FAO Schwarz Madison Avenue Barbie 1991

I’m angry with eBay! Yet again! I cannot understand why the customs fees and shipping costs went up again. And no, I don’t accept Covid as an excuse, It’s been used as one far too many times. All of a sudden it’s become too heavy on my conscience to shop there, especially when it comes to the US eBay that holds the best dolls and the best deals. Whenever I’m looking for a particular doll, I’m almost sure I can find it there and it offers options as well – I can get the doll new, boxed, unboxed, gently played with, nude or the outfit alone. The problem is, the price of the doll alone is but a fraction of the costs I have to incur. When you sum it up with the customs and eBay Global Shipping Program fees (pure thievery) it turns out I need to put out three times as much! So I had to modify my initial dolly plans and say bye-bye to Harley Davidson II Ken, Phone Fun Courtney, both Mrs Pfe Albee and so many other dolls. I was sure Madison Avenue Barbie would join the group, but I was lucky!

I’ll describe my luck in a minute, but first thigngs first – Barbie encyclopedia! Madison Avenue Barbie was one of the many collaboration dolls made exclusively for FAO Schwarz which is an American company specializing in selling high-end toy products. The company was first set up in 1862 by one Frederic August Otto Schwarz in Baltimore and then it moved to Manhattan. The history of FAO Schwarz has had many turns, it changed hands several times, it went bankrupt twice but some amount of shares have almost always remained in the hands of the family of the founder. The sources inform FAO Schwarz is back in business and the family holds the voting shares again but in the meantime the number of stores grew and went down and once there were 40 of them with the headquarters at Fifth Avenue. Now that store may be familiar to you even if you’d never been there, like me. It was where the amazing Duncan’s Toy Chest featured in Kevin Home Alone 2 was located. Oh how I loved that movie and the amazing toy store was my favorite part. Alas, the location closed up but then moved to an equally prestigious spot – the Rocefeller Plaza!

the source: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-fao-schwarz-5th-avenue-manhattan-new-york-16299512.html

FAO Schwarz is known for their high standards so they wouldn’t accept anything that didn’t meet their expectations. Having said that, it is safe to assume their Barbie dolls were exquisite each in their own way. The Statue of Liberty Barbie, the Circus Star or Barbie as George Washington sure look impressive but even some more basic dolls such as Barbie at FAO, Shopping Spree or FAO Fun are amazing quality as well. Just look at Barbie at FAO, her stock is so well made, her skirt is real denim, and such attention to detail is rarely seen nowadays. In 2012 Mattel released an anniversary doll - FAO Schwarz Toy Soldier inspired by one of the FAO logos. It’s a very contemporary doll and as such, isn’t perhaps as tempting to me as some of the older FAO Barbies, but I love her outfit and her cat-like gaze.

 

the source: https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/24699497940294220/

 

 

 

the source: http://snickerdoodlestreet.blogspot.com/2014/09/fao-schwarz-toy-soldier-barbie.html

Ok, that amount of background information will suffice, now back to my doll – Madison Avenue Barbie 1991! Each time I saw her, my wallet would itch and just couldn’t take my eyes off her! I almost got a nose bleed when it turned out she was within my reach because one of my favorite local vendors had her and still in her box with her stock complete and at a very reasonable price too! That’s how lucky I was! The box is enormous and the white lid is decorated with a simple and elegant design sketch. It gives you the impression you’re dealing with a collector’s item though it’s strictly speaking not. I think the box should also contain a warning like – too long an exposure to the doll may result in eyesight deterioration or something like that, because when you open the box, you almost get assaulted with the fierce and strangely conflicting colors.

 

My camera makes colors a little more vibrant than normal and perhaps that’s why Barbie looks like an old lady that desperately tries to conceal the damaging properties of passing time and the brutal way the nature works on a woman but you have to believe me that Barbie’s make-up is much more subtle in reality. The doll’s hair is short and it was once styled in an elegant bun that I cannot recreate because my styling skills are mediocre at best and I can’t support them with any picture that showed what it looked like before the hair elastics deteriorated. So I just put it in a wild and wavy ponytail. The bun would go better with her impressive jewelry though. By the way, her beads remind me of Wilma Flintstone.

Barbie’s outfit comes with several pieces that look pretty spectacular, the design is great, but the fabrics leave much to be desired. I know, it’s only a doll, but since she’s not just any doll, Mattel should have come up with something better than rustling polyester that her coat is made of. Underneath, Barbie’s wearing a magenta jacket that I like much better and I appreciate the broach detail. The jacket is great, but it would’ve been even better if the skirt and the top were not … a dress! The one-piece that pretends to be something else is a little too loose as well but it’s cinched with a golden belt to make for it and it does. The dress looks best with the jacket. I’m also a great fan of the tights, you won’t find anything like that in today’s Mattel’s offer.

My Barbie comes with a lot and apart from the multi-piece outfit she’s also got accessorized with her classic pumps, a purse that opens, a shopping bag with the FAO logo, a pair of shades, a doll stand and … lingerie! The last piece is a mystery to me because the box mentions a Teddy Bear instead, but I’m glad it’s mistaken. I like the fancy frills better though the underwear is perhaps inconsistent with FAO’s profile, but I’m not complaining. Not at all! In fact the dolls offers so many options I don’t know how to display her – in the kids appropriate or the grown-up mode.

I like to look at FAO Barbie though my eyes are tearful when I take too much time doing that. The doll is so wonderfully color-unconstrained, so vivid and happy looking and extravagant at the same time and it’s also dangerously bordering on tackiness. The kind of tackiness that I love. Now this post is by no means lacking in colors, but I’ll toss a few more. It turned out that within those two and half years I’ve managed to amass quite a number of … doll brushes. Enjoy the colors!