Magic Moves Barbie 1985 the Philippines

Last year I showed you a Magic Moves Barbie from Taiwan who desperately needed a rescue. She looked miserable. Her hair was one huge tangle, she was dirty and dressed in an old rag. Of course she was filthy and neglected. But she was Magic Moves! So I gave her a bath and some hair treatment. I dressed her in some fabulous fashion pack from the 80s and her mechanism even started to work – a miracle really! Now she’s one of my most precious and beloved dolls and as I was curling her hair with the use of plastic straws, I promised myself that soon her sister from the Philippines would join her but that doll would be perfect, new or almost new. Well, that didn’t happen because either I had no luck, or the Philippine MM is harder to get. The dolls that met my high expectations, exceeded my dolly budget so I had to adjust my demands to my capabilities and so I found a doll that I consider a reasonable compromise between the dream and the reality. The compromise meant just another doll in need of a rescue with no jewelry, but at least she’s fully dressed, she’s got shoes too and she’s working!

My MM from the Philippines had been waiting for a new home for ages. Whenever I browsed ebay for her, I saw this doll and no-one seemed to want her. True, the doll in the pictures needed some work, and her feet had been chewed on, but then I remembered my Mermaid Midge and I thought to myself I’d like to take care of that poor little thing. Dust seems to have been her constant companion for the last 20 years, she was incredibly filthy. I secured the button on her back with some scotch tape and began to brush her with a toothbrush. Washing her hair was a nightmare! Her neck is so loose I thought her head would fall off any minute. The head was so wobbly, it fell back under the weight of her moist hair and plastic straws. It would occasionally do a pivot – very much like the Exorcist and slightly morbid! If that was not enough, somebody had tried to do her a nose job – you can still see the needle scars that had been covered by the many layers of dust. As you can see the doll is not perfect and you may find it hard to believe that I’m extatic to have her. I really am and my happiness is complete. I’d wanted to own this doll for a long time and she’s finally here. I think I have a soft spot for dolls that had been through a lot.

Now her outfit is one of the best designs ever and its condition is rather decent. It comes in many separate pieces: there’s an opalescent body suit, a pencil skirt with a modest slit at the back, a silver belt that is easy to lose, and the magnificent cape trimmed with faux fur. The fur has seen better days and I can’t restore it to its previous glory, but the cape still looks amazing when Barbie lifts her hands and pushes it back in a manner of a true Hollywood blockbuster star! The fur is probably in the poorest condition, but the rest is almost pristine! The opalescent body suit shines like it should and I’m particularly happy about the belt because it’s often missing with used dolls. The whole design is well executed, there’s snaps instead of vile Velcro, I just love this outfit. The shoes are a replacement but I’m still happy she’s not barefoot.

I took my Taiwan MM for a quick comparison and when I was done playing with their mechanism, I took a better look at their faces. You don’t need to be an expert to see the dolls are completely different. I’m not going to talk about the differences between high and low-color, others had done it before me and probably better than I would. I just want to focus on the feelings that both dolls evoke. If they were real women, I think their tempers would be entirely dissimilar. I picture the Taiwan as a sweet, innocent girl that looks at the world with her wide eyes full of hope. Everything will be perfect for her because how can it be otherwise? The Philippine has had her share of disappointment and bitterness. Still she’s a woman who knows exactly what she wants and she’s determined to get it, though it may cost her a lot. She’s brave and daring. Just look at her smile and you’ll see there’s a bit of irony and sarcasm in it.

Now finally, both sisters stand side by side in a front row in my cabinet, proudly. They seem to catch my eye whenever I’m in that room and it gives me a great pleasure to look at them.

Crystal Barbie 1983 Taiwan

28.11.2018

Crystal Barbie 1983 needs no introduction whatsoever! She’s a classical Mattel beauty and collectors worldwide just love her. I’m no different and of course she’d spent a lot of time waiting on my wish list but she was nowhere to be seen in my country. One day one of the ladies I’ve already purchased from several times decided she no longer needed her and I didn’t hesitate two seconds and bought her on the spot! My poor neglected and mistreated Peaces and Magic Moves arrived and Crystal followed them soon after that. She had been well taken care of by her previous owner and the two looked positively homeless next to her. I’m happy to say that now they stand in a row and I can see no striking difference between them. So I’m happy to have collected the classical trio and a fourth early 80’s doll is on her way! I’ve got to say that the Barbie dolls from that time period make my heart beat a little faster. There’s just something incredibly beautiful and elegant in their simplicity and Crystal is an excellent example of all that.

