I can hardly believe it’s been a year since I
published the first post on my dolly blog. It had been barely two months earlier
that I set up my doll collection. The word “collection” seemed hardly
appropriate for what consisted of maybe 5 dolls back then but to me it was
something! Something big. I had been planning to collect for so many years. Although
my collection was not large, I loved every single one of these dolls and they
were the evidence that I may be an adult woman, but somewhere deep down there I
was still a kid. I craved for more and more dolls so as you can see, the kid had no
intention of growing up. So much has changed in the course of the past year but
one thing hasn't – I still want more dolls and they give me the same joy. Now
this post is going to be long, and the pictures aren’t the best but the weather
has been awful and photographing this many dolls is not an easy task – but so
much fun!
My collection began with a series of favorable
circumstances – I was actually looking for a picture of a doll that I dreamed
of when I was a child, with no success. By chance, I found a similar doll that
was for sale and her price happened to be very low. This doll was the Malaysian
version of Sun Sensation Skipper that I preferred. The doll was nude, but
coincidentally, I had bought a perfect outfit for her some time earlier. The
doll was clean and her hair was perfect, but she was faulty and I just happened
to know how to fix her. All this was too much for me to ignore and before I
knew, my collection had begun.
I was in a state of absolute euphoria and
disbelief. I just bought a doll for myself and I’m a grown woman after all. The
doll that my mom couldn’t afford when I was little. It took me some time to adjust to the unexpected event before I could even think that the seller might have some other interesting dolls and she sure
did. As a result, my Skipper didn’t have to make the journey alone. She came
with her older sister – JCPenney Evening Majesty 1996. Barbie was pristine.
Her hair, face and outfit were in a perfect condition. And that face! The
Superstar face! That has always been the true Barbie face to me. I remember being a student
and visiting my family in NY over summer holidays. My little sister had asked
me to bring her a Barbie doll and I was more than happy to oblige her. I went
to the nearest Toys’r’us. I had never seen so many Barbie dolls in one place. That
was shocking and overwhelming. To you it may seem noting out of ordinary, but I
was brought up in a different world. When I was a child Barbie dolls were sold
exclusively at something you could call a chain store - Pewex and their number wouldn’t normally
exceed 5 dolls! Anyway it took me some time to process what I was seeing at
Toys’r’us and then I could focus on the dolls’ faces. They looked nothing like
the Barbie dolls I remembered playing with. Of course it would be naïve to
think that Barbie would never change, but the change was disappointing. The
dolls looked old and many of them might as well have been cross dressing males.
I finally picked up a doll I thought would be appropriate for my little sister.
Barbie as Rapunzel 2001 had a gentle face, subtle make-up, impressive hair and
a beautiful dress. From this perspective, my Evening Majesty looked even
prettier to me.
I’ve always gravitated towards dolls
that were over the top- huge dresses, big hair, lace, sequins, glitter and
ribbons – the dolls that were precariously close to tackiness. Happy Holidays
Barbie 1997 was just that and she was the third doll in my collection. I wanted more of this, I
wanted a ball! The Happy Holidays series just mesmerized me and so did the
beautiful and extravagant dolls of the Winter Princess Collection. I hope to add
them to my collection by the end of this year, but this is what my lowest doll
shelf holds at the moment. Of course nobody would deny that these are upper class dolls, but
the tall stands that those gowns require would fit nowhere else.
Having collected several Superstar molded
Barbies, I craved for versatility and above all - a Steffie! Back then I wasn’t on friendly
terms with eBay and getting a hold of a Steffie through my local portals was not an easy task. The ones
that happened to be available were not my favorites and they were too expensive
anyway. Their number was very limited and once they appeared, you could be sure
they would not be there tomorrow. So I snatched my Nurse Whitney when her
previous owner decided to part with her and so far, I’ve managed to collect
three more. I was just extatic when my precious Dream Date PJ arrived despite
the lack of her stock outfit and now I’m hunting for the first edition Parisian
Barbie.
Since we’re at the topic of versatility, once I
got my first Steffie, I focused my attention on Christie and Oriental and I
found my perfect examples of these headmolds in the Dolls of the World series.
The Moroccan and Japanese Barbies are my favorites. Whenever I planned to add a
new mold to my collection, I was sure to find it in the DotW series and my two
Teresas and a Hispanic are perfect examples of that. In the photos there’s a
new arrival that hasn’t been presented on my blog yet and I have some plans for
another Asian doll. But DotW has some beautiful Superstars as well and they
look gorgeous in regional outfits.
