Woolworth Special Limited Edition Special Expressions Barbie 1989 or an "almost" Fashion Play Barbie

So this doll is what I would call an „almost” Fashion Play Barbie and I know that „almost” makes a huge difference, but while I can’t have what I want, I’m content with what I found on one of the Polish Facebook groups. The lady here is brand new, or as new as she can be given the fact that she was produced these 30-ish years ago. She’s never been played with though and her name is the Woolworth Special Limited Edition Special Expressions Barbie 1989. Ufff, that’s one long name and at least no-one will deny she’s very special.

I do think that our European Fashion Play Barbie dolls must have been a great and wasted potential. They, technically speaking, were never released in the US and are completely unknown there, which is a shame because the dolls were great, their outfits were amazing and I assume they would be pretty inexpensive there. Mattel did use them in some way or another though. For one, their outfits were released as part of the Fashion Fun series that offered the exact same clothes FP would wear as well as their color variants. So below you can see the pink version of the dress that belonged to Fashion Play Barbie 1986 both color dresses had the same product number assigned which is #2091 and they were produced in 1985. Another example would be the purple variant of my Fashion Play Party Cruise dress #2088 from 1984. Now if the dates are correct, the dresses predate the dolls. Interesting.

 the source: https://www.pinterest.at/pin/343258802842764320/

 

the source: https://www.lulu-berlu.com/barbie-fashion-fun-mattel-1984-ref2088-a14436-en.html

 

I don’t know about you, but I think that Mattel sometimes struggled when making up the names for the basic Barbie dolls. I mean, how many times and in how many ways can you use the words like pink, fabulous, enchanting, sensation, ect. After all, the name “Fashion Play” was pretty catchy, very general and at hand, why not use it? So Mattel did just that and that’s how the American line of Fashion Play dolls came to be. A “line” was probably too much to say because there were actually only two models produced – in 1990 and in 1991. Those were simple but lovely dolls in slim boxes with straight PTR arms and the only difference between them and the European Fashion Play is that each model came with 3 ethnic variants – white Caucasian/Superstar, African American/ Christie 1987 and Hispanic/ Steffie. The European FP had always the Superstar face.

The source: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/barbie-doll-fashion-play-mattel-3860-2001289735

So Mattel used the name and the clothes of the European Fashion Play Barbies. What about the dolls themselves? They came in handy whenever Mattel would get a commission to produce some exclusives. Of course, these would be mostly some basic and inexpensive dolls and FP would do great here. Stores like Walmart or Toys’r Us would put them out at the right place and at the right time of the year. They would stack them in a pile 6 feet tall for better visibility and offer dolls that other stores wouldn’t. And everyone would be happy. Of course, certain changes had to be applied, like repainting, redressing, renaming. One of such dolls would be the Party Pink Barbie 1989 made for Winn-Dixie. The doll’s wearing the 1989 Fashion Play Barbie dress and her face is familiar too but I can’t put my finger on it. Another, and even a better example would be the Pink Sensation Barbie 1990, she’s special and limited but I don’t know for whom. Anyway, the first thing I noticed was that she was wearing the purple Fashion Play 1990 Barbie’s dress, the cut is pretty unique. But upon a closer look I noticed that her hair and face fit too. What Mattel did was they switched purple for pink and that’s how Pink Sensation Barbie came to be.

 The source: https://pl.pinterest.com/jaredtylerc/barbie/

 The source: https://www.ebay.com/p/1400075901

 

Finally, we’re moving closer to my doll. Special Expressions Barbie line was produced for Woolworth and the first dolls left the factories in 1989. That’s my lady here. SE Barbies were continued up to 1993 (I believe) and they were available as AA and / or Hispanic dolls as well and the molds that were applied were Superstar, Christie, Steffie and Teresa. SE have much in common with the European Fashion Play Barbies. Those dolls are hardly popular with one exception and that is the Hispanic 1992 girl. She’s got the Steffie face for which collectors worldwide like her. Now doesn’t she look somewhat familiar? That’s right, she has the same eyes as Totally Hair Whitney but in my opinion she’s much prettier. Her hair is lovely and it’s saran!

 1989- Fashion Play 1988 the blue doll, the pink dress ( in white ), Caucasian and AA

The source: https://picclick.com/Vintage-1989-SPECIAL-EXPRESSIONS-BARBIE-4842-LTD-NRFB-300468494327.html

1990- FP 1990 - the dress of the pink one, the face of the purple one1989, Caucasian and AA

The source: https://www.ebay.com/p/1501530408

1991- Caucasian and AA

The source: https://www.amazon.com/Barbie-Special-Expressions-Woolworth/dp/B003IFJHWG

1992 – Caucasian, AA and Hispanic/Steffie (the eyes of Totally Hair Whitney)

The source:https://picclick.com/Special-Expressions-Barbie-1992-Woolworth-Limited-Edition-RARE-232908679884.html

1992 – wearing  Barbie Style 1992 dress, Caucasian, AA and Hispanic/Teresa

The source: https://www.ebay.com/p/1639481219

Special Expressions 1993 has turned out to be somewhat problematic and I’m not even sure she exists. I’ve only seen her here https://www.flickr.com/photos/98328300@N08/27840868831 and I haven’t found her pictures still in box. She looks like the doll from 1992 wearing the multicolor dress but her earrings don’t fit in the picture. SE wouldn’t come with any earrings. Tricky, very tricky.

So I had no idea my Special Expressions doll even existed until I read about her on one of the Polish Barbie blogs. Luci_Fair is a great fan of Fashion Play Barbies and she knows a great deal about them. She was the one who pointed out that SE was a combination of the two 1988 FP Barbie dolls. She’s the “blue” one wearing the “pink” one’s dress but in white. Complicated, I know. She’s a good substitute of the two dolls I crave for and I’m still looking for them. The only problem is that whenever they appear on eBay, they cost much more than I’m willing to pay and they’re usually the kanekalon variants and I just want saran and nothing else would do. If I happen to find them somewhere in my own country, their condition is usually very, very poor. I already rescued one poor thing here. If you’d like to see the doll’s I’m talking about, check out the blog. It’s in Polish but I guess you can translate it. It’s definitely worth it.

As to my doll, she came with a box, because the box was too damaged for her to stay IN the box. Still, I cannot throw away Barbie boxes even if they look more like trash. Call me silly. The doll, however, was dusty but otherwise intact. She cleaned up beautifully but I wish she had her stock shoes – the lovely, white pumps with bows on them. My girl is wearing a replacement pair with pearly finish. There should be a brush too, but I really can’t complain, the doll’s great and I paid pennies for her. She’s lovely and if anything, she made me crave for more FP even stronger.