I'm not winning the originality contest
by saying that I love 1971 Steffie headmold. I love it not only for the
striking beauty of its features or the serenity of its expression but
also for the versatility. Steffie has given a face to Barbie's numerous
friends, such as Tracy, Whitney, P.J. as well as Midge or Teresa on
occasion and even Christie. Steffie looks great as a blonde, a brunette
or a redhead. She's been given multiple nationalities and racial
features, so we've seen her as a Caucasian, a Hispanic, an African
American and even an Asian.
It follows that such a face must be
universally loved and an object of desire to many collectors. I'm not
different and amongst such a wide variety of Steffie-faced dolls I have
my favorites. The Dream Date P.J. remains out of my reach for her crazy
price, but I've taken a great liking to Nurse Whitney. That liking,
slowly increasing, made me forget about P.J. and many other versions of
Steffie. What a surprise and joy when it turned out a collector was
selling her and almost round the corner.
It follows that such a face must be
universally loved and an object of desire to many collectors. I'm not
different and amongst such a wide variety of Steffie-faced dolls I have
my favorites. The Dream Date P.J. remains out of my reach for her crazy
price, but I've taken a great liking to Nurse Whitney. That liking,
slowly increasing, made me forget about P.J. and many other versions of
Steffie. What a surprise and joy when it turned out a collector was
selling her and almost round the corner.
The date on her box (yes!!! she's got a
box!!!) states 1987 and she remains my oldest doll, for now. Nurse
Whitney is the embodiment of a dolly perfection! She's a brunette, has
beautiful blue eyes with minimal blue eye make-up and pink pouty lips.
But it's not only the beauty of the doll
itself that has charmed me. The whole line is a stroke of genius on the
part of the old Mattel. The series also includes Doctor Barbie and
Doctor Ken and reminds me of the Day to Night Barbie. Nurse Whitney, for
instance, does her rounds during the day and in the evening, when she's
of duty, she hits the town with a style! She's perfectly dressed and
equipped to perform both roles. The below commercial presents Barbie and Ken as well as the Barbie Play and go Hospital/Doctor's Bag Playset 1987. There's no Whitney though.
My Whitney has lost some of her pieces,
and good that she has, otherwise she'd be equally unattainable as P.J.
for her price. But Whitney's nurse outfit originally included a
headpiece, a white ruffled blouse (which my doll is missing both of
them) and a dress (yes, it's a one-piece ) with a white plain bottom and
a lacy lavender top with a single metal snap. So in order to transform,
she just puts on a pleaded iridescent lavender overskirt tied with a
ribbon at the back and voila! The white pumps match both outfits and
Whitney's also wearing a 'diamond' ring and a pair of matching earrings.
Now her accessories! Oh my goodness!
Mattel used to be generous, but I feel totally spoiled with the amount
although my doll has lost many of them. But she originally came with a
stethoscope, an adhesive strip box, a scale, a cast, an otoscope, a
clipboard, a watch, a reflex hammer, a blood pressure gauge, 4 bottles, a
tray, a notepad and a real working doctor's bag to put all the
accessories inside! And of course, there's the brush that my Whitney’s
hair has had no contact with whatsoever and some punch-outs. Here are
the accessories I've got.
Ooups, I guess Whitney went slightly
overboard last night and now she needs to wear the cast. As a registered
nurse, she’s fully qualified and skilled to put it on herself! Of
course, for Whitney even the cast must be color-coordinated.
No comments:
Post a Comment