Contrary to what may seem, boxed dolls are a
minority in my colleciton. Since the beginning of my adventure with Barbie, I have come across many dolls that needed love and care … and a bath! I learned how to
use boiling water on their hair and curl it. Sometimes the hair was too damaged
to be salvaged and they called for a reroot. I’ve rerooted two dolls so far and
although they aren’t perfect, somehow I can’t let go of them, they feel more
mine for all the time I spent fixing them. Since these dolls still have their heads, I consider my reroot attempts a success. Below you can see some dolls that
arrived in a state of neglect and needed more time than others. I’m very fond
of them and the’ve appeared on the blog several times already presenting new
hairdos and outfits. They’re very graceful models. So far I’ve parted with only
one rescued doll and it’s the very over the top Blossom Beauty Barbie 1996. She
didn’t go far. She lives upstairs on my little daughter’s chest of drawers.
One of my initial objectives was to collect at
least 3 out of the 4 Barbie dolls I used to own as a child. I gave them to my
little sisters and the original dolls are … no more. My very first Barbie doll
was the gorgeous and pink beyond measure Super Star Barbie 1988. I remember the
day when my Mom and I went to Pewex for my first Barbie. She let me choose the
one I liked most and I didn’t pick up the pretty and elegant Fashion Play in a
slim box. I chose the most expensive and extravagant Barbie in the store in a very impressive
box. Of course I’ve seen more beautiful dolls since then, but the childhood
sentiment cannot be suppressed and Super Star 88 will always be the Queen. The
Queen needs her Ladies of the Court and she has two – United Colors of Benetton
1990 was also a gift from my Mom, and the Cool Looks 1990 was a present from my
NY family. When I got my Super Star 88, my Mom had another surprise in mind,
she let me choose a furniture set for her. There were two sets at the store and
I selected the Living Pretty Roll-on top Desk with Bookcase. With luck I may
collect all the furniture sets I used to own as well as the white Ferrari and
the Barbie Furnished Townhouse. This is a little farfetched but hey, just a little over a year ago I
thought Barbie collecting was just that and now I have a cabinet full of dolls
so anything is possible.
My collection not only grew in number within
this past year but it also changed in terms of the dolls I focused on. At first
I had only ball-gown-type-of-dolls on my mind and it wasn’t just the dresses
that made them so amazing to me. Their hair was perfect, their make-up was
perfect and their jewelry and accessories were so high quality. These were
mostly collector/ special editions and I loved the perfection and attention to
details that described them. Their splendor strongly appealed to me. But at some point, an ordinary looking Redhead
squeezed between the rustling dresses and she screamed of the 90s with all
their denim and neon colors. Here’s some of the dolls that I consider to be
casual … more or less.
I love the crazy 90s but if I were to choose
just one decade – that would be the 80s with all its elegance and Dynasty sort
of style. These dolls are so universal and I think that every Barbie collector
knows them and most of them own them. My 80s classics are beautiful but they
were hardly perfect when they arrived. It may seem that nothing’s wrong with my
Dream Date Barbie 1982, but her skirt covers some nasty green spots. Magic
Moves 1985? One was smelly and filthy, the other has teeth marks on her legs.
Peaches’n Cream 1984 was so incredibly dirty and frizzy I hardly recognized
her. Angel Face 1982 needed just a bath and some boiling water because her hair
was all greasy and sticky, but her state wasn’t the worst and she was still
dressed in her stock outfit. Crystal Barbie 1983 was clean and smelled nice.
She still had her dress though her boa and her shoes were missing, but she
didn’t need any special care, her previous owner – a collector – must have gone
through this with her as her body had been swapped. The early 80s and very late
70s have some irresistible charm to them and this chapter in my collection is hardly closed. I’m still
missing the Golden Dream, Day to Night, Twirly Curls, Magic Curl AA and many
more.
The missing 80s remind me of the fact that I
still need to expand in some other areas. For one thing, I need more gentlemen.
Doctor Ken, Japanese Ken, Shavin’ Fun Ken, the silly looking Toy Story Ken and
Jack Sparrow – err sorry – Captain Jack Sparrow as well as Kevin for my
Skippers are next on the list. Jazzie seems so lonely, she would have a
companion already, but somebody had overbid me. I definitely need more Midge dolls and
the Wedding Day Midge and Native Barbie 1992 are next to come if I’m lucky. And
the contemporary dolls? They mostly make me feel sad, but not Krystle and
Alexis. I need them desperately. And then there’s Mod and Vintage eras. There’s
so much ahead of me, so much to discover!
Now a quick summary of 2018/2019:
The oldest doll: Standard European / Canadian
Barbie 1976
The youngest doll: Victorian Barbie with Cedric
Bear 1999
The most curelly neglected doll: Jewel Hair
Mermaid Midge 1995
The first doll: Sun Sensation Skipper 1991
The longest sought after doll: Dream Date
Barbie 1982
The most pink doll: Super Star Walmart Special
Edition 1993
The least pink doll: Magic Moves 1985 made in
the Philippines
The best articulated doll: Teen Looks
Cheerleader Jazzie 1988
The most beautiful doll: Dream Date PJ 1982
The most important doll: Super Star Barbie 1988
Though it was quite difficult do photograph all
these dolls for their number as well as for the lack of good light (it’s been
raining for days on end) I still took far too many pictures, so here they go, my
dolls.
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