Fashion Play Party Cruise Barbie 1986

I’m pretty sure that you have no idea who the Barbie in the picture below is, and no wonder. Fashion Play was a budget line released in Europe and Canada. The line had regular yearly releases between 1983-1991. At first, these were 4 dolls a year and later the number was cut by half. Those were simple and basic but incredibly graceful dolls with straight arms and no accessories save for the shoes. Later releases came also with a brush but that’s it. The dolls were packaged in narrow pink boxes and I remember those from my childhood. This may have been no more than a basic, budget doll, but to so many Polish children, she was unattainable, a luxury!

Poland was a communist country when I dreamt of my own Barbie and those were only available at a chain of luxury stores called Pewex. The store usually offered 5-6 dolls at a time, there were Fashion Play for $6 and one or two large boxes that held not even a dream, a fantasy really for the price of $16. This may not seem much now, but back then $6 was an equivalent of approximately 25 per cent  of one’s monthly income and $16 was just a staggering amount! That may give you an idea of what a Barbie meant to a kid back then. I was a very lucky child, I got the large pink box holding the incredible Super Star 1988, but I still have some very tender feelings for the lovely and graceful Fashion Play that coincidentally is so hard to get nowadays. One day I came across a FP with a short neck, and you know what that means. I’ve never dealt with such cases, but the doll had her dress and her shoes and I went for it. Call me a weirdo, a lunatic, I just couldn’t resist.

So I’ve waited about 30 years but I finally got my own Fashion Play. I remembered how I used to play with my friends’ Fashion Play Barbies when I was little, or should I say I held them for a brief moment, because dolls like that would not come easily. Usually, parents needed to make sure you really, really wanted the extravagantly expensive doll before they bought you one. So once you got Barbie of your own, you might have felt uncomfortable when somebody else held her. Anyway, I was so happy with my  miserable FP, you have no idea. I guess, my reaction might have seemed disproportional to the occasion, because FP looked just horrible but I saw her potential. Yes, she was dirty, filthy, sticky and gross, but she had her stock clothes and shoes. And yes, her hair was a mess held in a weird pony tail with a … sock, but there was some shine to her curls. And of course, she had that neck problem, but the head wasn’t attached permanently with magic glue. So, you see for yourselves that she could be beautiful again, but first thigs first, I beheaded her and washed her.

I was determined to fix her Philippine body and to do that I got some acrylic powder and liquid and I followed the instructions from a tutorial by a Thousand Splendid Dolls. Gosh how smelly that awful concoction was, but it worked miracles. That’s been my first attempt at fixing a badly damaged neck. I wouldn't say it's perfect for my natural clumsiness and bad "fine" motor skills, but still, Barbie looks much, much better. She even has articulation to her neck because I remembered to wiggle the joint as the acrylic mix was drying.

Fashion Play Barbies’ clothes are just amazing in their simplicity. Those are the clothes that were fashioned after the real trends of the 80s. They looked realistic and chic and my Fashion Play is a great example of that. I personally would gladly wear a dress like that, well perhaps it could use another layer but the design is universal. There was also a belt but it’s missing. Belt or not, the doll is a classic Mattel beauty with her lovely superstar features and the subtle Philippine brush that gave her coral lips and some blue eyeshadow. She’s got the straight PTR arms but that doesn’t  bother me in the least. In fact, I came to like those so much that I’m now convinced nothing would do but I must add my childhood Malaysian Sun Sensation Barbie to the collection and soon.

I’m speechless! My childhood memories hit me with all their happy power and I feel like a 6-year old again. Fashion Play, being a foreign release, are kind of obscure and certainly underappreciated but one cannot deny their gracefulness and beauty and to me they have that added value – they’re the embodiment of luxury unattainable in the times of sad communist reality. Just a touch of pink where everything was overwhelming gray.

Party Time Teresa 1994

My dolly plans for this month were disrupted by a sudden disappearance of my dream Ken doll – the mucho macho one with tattoos and hairy chest. Yes, the Harley Davidson Ken II edition. That’s him. Well, I’ll get him some other time, but now, I’m not a very patient person, so instead just one man, three new ladies joined my collection. One would be a glamorous, Holiday Barbie, currently waiting for snowfall. Another one is probably unknown in the US, a mysterious lady with a broken neck. I’ve no idea how I’m going to deal with that because the doll is still on her way. The last one is my new Teresa, the Party Time Teresa 1994.

