Bathtime Fun Kelly 1995

Yesterday we celebrated Children’s Day in Poland and I thought it was a perfect day to write a post on Kelly. Words came together as I was sipping my morning coffee, I only needed to take a few pictures and publish. But between grocery shopping, making a chicken and broccoli tart, baking cookies with my daughters and cleaning the mess afterwards, I had no time to concoct the English post. Anyway, Kelly was my big childhood dream and everything started with a mysterious catalogue that came into my possession when I was little. The catalogue presented the Heart Family and I fell in love with the pastel- sweet vision of a perfect family: the involved daddy, the slim and rosy mommy and two plump kids. I especially coveted the pink rocking horse. Then a few years later another catalogue fueled my dreams. This time it showed Kelly in a bath. I was sure the dolls were somehow related, though Kelly had much more hair. I never got either of them and now as a collector, I’m no longer interested in them, but a few months ago I got Kelly dolls for my daughter and I could see with my own eyes that Kelly still knows how to melt a tender heart of a child like ice-cream in full sun.

Let’s start with Kelly, Shelly and Ellie as my daughter calls them. In the US all of them were just Kelly, but in Europe, the dolls had a different name – Shelly. And Ellie just rhymes nicely. Anyway, Kelly is the Bathtime Fun Kelly 1995, Shelly would be the Bedtime Fun Kelly 1995 and Ellie belongs to the Dentist Barbie 1997 set. Bedtime and Dentist are second-handed dolls, they no longer have their accessories, but the outfits are complete, and they have shoes. I wasn’t sure how my daughter would like the black outfit of the Bedtime Kelly, but she loved it “Mommy, she has tights! And her dress is so soft and pretty, she looks so smart!” See? Kids appreciate good quality too, you can’t give them trash and expect them to be happy about it.

Bedtime Fun and Bathtime Fun are one of the first Kellys that Mattel introduced and they came in two ethnic variants (Caucasian and AA), the blondes had either kanekalon or saran hair, they had a spare outfit, one larger furniture piece and a few smaller accessories. Bathtime Fun is dressed in her pajamas, but she also comes with a bathrobe and a nappy. The bath would make bubbles when you poured the soap that came with the set and squeezed the ducky. The soap was long expired so I threw it away. Not sure if the ducky still works, because we didn’t put water in the tub. The other accessories include a comb and a brush, a sponge, a towel, some soap and shampoo, a bottle and a pacifier and everything is pink and adorable. Kelly has a switch in her back, so she can splash water. The Dentist Barbie came in three different versions (Caucasian – Superstar, AA – Christie 1987 and Hispanic – Teresa 1990) and so did her patients who were randomly assigned to the dentists.

 The source: https://www.desertcart.in/products/4284167-barbie-kelly-new-baby-sister-of-barbie-set-1994

 The source: https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/223420831489476258/

 

Unfortunately, Mattel ceased to produce Kelly in 2009 and a year later she was replaced by Chelsea. Chelsea was taller, slimmer and lost much of her sweetness, but what was even worse, at some point Mattel would give her molded clothes. Even my daughter thinks that’s strange. I remember Kelly had a ton of cute, little fashions and there were Fashion Avenue Matching sets that came with identical outfits for Kelly and Barbie. I know nothing about any clothes produced for the early Chelsea but within the last two years we’ve seen some fashion packs designed for her. So now Chelsea can put a ballerina tutu, pajamas or a raincoat over her molded clothes.

Chelsea did, however, come with some nice playsets and I got my daughter one of those two years ago. It’s called Chelsea Club House, I don’t know what year it was produced in but it must have been at least three years ago. The set was second-handed but it came with all the pieces. There’s a two-storey house with opening doors and an elevator. The kitchen is furnished and the fridge and oven open. There’s a little table and two chairs, a sofa, a Teddy, ice cream and juice for two and an ice-cream scoop. I was short of time so I missed the Teddy and the scoop. Of course, there’s Chelsea with her horrible molded-in clothes. The doll has never been much of an interest to my daughter and she usually gives her to her younger sister to play with when she demands the precious Kelly, but both of them love the house.

We know Mattel likes to recycle the good ideas and we’ve recently seen an army of babysitters overflowing the market. One of them caught my daughter’s attention. She coveted the set for a few months and as a result, the letter to Santa was written and the set was found under the Christmas Tree to her joy. The set doesn’t seem to have a proper name, just like all Skipper dolls are just Skipper (even the boy) but to distinguish it, it was called “Skipper and two babies” by vendors. The set includes a Skipper doll, two babies, a cot and a number of smaller and larger accessories. Skipper is stiff and cannot even sit properly, she’s dressed in a one-piece that pretends to be a top and shorts, her hair was cut awfully unevenly, my younger daughter would have done a better job. But at least, Skipper’s eyes and lips are where human anatomy would suggest. The babies are cute however, they are articulated and their nappies are removable. They have to share the cot though. The set comes with everything you need to babysit, including some toys and two bottles plus a stack of nappies and a box with wipes. The box opens and there’s one wipe inside. This and the nappies surprised me and in the positive way. I did not expect to see get something this functional from contemporary Mattel. There’s a pink rocking horse too, though it’s not so cute as the one from the Heart Family set.

To accessorize the babies and Kelly further, I got a random set of second-handed accessories like a stroller, a modern version of a Bathtime Fun Kelly, and a sandbox with a slide. The doll with a bath also has a switch and splashes water, but she only comes with a bath with a water-spitting ducky, a towel and some soap. Forget a spare outfit, she doesn’t have any in fact. There was also a Skipper doll with articulated knees as part of the set, but her previous owner decided to keep her. The stroller and the sandbox are missing all accessories and dolls, but they’re a nice addition to what my daughter already has and I’m happy that Kelly is compatible with the stroller – there’s a slot you put the doll by her waist, and Kelly fits.

This was supposed to be a short, concise sort of post, but as per usual, it wasn’t. The pictures are chaotic and very bad, and some of them were actually taken after the kids went to bed, but it was fun to put the dolls and the playsets in front of the camera. I do still think, that Kelly from the 90s is the best of the lot, the Heart Family would probably be even better. Who knows, perhaps I should get a set for my own collection? Naaah, the dolls would eventually go to my daughter. I can already see her eyes, just as big and dreamy as mine were when I was flipping the pages of that unknown catalogue, about three decades ago.

Dear doll Enthusiasts, to those of you who like me, happen to be big kids deep down inside, I want to wish all the best on Children’s Day. May your all dolly dreams come true!