Teen Fun Party Skipper 1987

08.07.2018

Skipper doll in her 1987 version is very special to me, after all she marks the beginning of my collection and Teen Fun Party caught my attention even before that happened. But, much as I liked her, I didn’t really know what doll she was or what was so special about her until I researched her months later. When it turned out she was one of the first releases of the big-eyed mold my fondness for the doll increased even more. But before I continue my reverie about the doll, let me share some facts.

The Teen Fun series was produced in 1987 and it introduced a completely new image of Skipper doll. The series included three dolls, all Skipper, dressed and accessorized to perform certain typical activities of a teenage girl. Teen Fun Cheerleader is probably the most recognizable for her brown eyes and her two-toned hair and a very unique arrangement of the two colors. The second one, Teen Fun Workout has green eyes and her tiny locks of honey blonde are fashioned with the 80s vibe. The last on the series, Teen Fun Party, was given lavender eyes and her blonde hair is the fairest of them all. My Skipper’s hair, however, is a hot mess and it’s almost impossible to tame it especially after 30 years in her box. Her lipstick comes in two variations, mine is light pink, but some pictures online show it as white which was quite fashionable back in the 80s.

All these dolls come with the same headmold, yet they’re so different and to give consumers even more variety, Mattel produced the Teen Sweetheart Skipper that same year. This doll bore some more classical Skipper features as her eyes are blue and her hair light blonde and the company would replicate that pattern most often in the upcoming years. Now, one thing needs to be mentioned here and that is the discrepancy between the stock photo on the packaging and the final result, but of course Mattel is notorious for that.

Much was changed about the doll at that time and it’s not only the face sculpt that was refashioned entirely. She was given disproportionally large eyes for which she resembles an anime character. Her body had undergone significant changes as well. For one thing, she’s taller and her neck is longer as opposed to many previous versions of the doll. Her face may be child-like but she’s grown a tiny bit mature otherwise (permanently this time), probably to put an end to the controversy that surrounded the Growing up Skipper. Her articulation was modified too. Not only are her legs bendable and her arms can be stretched out from that point on. The major change is her waist that gained some more flexibility. Apart from having the features of Barbie’s TNT like it did before, the doll can now tilt backward, forward and sideways. Her body type is known as Teen Fun from this point until she grows again, pretty much to the height of Barbie as the Teen Skipper in 1997.

However, as the research on the doll progressed, my initial enthusiasm lessened. It turned out that the doll comes defective more often than not, in a form of white spots all over her legs. In fact, the entire series and some other individual dolls of that period are prone to having that issue. Now, my dolls don’t really have to be perfect. I enjoy restoring them, fixing their hair or some minor defects, but there’s nothing really that can be done about spotty vinyl other than rebody. Disappointed by that, I gave her up completely until I found her NRFB and having ascertained that the doll suffers from the same ailment, the vendor lowered the price enough to tempt me.

The defect is unfortunate, but there’s still much to be appreciated about the doll despite the issue. Her stock is incredible! It’s well made and the fabric is good quality. The outfit consists of many different and separate pieces for you to mix and match. There’s a pair of pantyhose, short leggings, a tutu, a top with snaps and not the vile Velcro, an apron and of course her flats. It’s really hard to capture that in the photos but the top and the leggings have a nice feature. There’s an iridescent thread sewn in between the stripes and it looks beautiful when it reflects light. 

I really like the fact that although the doll is portrayed as a hostess of a party, she is dressed with modesty, as a girl of her age should. Another thing is that additionally to her eyes, her outfit makes her the very likeness of an anime heroine, so cute and adorable. The party girl also comes with some accessories: her obligatory brush, a tray, two ice cream sodas, two cans of soft drink, a towel, a napkin and a number of cardboard punchouts.

Dolls at that time often came with some catalogues to encourage further purchases and this one is no different, only this time, the goal is achieved in a more subtle and creative way. Skipper’s got her scrapbook where she introduces the entire Teen Fun series, there’s some lovely artwork that I adore. The scrapbook presents the merchandize as her adventures, a part of a teenager’s day to day life that girls can easily relate to, or they could back in the 80s. I’m not sure such a doll would appeal to today’s teens.

One of the things that I appreciate about the doll is the image of the ‘’Party girl’’. Looking at the doll, I imagine a girl of 14 or so, who invited some friends to a garden party where she’s serving homemade ice cream sodas, some cupcakes and biscuits baked by her mom, but then it starts raining so they run home giggling happily. There’s balloons and confetti everywhere and the friends are playing some of their favorite records careful not to disturb the peace of their neighbors. The scrapbook also informs us the friends were ‘telling some silly knock-knock jokes’ – how adorable is that! But this vision seems somehow distant … unfortunately. Time has changed I guess.