Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Super Star Barbie 1988



Poland was still a Comunist country when I dreamt about my very first Barbie and purchasing such a doll was not an easy task back then. For one thing, you just couldn’t go to your local mall or a supermarket as none existed in my country at that time. Barbie was available, however, at our luxury stores called Pewex (The Internal Export Enterprise) and at a horrendous price too. It’s been estimated that a Barbie would cost even up to 25% of an average monthly income. To make things even more complicated, Pewex wouldn’t accept our currency for most of the time it operated. You needed US Dollars and those were hard to obtain as currency flow was carefully controlled and restricted. So I really don’t know how my mom did that, but when I was 5 or 6 she took me to Pewex to buy me my very first Barbie, the 1988 Super Star and now that after almost 30 years I’m opening an identical pink box, I feel equally excited!


I’ve purchased Super Star NRFB which is an unprecedented event for my collection and certainly won’t happen again soon. There are still price tags on the box which state that my Super Star was originally available for $12.97 and subsequently reduced to $5.00, and I wonder how much my mom had to pay for her in Poland.




An interesting fact, it appears from the price tags that my Barbie was sold at a Hills Department Store and these ceased to operate in 1999. She’s travelled a long way to finally arrive at my place. The back of the box presents Super Star Barbie and Ken and a white Ferrari which I used to have until my 2-year old sister decided to sit on it and drive it. The Ferrari didn’t survive.





The box itself holds many treasures apart from the doll herself. There is a bracelet and a charm for a little owner, a comb, a manual showing how to release the hair, a promotional leaflet encouraging you to join Barbie club, a number of cardboard punch-outs and a poster catalogue presenting a series of Super Star fashions and many more objects of desire, a cruel devise to tempt kids and collectors alike!


Barbie herself is perfect! She had spent 30 years trapped in the box, but her hair is still silky, soft and the curls hold beautifully. For a movie star, her make-up is very subtle, the pale pink eyeshadow reaches her brows and there’s but a touch of a pearly pink lipstick. She’s easy to identify for the stars in her eyes.


She’s wearing her classical pink heels but her jewelry is very extravagant.The best part of her stock, however, is her 4-piece outfit. There’s a faux fur boa, a starry top, a matching mini skirt and a voluminous overskirt. The outfit can be worn in several ways.








The doll is stunning! For her unquestionable beauty and my own happy memories she remains my favorite Barbie doll.



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