Stalking the elusive 1:6 scale wheelchair
Dec. 12th, 2012 12:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
modernwizardAccording to this infographic, there are about 54 million people in the US with disabilities. Of these people, about 10 million use mobility aids, such as canes, crutches or walkers, while about 3.3 million use wheelchairs. This abstract suggests that the vast majority of wheelchair users use manual wheelchairs, with only a small number using electric wheelchairs [also called power chairs]. Given the sheer number of wheelchair users, wouldn't you expect there to be 1:6 scale wheelchairs for your dolls and/or action figures?
1:6 scale wheelchairs do exist, but they're pretty rare. Interestingly enough, Mattel issued 75% of the commercially produced 1:6 scale wheelchairs I know of. In 1997, Mattel introduced a Friend of Barbie [TM], Share a Smile Becky, who came with a modern, pink and purple manual wheelchair [that did not fit into Barbie's house]. Becky the School Photographer, issued in 1998, came in a modern, red manual wheelchair. The final Becky doll, Paralympic Champion, came in a low-slung, three-wheeled, racing wheelchair in red, white and blue. You can see detailed MIB shots of all three dolls here.
Here's a shot of my Share a Smile Becky wheelchair.
As for the other 25% of commercially produced 1:6 scale wheelchairs, that would be the wheelchair issued with the Drastic Plastic Franklin D. Roosevelt doll in 2002. The wheelchair, a modified kitchen chair, represents the mobility aid used by Roosevelt near the end of World War II. You can see detailed shots here.
The three Beckies regularly appear on the secondary market, though their prices tend to be ridiculously inflated. As for the FDR, I have seen him exactly once on the secondary market, so your chances of nabbing him are pretty much nonexistent.
Finally, just for completeness' sake, I should note that, in early 2009, I discovered a scratch builder of custom manual wheelchairs, mostly in 1:12 scale, called Little Assistance. I noted that she was available to make custom 1:6 scale wheelchairs for "hundreds of dollars." Sadly, this Web site has fallen off the face of the Earth, so we can have no more Little Assistance, but the Wayback Machine has an archived version of the home page, as well as a page detailing the construction of a 1:12 scale chair.
In summary, commercially produced 1:6 scale wheelchairs do exist. However, they are all at least a decade out of print, thus exorbitantly overpriced, and they're all manual.
More later.
1:6 scale wheelchairs do exist, but they're pretty rare. Interestingly enough, Mattel issued 75% of the commercially produced 1:6 scale wheelchairs I know of. In 1997, Mattel introduced a Friend of Barbie [TM], Share a Smile Becky, who came with a modern, pink and purple manual wheelchair [that did not fit into Barbie's house]. Becky the School Photographer, issued in 1998, came in a modern, red manual wheelchair. The final Becky doll, Paralympic Champion, came in a low-slung, three-wheeled, racing wheelchair in red, white and blue. You can see detailed MIB shots of all three dolls here.
Here's a shot of my Share a Smile Becky wheelchair.
As for the other 25% of commercially produced 1:6 scale wheelchairs, that would be the wheelchair issued with the Drastic Plastic Franklin D. Roosevelt doll in 2002. The wheelchair, a modified kitchen chair, represents the mobility aid used by Roosevelt near the end of World War II. You can see detailed shots here.
The three Beckies regularly appear on the secondary market, though their prices tend to be ridiculously inflated. As for the FDR, I have seen him exactly once on the secondary market, so your chances of nabbing him are pretty much nonexistent.
Finally, just for completeness' sake, I should note that, in early 2009, I discovered a scratch builder of custom manual wheelchairs, mostly in 1:12 scale, called Little Assistance. I noted that she was available to make custom 1:6 scale wheelchairs for "hundreds of dollars." Sadly, this Web site has fallen off the face of the Earth, so we can have no more Little Assistance, but the Wayback Machine has an archived version of the home page, as well as a page detailing the construction of a 1:12 scale chair.
In summary, commercially produced 1:6 scale wheelchairs do exist. However, they are all at least a decade out of print, thus exorbitantly overpriced, and they're all manual.
More later.