Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Peaches'N Cream Barbie 1984



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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