A collector must fight those constant
battles, and resist the temptation and the inner nagging, especially if,
like me, they operate within a limited budget. I’ve won so many times
forgetting a doll easily, which means she was not destined to be mine
after all. But on those occasions that I did succumb, I was not a bit
sorry because the doll was special and she would not be forgotten no
matter how hard I tried and sooner or later she would end up in my
collection anyway. And may I just add that I’m not sorry at all to have
lost the battle over buying or not buying Peaches’n Cream 1984 Barbie.
I found Peaches quite by accident. She
was amongst other dolls in a state of neglect that cried out for
revenge. She was wearing an ugly outfit that pretended to be a wedding
dress and a veil that obscured her very dirty face. At first, I paid no
attention to her, focusing on another doll that I’d already decided to
purchase. But then I took a closer look at the other dolls the owner put
out for sale. There were two Peaches’n Cream Barbie dolls, both made in
Taiwan. When I realized what doll she was, I just couldn’t leave her so
dirty and cruelly neglected. After all, I’ve had my eye on her for
quite some time, she was high on my wish list, but I wanted to have a
nice, clean doll in her dress, with her jewelry, and ideally with shoes.
But then again, Peaches is one of the three dolls that I’d be thrilled
to have as doubles because the differences between the Philippines and
the Taiwan versions are quite distinct.
Peaches’n Cream was actually produced in
three different factories, the Malaysia site being the third one. Each
of the factories had their own vision of what the doll should look like,
and as Barbie at that time was not machine painted, various sites had
their own, very recognizable facepaint style. The Philippines’ way was
very subtle, the lines were soft and dainty, the paint almost diluted,
the dolls very ethereal. The Taiwan style was intense, high color, sharp
strokes, high contrast, the dolls looked decisive and unapproachable
but equally beautiful. My Peaches has all the features of a Taiwan doll,
her black, thick eyeliner and a multitude of black lashes give
sharpness to her blue and purple eyes. The lavender eyeshadow and the
blush on her cheeks are well pronounced and her red, almost orange
lipstick is thinly applied. The doll is spectacular, although when she
arrived, the thick layer of dirt distorted her features and proportions
making her almost ugly.
When I unwrapped my poor Peaches, her
hair was tangled, sticky and caked with dirt, her part line not in its
rightful place revealed a bald row, it was altogether an awful sight to
behold. Once I washed her, she looked much better, her hair needed a
thorough scrubbing and then I left it submerged in fabric softener for
several hours. The first boil wash restored shine to her saran hair and
once it cooled down I turned on Dynasty and began to brush it gently. It
took me a good half episode to detangle the hair, but it was warm and
sunny and it dried quickly. Barbie resembled a puddle on steroids and
that was not my desired result, so I recreated the part line, tied the
hair in a ponytail and boil washed the ends again. Then I brushed
separate strands dipping a fine toothed comb in the water. The ends
started to form nicely looking curls. I’m satisfied for now.
One of Barbie’s previous owners dressed
her in something that was supposed to be a wedding dress, only I think
it belonged to a clone because it’s way too large for her.
Unfortunately, her spectacular dress, her boa, jewelry and shoes are
lost and I hope to get at least the outfit for her, but so that she’s
not naked, I dressed her in a modern Barbie fashion pack that becomes
her and I thought it’s a good opportunity to have her present some of my
favorite contemporary fashions for Barbie.
The set that I’ve selected for Peaches
is FCX92 DNV27 from 2015 and it includes a long evening gown with a
sparkly silvery top cut with a pink ribbon and a two-layer bottom. The
inner layer is a plain pink fabric but the outer one is a spectacular
pleaded organza, that is I think it is because I’m lousy with all fabric
types. Unfortunately, the dress is so decorative only in the front
part, the back reminds me of a sleeping gown, but that’s been Mattel’s
tendency for good several years now. The fashion pack comes with a pink,
jelly purse and a pair of silver, ankle strapped heels.
Although the dress is not perfect or not
up to the 80s/90s standards I’m used to, I like it and I own another
color variant – FBB71 DTW57. The dress is identical in its design and
the only difference is colors – the top is pink and the bottom, coral.
Unfortunately, this set doesn’t come with shoes, only a golden necklace
and a purse. The purse is the same mold as the previous one. There’s
been a third variant, the accessories are the same, and so is the bottom
part of the dress, the top is golden.
Mattel’s had several good fashion looks
within the last 2-3 years and FCT37 is one of them. I can’t seem to find
the other half of the article number, but the dress is not new,
probably from 2015 or 2016 and generally known. It’s long to short with a
sparkly, red tank top upper part. The bottom is two layers – plain,
orange, red trimmed with a tulle, hart sprinkled over layer. The fashion
pack comes with a red frilly purse and a golden bracelet.
An almost identical design has already
appeared on my blog and my Mermaid Midge wore it for some time before I
got her a Fashion Avenue Deluxe. It’s FND47 FKT11, a silvery-white, teal
trimmed dress with thin straps, sprinkled with glitter. It comes with a
white purse with a latch that resembles a diamond and a teal bead
bracelet, no shoes although it’s supposed to be a Complete Look. I’ve
paired it with some simple pumps and I’ve added a blue necklace and a
purse. The dress is very pretty and versatile and can be both elegant
and slightly more casual.
Two remaining dresses are similar to the
previous ones in terms of the long to short design but the bottom part
is only one layer. The first one is DWG21 FCT22 and it reminds me of the
Barbie fashions I used to salivate over when I was a kid. The color,
the fabrics, the stars printed all over the dress, all that is very
reminiscent of the clothes I very much wanted my dolls to wear but never
got them. It may be simple and not very sophisticated, but it’s one of
my top favorites. The set includes a silver clutch and a necklace that
can’t be worn with the dress. Oh well…
The last dress is identical to the
previous one in almost every respect but for the color scheme. It has
the ombre effect and goes from purple to yellow to green with gold spots
all over it. DTW51 DTW60 is a 2017/20118 fashion pack and its
accessories include a silver, flat envelope purse and a golden bracelet.
Never match gold and silver? – “We girls can do anything, right
Barbie?”. Sadly, no shoes again and the ones my Peaches is wearing
belong to Purple Passion, who’s generously lent her the pair.
I keep hunting for Peaches’ stock outfit
that is simply spectacular, but for now, she’ll wear one of these and
it really pleases me to see the doll that that arrived in a state very
much to be pitied now shine again. The 80s/90s Barbie dolls were amazing
quality, they stood the test of time splendidly and don’t really need
much work to be beautiful again. I wish the contemporary Barbie were
like that…
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