Shibajuku Girls Fashion #HUN6633 2016

20.12.2018

If you happen to collect the cute big-eye Skipper dolls then you surely know that they’re not easy to dress. Of course there are still some NRFB Skipper fashion packs but these tend to be almost as expensive as the dolls themselves. Most of my Skipper / Courtney dolls came used, some of them either in incomplete outfits or completely naked. Sure that some of contemporary Barbie’s fashions would fit them in terms of size, especially Petite Barbie stock clothes, but they are hardly ever compatible when it comes to their style. I haven’t checked out the Hello Kitty fashions yet, so I don’t really know how these would fit, but the Shibajuku Girls fashion packs sure did catch my eye and they’re affordable, so I decided to take a closer look. I’ve already shown most of the packs that I own before, but this will be a collective entry on Shibajuku Girls fashions.

A quick word on Shibajuku Girls in general: they were first produced by an Australian company called Hunter Products in 2016 and these were inspired by Japanese fashion of Shibuya and Harajuku districts of Tokyo. At that time, 5 characters were introduced and each differed in terms of their personality and interests as well as fashion of course. So far, 3 waves of Shibajuku Girls have been released and amongst them there are 2 types of dolls – large scale (about 30 cm) and small scale (approx. 15 cm). The large dolls have as many as 11 points of articulation at their head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees. They have disproportionally large heads, rooted hair and apparently, glass eyes. They seem to resemble Pullip dolls a great deal, but they don’t have wigs, they lack articulation at their feet and they don’t have the eye mechanism. Hunter Products have also released hair accessory packs as hairclips are their signature and each doll comes with several of them. A glittery, fur seat scooter is also available to purchase and of course, fashion packs! So far I’ve seen 7 fashion packs, one of them is also a stock outfit of one of the girls, and if I’m not mistaken, there’s also the 8^th one that’s a school uniform, but I’m not sure about that one, I may be mistaken.

 

Hunter Products have offered quite a variety of styles, you may find sweet pastels and glitter as well as gothic black. So far, I’ve collected 4 outfits out of the 6 that are easily available, the 7^th one tends to be rare and I can’t get it in my country. Almost all of the fashion packs consist of a hairclip and 2-3 separate pieces for you to mix and match. They’re neatly packaged, attached to the cardboard that also depicts the doll it’s been designed for and the remaining box sides are clear so that you can see the outfit. It also gives you an idea of what it looks like on a doll. I’ve recently purchased the outfit #HUN6633 that consists of a glittery turquoise jacket, a purple skirt and a black top with straps. Of course, there’s a metallic thunder bolt hairclip. The top and the skirt close with Velcro. The top is hardly visible still in the box and the distributors seem to be unsure if it’s there so they sometimes don’t mention it at all, but as you can see from my pictures, it’s included in the pack.

The fashion packs that I own fit Skipper dolls very well, the sleeves of the turquoise jacket are probably a bit on the long side, but that’s acceptable in my opinion. The glittery outfit seems to be a bit mature for Skipper, especially the black top, but if you pair the skirt and the jacket with something else, it should be fine. The remaining fashions though, are perfect in every sense. They are bright and colorful, just what Barbie’s little sister would wear. I’m also very pleased with their quality and design. I like the idea of separate pieces more than anything else, because I’ve had just about enough of tops and skirts stitched together, thank you very much. Unfortunately, none of the packs come with socks or shoes, so they won’t solve your barefoot doll problem. As far as the remaining 3 packs are concerned, I don’t really know their catalogue numbers, because their packaging is long gone.

My lovely models are happy to present them. Sun Sensation Skipper is sporting a silver Lame jacket, a white, sleeveless, polka dot top and a pink, tulle skirt. Wet’n Wild Skipper is wearing a school girl kind of outfit that consists of a pleather skirt and a striped sweater with a large collar. Finally Teen Time Skipper’s presenting one of my top favorite outfits ever – a sleeveless Ramones jacket with a real, functioning zipper, that won’t open all the way so be careful. To make it easier for you to dress the doll, there’s Velcro at the back too and I think it would look even better with some kind of a T-shirt underneath. The skirt is pink and it has a rainbow metallic print all over it. Each of the skirts has a ribbon that prevents it from sliding upwards, though it does look a bit painful if you ask me.