Crystal Barbie is one of the few dolls that I’d be glad to have as doubles because she was produced both in Taiwan and the Philippines at the same time and the dolls bear the typical facial differences that characterized the two factories. Even more than that- they come in different hair styles! As always, when I’m waiting for a doll to arrive, I amuse myself with all the pictures I can find online and Crystal is well photographed for sure. I’ve read that the Philippines dolls come with their hair curled tight and gathered in a side pony tail, whereas the Taiwan ones have part of their hair up in a pony tail and the rest is let in loose curls. The AA Crystal Barbie is gorgeous too and just a perfect candidate for my first Spanish headmold doll. There was also a Ken in the series.

My Crystal is all spare parts. The head was definitely produced in Taiwan, but her body was made in China much later and it has the round no- toes sort of feet. This doesn’t bother me one bit, to me she’s a dream doll and no less a Crystal Barbie than one just taken out of a box. But my Crystal is missing most of her accessories that further emphasized her beauty. She no longer has her boa, her ring, dangly earrings and a necklace are long gone. As far as I know, she also came with a pendant for her little owner, a brush and a comb and some lovely crystal glittery slippers. Mine arrived with Day to Night Barbie’s pumps and a spare dress that her previous owner suggested might be made into the missing boa, but God forbid! I wouldn’t destroy such a dress for the world, anyway it may come in handy as I hope to get the Philippine or the AA, or preferably both! Some time ago I purchased a large number of shoes for my barefoot dolls because I can’t stand the sight of a doll dressed elaborately and no shoes on! Amongst them there were those crystal slippers and I at that time I thought they would be perfect for my Crystal Barbie if I ever got her. The below commercial shows Crystal in all her glory.

The dress is spectacular. It’s simple and more controlled than the 90s gowns of prodigious dimensions sprinkled with glitter and whatnot (oh how I adore them) and that’s what I like about it. It’s made of this white iridescent fabric that reflects light in its amazing rainbow sort of way. The top of the dress is simple, with spaghetti straps and a single metal snap at the back. The bottom part has a ruffle and to add to the dimension – there’s a single tulle layer. There’s a belt made of purple and magenta tulle that adds color to this otherwise very placid dress. As for the fabric itself, well I had my doubts. I was sure it would crack and peel in time, but it’s actually very good quality. The doll is 35 years old and the dress looks perfect!

The same about her hair! Her beautiful straw blonde saran hair looks amazing. It’s as controlled as the dress and done in the Taiwan way with the ends slightly curled. Sure she doesn’t have the bushy, crazy kanekalon waves that needed special suspenders in the box that had to be large and specifically made for the purpose of containing the wild hair before it exploded as you unboxed the doll, but I really like the 80s way just as much with a slight preference for the 80s actually, but don’t tell that to my 90s dolls!

Her face is everything! Not obscured by the bushy bangs of the next decade, we can admire the beauty of the simple facepaint of what is probably the most glamorous decade in Barbie’s existence. She has purple eyes! There’s something spectacular in that particular shade that is actually quite rare, because in real life people don’t have purple eyes, do they! But I love this lavender gaze, I definitely need Dream Date Barbie in my life, and asap too. Crystal Barbie is actually quite easy to recognize – her 6 eyelashes come in two lengths – short-long-short and so on. Her makeup is very subtle and not over the top. There’s a lavender eyeshadow and some minimal blush on her cheeks. The magenta lipstick goes nicely with her belt.

My collection wouldn’t do without Crystal Barbie, she’s all the beauty, elegance and simplicity of the early 80s that are getting more and more appealing to me with every doll of that period that I discover. I mean, the pictures speak for themselves, no need for words.

Magic Moves Barbie 1985

23.10.2018

‘’… and there’s this switch that makes her raise her hands and gently tilt her head backwards (here I present the dramatic gesture), no batteries…” – I explained

“Hmmmm, a doll that moves on her own without batteries… creepy” – my sister replied.

