Dolls of the World Malaysian Barbie 1990

11.09.2018

I chose my very first Oriental 1980 molded doll from amongst three candidates. The first one, the beautiful Korean 1988 seemed perfect with her mesmerizing narrow eyes, but sadly, high demand boosts her price and so she remains out of my reach and my determination to acquire her in her stock outfit doesn’t make it easier. The second candidate was the Malaysian Barbie 1990 who lost to her Japanese friend 1995 for my obvious love and fascination for Japan. But Malaysian Barbie wouldn’t let me forget that she was still out there and not on my shelf so I succumbed happily.

The doll arrived as NRFB as the few of my Dolls of the World did. It’s very difficult to purchase them in a used condition, parents didn’t really buy these for their children and I can see why other collectors don’t want to let them go, I wouldn’t myself. The back of the box contains some information on the culture and geography of the region and there’s a beautiful drawing of Malaysian Barbie on one side of it. How I miss such illustrations! Of course there was the obligatory brush inside as well as a doll stand which is completely useless. It’s one of those clear plastic stands with curved surface and you’re supposed to attach the doll by her leg but it doesn’t really work. The plastic is to flexible to support the doll so she stands in an odd tilted manner and looks as if she’s about to collapse.

Malaysian Barbie, who of course belongs to the excellent Dolls of the World series, is an example of how the facepaint interpretation of a given mold features may change the overall look. It’s enough to compare her to the Japanese and it’s obvious that they are entirely different despite them sharing the same mold or hair color. I guess the absence of fringe also makes her lovely features to really show. There’s a tiny bit of smoky lavender eyeshadow to grace her chestnut-colored eyes and a subtle pink lipstick.

As to her hair, I’m struggling again as to determine the fibers it’s made of, but when I compare my both Oriental beauties, my Malaysian Barbie’s hair feels a bit dryer and chunkier, and it rustles, but it’s very shiny and gorgeous. The hair is styled in a side ponytail and wavy too. There are two Lame rosettes to decorate it. Barbie’s jewelry is very simple and consists of a pair of stud earrings and a ring. She’s wearing a pair of black open-toe stilettoes that add to her overall gracefulness. What a magnificent doll she is.

According to my limited and hasty research, the Lame that Barbie’s regional outfit is made of is supposed to imitate Batik – an elaborately patterned fabric. The pattern is traditionally handmade with the use of wax and the entire process seems to be quite complicated and extremely time-consuming but the result is stunning. Mattel tried to recreate that but why they selected Lame to achieve their objective is beyond me. I mean, Lame does look very impressive but its durability is questionable. My doll, for instance, is new, just taken out of her box and her outfit is far from perfect. It appears to be damaged by the tape supporting Barbie’s massive hair. Luckily the hair covers the damage so it’s hardly visible.

The outfit consists of four elements – a knee-long jacket, a skirt with an opening in the front (or in the back if you prefer her to wear the skirt in a modest way), and two sashes all in fuchsia, gold and black. The jacket emphasizes the doll’s narrow waist and closes with a single plastic snap and so does the skirt. The long sash is attached to the jacket with a snap which keeps it in place and a single rosette is a lovely finishing touch. 

Now that I look at my Oriental ladies I’m so happy to have them in my collection but they cause a certain longing known to collectors worldwide, I wish they were not two but three – with the charming Korean to join them. Or better yet – four, the Chinese Barbie is exquisite as well… is there never enough?

Dolls of the World Japanese Barbie 1995

12.07.2018

The Superstar mold with its irresistible charm could easily obscure the beauty of all the other dolls that Mattel had on the menu back in the 80s and 90s. No wonder it was Barbie’s official face for good 20 years. But although Superstar is my favorite of all Mattel’s creations, having a redhead, a brunette and a couple of blondes, I could finally turn my attention to other headmolds.

The 1980 Oriental mold is so graceful I really can’t understand how I could have been so blind as not to have appreciated this face sooner. There were many prospective candidates to my collection who hold the exotic, oriental features, yet, for all my love and fascination for the culture of Japan, the choice was quite simple.

This one came as NRFB and she seems to have been packed a little more diligently than a play line, though I have a very limited experience with boxes. The back of the box contains some information about the country and its customs. The front of the box informs it’s a collector edition and displays the doll beautifully. The box contained also a stand, a brush, an invitation to subscribe Barbie Bazaar and a 2-year warranty, precious little artefacts reminding of Barbie’s glory from the past when attention to detail and high quality of the product were more important than they seem to be now.

My Japanese is dressed in a Kimono 着物- that literally means a thing to wear. My knowledge on this subject is quite limited, but from what I know, Barbie is wearing a spring kimono for young, unmarried women, which is evident by the length of the sleeves. The kimono is closed with a gold, embroidered Obi sash tied at the back and the purple layer underneath is slightly protruding. It’s attached to the pink layer of course. To keep the kimono in place, it’s been sewn with a single thread and there are 2 plastic snaps at the level of the obi. Velcro holds the Obi in two places so it doesn’t slide up or down. The doll’s kimono looks very accurate and authentic. 

Barbie is also wearing the Tabi – the socks, and her traditional clogs that have a slight tendency to fall off but they keep to the feet far better than I thought. As for her jewelry, she’s wearing a simple pearl ring and no earrings whatsoever. There’s a pretty pink bow in her hair and I can see the rubber band has started to disintegrate.

