Teen Dance Jazzie 1988

Jazzie (or should I say Kelley) belongs to my most favorite, most beloved headmolds in the entire Barbie universe. I’d gladly collect them all which is possible because there’s just ten of them. But then again I’d also like to own her predecessor – Kelley belonging to the short-lived Starr series as well as a couple of Heart Family Moms. My limited budget and display space make it impossible, so I focused on my three top favorites instead and it so happens that I’ve recently completed one of them. I’m talking about the adorable and fun Cheerleader Jazzie 1988 that is my third most favorite Jazzie of all times. Teen Dance Jazzie 1988 is my number two and the first place belongs to the very elusive Swim Suit Jazzie, also from 1988. She’s unique because she’s the only Jazzie with brown eyes and she’s very hard to get. How irritating! Anyway, I’m not going to focus on the Jazzie I don’t have, because the Teen Dance has just arrived and she’s NRFB!

Once there was the Starr dolls series. It was a great project but it somehow didn’t turn out to be a great success, so when Mattel came up with an idea of Jazzie, they took a slightly different approach. Once again they put the dolls in neat white boxes that would contrast with the overwhelming pink of Barbie. They added some geometric shapes that were in fashion at that time and they gave Jazzie logo a weird shape, looks very much like the Flintstones to me. At the same time they put Barbie’s name twice on the box to create a nice association with Mattel’s biggest doll hit. So Jazzie is Barbie’s cousin, she can wear her fashions. The lovely and unique “B” of Barbie’s logo was to bring the nice feelings and help Jazzie achieve success that the company aimed for. They failed and that’s Jazzie’s story reflected by her box. What’s inside? Just a doll and a comb that once belonged to Spectra. But look more closely and you’ll see that Jazzie comes with a lot, she just put it all on at the same time.

My Jazzie dolls really look good together – they’re both fiercely neon. The black of Teen Dance is supposed to bring some balance to the wild pink, green and blue. The doll’s so colorful you can’t focus and it’s impossible to see all the details of her outfit. There’s just too much of everything and … I like it! So Jazzie proves that a regular little black dress can be fun, you just put three additional skirts and throw a ginormous pink bow and something that looks like a corsage and you’re done. The bow and the corsage can be placed on her head or around her waist, or on her wrist or wherever you choose. You can put just one skirt or two or all of them, it’s up to you and if you’re a little confused by the bounty of her accessories, Mattel gives you a hit of the 8 ways you can arrange them, but with a little imagination you can create more wild styles. Just be careful now because the doll’s a bit old and the elastic at the skirts isn’t elastic anymore. I adore the below commercial.

The enorumous bow and the wrist corsage aren’t the only accessories included in Jazzie’s package, though it’s really hard to notice them amongst all those colors and layers. Jazzie’s wearing tights, authentic, black tights! Can you imagine a contemporary Mattel doll wearing them? They’re too fragile to survive playtime, too expensive and difficult to manufacture, in short, they aren’t worth all the effort but I really appreciate them as clear evidence of the high quality products Mattel once made. But Jazzie’s also got something else that most contemporary dolls are missing – jewelry! Although she isn’t wearing earrings, she’s got a clear rubber bracelet, a hair accessory of the same kind and an intriguing necklace that reminds me of the Jetsons!

The doll’s face is adorable, she just looks like a girl next door. She’s going to a school dance, but she’s applied minimal make-up just a touch of pink lipstick and some eyeshadow of the same color. Her eyes are blue, because Jazzie’s eyes are almost always blue. There may be just a hint of lavender, a touch of green, but the dominant color will be blue, except for the famous Swim Suit.  Swim Suit is also unique because she has saran hair, while Jazzie would mostly get kanekalon rooted and Teen Dance is no different in that respect. Unfortunately, Mattel decided to practice economy here and the result is that Jazzie’s root is sparse. Apparently, the wild bangs took most of the material.

All in all I’m extatic because despite the hair issue, the doll is flawless! She’s so colorful and happy. That’s a doll that I’d gladly buy for my daughter if only there were dolls like Jazzie available in stores. Somehow, I feel Kelley headmold is a missed opportunity, it may not be a material for a striking beauty but it’s got some charm do it. Enough of that, here’s some more pictures of my two Jazzie dolls and I entertain hope there may soon appear a third one, my number one.