Aunt Ruby's Sweet Jazz Babies » Babies Collectable Figures

Babies Collectable Figures

Aunt Ruby’s Sweet Jazz Babies is pleased to present this collection of their beloved Children ’s Action Figures. The Babies regularly donate their services and the proceeds of action figure sales to various children ’s educational testing organizations to help further the effectiveness of children ’s education methodologies. The Babies express their sincere gratitude to the Estate of Drs. Klaus and Gertrude Volmgarten for the photographic images of the action figures presented.

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		This striking action figure of Tartan Purry was based upon a sculpture by Miss Margaret P. Vanderbuilt after her chance meeting with Tartan in the elegant ballroom of the Chateaux Le ’ Mauve near Paris, France, in the fall of 1973. Miss Vanderbuilt had established a reputation in French society as a lady of independence that no man could ever possess, although many had vied for her hand. Having heard the Babies in Monte Carlo the previous month, her friends had forewarned her not to attend the elegant ball, telling her that even she would not be able to resist the onslaught of emotions that would flood her heart as the Babies performed. Miss Vanderbuilt dismissed her friends advice and attended the ball. Witnesses claim that the playing of Tartan Purry that evening cast a spell upon Miss Vanderbuilt, who was to spend the rest of her life decorating her vast estate with sculptures of Tartan Purry. Tartan Purry maintains that he did not intend this fate for Miss Vanderbuilt, and on that particular evening, and as always, he had only played what he had felt in his heart

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In late 1976, an unusually large blue parrot landed near the home of film producer James Cameron and began to recite a fascinating tale in iambic pentameter of a jungle hunt on a far away romantic island it called the “Isle of Babes”. The recitation proceeded continuously for several days and James took careful notes of the story. After the parrot finished the recitation, James brought the bird nourishment, and commissioned an artist to work with the parrot to recreate the image of the warrior portrayed in the jungle hunt narrative. James altered certain parts of the original story and used the result to develop the blockbuster movie Rambo, released in 1982. After flying away from the home of James Cameron, the parrot arrived on the grounds of the Playskool Corporation and repeated the description of the jungle warrior to Playskool toy designers. Playskool felt that the action figure would be inappropriate for their target children ’s audience and as a result, this image of their prototype action figure has never before been published.

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It has been established through carbon dating analysis that this action figure of Professor Joseph Cordi was fabricated in early 1981 using a complex polymer compound created near Lake Charles, Louisiana. Although many specifics regarding the origin of this figure remain unknown, an incident apparently occurred on Jazz Babies Island during the late 1930 ’s in which Professor Cordi’s muscular structure spontaneously grew several orders of magnitude and his complexion also changed to a shade of avocado green. During this time, most of Professor Cordi’s clothing could not withstand his muscular growth and subsequently ripped and fell off of his person, as can also be seen in the figure. Although this change to Professor Cordi’s physical composition eventually reversed itself, some believe that this condition may occasionally recur. In early 1961, Jack Kirby of Marvel Comics learned of this story and was inspired to use it as a basis for his superhero character “The Incredible Hulk” .

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		Cuban youths will readily recognize this action figure of the Joker character from the Cuban version of the Batman television series. The image of Cesar Romero was officially banned during the 1960’s from Cuban television screens as a result of Fidel Castro’s opinion concerning Romero’s role in the 1953 film “Prisoners of the Casbah”. During the 1960’s, Fidel Castro required that the image of Cesar Romero be eliminated in order for Hollywood to broadcast the Batman television series in Cuba. After consulting with his friend, Henry Fonda, Batman’s producer Bill Dozier contracted with Tartan Purry to portray a Spanish version of the Joker character for the Batman television series. This action figure was manufactured in Cuba in 1971.

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	East and West Coast theatergoers will recognize this action figure of King Crazy Oliver Steck in his role as the Riddler in the Broadway stage production of Batman, circa 1971. This theatre version of the 1960’s era television series featured King Steck’s innovative design of large colored text balloons that would be thrown from the stage during the fight sequences of the play. Another innovative feature pioneered by King Steck was his use of live felines in the wardrobe design of Cat Woman, whose entrance to the stage was often marked with deafening sorties of purring. Although disliked by critics, the Broadway production was a media sensation that was regularly attended by Henry Kissinger and President Richard Nixon. This action figure was popular among the children of wealthy northeastern elite socialites.

