If you’re a certain age, then you were a child during that magical time in the early 80’s when toy companies realized the best way to market new action figures (or re-package old ones) was to create a cartoon. By 1984, Hallmark decided to get in on the action and target young girls with a character that combined both rainbows and horses (SLAM DUNK!) in the form of Rainbow Brite. Most of us that lived through the He-Man era got rid or lost track of our old stuff, but one woman has spent the last 20 years reclaiming her childhood by collecting every bit of Rainbow Brite flotsam that she can put her hand to.
Katy Cartee Haile, now 34, has filled several rooms of her house with dolls, books, dolls, fan art, dolls, original animation cels, and dolls. There are also several rooms full of dolls, and did I mention this woman is married? Dolls.
From Metro:
Katy says her husband Adam and family are generally supportive of her passion. ‘I’m sure some of my friends and relatives think it’s a little odd, but no one has ever said a negative word to me about it.’
Well, at least she knows the reason no one has said anything about it is because they’re busy saying that stuff behind her back. She seems incredibly nice for someone who spends her free time acquiring hundreds of gewgaws for a cartoon that only had 13 episodes. (And a movie. The movie had a horse, that was a robot. Double slam dunk?) It’s kind of hard to hate on someone with that many rainbows around her. It feels like a hate crime.
As one eagle-eyed Facebook commenter noted: not a litter box to be seen in these photos, which seems impossible, as hoarder math states that for every thirty thing of a stuff, you get a free cat. Katy has collected over 1500 Rainbow Brite items in the “Rainbow Land Museum,” and nary a kitten.
No one has visited Katy’s museum yet, but now that she’s been featured on Buzzfeed, she can probably expect at least three poorly-worded hate emails from the Punky Brewster fandom. (Conventional wisdom may suggest she also be wary of Bronies, but I assume that goes without saying.) You can download all seven episodes of her podcast, “Brite Cast,” at her Rainbow Brite fanpage, and check out the rest of her museum photos via her Flickr profile.
Or you can continue putting together your Rescue Rangers monument, I’m not here to judge.