Sun Sensation Barbie 1990 Malaysian version

Ha! I’m so pleased with myself, because I’ve managed to publish on both of my blogs only a few days apart, which is something I’ve been struggling to do these past several months. The two languages are pretty dissimilar as Polish is descriptive and English is straightforward so translating is such a bother. But today the words are flowing and even more so because I’m writing about the last Barbie I got as a kid – Sun Sensation Barbie 1990 the Malaysian version.

There’s a story behind Sun Sensation - I got her from my dad living in NY. My dad would send me parcels about twice a year and those would go to my Grandma and Grandpa’s address and they were of the opinion that the good stuff should be rationed instead of given all at once. Now I can see wisdom in that, but as a kid I hated it and I was a constant pain in the neck for Grandma and Grandpa as I would conduct searches on my own. Soon I’d know every nook and corner at their house forcing their creativity – they’d have to come up with new hiding places over and over again. In the below picture you can see Cool Looks and Sun Sensation Barbie – they both came in the same parcel but Grandma and Grandpa hid Sun Sensation in such a clever place that they couldn’t find her. Eventually they did but that was when another parcel was delivered and they had to hide the new goods away.

So the result was that I got my Sun Sensation Barbie and the Beverly Hills Sunset Garden furniture on the same day. The furniture set was inspired by the Dream Furniture by Mattel minus the sleeping functionality and the armchair but there’s coziness in great amounts – cushions, a rug, a table cloth, picture frames, a crystal vase and a sizable lamp. If the genuine products offered today but a half of what a mere copy did back then!

  the source: https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/294915475592395952/

 

I loved Sun Sensation Barbie, she was so unlike all the other Barbie dolls I had with her deep tan and her straight arms. She had golden tinsel in her hair and impressive make-up. I liked the lipstick best of all. She wore a necklace that I loved and a golden bikini which I found boring even back then, but when your previous dolls wore great outfits that came in many pieces that could afford multiple looks, a simple bikini does seem a little … basic, if you know what I mean. She came with a pink brush, and I’ve always loved the Barbie brush and my only wish was that she came with shoes.

When I was identifying all my childhood dolls, I came up with a Sun Sensation that looked nothing like my doll. She had a tall forehead and her head was made of a slightly translucent vinyl. Then it turned out that Sun Sensation was produced in three different countries – Malaysia, China and Indonesia. The first two are completely different and it’s so easy to tell them apart. The Indonesian Barbie resembles the Malaysian one but her face proportions are a bit off. There’s also the case of the elusive lipstick that you can see in the above commercial – my Barbie didn’t come with it and there’s been a hypothesis that only the Chinese dolls had them but I’ve since seen pictures to contradict it. It follows that Mattel was simply inconsistent with the lipstick.

Sun Sensation Barbie is so pretty and I cannot believe why I decided there was no place for her in my collection because I don’t collect beach dolls as a rule. I’d make an exception not only for Barbie but also for the rest of the Sun Sensation gang, especially Jazzie. My Barbie may be secondhand, missing her earrings and her bikini certainly had seen better days, but I just love that doll! She makes me feel like a kid once more. So finally, I’ve collected all 4 Barbie dolls I once had.

Teen Fun Cheerleader Skipper 1987

I had some dolly plans for March and they concerned my Skipper collection which I wanted to expand. The doll I had in mind was the lovely Phone Fun Courntey on the Pizza Party headmold but plans change and I ended up purchasing the Teen Fun Cheerleader Skipper 1987 that had been on my wish list anyway.

I like the early big-eyed Skippers because they’re so unique -  they each have a different eye and hair color. I also have the Party Skipper in my collection that I got a long time ago. The Cheerleader is pretty unusual, in fact I don’t recall any other Skipper on the 1987 headmold that had brown eyes or hair like this. Unfortunately, the hair is made of kanekalon and wouldn’t cooperate. The hairbands are too chunky too but I’ll get her something better once the pandemic is over. Hopefully, it will not be long.

