Dolls of the World Greek Barbie 1985

My greatest doll passion are Superstars, so it comes as no surprise that Barbie’s most popular face should dominate even my assortment of the Dolls of the World. Even though DOTW is so deliciously versatile and offers you a great choice of dolls, Superstars rule on the international shelf of my doll cabinet. By the way, my grail doll – the first Parisian Steffie is still not there, but I’m ecstatic with my new arrival, the Greek Barbie 1985. I purchased her in a more or less NRFB condition … the doll was still attached to the inner cardboard but the box itself hardly held its shape. The cellophane was cracked and the lower lid was torn off. Barbie’s shoes and her doll stand escaped through the many openings in the box and the only evidence of them ever being there is the list of contents on the box. Though the box is badly damaged, I’m keeping it. I can never find it in myself to dispose of them. Luckily I have the necessary storage space for them.

Greek Barbie needed a bath and badly. She was dirty, her hair was sticky and she smelled of stale cigarettes. So she went straight to doll spa and after the necessary treatments she looked and smelled much better but I still put some freshly ground coffee in the doll cabinet just in case. It takes away the unwanted smell while the scent of coffee lingers a little. It was a bit stressful to wash Barbie’s clothes, all that red, white and black was not a good washing mixture. No damages here though. Uff!

Greek Barbie is just as pretty as the Philippine dolls can be and she couldn’t be more different from all the other Superstar Barbies in the world, or in my cabinet. Her uniqueness is her chocolate-brown hair and the same color eyes. My Barbie has a factory defect, her brows aren’t evenly painted and she’s slightly cross-eyed, but that only adds to her cuteness. Though I don’t change my DOTW outfits, she’s going to be one of my regular models presenting contemporary Barbie outfits. I like her immensely!

I admit I’m completely ignorant in the matter of traditional Greek outfits, but I don’t think my Barbie’s attire is very flattering. It comes with a black jacket with some yellow or gold pattern and there’s some white fabric sticking out of the sleeves, no doubt that detail is of paramount importance. Underneath the jacket Barbie’s wearing a halter-neck dress, very surprising. Again, this outfit allows a second, more regular kind of look.

As I’ve already mentioned, there are no shoes and what a pity because those were the kind of ballerina Barbie shoes that I haven’t got yet. But then again, if the doll were complete, I wouldn’t be able to afford her. So I got her a pair of golden heels with a lovely skull detail to them. My random shoes supply is running short, there was nothing that would suit my Barbie better but I’ll find some suitable alternative. Barbie’s jewelry is very modest – just a ring, but it’s quite intricate. It’s large and there’s some kind of pattern carved in it. My first Mexican Barbie has a ring just like that but in blue.

And here’s all my DOTW Superstar Barbies. I like them all but the new arrival is my favorite. I’m planning to do some fashion photoshoot pretty soon and she’s a kind of doll that will look great whatever you put on her.

Dolls of the World Native American Barbie First Edition 1992

There was a time when I wasn’t so keen on the Diva headmold and the very name Midge would bring one particular face that I wasn’t fond of, to put it mildly. That was Midge expecting a baby. And it’s not the round belly that would put me off so much, I actually don’t mind it though I look at Mattel’s interpretation of the miracle of birth with mixed feelings. No, it was her egg-shaped head that I didn’t find attractive, to say the least. She looked positively Hercules Poirot! So when one of my Superstars broke her fingers I selected a Midge doll to be cruelly beheaded. But in the end, I decided otherwise.  When I saw this doll that clearly hadn’t had an easy life, I ordered some hair for rerooting. That was my first reroot and I abandoned the idea of giving her bangs (too complicated) and the result was that my Midge had that Hercule Poirot egg for a head, but guess what! It doesn’t bother me at all. I actually like it! That poor doll changed my view of Divas completely and now I crave for them. I want them in a great number and variety and my newest one, well nearly, is the gorgeous, raven- black hair Native American Barbie First Edition 1992!

Composing this entry took some time and countless photos and selecting only 15 was impossible. While doing my research I discovered that Mattel’s created a whole tribe of Native American Barbies. I’ve counted as many as 13 dolls! The Native American Barbie appeared 4 times within the DOTW series alone, and there was also a Toys’r’us exclusive, a Model Muse, and many, many others. So here they are and the pictures come from Mattel’s official website. The beauties below are well known, they are based on Diva and Teresa headmolds.

These two belong to the ambitious American stories Collection that deals with the history of the USA. So there’s a Pioneer Barbie, a Pilgrim Barbie, a Civil War Nurse, a Patriot Barbie and of course, Native Americans. There are two of them – a Superstar and a Teresa and they come with babies snug in their buffalo skin sacks. I adore the ebony hair Superstar! She just jumped on my wish list!

I’m not so familiar with the below Native Americans, but I’ve got to admit  that two of them are just ravishing! The Northwest Coast Barbie is based on the Goddess headmold for a reason! She’s just gorgeous and so is the Spirit of the Earth Barbie. Overall, the entire Spirit series is excellent. Princess of the Navajo is the embodiment of the inner harmony as well as the union with nature. She’s very proud and beautiful. The Wind Rider is as wild as a galloping mustang, but I find Model Muse too skinny. When I picture her as a real human being, I somehow can’t imagine a dieting Native American and that she would prefer berries and roots over a juicy buffalo on a skewer seems odd. She’s a gold label nonetheless.