Overall, I couldn’t be more pleased with the quality of the clothes. I do like their style and I keep eyeing the remaining two sets that are silver and black and I wonder what Skipper would look like in a Gothic Lolita outfit. I’m very curious indeed so they may appear on my blog soon.

Wet'N Wild Skipper 1989

29.08.2018

I’ve already mentioned several times I have great fondness for the sweet Teen Fun Skipper mold, but as to Wet’n Wild Skipper 1989, I had my reservations. I mean … those bangs! And the orange complexion – another Skin Cancer Skipper case as my sister would certainly call her. But she belongs to the unquestionably one of a kind series and those bangs make the entire line instantly recognizable. How could I resist when she happened to be offered and at a very, very reasonable price.

My Skipper has certainly seen better days. She arrived in an overall good condition – clean and smelling nicely, but there was a huge crack in her neck and there were dark spots on her legs that would not be removed. As to her hair, well it is slightly wilder than the name would suggest. It’s a curious combination of saran and kanekalon and so it’s quite unruly and frizzy. And then those bangs! I wondered what to do with those. They’re made of kanekalon and would be quite responsive to curling, but that would eliminate the doll’s most characteristic feature.

I decided to leave it as it is. I only cleaned her, dipped her hair a little in hot water to give it some shine and styled it the way it was supposed to. I braided the two front rows of kanekalon, which revealed beautiful sunny saran mane. She looks a little cuter now though there’s no striking difference between the before and after looks. I actually took no pictures of her before spa. Interestingly enough, there’s another version of Wet’n Wild Skipper with some more common looking bangs, but given an opportunity to choose one of them I know the decision would be difficult to make. The standard version is much cuter, but the wild fringe is absolutely unique.

One of the reasons why I purchased the doll was her outfit. She’s a beach doll and originally came in a curious temperature sensitive swimsuit that changes color. Her stock outfit was lost, but her previous owner gave her a lovely little set that consists of some elements of two fashion packs - Pet Pals 1991 (top), High School Fun Fashions Tea Set for Two 1994 (bottom) and a pair of white tennis shoes. The little dress is in perfect shape, however the white outfit and the doll’s fiercely orange complexion don’t really look good together.

The pastel Shibajuku Girls fashion pack isn’t any better and what the doll really needs is some neon colors as a distraction. As to her shoes, they’re curious. They were made in the Philippines and there is a left shoe and the right one, they’re also made of some kind of a rubbery material. I’ve got a hot pink pair as well. They, on the other hand, were made in China, are plastic and unfortunately, are both left shoes!

The below commercials present the entire Wet'N Wild series as well as the additional Water Park playset. Skipper is present in both of them wearing her stock outfit.

As to her make-up, I’m not really sure the deep tan and the blue eyeliner look so great, but Skipper’s certainly cute. Her complexion in reality is slightly less orange, it’s just my camera making the color more vibrant than necessary I’m afraid. The lipstick is nude / peachy as opposed to pale pink that she’d usually get. The doll’s eyes are beautifully blue, smiley, innocent and ginormous as is characteristic of this facemold. They make her so anime-like and are my favorite feature of the mold.

Some collectors love Wet’n’Wild Skipper, some think she’s hideous, but she’s certainly recognizable and belongs one of the most unique and exceptional series that ever existed in Mattel’s history and there are but few Barbie collectors who’d never heard of Wet’n Wild. I don’t think any other beach series has ever provoked such controversy or inspired such extreme views and opinions as this one. At the same time I can’t quite resist the certain charm that surrounds those dolls and I’m very happy that at least Skipper joined my collection. As to the big eyed mold, now I feel I’m missing Courtney and the AA Skipper. They’re next on the wish list.