Party Time Teresa is a lovely doll with a very boring name that doesn’t relate to the doll, not in the least! To cover up the obvious lack of imagination on the part of her creators, the doll came with two watches – one for the doll and one for her owner. I’ve replaced the battery and discovered, to my utter astonishment that the watch actually works! Wow! Anyway, Party Time is obviously a budget series, crated upon request of some market chain, unknown and unindicated on the box, but it’s clear enough that the dolls are pretty basic. That they may be, but they’re gorgeous! Three dolls comprise this series: my lovely Teresa, a blonde Barbie that I want and an African American Barbie that I just need in my collection, and desperately too! And here’s the bad news, she’s hard to get! All three ladies are dressed with simplicity, but their dresses couldn’t get any lovelier and they all got crimped hair.

 the source: https://www.amazon.in/Party-Barbie-African-American-Watch/dp/B004MOI4TY

Party Time is a budget line and Mattel didn’t promote it in any way that I know of. Yet my Teresa is so gorgeous. But it there are many striking Teresa dolls that can be found in somewhat more obscure series, like the amazing Jewel Glitter Teresa! Those are the jewels that you find by accident and that was the case of my Party Time Teresa. I was actually flipping through the pictures of Hollywood Hair Teresa when I came across Party Time and I thought to myself: that’s one of the most beautiful Teresa dolls ever! And then I completely forgot about her. So when she just appeared out of nowhere and I had some ready cash, I sure made the deal. The lovely Teresa is a girl of the 90s, so she’s got some huge, expressive eyes, full lips and crimped kanekalon hair in great abundance.

Teresa’s dark hair and complexion were paired with pastels of her pretty dress and accessories. There goes the faux denim again, but I kind of like it, and it’s foam green with white lace trimming and pink bows. Teresa’s earrings are bow-shaped, just like the ones that Perfume Pretty Barbie wore. Teresa’s got a pink watch with a prismatic sticker for a dial. No wonder she’s been  late for the party these 25 years! With a watch such as this it’s hard to be punctual.

Teresa’s got just one blemish – her legs are in a permanent open stance and that’s due to the fact that she was improperly displayed in her box. It’s not a big deal though the imperfection couldn’t be more visible. Well, I’ll put her next to my Paint’n Dazzle Barbies and they’ll be doing a synch dance together. Before they do, I just took all four of my Teresas for a group photo and now it’s clearer than ever that the redhead Jewel Glitter Teresa would fit perfectly. I’ve got to do something about it and soon.  

Cool Crimp Skipper 1993

It’s a cliche that the new comes as the old departs, but it applies to Skipper like nothing else. In her career at Mattel’s, Skipper has changed multiple times. My favorite version of Barbie’s little sister will always be the 1987 one and the Cool Crimp happens to be the last large series that gathers all four friends, or should I say three? Does the AA Skipper hang out with the Caucasian one? Not so sure, anyway, you know what I mean. All three girls in the series got the big-eyed headmold wich would be replaced by the Pizza Party Skipper mold in 1994. Sure there would still be some isolated cases of anime eyed Skippers in 1994 like the Tropical Splash Skipper, but it was clear that Skipper would change for good.

So the year 1994 brings us a Skipper entirely new. She’s noticeably older, more mature, more realistic looking, preferred by many, but not by me. My warm feelings for my childhood Skipper requires a certain degree of antagonism towards all the Skipper / Courtneys with MATTEL INC 1993 stamped on their nape, but despite all my loyalty to the 1987 mold, I cannot resist the charm of the new headmold especially in the case of Phone Fun Courtney that I mean to purchase as soon as I find the doll that doesn’t cost a small fortune.

Now back to the good old stuff! Cool Crimp Courtney arrived first as one of my top favorites, or should I say, a great number of my top favorites. It wasn’t enough, I wanted Skipper as well and I purchased her on ebay from a certain lady who described her hair as “wild”, but the doll was still clad in her stock outfit, her shoes and jewelry still in place as well. The hair remained wild, I have no intention of repeating my mistake I made with Courtney when I almost ruined her hair by boil washing. Cool Crimp dolls’ hair has some special qualities that allow you to crimp it, straighten it, crimp it again and straighten it again and repeat the process over and over again until the doll is bald. But the hair may not react well to boil washing.

Not only Skipper’s hair is wild, but so is her outfit. There are so many conflicting patterns that it’s unimaginable how Mattel put them all together and actually made it work! But it does! It’s lucky that I had no idea of this doll’s existence when I was a little girl. I would torment my mom with constant pleas. Skipper also comes with dummy jewelry and some pretty cool sneakers. There were also 4 crimpers and a bottle, but they’re gone now. You can see them in the below commercial.

Mattel decided to discontinue the big-eyed mold and they gave us a really great farewell series. I truly want them all and the AA doll is my absolute number one AA Skipper of all time. She’s pretty expensive though and it’s unlikely I should get her. Kevin’s quite interesting too and I mean to get one. It may not be Cool Crimp Kevin though. I’d be glad to have any Kevin for that matter, the boy is pretty rare. So far, I’ve been more than happy with my two girls. They’re so lovely.