I hope I haven’t left anyone out because it’s high time I introduced the star of this post. My Diva Native American is gorgeous and so much different from all the Midge redheads in the world. Her ebony hair and dark complexion are a perfect background for her chocolate brown eyes encircled with blue that really pops out and gives her eyes a unique shape. Her lips are deep red and that’s her entire make-up. A true beauty doesn’t need much.

I’m really glad that Mattel decided to give her a cream outfit that highlights her other colors. It really goes well with her raven black hair and her dark skin. The outfit consists of several elements and it’s surprising. The loose tasseled top with blue beads sewn up front can be taken off and it reveals a simple dress that, had it been a bit shorter would be just ordinary in a slightly boho manner. I actually like the doll better without the top.

The first Native American Barbie comes with a few accessories but my favorite would be the over-knee boots! These are just made out of the same fabric as the top and the dress, but my, aren’t they great! I love the blue detailing that makes them a little less simple and more intriguing. The dress is definitely too long and hides them, but I played the Perfume Pretty Barbie trick and now you can see them better. The remaining accessories are a tasseled purse on a long strap and silver jewelry that doesn’t look accurate to me. I would rather have her wear some feathers or some tusks that once belonged to a very wild animal, but plastic please!

This is the first DOTW Diva in my collection and I’m just extatic to finally own her. There’s just something about DOTW dolls that makes them so irresistible to me. I’ve hardly crossed the Native American out of my list and another DOTW is now on her way. This time it’s somebody from the 80s and I just can’t wait to welcome her.

Dolls of the World Thai Barbie 1997

In my previous post I mentioned that I’d continue with DotW and today’s doll belongs to this amazing series. She’s Thai Barbie 1997. She joined my collection just a day before I published my anniversary post so she’s in the pictures and she’s waited quite a while for her presentation. At last here she is. Now purchasing her wasn’t easy contrary to her wide availability and low price. To keep a long story short it took three auctions before she was mine and the first one was very unfortunate. She was listed at a low price and I was the only bidder, but before I could pay for her, her owner sent me an email apologizing that he forgot he’d sold her already and he'd only listed her accidentally and such. I hate such practices! When you put out a hardly popular doll you may expect that the starting price may be the final one. Another seller turned out to be more honest so without a further ado, Thai Barbie.

Before I publish any post I try to make a thorough research, however I haven’t found any information whether there’s any other edition of Thai Barbie. It appears she’s the only one. It seems Mattel paid Thailand and Poland equally little attention – unless I’ve missed something. I discovered Thai Barbie quite by accident when I was flipping photos of the ever elusive Korean Barbie doll. I thought her outfit overall great, but the doll’s face was just captivating. The Oriental facemold is always beautiful, but the facepaint that Mattel applied to it – so simple and modest enchanced the natural beauty of the headmold’s features. The doll’s eyes are narrow, just like they should be and the lovely hazel gaze needs nothing more than the faint smokey eyeshadow. Yet Barbie’s facepaint is by no means deficient in color or too placid, her lips are vivid red. Her hair is quite unique – cut short and just held in a ponytail and well … stiff like hell for the product that the company applied.

I’ve made some effort to study the outfit, but the topic exhausted me completely. Dance is crucial in Thai culture and it requires a special outfit to perform it. To further complicate the matter, each piece has its own name and meaning in the ritual. So I won’t bother copying all the Wikipedia content on this subject and I’ll be using simple vocabulary as befits an ignorant person. So Barbie’s wearing a skirt, long, fitting and elaborately patterned. The green cape that covers her shoulders is tucked in the skirt in the front and it hangs low at the back. It holds its shape beautifully. But apart from being so rich and regal, Barbie’s outfit holds some surprise. Underneath the cape, there’s a simple, orange top made of lurex, so when you strip her of her headpiece and cape, she can be stylish and elegant in a more contemporary and day to day way.

The most distinct part of Barbie’s entire outfit will be her headpiece in a form of a „golden” temple that has been secured to her head with three tabs shot right through her skull. How cruel that is! I cut them off to remove the headpiece but they’re still there and in order to get rid of them I’d have to take her head off which I’m reluctant to do. Anyway, her jewellery is boring to death! Mattel gave her some generic earrings and a matching ring plus some Lame bracelets made of some scraps of the material to minimize waste. Thai Barbie has no shoes and Mattel informs us on the box that traditional Thai dancers perform barefoot. Be that as it may it wouldn’t hurt to give her some shoes. Since I like to keep my dolls in their original condition and customizing fascinates me not, she remains the only doll in my collection without shoes. But she’s got her stand which she gave to  another doll, and I also took off her headpiece because it makes her one extra inch taller and she doesn’t fit in the space on the DOTW shelf. That’s ok, because she’s still very pretty.

So far I’ve managed to collect 4 Oriental dolls, and here they are: Japanese Barbie, Malaysian Barbie, Thai Barbie and Nia.