Coffee and Dolls EN: Tracy Bride 1982 and Wedding Day Midge Fashion #9631 1990

My personal spy tool has arrived and thus I no longer have to confiscate my Husband’s phone to photograph my dolls. I’m glad because a cell phone is like a pair of panties, you can’t share them with another person, right? Of course I’m still learning how to use the new device, a good half of the pictures went straight to trash, the rest isn’t perfect, but there’s no picture that would do Tracy justice. So here’s Tracy Bride 1982!

Sometimes, when I browse for a doll from the elusive Fashion Play series (the European exclusives) I type a very general term like “Barbie bendable/rubber legs”, “Vingage/ retro Barbie” but it’s “Barbie 1966” that generates the best results – If I don’t come across anything of interest, I’m at least sure to get a good laugh. You’ve probably seen it too – a doll in a horrible condition, with a broken neck, a pixie haircut, and chew marks on her feet or hands, but the description seems to be inconsistent with what the pictures present. ’A vintage Barbie, ultra-rare, for collectors!’ - shouts the headline of the add and the price …. Well, let me remain silent on that. So that’s how I found Tracy Bride described as Barbie Bride and I nearly choked to death on the chocolate I was consuming at that moment. By the way, I believe that chocolate is one of the safest products to eat – it will melt before the crucial 4 minutes pass, I fear to think what would have happened if I’d been eating an apple! Anyway, once my pulse went back to normal, I began to grow suspicious. A Tracy doll, just hanging there for a few days already, and at an affordable price seemed too good to be true, there must be something wrong with that doll.

And it was. A few things actually. First, her head had been ripped off and someone tried to fix that with acrylic gel. The chipped neck had been filled with the compound and then filed with perfection, but then whoever did that, realized that they’d forgotten to place the neck joint. It was too late now so they filed some more, and the result is that Tracy’s head comes off and on very easily. When she arrived, her head was separate from her body. The second defect is a spot on her chin that I just can’t get rid of. But that’s all still fine, the worst part of her is the hair! Someone apparently wanted to give her an asymmetric bob and chopped her hair leaving the front strands longer. I tucked them behind the neck but that’s all that I could do. The doll’s legs are almost green and one leg has a hole.

I may sound displeased with the purchase, but I’m actually thrilled to finally own a Tracy Bride and my doll is so pretty despite the damage done to her in the past. She has a pair of lovely, emerald eyes, her hair although cut, is still soft and silky, and I love the chocolate-brown tone to it. Some Tracys have a very unflattering root line and their heads look like eggs, but not mine. She stands in the front row in the cabinet and graces the entire collection.

As to her outfit, she arrived wearing something atrocious that was supposed to resemble a wedding dress, but failed. I would have thrown it to the trash but my daughter saved it. Tracy’s stock dress was beautifully outdated and conservative, and despite the fact that I find wedding dresses boring, I would love to own that. I thought I might get her some 80s/90s dress but I decided to skip the Church ceremony and the wedding party and went straight to the wedding night. I gave her a set that belongs to the Wedding Day Midge fashion collection.

the source: https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/351632683377661882/

There were four sets that Mattel produced for the just-married Midge and I love them all, but unfortunately the old fashions tend to be sometimes even more expensive than a fully dressed doll so I got just one. I chose what Mattel just doesn’t offer nowadays – lingerie. I have no idea why they wouldn’t sew Barbie’s underwear, I wouldn’t mind a doll with a pair of undies for a change. The set is lovely! It’s foam green color, there’s some flowers on the fabric and it’s trimmed with lace. It comes with a short top, panties, a night gown and a pair of heels.