I’ve already mentioned several times I
have great fondness for the sweet Teen Fun Skipper mold, but as to Wet’n
Wild Skipper 1989, I had my reservations. I mean … those bangs! And the
orange complexion – another Skin Cancer Skipper case as my sister would
certainly call her. But she belongs to the unquestionably one of a kind
series and those bangs make the entire line instantly recognizable. How
could I resist when she happened to be offered and at a very, very
reasonable price.
My Skipper has certainly seen better
days. She arrived in an overall good condition – clean and smelling
nicely, but there was a huge crack in her neck and there were dark spots
on her legs that would not be removed. As to her hair, well it is
slightly wilder than the name would suggest. It’s a curious combination
of saran and kanekalon and so it’s quite unruly and frizzy. And then
those bangs! I wondered what to do with those. They’re made of kanekalon
and would be quite responsive to curling, but that would eliminate the
doll’s most characteristic feature.
I decided to leave it as it is. I only
cleaned her, dipped her hair a little in hot water to give it some shine
and styled it the way it was supposed to. I braided the two front rows
of kanekalon, which revealed beautiful sunny saran mane. She looks a
little cuter now though there’s no striking difference between the
before and after looks. I actually took no pictures of her before spa.
Interestingly enough, there’s another version of Wet’n Wild Skipper with
some more common looking bangs, but given an opportunity to choose one
of them I know the decision would be difficult to make. The standard
version is much cuter, but the wild fringe is absolutely unique.
One of the reasons why I purchased the
doll was her outfit. She’s a beach doll and originally came in a curious
temperature sensitive swimsuit that changes color. Her stock outfit was
lost, but her previous owner gave her a lovely little set that consists
of some elements of two fashion packs - Pet Pals 1991 (top), High
School Fun Fashions Tea Set for Two 1994 (bottom) and a pair of white
tennis shoes. The little dress is in perfect shape, however the white
outfit and the doll’s fiercely orange complexion don’t really look good
together.
The pastel Shibajuku Girls fashion pack
isn’t any better and what the doll really needs is some neon colors as a
distraction. As to her shoes, they’re curious. They were made in the
Philippines and there is a left shoe and the right one, they’re also
made of some kind of a rubbery material. I’ve got a hot pink pair as
well. They, on the other hand, were made in China, are plastic and
unfortunately, are both left shoes!
The below commercials present the entire
Wet'N Wild series as well as the additional Water Park playset. Skipper
is present in both of them wearing her stock outfit.
As to her make-up, I’m not really sure
the deep tan and the blue eyeliner look so great, but Skipper’s
certainly cute. Her complexion in reality is slightly less orange, it’s
just my camera making the color more vibrant than necessary I’m afraid.
The lipstick is nude / peachy as opposed to pale pink that she’d usually
get. The doll’s eyes are beautifully blue, smiley, innocent and
ginormous as is characteristic of this facemold. They make her so
anime-like and are my favorite feature of the mold.
Some collectors love Wet’n’Wild Skipper,
some think she’s hideous, but she’s certainly recognizable and belongs
one of the most unique and exceptional series that ever existed in
Mattel’s history and there are but few Barbie collectors who’d never
heard of Wet’n Wild. I don’t think any other beach series has ever
provoked such controversy or inspired such extreme views and opinions as
this one. At the same time I can’t quite resist the certain charm that
surrounds those dolls and I’m very happy that at least Skipper joined my
collection. As to the big eyed mold, now I feel I’m missing Courtney
and the AA Skipper. They’re next on the wish list.
No comments:
Post a Comment