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		This action figure celebrates the heroic deeds of Marcus Adamson, Lewis Gun operator for Her Majesty ’s 12th Airborne Squadron, and hero of England during World War I. King Oliver’s portrayal of the infamous soldier in the critically acclaimed theatre production of “Adamson, My Lionheart” in 1938 helped unite a divided England in the face of growing Nazi aggression. Adamson’s memorable war cries of “Touche, devil”, and “Suffer me not you swine” inspired English men and women to brave what Adamson termed a “stiff upper lip” in the face of the Nazi attacks that were soon to follow. Many of these action figures were carried by young English children into bomb shelters during Nazi V-1 rocket attacks. The expression worn by King Steck reminded the children that they did not suffer alone.

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	This action figure was employed by researchers at the University of Deft in the Netherlands who were studying the perceptions of children aged 2-8 years when presented with a combination of multiple famous personalities onto the same physical action figure. The study revealed that when presented with an action figure of the cartoon superhero Magneto and another of Magneto with the face of Frank Lee Devine, male children played with each action figure equally. Astonishingly, the survey revealed that 92 percent of female children preferred the Frank Lee Devine and Magneto composite action figure. Of the children’s families surveyed, it was found that while 83 percent of the families had encountered the Babies at some point during their lives, only 12 percent of the children had been exposed to the Babies. Thus, concluded Dr. Tulf Zulch, the lead researcher, “Among those females who have never encountered the Babies, there appears to be some sort of mysterious natural attraction between females and Frank Lee Devine that needs to be researched further.

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		For many years, producer George Lucas has experimented with various Babies in his Star Wars series of films. This action figure of Faustyn Langowski portraying the Obi One Kanobi character was originally marketed in Australia during the distribution of the famed “A Star Wars Christmas” television special, circa 1978, which featured Mark Hamil and Faustyn Langowski. Due to the unusual and provocative nature of the plot, which included the now famous scene of Luke Skywalker and Obi One Kanobi, both dressed as Santa Claus, using their light sabers to slice open a squirming Jabba The Hut shaped pi ñata filled with black monoliths of Han Solo to the wide-eyed delight of Chewbacca ’s litter of joyous, screaming children, George Lucas, along with numerous Christmas preservationist organizations, filed a class action lawsuit against Australia TV Channel B, which to date is being arbitrated in the United States court system.

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		This civil war action figure of then Major General Ryan J. Gould surveying the foggy Ohio River in 1860 was originally constructed by the Hasbro Corporation in late 1965. This action figure, and others of General Gould in Antietam, Cornwall, Little Bighorn, and Anahuac, sparked a rebirth of interest in General Gould ’s important role in the Civil War. Numerous civil war reenactment societies were started at that time that still continue to this day. Note the strong positive posture of General Gould’s action figure. His calm, confident, and thoughtful expression are said to embody his gentlemanly nature, warrior code, and leadership skills. A natural leader among men, many behavioral textbooks have been written regarding the effects of expressions and posture as a result of military psychologists ’ observations of General Gould. It is said that this action figure is taken from eyewitness testimony obtained via Arnold Mueller.

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The origins of this action figure are considered by many as supernatural. Early in 1963, Miss Penelope Mueller of St. Louis, Missouri was attempting to communicate with her brother Arnold Mueller, who had perished in Italy during World War II, through a s éance conducted by Medium Attan Monique Corvalisan. After reportedly establishing communication, Arnold indicated that from his new perspective, he sensed a need for American children to become better connected with their spirits. Recalling a series of G. I. Joe comic strips he had enjoyed reading, he wished that a line of military action figures could be created for children to enjoy based upon the concept of G. I. Joe. Penelope asked Arnold, who had been an architect, what sort of action figures should be created and what would they look like? Using a planchette, Arnold communicated through the spirit world via Penelope’s hands and developed numerous sketches of the great military strategist General Gould in various uniforms, which were ultimately sold to the Hasbro corporation and marketed as the G. I. Joe series of action figures.

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		Indonesian craftsman created this image of General Ryan Gould, after the General’s visit to the city of Samarinda, on the island of Borneo, Indonesia, in August of 1974. In late 1974, General Gould was the principal bassist as part of a double bass touring exhibition sponsored by the National Academy of the Arts, Manhattan School of Music, and the Julliard School of Music. Indonesians likened the wondrous sound of General Gould’s bass playing to that of heavenly musical thunder, and believed that such a man who could command the sounds of the heavens must truly be a god. Minute by minute attempts were made on General Gould’s life during his stay on Borneo by cannibals who sought to consume the General in the hopes of obtaining some semblance of demigod status. This action figure is presently in widespread use in sacred religious ceremonies throughout the Indonesian and Malaysian island chain.

