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Lil Phil (Buddy Lee Dolls)

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Name:  Lil Phil (Buddy Lee Dolls)

Made by and When: Ames Doll Co. Inc., late-1990s – early 2000s.

Material: Reproduction hard plastic

Marks:  Unmarked or will bear a handwritten edition number (#_ of _) on the lower neck; the bottom of the box is stamped AMES DOLL CO., INC. / followed by an address and telephone number; the dolls’ serial numbers are stamped on the front of the box.

Height: 13 inches

Hair, Eyes, Mouth: Molded black hair, side-glancing painted black eyes with painted upper eyelashes, smiling closed mouth with red lip color

Clothes:

Lil Phil #1

Lil Phil #1 in the collector series; the khaki costume replicates a Phillips 66 gas station attendant uniform and includes an orange and black Phillips 66 patch-logoed cap and shirt; pants, black belt with “Lil Phil” in cursive on the back, a black bowtie, and black sculpted-on shoes. This doll is from a limited edition of 48 and is #15 in the edition.

Lil Phil #2

Lil Phil #2 in the collector series; the hunter green costume replicates a Phillips 66 gas station attendant uniform and includes a patch-logoed cap and shirt; pants, black belt with “Lil Phil” in cursive on the back, a black bowtie, and black sculpted-on shoes. The box serial number reads #0096. Only 100 Black versions of this Lil Phil exist.

Lil Phil #3

Lil Phil #3 in the collector series; the gray and navy blue costume replicates another Phillips 66 gas station attendant uniform. It includes a navy blue cap, a light gray shirt, a navy necktie, navy pants, a black belt with “Lil Phil” in cursive on the back, and black molded-on shoes. A Phillips 66 red and white patch is on the cap and shirt. This doll is from a limited edition of 120 Black dolls.

Lil Phil #4

Lil Phil #4 in the collector series is dressed in a white felt Phillips 66 patch-logoed cowboy hat*, a blue and white striped shirt, an off-white wild rag, an off-white suede Phillips 66 patch-logoed vest, blue pants, a black belt, an off-white gun holster, and black molded-on shoes. The cowboy is from an edition of 124 Black dolls and includes a gas pump handle. *Some dolls in this series wear brown cowboy hats as illustrated here.

Other: Originally used as advertising dolls by the H. D. Lee Company from 1920-1962, composition is the original medium of black and white Buddy Lee dolls. The earliest black version, named Black Magic, wore Lee jeans overalls, a denim shirt, and a Lee cap with “Black Magic” in red letters above the Lee label. Hard plastic Buddy Lee dolls were made from 1949-1962 when that doll medium became more popular and composition dolls were phased out.

By 1940, other companies costumed Buddy Lee dolls to advertise their products and services. The Phillips Petroleum Company (Phillips 66) named their dolls Lil Phil. Replicas of the 1940 Lil Phil dolls that were used for display advertising in Phillips 66 Stations were made by the Ames Doll Company, Inc. under an exclusive license from Phillips Petroleum in the late 1990s/early 2000s. An image of the white version is featured on all Lil Phil doll boxes.

Buddy Lee Doll History

Gallery (Photos of Lil Phil #1 are courtesy of Jeanie Baker Harris; photos of Lil Phil #3 and #4 are courtesy of Black Legacy Images Collection.)

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