'.



This Tiger was found during the annual US 12 garage sale that stretches from Detroit to Chicago, and usually ends up draining my wallet half way through day one. This guy, however, was a thrifty 25 cents. His tag says he's from 1975, when the quality was really starting to slip.



Honolulu Harry! By far the most expensive Dream Pet in my collection, at a whopping $10. He's also been remade, but this one's from the 60's. He lives on top of my TV.



These are all 2004 remakes that we picked up at Hollywood Mirror in Chicago. HM is always a must stop on trips to Chicago, along with Uncle Fun, Quimby's and Permanent Records, and it's like walking into my brain. They are Tobasco Bull(1970), Billy Goat(1959), Henrien Hippo(1965), and my favorite...Mimi Octopus(1962).



Well, I need to go to bed...It's 5:30 am! I plan on doing an update soon on Dream Pet knock-off Japanese import sawdust toys from the 50's-70's. Yes, I am also shocked that I am heterosexual. Finally, FUCK Beanie Babies!

Here's the promised X-mas edition of Hoarder Of Awesome. I was gonna have a huge blowout post about not only presents given and received over the holidays, but I was gonna show some of my favorite vintage decorations my town puts up every year, as well as show off some of my favorite X-mas items I've obtained over the years...but I'm starting out 2010 just as lazy as I was all last decade...so I present a shortened version of that epic post in my brain.

I found this guy a couple years ago at the local Goodwill, before they started ebaying, shipping to other stores, or tossing in a locked dumpster every vintage item that came in their doors. I have a lot of contempt for Coldwater's Goodwill store these days. Anyway, I picked up this late 50's/early 60's inflatable Santa(that holds air surprisingly well) for a buck. That's another thing about Badwill...they jacked their prices WAY up in the last few years. No way I'd get this thing these days for anything less than $15. Phooey.



My mom gave me this for Christmas. It's by Marx toy company circa 1969. it's got wheels on the bottom. Thanks mom!



The ketchup guy was pretty cool, but I was super stoked when my mom gave me these, that she found recently at an estate sale.



Melanie got me this totally kick ass Quisp action figure. I have a slight obsession with the Jay Ward created cereal mascot, as anyone who has milled through my artwork can tell you. I find it odd though that it comes with his holster, but no ray gun. I guess we live in different times.



Melanie also got me these 60's Halloween masks. I love the Colonel Sanders mask...what kinda weirdo kid wanted to be Colonel Sanders for Halloween(well, I did, but I was a very strange kid...still am)...?!



I bought these for Melanie(and myself too, of course!) the second I saw 'em. We have A LOT of cool atomic lamps, but these are our first matching pair, and I think they are exceptionally fucking killer! We wanna put pink or aqua shades and sputnik toppers from moonshineshades.com when we save up a million billion dollars.



I got these large mid-century wall hangings at the same antique store as the lamps. I couldn't find a box big enough for the big one, so I wrapped the other two and hid the big guy in the basement. These will be in next year's X-mas card, for sure.



I got these from Melanie. I'd had my eyes on 'em at the local antique shop for awhile, but I thought they were way too pricey, like the Gene Shalit collectible plate. I think she talked 'em down a bit. I LOVE them!



I pussyfooted around too long about taking pictures of the vintage decorations downtown, and they took 'em down. I did manage to snap this pic of our giant Santa right before they put him back in storage. He is ENORMOUS. The city spent a shitload on it too. It's a replica of the one Coldwater had built in WWII. Both my parents grew up with it. Then it was destroyed in a fire in the early 80's, and replaced with a sad little 8 feet tall Santa standing on a plywood box painted like a present. Luckily, our city council is reckless with money, so this replacement was hand built and shipped to Coldwater a few years back, even though the city doesn't have enough money to properly plow roads this winter, and they just took out the stoplight at a dangerous intersection because they couldn't afford the power to run it.



Well, I hope all my readers had a good time over the holidays. Stay tuned. I think my next update is gonna be on Sad eye art, squeak toys, or maybe part one of cool lamps.