The hair of my Japanese is raven black and incredibly soft. It’s completely straight and very long. The fringe is unnecessary in my opinion and Barbie would look more authentic without it, but the 90s and no bangs? No way! Her face is simply gorgeous! Her lips are full and red and there’s a bit of lavender eye shadow and a thick eyeliner over her slightly too large, hazel eyes, but that’s Barbie, so whatever her origin, her eyes must be full of expression. Her face speaks peace and harmony. I guess, she’s exceptional in my collection in a way that she prefers tea to coffee. Green tea, of course.

Teen Fun Party Skipper 1987

08.07.2018

Skipper doll in her 1987 version is very special to me, after all she marks the beginning of my collection and Teen Fun Party caught my attention even before that happened. But, much as I liked her, I didn’t really know what doll she was or what was so special about her until I researched her months later. When it turned out she was one of the first releases of the big-eyed mold my fondness for the doll increased even more. But before I continue my reverie about the doll, let me share some facts.

The Teen Fun series was produced in 1987 and it introduced a completely new image of Skipper doll. The series included three dolls, all Skipper, dressed and accessorized to perform certain typical activities of a teenage girl. Teen Fun Cheerleader is probably the most recognizable for her brown eyes and her two-toned hair and a very unique arrangement of the two colors. The second one, Teen Fun Workout has green eyes and her tiny locks of honey blonde are fashioned with the 80s vibe. The last on the series, Teen Fun Party, was given lavender eyes and her blonde hair is the fairest of them all. My Skipper’s hair, however, is a hot mess and it’s almost impossible to tame it especially after 30 years in her box. Her lipstick comes in two variations, mine is light pink, but some pictures online show it as white which was quite fashionable back in the 80s.

All these dolls come with the same headmold, yet they’re so different and to give consumers even more variety, Mattel produced the Teen Sweetheart Skipper that same year. This doll bore some more classical Skipper features as her eyes are blue and her hair light blonde and the company would replicate that pattern most often in the upcoming years. Now, one thing needs to be mentioned here and that is the discrepancy between the stock photo on the packaging and the final result, but of course Mattel is notorious for that.

Much was changed about the doll at that time and it’s not only the face sculpt that was refashioned entirely. She was given disproportionally large eyes for which she resembles an anime character. Her body had undergone significant changes as well. For one thing, she’s taller and her neck is longer as opposed to many previous versions of the doll. Her face may be child-like but she’s grown a tiny bit mature otherwise (permanently this time), probably to put an end to the controversy that surrounded the Growing up Skipper. Her articulation was modified too. Not only are her legs bendable and her arms can be stretched out from that point on. The major change is her waist that gained some more flexibility. Apart from having the features of Barbie’s TNT like it did before, the doll can now tilt backward, forward and sideways. Her body type is known as Teen Fun from this point until she grows again, pretty much to the height of Barbie as the Teen Skipper in 1997.

However, as the research on the doll progressed, my initial enthusiasm lessened. It turned out that the doll comes defective more often than not, in a form of white spots all over her legs. In fact, the entire series and some other individual dolls of that period are prone to having that issue. Now, my dolls don’t really have to be perfect. I enjoy restoring them, fixing their hair or some minor defects, but there’s nothing really that can be done about spotty vinyl other than rebody. Disappointed by that, I gave her up completely until I found her NRFB and having ascertained that the doll suffers from the same ailment, the vendor lowered the price enough to tempt me.

The defect is unfortunate, but there’s still much to be appreciated about the doll despite the issue. Her stock is incredible! It’s well made and the fabric is good quality. The outfit consists of many different and separate pieces for you to mix and match. There’s a pair of pantyhose, short leggings, a tutu, a top with snaps and not the vile Velcro, an apron and of course her flats. It’s really hard to capture that in the photos but the top and the leggings have a nice feature. There’s an iridescent thread sewn in between the stripes and it looks beautiful when it reflects light. 

I really like the fact that although the doll is portrayed as a hostess of a party, she is dressed with modesty, as a girl of her age should. Another thing is that additionally to her eyes, her outfit makes her the very likeness of an anime heroine, so cute and adorable. The party girl also comes with some accessories: her obligatory brush, a tray, two ice cream sodas, two cans of soft drink, a towel, a napkin and a number of cardboard punchouts.

Dolls at that time often came with some catalogues to encourage further purchases and this one is no different, only this time, the goal is achieved in a more subtle and creative way. Skipper’s got her scrapbook where she introduces the entire Teen Fun series, there’s some lovely artwork that I adore. The scrapbook presents the merchandize as her adventures, a part of a teenager’s day to day life that girls can easily relate to, or they could back in the 80s. I’m not sure such a doll would appeal to today’s teens.

One of the things that I appreciate about the doll is the image of the ‘’Party girl’’. Looking at the doll, I imagine a girl of 14 or so, who invited some friends to a garden party where she’s serving homemade ice cream sodas, some cupcakes and biscuits baked by her mom, but then it starts raining so they run home giggling happily. There’s balloons and confetti everywhere and the friends are playing some of their favorite records careful not to disturb the peace of their neighbors. The scrapbook also informs us the friends were ‘telling some silly knock-knock jokes’ – how adorable is that! But this vision seems somehow distant … unfortunately. Time has changed I guess.