When I was a little girl, the only face from
Barbie’s Universe that was truly familiar to me was the Superstar 1976. I knew
the exotic Teresa, Christie, Midge, Kira and Skipper only from the photos in
the catalogues or the visits at my cousin’s. At that time I had no idea that a
doll like Jazzie actually existed. I first saw her pictures when I was
following that wild idea of creating my Barbie collection and I was searching
for the photos of the dolls long lost. What a wonderful discovery Jazzie was to
me. I promised myself that if I ever do have my Barbie collection, she’s going
to be a part of it. So here she is, my Teen Looks Cheerleader Jazzie 1988.
Jazzie’s story is really interesting and to
give you the whole picture I need to turn back in time to 1979. There was no
Jazzie dolls at that time, but Mattel was about to launch the production of a
completely new doll line entirely unconnected with Barbie. The line included 4
dolls: the lovely blonde named Starr, her sweetheart Shaun and her 2 best
friends – Kelley and Tracey. Erynnis has
described them in detail on her blog. The designers gave the dolls unique
personalities and interests and set them in a context of a small town high
school. The dolls were given new headmolds and advanced articulation, for
instance they had articulated ankles, so the girls could wear both flat shoes
and heels. To use that potential immediately, the girls got two pairs of shoes
each and also a number of accessories to demonstrate their school activity and
their free time interests. The dolls had it all and seemed to sell very well so
it’s hard to believe that having been released in 1980 they were cancelled only
a year later. But that didn’t mean the end to two out of the four new
headmolds.
In 1985 the Heart Family Mom inerited Kelley’s
face and in 1988 – Jazzie. Jazzie’s Universe seems to have copied Starr’s. So
yet again, there’s the sweet blonde that’s the coolest girl in school, she has
a heartbreaker hunk of a boyfriend Dude (headmold Derek) and two besties –
interesting looking Chelsie (headmold Tracey 1979) and the gorgeous Stacie
(headmold Steffie). Just like Starr, Jazzie’s got her own series, separate from
Barbie’s. The dolls were packaged in distinct looking white boxes that contained only the dolls, a comb and nothing else. There were also as many as 12
different fashion packs that could be all worn in many ways and 2 playsets –
the Burger King set and the Volkswagen Cabriolet. At the same time Jazzie was marketed as
Barbie’s younger cousin and she would
visit Barbie in the summer in beach series. Barbie logo was cleverly placed on
Jazzie’s boxes and that was supposed to improve her sales rates, but it still
didn’t save her from the untimely demise that took place in 1992.
These are the dolls that were produced during
those 4 years of Jazzie’s existence:
- High School Jazzie 1988 (with Stacie, Chelsie and Dude making this only one appearance )
 |
| High School Jazzie, Chelsie, Stacie and Dude |
the source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/30981385@N04/2909993216/
- Teen Looks Swim SuitJazzie 1988
- Teen Looks Cheerleader Jazzie 1988
- Teen Looks Workout Jazzie 1988
 |
| Teen Looks Swim Suit Jazzie |
the source: http://picssr.com/photos/chestergirl/page13?nsid=55230357@N03
 |
| Teen Looks Cheerleader Jazzie |
the source: https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/554716879084352985/?lp=true
 |
| Teen Looks Workout Jazzie |
the source: https://www.bonanza.com/items/like/588849940/Teen-Looks-Workout-Jazzie-1988-Mattel-3633-Sealed-NIB
- Teen Dance Jazzie 1988
- Teen Scene Jazzie 1990
- Sun Lovin’ Jazzie 1990
- Hawaiian Fun Jazzie 1990
- Sun Sensation Jazzie 1991
- Glitter Beach Jazzie 1992
My Cheerleader cast her spell on me a long time
ago. Her previous owner put her out for sale under the wrong name as Swim Suit
Jazzie and I find it strange because Swim Suit is unique. She’s the only Jazzie
to come with brown eyes, the rest vary between blue and violet. It didn’t take
me long to identify my Jazzie as there are so few of them. Along with my
Cheerleader there were also two Jazzie dolls in the series and those were the
Workout and the aforementioned Swim Suit that’s currently high on my wishlist.
Unfortunately my Cheerleader has a defect, the paint on her upper lip has
chipped in places. It’s not quite as bad as it seems but honestly I’d prefer to
have known of this before I made the purchase. The flaw was not shown in the
two identical pictures whose quality left much to be desired, there were no
close-ups on the doll’s face and the auction description spoke of a “very good
condition” hmm…. That’s not how I understand the term.
Imperfect as the doll is, she’s still lovely
and her reasonably sized deep blue eyes give her a very happy expression. Apart
from the chipped lipstick she has no makeup whatsoever. When you put Jazie next
to Skipper and Courtney, they suddenly seem to have gone overboard with
secretly stealing Barbie’s make-up kit. And no wonder, after all Jazzie is a
high school girl and anyway Kelley 1979 headmold is a natural beauty and
doesn’t need much. Jazzie’s hair wasn’t as good as I’d expected either but I
did what I could and in the end I’m pretty satisfied. Her hair is styled in two
crimped half ponytails (pigtails?) and the rest is let loose and straight. I
washed the straight hair in some very, very hot water (but not boiling) and the
crimps got a little more conditioner than usually.
Jazzie is a kind of a hybrid. She’s dated 1975
at the back. She’s got her chest mold (and zero boobs) from Starr, she pivots
and tilts at the waist and she’s got 90 degrees bent arms but not identical to
Barbie’s, I’m not sure if I’ve managed to capture this in the photos. Jazzie’s
also tall. At first I thought she was somewhere between Teen Fun Skipper and
Barbie, but she’s actually Barbie’s height, though much lankier.
Jazzie can do gymnastics, well kind of. She can do an open stance. Her feet can also turn
inwards and outwards a little, so she can do the Sailor Moon distressed pose. Her
legs bend at the knees but her ankles don’t- unlike Starr’s, so she can wear
only flats. She has some enormous feet and Barbie’s or Teen Fun Skipper’s 1987
tennis shoes don’t fit her. They look about the same, but Jazzie’s are larger
and I’m guessing my doll’s wearing her stock shoes.
Jazzie arrived wearing a very nice floral dress
which looked vaguely familiar. The dress was by Mattel and the shape of Barbie
logo on the tag indicated the 90s. The dress belongs to one of those large
fashion packs – the Barbie Fashion Giftset 6 Complete Outfits from 1993. The
Cheerleader’s stock outfit is a three-piece and you can create 3 different
looks with them. There’s the blue top with a decal, a pink skirt that can go
from short to a little longer, and some biking shorts with suspedners. The
accessories include a single pompom and a clear plastic, gummy sort of spiral
bracelet/hairpiece. Only the last piece (plus the shoes) remained from her
stock. However, since her breasts are almost nonexistent, she can fit most of
the contemporary Barbie fashion packs. It gives her almost limitless dress
possibilities, but the shoes are still a problem. Perhaps she can borrow some
from a contemporary Ken? I’ll check that out.
The source:
https://www.upcitemdb.com/upc/26676680735
Jazzie is really amazing and seems a missed opportunity.
Perhaps now, when there’s such a variety of headmolds Mattel might consider
wiping the dust off the old mold and use it again?
