Monday, March 25, 2019

Teen Looks Cheerleader Jazzie 1988

Yaaaay! My English blog backlog is finally behind me! I've managed to migrate with the old posts and translate all the new ones! So here it goes!


When I was a little girl, the only face from Barbie’s Universe that was truly familiar to me was the Superstar 1976. I knew the exotic Teresa, Christie, Midge, Kira and Skipper only from the photos in the catalogues or the visits at my cousin’s. At that time I had no idea that a doll like Jazzie actually existed. I first saw her pictures when I was following that wild idea of creating my Barbie collection and I was searching for the photos of the dolls long lost. What a wonderful discovery Jazzie was to me. I promised myself that if I ever do have my Barbie collection, she’s going to be a part of it. So here she is, my Teen Looks Cheerleader Jazzie 1988.


Jazzie’s story is really interesting and to give you the whole picture I need to turn back in time to 1979. There was no Jazzie dolls at that time, but Mattel was about to launch the production of a completely new doll line entirely unconnected with Barbie. The line included 4 dolls: the lovely blonde named Starr, her sweetheart Shaun and her 2 best friends – Kelley and Tracey. Erynnis has described them in detail on her blog. The designers gave the dolls unique personalities and interests and set them in a context of a small town high school. The dolls were given new headmolds and advanced articulation, for instance they had articulated ankles, so the girls could wear both flat shoes and heels. To use that potential immediately, the girls got two pairs of shoes each and also a number of accessories to demonstrate their school activity and their free time interests. The dolls had it all and seemed to sell very well so it’s hard to believe that having been released in 1980 they were cancelled only a year later. But that didn’t mean the end to two out of the four new headmolds.



In 1985 the Heart Family Mom inerited Kelley’s face and in 1988 – Jazzie. Jazzie’s Universe seems to have copied Starr’s. So yet again, there’s the sweet blonde that’s the coolest girl in school, she has a heartbreaker hunk of a boyfriend Dude (headmold Derek) and two besties – interesting looking Chelsie (headmold Tracey 1979) and the gorgeous Stacie (headmold Steffie). Just like Starr, Jazzie’s got her own series, separate from Barbie’s. The dolls were packaged in distinct looking white boxes that contained only the dolls, a comb and nothing else. There were also as many as 12 different fashion packs that could be all worn in many ways and 2 playsets – the Burger King set and the Volkswagen Cabriolet.  At the same time Jazzie was marketed as Barbie’s younger cousin and  she would visit Barbie in the summer in beach series. Barbie logo was cleverly placed on Jazzie’s boxes and that was supposed to improve her sales rates, but it still didn’t save her from the untimely demise that took place in 1992.



 These are the dolls that were produced during those 4 years of Jazzie’s existence:
- High School Jazzie 1988 (with Stacie, Chelsie and Dude making this only one appearance )
High School Jazzie, Chelsie, Stacie and Dude

 the source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/30981385@N04/2909993216/
 
- Teen Looks Swim SuitJazzie 1988
- Teen Looks Cheerleader Jazzie 1988
- Teen Looks Workout Jazzie 1988
 
Teen Looks Swim Suit Jazzie
the source: http://picssr.com/photos/chestergirl/page13?nsid=55230357@N03

Teen Looks Cheerleader Jazzie
 the source: https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/554716879084352985/?lp=true 

Teen Looks Workout Jazzie
the source: https://www.bonanza.com/items/like/588849940/Teen-Looks-Workout-Jazzie-1988-Mattel-3633-Sealed-NIB

- Teen Dance Jazzie 1988
- Teen Scene Jazzie 1990
- Sun Lovin’ Jazzie 1990
- Hawaiian Fun Jazzie 1990
- Sun Sensation Jazzie 1991
- Glitter Beach Jazzie 1992



My Cheerleader cast her spell on me a long time ago. Her previous owner put her out for sale under the wrong name as Swim Suit Jazzie and I find it strange because Swim Suit is unique. She’s the only Jazzie to come with brown eyes, the rest vary between blue and violet. It didn’t take me long to identify my Jazzie as there are so few of them. Along with my Cheerleader there were also two Jazzie dolls in the series and those were the Workout and the aforementioned Swim Suit that’s currently high on my wishlist. Unfortunately my Cheerleader has a defect, the paint on her upper lip has chipped in places. It’s not quite as bad as it seems but honestly I’d prefer to have known of this before I made the purchase. The flaw was not shown in the two identical pictures whose quality left much to be desired, there were no close-ups on the doll’s face and the auction description spoke of a “very good condition” hmm…. That’s not how I understand the term.


Imperfect as the doll is, she’s still lovely and her reasonably sized deep blue eyes give her a very happy expression. Apart from the chipped lipstick she has no makeup whatsoever. When you put Jazie next to Skipper and Courtney, they suddenly seem to have gone overboard with secretly stealing Barbie’s make-up kit. And no wonder, after all Jazzie is a high school girl and anyway Kelley 1979 headmold is a natural beauty and doesn’t need much. Jazzie’s hair wasn’t as good as I’d expected either but I did what I could and in the end I’m pretty satisfied. Her hair is styled in two crimped half ponytails (pigtails?) and the rest is let loose and straight. I washed the straight hair in some very, very hot water (but not boiling) and the crimps got a little more conditioner than usually.




Jazzie is a kind of a hybrid. She’s dated 1975 at the back. She’s got her chest mold (and zero boobs) from Starr, she pivots and tilts at the waist and she’s got 90 degrees bent arms but not identical to Barbie’s, I’m not sure if I’ve managed to capture this in the photos. Jazzie’s also tall. At first I thought she was somewhere between Teen Fun Skipper and Barbie, but she’s actually Barbie’s height, though much lankier.




Jazzie can do gymnastics, well kind of. She can do an open stance. Her feet can also turn inwards and outwards a little, so she can do the Sailor Moon distressed pose. Her legs bend at the knees but her ankles don’t- unlike Starr’s, so she can wear only flats. She has some enormous feet and Barbie’s or Teen Fun Skipper’s 1987 tennis shoes don’t fit her. They look about the same, but Jazzie’s are larger and I’m guessing my doll’s wearing her stock shoes.







Jazzie arrived wearing a very nice floral dress which looked vaguely familiar. The dress was by Mattel and the shape of Barbie logo on the tag indicated the 90s. The dress belongs to one of those large fashion packs – the Barbie Fashion Giftset 6 Complete Outfits from 1993. The Cheerleader’s stock outfit is a three-piece and you can create 3 different looks with them. There’s the blue top with a decal, a pink skirt that can go from short to a little longer, and some biking shorts with suspedners. The accessories include a single pompom and a clear plastic, gummy sort of spiral bracelet/hairpiece. Only the last piece (plus the shoes) remained from her stock. However, since her breasts are almost nonexistent, she can fit most of the contemporary Barbie fashion packs. It gives her almost limitless dress possibilities, but the shoes are still a problem. Perhaps she can borrow some from a contemporary Ken? I’ll check that out.

The source: https://www.upcitemdb.com/upc/26676680735





Jazzie is really amazing and seems a missed opportunity. Perhaps now, when there’s such a variety of headmolds Mattel might consider wiping the dust off the old mold and use it again?





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