Skipper’s outfit had seen better days, but it’s pretty much complete. There’s a pair of leggings and a body suit as well as a two-layer skirt and a pair of pink tennis shoes. The accessories include two pompons and a … megaphone? The name of this device escapes me. Now as far as the outfit is concerned, it allows several styles, but my Cheerleader has a defect that is pretty much common for the entire Teen Fun series or should I say, all the 1987 Skipper editions– she has spots on her legs and it’s best not to uncover them.

I thought I might take all my Skipper dolls out for a photo shoot but yesterday was very cold and it was even snowing heavily for good 10 minutes. The snow was soon gone but the temperature outside encourages you to stay home anyway so I just grabbed my two cheerleaders – Skipper and Jazzie for a nice comparison as well as my two brown-eyed girls. I like Skipper and Jazzie together. Jazzie looks like a very protective big sister to Skipper. They’re so cute.

Dream Glow Barbie 1985

My 80s classics shelf is getting more and more crowded and very pink too. I’ve recently added two new dolls there and those are the lovely Day to Night or Vacation Sensation Barbie (whatever she may be) and Dream Glow 1985. She’s so pretty, in fact I think she’s one of the best Barbie dolls of the 80s for her beautiful, vibrant face paint and her simple but elegant hairdo. Unfortunately, my doll’s hair is far from perfect but before I begin to despair over that, let me tell you something more about the Dream Glow line.

Dream Glow Barbie was available in three ethnic variants and I cannot say which of them is my favorite, I love them all. The African American and Hispanic dolls bear the lovely features of the Hispanic Headmold. Each of the three girls has a unique make-up and … an identical outfit which was a common practice back then. The dress was sprinkled with fluorescent stars and to add to Barbie’s romantic look, she was accessorized with an umbrella. The umbrella would double for a shawl as well, Mattel has had some bold ideas over the years of Barbie’s existence! There were Ken dolls to assist the ladies, a line of fashions and two furniture playsets – a vanity and a canopy bed.

 the source: https://www.pinterest.se/pin/58124651422148664/

 the source: https://www.pinterest.at/pin/58124651422148702/ 

I had mixed feelings about my Dream Glow Barbie. I purchased her online, as usual, but this time the state of the doll’s hair escaped my scrutiny, so when she arrived, she surprised me and not in the way I like it. The hair was sparse, coarse, stiff, matted and cut on top of Barbie’s head. I guess, one of her previous owners intended to give her bangs, but failed. Covering the bad haircut was impossible and I despaired over the doll that was once so pretty and she still had a beautiful face, but the hair was a catastrophe!

Sure I could shave her hair finishing the destruction set in motion many, many years ago and try to rectify that by giving her a complete reroot, but I wanted to check if I could save what was left of her once glorious hair first. So she spent a week soaking in fabric softener while I was doing my best searching for saran. I failed and at my disposal I had nylon in three shades of blonde – one was too dark, another too light, and the one that was closest to the desired color had too short strands! Frustrating! It’s hard to get saran in my country and shipping it from abroad is hardly economical.

So I used the nylon at hand, filled the empty hair plugs and added some volume in general and the result is far from what I’d had in mind. Barbie has noticeable highlights and the two kinds of hair refuse to cooperate, the new nylon and the old saran just won’t blend despite boilwashing. In my disappointment, I sat Barbie on the lowest shelf of my cabinet not sure what I was going to do with her next (again focusing on an insignificant, little problem because it’s impossible to cope with the big one that’s been crushing the entire world – Covid-19). But then a few days passed and I looked on her with a kind eye. She was still very pretty and someday I might correct the partial reroot. My Barbie is a Taiwan variant which happens to be my favorite. There was also a Philippine and a Malaysian.

Barbie’s lost her umbrella, her shoes and jewelry (and much of her hair), but she’s kept her dress and it’s in a pretty decent condition. I love the top that’s made of something very similar to suede and it’s trimmed with silvery lace. The bottom part still glows in the dark. That’s the kind of dolls that I’d dream of as a little girl! She’s staying!

So Dream Glow Barbie no longer occupies the lowest shelf of the cabinet. She got her doll stand and joined the other classics of the 80s. The dolls have been through a lot and you can still see that upon a closer look. Some of them are missing their stock outfits, their lovely curls long lost their shape, jewelry is rare with them, but I still like these dolls enormously and my fondness for them is growing with every new veteran.