One evening I was out hunting on eBay.
There I sat at my laptop like a wild animal amongst bushes, my senses
sharpened, just ready to strike. And my prey – Cool Crimp Courtney 1993,
one of my top 3 Courtneys ever. I scrolled down all the three familiar
auctions, none of them acceptable and I was about to go to bed when I
thought – Hang on, maybe I’ll check my local auction portal for some
Skipper dolls. Well, I didn’t find any Skipper, but I did spot my prey!
The auction was closing within a couple of hours just past midnight and I
was the only bidder. Though I was dead tired I couldn’t sleep because I
was sure someone would outbid me 10 seconds before closing by a dollar
or two. Eventually I did fall asleep only to wake up and realize the
action had ended. No high hopes, I checked my email and read the happy
news, I won the doll. I went to sleep again peacefully, like a lion that
has just gorged on a zebra.
The Cool Crimp series was manufactured
in 1993 in Malaysia and China and it consisted of 4 dolls – Skipper,
Skipper AA, Courtney and for some reason – Kevin. The dolls got their
name for the unique qualities of their hair that could be crimped with
the use of the crimpers included in the box. The hair was supposed to
hold the style until you got bored with it and wanted the hair to be
straight again. It was easily achieved, the only thing you needed to do
was to brush the crimps out. Kevin, whose hair is of course molded and
painted, could crimp his … cap, he got the crimping thingy too. The
below commercial presents the trick.
My prey arrived all dirty, her hair
frizzy beyond measure. And the hair was awful … dry, dull, coarse and
stiff. It seemed to need a great deal of care to look pretty again. I’d
never seen anything like that before. I washed the doll thoroughly and
submerged the hair in some fabric softener just for approximately 90
minutes because I was busy and pressed for time. That’s where I made a
mistake, because I totally forgot the hair had some unique properties. I
wasn’t satisfied with the result so I also put it in hot water, but not
boiling because I suddenly remembered the hair was special. It finally
looked sleeker, shinier and more controlled. It dried in no time and
then I discovered it discolored … The discoloring was uneven and it
looked just like a sweater that used to be black, but then it was worn
so many times the color just washed out. What a disaster! I searched
online for any cases just like this and found some photos of CC Courtney
dolls whose hair looked like mine (it's hard to capture it in the
photos though). These were the examples of dolls that had been heavily
played with. Nowhere did I find any mention of the doll’s coarse hair or
a damage that resulted from the usual treatment. Oh well, I thought,
perhaps I’ll reroot her if the hair continues to bug me. One thing
though, the crimpers still work, the crimps do hold and can be brushed
out as easily as the commercial shows it.
Another problem was her cute outfit. I
was so happy I managed to get her in her stock clothes and shoes that I
wasn’t discouraged by a tiny spot on her sleeve that her auction
pictures showed. But when I took her out of the package and examined her
carefully, I discovered the back of her pants had an extensive spot
that looked like tea. The spot was huge. The seller didn’t mention this
of course. I was a bit angry but I waited for this doll too long to
return her now without at least trying to wash the spot out. So I washed
the pants over and over again and the spot became smaller and paler but
it didn’t disappear. Resigned, I just rinsed the pants and left them to
dry a bit uplifted to see the spot didn’t look so awful when dry. I was
glad because the outfit is really cute! It consists of only two pieces
but these are so detailed it really doesn’t need anything else. The high
top is adorable, it’s trimmed with lace and the cuffs have a design
that gets repeated in the pants. The pants look like overalls without
the suspenders. These are calf long and purple stripped. The large
pockets are real and cute – just mint colored with white spots. The back
of the pants has a different pattern – the stripes aren’t vertical but
horizontal and much thicker. There’s a special stripe at the side of the
pants for you to attach the water bottle that the doll originally came
with. Courtney is also wearing lavender-colored, ankle-high sneakers
made of rubber.
As I’ve already mentioned, Courtney came
with some accessories. There were 4 crimpers, a bottle, and a brush.
Some of these are missing. My package included 3 crimpers, a huge bottle
that probably belonged to another doll and a replacement brush. But one
of the reasons I really wanted the doll was her jewelry and this
consisted of pacifier earrings and a necklace! They remind me of the
times I used to have a necklace just like my Courtney. My pacifier was
made of clear plastic, I don’t remember the color, and I would wear it
as jewelry and sometimes I attached it to my backpack. All girls wore
them and some had them in all possible colors. If that wasn’t enough,
pacifier lollipops were very popular too and no one was embarrassed by
eating them at school. Now that I think of it, I really can’t understand
the weird fashion but back then they were an absolute must!
Courtney has an adorable face that does
make up for her minor imperfections. The face looks very fresh with her
purple-grey eyes, the minimal, lavender eye shadow and her dark brown
eyebrows. The pink lipstick adds color to the face that I’m so fond of.
As it happens, this is the last Courtney doll to be released with this
facemold and within the 12 or so years of her existence, there were only
7 big eyed Courtney dolls versions produced. These were:
- Teen Time Courtney 1988
- Cool Tops Courtney 1989
- Babysitter Courtney 1990
- Pet Pals Courtney 1991
- Cheerleading Courtney 1992
- Toys’r’us exclusive Totally Hair Courtney 1992
- Cool Crimp Courtney 1993
The next day I examined Courtney yet
again glad to see that neither the spot nor the hair look quite so bad
in daylight and I felt much happier about the doll. The discoloring
seems most awful in artificial light, so it's not bad at all. Anyway,
the doll is now proudly displayed in my cabinet as my second most
favorite Courtney ever with number three that you can see below. Now
they're waiting for number 1 - Teen Time Courtney. In the meantime, I'm
delighted with both of them!