My sister usually listens with patience and enthusiasm to my reveries about this doll or that doll, but this time Mattel’s genius overwhelmed the girl evidently. And no wonder, Magic Moves 1985 swept me off my feet the first time I saw her. Her mechanism, her outfit, the jewelry and the face (faces), everything about this doll is a pure perfection. I decided that this time I need the doll in a great condition and with her stock complete. How then did I end up with an old, dirty, smelly and broken doll? I haste to explain.

Magic Moves Barbie used to be manufactured in the Philippines and Taiwan simultaneously and it follows that the dolls bear certain significant differences that exemplify the factories’ facepaint style. The same applies for Crystal Barbie or Peaches’n Cream, but this time the differences are not only pronounced, the dolls are entirely different, they even smile differently. Miss Taiwan, for example, is a lovely girl next door, she smiles sweetly, whereas the Philippines Barbie is a sophisticated woman, she smiles mysteriously, a sort of a Mattel Mona Lisa. Many collectors favor one over the other but I just want both of them and as I operate within a limited budget, one of them doesn’t need to be perfect or wearing her stock outfit, the other one must be pristine. I’m still searching for that perfect Philippine, but my Taiwan girl’s turned out to be quite a revelation and full of surprises too.

When she arrived she was in a horrible condition that spoke neglect and misuse. She was dirty, smelly and wearing an old Crystal Barbie gown. Her mechanism was broken, the switch didn’t work, so I wasn’t quite so gentle with her as per my usual custom. I moved her arms up and down and repeatedly, they were strangely loose, but at some point one of them sort of clicked and as the switch was up, it moved upwards by half an inch, but no further. This intrigued me greatly and I continued playing with her gleefully and observed the left arm rise further and further, the right one wouldn’t budge. Soon my duties called, I left the doll and went to prepare supper for my hungry family. After the meal hubby sat at the laptop, girls went to sleep and mommy went to play with her new Barbie. At this point the left arm almost touched Barbie’s head and to my joy I heard the same click with the right arm that went upwards half the way. By the time I went to sleep the doll was fixed and she’s still working. It seems she just needed some exercise.

Next evening I washed her carefully. Her previous owner informed me the doll’s hair had been cut a bit. It was in a pretty decent condition, so after the usual spa treatment (and very gentle too) I curled her hair and left her for the night. Next day I gave her an outfit and photographed her. Her facepaint is all about simplicity. Her eyes are beautifully blue with and a blue eye shadow to emphasize the color. Her lipstick is bright pink and that’s it. That’s the charm of the early –mid 80s that I love so much. It may be just me, but when I looked through a million pictures of the doll, I got an impression that even the Taiwan dolls differ in terms of their eyebrows. Some of them have a very sweet, sort of surprised face, mine is regular I’d say.

I can’t imagine Magic Moves wearing anything but blue, turquoise or mint so first I gave her a very nice contemporary dress, only to replace it with something absolutely fabulous – the Twice as Nice Reversible Fashion Pack #4828. The set comes with a pair of open toe stiletto heels that are missing, but the rest of the pack is there. There’s a frilly, pale, pink top trimmed turquoise with some shiny, pink elements and a reversible skirt turquoise on one side, pink on the other, both the top and the skirt close with snaps. The outfit belonged to another doll but it didn’t quite become her. Magic Moves, on the other hand, looks like million dollars in it. The outfit was also released in a yellow/turquoise color scheme.

The commercial below presents Magic Moves Barbie in her stock outfit and with her accessories and these include Barbie sized comb, a brush and a hair dryer, regular size brush and a comb and some cardboard cutouts. The commercial also shows how her mechanism works.

 

I’m still hunting for that perfect Philippine and with patience and persistence I’ll get her sooner or later. To purchase the “same” doll or seemingly same doll may seem a little odd to some people. After all, I’ve already heard opinions like “but they all look the same, they just have different dresses…”. I disagree, strongly, and to demonstrate that, I’ve put the two pictures below. One of the dolls is of course, the Taiwan Magic Moves, the other is my rescued Hollywood Hair. They’re both wearing identical dresses, they’re blondes too, of course they share the same headmold, but they couldn’t be more different to me.