Desmond: "Please join us in the fight against pollution. Let's all chip in so we can have clean air and water!"

Rhoda: "We love earth and all living things. We hope you feel the same."

These two hippies (they acutally look more like beatniks) were made by Gund in 1971. They were made of cloth with yarn for hair. Each figure stood nearly 3 feet tall. Desmond and Rhoda (short for Rhododendron) were sold seperately in window boxes.

The Now Kids are tough to find. Fortunately, Rhoda and Desmond are the only two figures in the series. There are no ultra-rare Now Kids VW Bugs, acoustic guitars or protest signs to haunt and elude obsessive collectors.

Most of the dolls that I have seen on sales and auction sites are still in their boxes and generally sell for under $30 each. Loose dolls are especially vunerable to staining and fading.