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	In early 1978 at the historic Auberge Saint-Antoine Hotel, near Montreal, Quebec, in Canada, screen writer Oliver Stone caught a glimpse of the International Playboy and Jewel Thief, Stanley Steamer Smith, using an massive ornate chandelier to swing from the reach of Canadian justice and into the arms of a stunningly beautiful brunette named Elvira. After dodging bullets fired upon them, the pair then used a bag of marbles to thwart foot pursuit through the hotel and to Stone ’s surprise, escaped completely unscathed. While the physical abilities of Stanley Steamer Smith were inspiring, Stone was bewildered upon seeing the facial expressions of love, desire, hope, and longing on the face of every lady within sight of the incident and Smith ’s incredible effect upon females. Stone wanted the main character of his next screenplay to have such an effect upon women, but he was unclear as to how Stanley Steamer Smith could so effortlessly control so many ladies. Although the main character in his next screenplay “Scarface”, circa 1983, wore the suit worn by Stanley Steamer Smith in 1978 and featured the character Elvira, critics agree that Stone was unable to capture the essence of the International Playboy and Jewel Thief Stanley Steamer Smith. This action figure was used by Oliver Stone during his writing of the screenplay.

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	The talented leader of the Snowbunny Brigade and also a special guest Baby, Gretl Polyolisocrates Reykjavik, was sculpted into the Golden Cheetah action figure by Ragon Shalimanapan in early 1992. Popular with children in India, Pakistan, and Siam, the Golden Cheetah is shown here fearlessly guarding her litter with speed, grace, and determination. “For me and my people,” according to Ragon, “the Golden Cheetah embodies the purest of hearts, the most clever of minds, the most loyal and honorable of intentions–this is so rare on our little planet ”. Fans of Gretl will, no doubt, appreciate Ragon’s choice of her as the model for the Golden Cheetah. This action figure is also popular in Southeast Asia in Boui, a game of chance, balance, and strategy. Westerners liken Boui to a combination of chess, poker, and Twister.

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Aunt Ruby’s Sweet Jazz Babies have obtained images of a few of the popular “Babies At Play” collectable figurines sculpted by the reknown sculptor Hans Olegard shortly before his death in 1934. These images are shown here for the enjoyment of Babies fans. Presently, the figurines are under guarded storage at the Smithsonian Institution and are not available for public viewing. Aunt Ruby’s Sweet Jazz Babies extends their sincere thanks to the Eleanor H. Millbea Estate for allowing the Smithsonian to provide digital images of these delightful artworks. Please know that additional images are forthcoming.
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This splendid work captures King Crazy Oliver Steck during a vaudeville performance of the famous “Happy Clown Serenade” at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in 1916. King Steck advises that he practices this routine daily for its benefits to concentration, balance, and motor control. The Eleanor H. Millbea estate informs Aunt Ruby’s Sweet Jazz Babies that this figurine of King Crazy Oliver Steck was Ms. Millbea’s personal favorite.	ARSJB	This delightful interpretation of Professor Joseph Cordi conducting the London Symphony in 1920 was the last sculpted work of Hans Olegard. In it, one sees the radiant confidence of Professor Cordi before his triumphant critically acclaimed presentation of Puccini’s La Boheme.

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Lord Mondegreen was very impressed by the perceptiveness and insight of Hans Olegard during Lord Mondegreen’s performance with the Babies in a New Orleans street parade in 1905. It is said that the sculptor retained the memory of Lord Mondegreen’s performance for over twenty five years before creating his first sketch of this legendary musician. Learn more about Lord Mondegreen at the website Austin Traditional Jazz Society.	ARSJB	Hans Olegard captured a joyous Professor Cordi during the Babies 1918 concert of “Ragtime and Cakewalk Favorites” in Savannah, Georgia. In the “Cakewalk Parade” uniform commonly used by the Babies during this period, one can see the intricate woven patterns created for the Babies by the Fourth Ward Fabric Maidens of New Orleans, who are also the Queen of England’s preferred troupe of seamstresses.

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	In this elegant figurine, Hans Olegard presents the complex combination of charisma, charm, and wit that abounds in the international playboy and jewel thief, Stanley Steamer Smith, a regular guest Baby. This sculpture, which is rich with Stanley’s natural masculinity, has been censored from public view for several decades due to its immediate and irrevocable influence over women that gazed upon it. It is said that once a woman viewed the figurine in person, she developed the so-called “Steamer” complex. The Steamer complex, which only affects females, has multiple symptoms that include an elevated heart rate, elevated body temperature, elevated breathing rate, compulsive smiling, and the loss of rational thought process. Some women experience this complex upon only hearing Mr. Smith play music. Stanley is a world renown clarinetist and vocalist and the Babies are proud to have him as their friend. Learn more about this amazing musician at the website Stanley Smith Music.

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