An Asian cowgirl! Who would’ve thought
of such a thing? Mattel did, apparently and it turned out to be a
brilliant idea, well executed too in a form of a doll so perfect and
unique that even naked and neglected, she is momentarily identified. Her
name is Western Fun Nia 1989 and she belongs to one of the best Barbie
series in the entire Mattel history – the Western Fun also known as
Suncharm in Europe. I may be wrong but I don’t recall any other Barbie’s
friend to be named Nia, which makes her even more special. I was silly
but lucky at the same time, because I spotted her on one evening, waited
and deliberated over the possible purchase – if she’s really so
indispensable in my collection, and then only contacted the owner next
morning. Fortunately, Nia was still available, because normally when she
appears at a good price and in her stock outfit, she’s bought on the
spot.
The Western Fun series needs no
introduction, and apart from my marvelous Nia, there was of course
Barbie and Barbie AA dressed identically as well as Ken. Barbie could
also be purchased in a giftset with a horse. I believe there was also a
dog to add to the Western Fun collection. Of course Mattel released
several Western Fun fashion packs that I keep salivating over whenever I
see their photos online and the Motorhome! Oh that was a great piece
and I remember playing with it whenever I went to my cousin’s, I so
envied her that playset that was a car and a house at the same time –
inconceivable to me because I’d never seen one in real life yet Barbie
had it. Although I had the Barbie Townhouse with an elevator and a
luxurious white Ferrari, I really wanted the camper as well, badly. I
never got it back then but who knows? Anyway, there’s an interesting
fact about Ken’s disappearing hat. Apparently only the European Suncharm
Ken came with a hat while the US releases didn’t. It’s strange how
Mattel could neglect Ken like this, a cowboy without a hat?
My Nia arrived in a great shape, she
just needed a quick bath and her outfit, a wash. Her raven- black hair
was let loose so I braided it as it was in the box but her fringe is a
little wild. But then again, it’s a bit difficult to keep your hair
perfect when you’re galloping on horseback through a desert, the sun is
scorching, the wind is sandy and there are rattlesnakes and scorpions
lurking behind every cactus. Even these adverse conditions and rough
nature cannot change her beauty. Of course, she was given the Oriental
1980 headmold and a very unique facepaint. Her eyes are enormous with a
richly applied turquoise eye shadow on the upper lid and a green- sort
of- yellowish one right below the outer corners of her eyes. Her lower
eyelashes make her look very cheerful. Her lipstick is this bright and
juicy pink shade and she has some blush on her cheeks, her face looks
very much sun- kissed.
Nia is such an excellent doll not only
for her face and the entire Asian cowgirl concept, but there’s much
thought and effort put into making her outfit absolutely amazing. She
really looks more like a collector doll and not a regular playline. She
comes dressed in a one-piece that looks like a white blouse with lace
sleeves and a ruffly skirt. But in fact, it’s a body with the skirt
attached to it. But that’s even better, because this way she was given
some underwear. This makes her more dignified when she’s mounting her
stallion or doing the country dance with her skirt flying high! If this
was not impressive enough, there’s a turquoise, velvet vest with some
silver and pink detailing to it. The vest is a separate piece, so the
doll can go with or without it. Nia’s accessories include a turquoise
felt hat with an applique just like the one on the vest and a plastic
piece that gets repeated in her enormous earrings and her belt buckle.
The belt had a dual function and it could also be worn as a bracelet for
the little owner of the doll and it was obviously used that way and
inevitably lost, but her ring is still in place! Nia’s wearing her
plastic cowboy boots with elaborately carved word “Barbie” that goes all
the way down.
Now that I look at my Nia I regret not
having purchased the Western Fun Barbie and Ken that her previous owner
had put out on sale, but I liked Nia the best, my budget has its limits
and my wallet is already stretched painfully. I would have loved to have
the AA Barbie / Christie and some fashion pack too so that she wouldn’t
go dressed like her Caucasian counterpart as no two dolls of mine can
wear the same clothes. I can see that my collection has evolved from
dolls attired in rich ball dresses of prodigious dimensions through
slightly more controlled but still elegant ladies in evening gowns to …
cowgirls. I wanted to avoid purchasing random dolls much as I liked them
but I found a solution to this problem – I just need more variety in
greater numbers. To put it short, a cowgirl won’t look isolated on a
great gala if there are more cowgirls and cowboys surrounding her. It
seems my only resource is to put some scarf on my face and a hat on my
head and rob a bank, which means the next updates on my collection will
be done from a prison cell because they’ll surely catch me!
