During the early 2000s, several one-of-a-kind (OOAK) versions of Billy and his pals were created by Hayes Valley Girls of San Francisco. We take a look at their archives…
BATHHOUSE BILLY
One of the first OOAK Billy dolls created by Hayes Valley Girls. The doll was available in blonde and brunette versions, sometimes with a sauna towel, and sometimes not (depending on availability). Bathhouse Billy was boxed with his own signature rubber ducky and soap on a tile background. All ready to get nice and clean in the showers – at least that’s what he said he was doing.
BATHHOUSE CARLOS
Billy’s boyfriend, Carlos, wanted to get in on the act. A smaller number of the Bathhouse Carlos dolls were made. These did not usually have separate sauna towels, Carlos preferred the au naturel approach.
BATHHOUSE BILLY – DRAG VERSION
A very small number of these Billy giftsets were put together, and presented in large white glossy boxes embellished with Billy branding. Drag Bathhouse Billy was based on Totem’s Dolly drag doll, with an alternative wig, and a pink bathrobe.
BEDROOM BILLY
A doll for our times, the WFH (working from home) Billy doll. He’s nice and comfortable in his plaid boxer shorts and cosy long socks. Just in case the Zoom meetings become too exhausting, he has a handy pillow for naps. Billy is complete with his unmade bed backing board.
MECHANIC BILLY
Created as a tribute to the late photographer Herb Ritts, and his iconic image Fred with Tires, Hollywood, 1984, several versions this doll were made: as individual gift set boxes with a black and white print car body-shop background and two tires; as well as Totem-boxed dolls with a single tire. Various types of jeans were used, some of the dolls were ‘dirtied’ with faux engine oil.
GYM BILLY
Wearing nothing but a bespoke jockstrap, Billy has a workout at the gym. The doll was available in both blonde and brunette versions and came with a locker-room background.
JOCKSTRAP CARLOS
Only one of these dolls was made, using an overly hirsute Carlos found on eBay that had been liberally added to with a Sharpie pen. He had a certain hairy charm and was sold complete with pristine white jockstrap, and a white teddy bear.
HIGHLAND BILLY
Sporting a kilt and sturdy boots, several iterations of the Scottish Billy doll were created. This version wears a black gym singlet with harness combo. All of the Highland Billys were boxed with a scenic glen background. See below for more variations.
HIGHLAND BILLY
This Scottish doll version wears a blue gym singlet with belted kilt, and army boots with gaiters – ideally suited for tramping through the heather.
HIGHLAND BILLY
A blonde Scottish Billy in a red gym singlet with belted kilt in alternative tartan, and the army boots with gaiters.
HIGHLAND BILLY
A bare-chested Billy wears a harness, belted alternate tartan kilt, and standard-issue boots. This doll was used for the Glen Fear movie poster.
HIGHLAND CARLOS
A small number of Scottish Carlos dolls were created by Hayes Valley Girls. This doll wears a black gym singlet, a standard tartan kilt, with Totem boots, belt, armband, and cap.
HIGHLAND CARLOS
Two versions of the red singlet Carlos are shown, wearing the two types of tartan used, and two different types of black boots, and belts. This doll wears a Totem armband as a dog collar. The boxed doll is incorrectly packaged in a Billy-branded box.
JUMPSUIT BILLY AND CARLOS
Several versions of the jumpsuit dolls were produced. They varied in color of jumpsuit, belt, and type of sunglasses as well as style of running shoe. All had the graffiti artwork backgrounds.
JUMPSUIT CARLOS
A bold red jumpsuit picks up on the detail of the running shoes. A skin-tight fit with black belt and clear glasses. A detail of the graffiti background is shown. Carlos is boxed in a Billy container.
EASTER BUNNY BILLY
A limited number of Easter Billys were made using the jumpsuit dolls. Fluffy tails were added, together with bunny ears, the dolls were packaged with Easter egg backgrounds.
DOROTHY BILLY
Only one of these dolls was made. Despite looking nothing like Judy Garland, Billy is nevertheless clearly modeled on her character, Dorothy Gale, from the Wizard of Oz movie. Wearing a Billy t-shirt, blue gingham skirt, white bobby socks, and shiny ‘ruby slipper’ boots, the look is completed with a chunky yarn wig with ribbons and braids.
NAKED COWBOY BILLY
A celebration of The Naked Cowboy of Times Square in New York. Billy wears nothing but a jockstrap, a cowboy hat, boots, and of course a guitar. The actual Naked Cowboy wears white briefs, so Billy is arguably a little more naked than his inspiration. Only one of these dolls was made, presented in a white gift box with NYC background.
LOUNGE LIZARD BILLY
Charles Josef designed this protoype AIDS awareness lounge suit with gold lamé jacket, accessorized with a white evening shirt with seed pearl buttons. The perfect red carpet outfit. Strictly a one-off, the doll was packaged with a fireworks background. You can see more night-on-the-town shots of Billy here.
DISCO BILLY
Very few of these were made. The dolls were packaged with a Saturday Night Fever style disco background. Billy wears thigh-high lace-up high heel boots, try dancing in those. In the main picture he’s in leather mini-shorts and vest. In the inset shot Billy is dressed in sequin-trimmed skimpy shorts and a glittery pom-pom boa.
DISCO CARLOS
A one-of-a-kind dressed doll by an unknown maker was packaged in a disco box. This spectacular faux suede and fur combo is liberally decorated with silver eyelets, and zipper edging. The pants are intricately laced at the sides.
BONDAGE BILLY
In homage to one of the publicity dolls created by Totem International for the launch of Billy dolls, the look was recreated by Hayes Valley Girls. This bald-headed doll features nipple piercings, and lashings of rope. The arms were reconfigured to allow for tying behind the back. Only one of these dolls was made. For a small fee, prospective customers were able to request unedited prints with the star removed, this fee was refunded to the successful bidder.
BILLY WITH A BOOST
For a while Hayes Valley Girls offered a happy ending service for Billy, Carlos, and Tyson dolls. The dolls were given a boost as suggested in the pictures above. Following the same principle as for Bondage Billy, prospective customers were able to request unedited prints for a small fee with the star and/or towel removed, this fee was refunded upon purchase.
OOAK BILLY DOLLS BY OTHER MAKERS
Superman Tyson in modern casual wear. This doll has had his goatee removed and has been given a new flocked hairdo. Tiny diamanté earrings have been added. Maker unknown.
Mohican Carlos in loungewear. A clean-shaven Carlos with the addition of a sharp mohawk. Maker unknown.
Bandana Billy, wears hipster jeans and a bandana with a to-scale print. This bald doll has been reimagined with red hair, collars and cuffs to match. Maker unknown.
Dad Carlos, looking straight out of the seventies and channeling Burt Reynolds. Carlos’ goatee has been trimmed back to a dad-style mustache. He wears comfy cord pants with a white t-shirt, his vacation over-shirt, and brown sandals. Maker unknown.
AND FINALLY…
Not one of the Billy gang at all, but Mel Odom’s Trent Osborn doll, as reconfigured by Hayes Valley Girls. You’ve probably spotted a trend here. Trent Osborn is a fictional movie star of the mid-20th century and a character in the world of the Gene Marshall fashion doll collection. As was the case for the enhanced Billy dolls, prospective customers were able to request unedited prints, for a small fee, with the star removed. The fee was refunded on purchase.