Barbie and the All Stars Midge 1989

I had planned to present an African American beauty today, but the sun refuses to cooperate and I couldn’t take the pictures of her. So I switched her for a lovely Midge doll who had been photographed last month. A great Native American Barbie first edition aka Indian Midge joined my collection some time ago and on that occasion I took all my Divas out of the cabinet to compare them. There they stood all of them in a neat row. There was a Native American Midge (you know what I mean) without feathers in her hair or a bow with arrows. There was a bride without a groom, a sailing enthusiast without a yacht and a mermaid without a mermaid tail. What did they have in common, or rather what did they lack in common? None of them had freckles! Yes, that’s what I needed – freckles! There were two potential candidates, both from 1989, both beautifully and freckled. I wanted them both but Barbie and the all Stars Midge 1989 was more available and more reasonably priced.

The entire All Stars series is just amazing! They’re cheerful and colorful like a rainbow. They were each of them assigned one dominating color – Barbie got hot pink and Ken- blue, like they should. Christie’s color is orange, Midge’s is purple and Teresa’s got red. All these colors pop beautifully against white of their outfits that was common for all of them. The outfits were also sprinkled with sparkly stars. The true queen of the series would be Teresa with the lovely Steffie features. It’s unlikely that she should end up in my collection as her price is exorbitant, but silly I may be, I like the modest Midge just as much. Now the gang is passionate about sports and although they prefer different disciplines, they are a great team. The dolls have been also well accessorized so that they could practice the sports they selected. And after some good physical exertion they still have plenty of energy to hit the town. They’re almost ready, just a quick shower and a change of clothes. And where are their clothes you could ask? In their bags, or should I say, the bags are their clothes, all you need  to do is flip them to the other side.

For some reason, only two of the set ever reached Poland and under a different name – Sports Club. Ken also switched basketball for golf and if I’m not mistaken, Barbie’s exactly the same. Of course a proper doll series should have an accompanying playset to make a good background for the dolls themselves and All Stars is no different. The below commercial presents the amazing Sports Club playset in all its glory!

Of course it would be ideal to be able to purchase only pristine dolls and preferably still in their boxes, but that’s not always possible and my Midge is an example of that. I bought the doll in a replacement outfit, then I got the accessories and a stock outfit. I’m still missing the magic bag-dress. Perhaps one day Midge will be complete, at this moment I’m content with what I got. Midge’s been through a lot. Her jewelry is missing and her hair has lost much of its crimp. But the doll herself is still beautiful, just look at this face paint – the lovely green eyes, the lavender eyeshadow that helps further bring out the color, and those freckles! She looks very youthful.  

Midge is a great fan of baseball and she’s dressed and ready to go out to the field and strike! As I’ve already mentioned, I managed to get her outfit- the tight pants and the shirt that buttons up on the font. I’m still pining over the dress that to all likelihood gets horribly wrinkled in the bag form, but it’s impressive how it can transform. It’s so simple yet so ingenious! What I also love about the series is that all the girls got two pairs of shoes and since I purchased the outfit and the accessories separately, my Midge’s got one pair extra. Of course, Midge also came accessorized with baseball gear – the bat and the ball, there’s no glove though but she got a can of soda to remain well hydrated. There’s a brush and a set of punch-outs as well. My doll was dressed in some remnants of All Stars Barbie outfit – the very faded body-suit and the leg warmers in a surprisingly great condition. There was also a mysterious looking sports bag included in the deal.

The occasion calls for a group photo, so I took out all my Divas yet again, this time there was one freckled Midge amongst them. As it happens there’s another Midge on her way as I’m writing this and she’s very special. I wonder if she manages to dethrone the ravishing bride.

Barbie x Sanrio #FKR66 FKR68 2017 fashion

Reading other collectors’ blogs is dangerous as it may result in sudden inspirations for unplanned purchases. This is something I take into account and I read the blogs anyway, and today’s entry is just a natural outcome of it. One of my favorite bloggers has recently published some pictures of the Mattel x DC Comics collaboration fashion packs and I remembered I had been pining over one particularly adorable Hello Kitty outfit. I’d even seen it in my local toy store but I didn’t buy it at that time – a situation that needed to be rectified. As it happens, I did have a particular reason to go to that store anyway and the outfit was still there so I took it for destiny and bought the set. s'

The fashion pack is certainly not new to the market and Barbie doll collectors know it very well as it was one of the very first Hello Kitty x Sanrio releases of 2017 if I’m not mistaken. I purchased it for my Skipper dolls. I remember I’d bought some Hello Kitty tops for my daughter’s dolls a long time ago and I’m pretty sure they’ve appeared on the blog already, but they’re so cute they deserve a little bit more attention. My fashion pack is stamped #FKR66 FKR68 at the back of a very neat box that will surely please the collectors who prefer to keep their collection NRFB. Every tiny detail is well displayed and the pastel colors really pop against the white and black background. My model for today is the Babysitter Courtney and the skirt is a little loose at the waist, but the top fits just great. The design is simple but graceful and well executed too. The top velcroes at the back and the skirt has an elastic, there’s really nothing I can complain about other than the obvious lack of shoes that wouldn’t have fit Skipper anyway. The accessories that do come with the outfit are a very cute headband and a bracelet.

My Jazzie girl has tried on the pink asymmetrical top featuring My Melody surrounded with flowers. My camera doesn’t pick that very well, but there’s polka dots on the top as well. The top has a Velcro closure and for the lack of a better alternative I’ve paired it with a mini skirt that belongs to the ophthalmologist Barbie. I happen to like the skirt a lot but I’s a pain in the butt to put it on Jazzie’s … butt. Plastic butts of the contemporary Barbie dolls are much easier to squeeze into a skirt like that.

My last and final model for this post is the lovely Baton Twirling Skipper AA and I’d been planning to give her some photo session and she fits perfectly with the Sanrio theme fashion show. The AA Skipper is wearing the lovely lavender top with the Little Twin Stars print. I just love the frilly sleeves and the dark trim. I paired it with the denim shorts I stole from my E/C Barbie who’s now showing her naked butt – there’s far too many “butts” in this post I’m afraid. I wonder why that is.

Beside purchasing a new outfit for my dolls I’ve also replenished my stock of doll shoes that I’ve been running out lately. I could go on and on about the incompetence of my local post office but that’s not the point of this post so I’ll just say the package took a long time to reach me but I’m ecstatic it’s finally here. I just bought a set of some random Barbie and clone shoes and I recognize some of them, but the most interesting are the translucent red ones that actually arrived with my Fashion Play Barbie. I’ve no idea if these are genuine Mattel but they’re so retro 80s.

I’m extremely pleased with my new purchases. I hate when my dolls are barefoot. A good analysis would reveal that my aversion is deeply rooted in my childhood when I did lose my Barbie’s shoes and I despaired over the impossibility of replacing them. So now I can and my dolls are lucky – they have more shoes than I do.