Cool Crimp Skipper 1993

It’s a cliche that the new comes as the old departs, but it applies to Skipper like nothing else. In her career at Mattel’s, Skipper has changed multiple times. My favorite version of Barbie’s little sister will always be the 1987 one and the Cool Crimp happens to be the last large series that gathers all four friends, or should I say three? Does the AA Skipper hang out with the Caucasian one? Not so sure, anyway, you know what I mean. All three girls in the series got the big-eyed headmold wich would be replaced by the Pizza Party Skipper mold in 1994. Sure there would still be some isolated cases of anime eyed Skippers in 1994 like the Tropical Splash Skipper, but it was clear that Skipper would change for good.

So the year 1994 brings us a Skipper entirely new. She’s noticeably older, more mature, more realistic looking, preferred by many, but not by me. My warm feelings for my childhood Skipper requires a certain degree of antagonism towards all the Skipper / Courtneys with MATTEL INC 1993 stamped on their nape, but despite all my loyalty to the 1987 mold, I cannot resist the charm of the new headmold especially in the case of Phone Fun Courtney that I mean to purchase as soon as I find the doll that doesn’t cost a small fortune.

Now back to the good old stuff! Cool Crimp Courtney arrived first as one of my top favorites, or should I say, a great number of my top favorites. It wasn’t enough, I wanted Skipper as well and I purchased her on ebay from a certain lady who described her hair as “wild”, but the doll was still clad in her stock outfit, her shoes and jewelry still in place as well. The hair remained wild, I have no intention of repeating my mistake I made with Courtney when I almost ruined her hair by boil washing. Cool Crimp dolls’ hair has some special qualities that allow you to crimp it, straighten it, crimp it again and straighten it again and repeat the process over and over again until the doll is bald. But the hair may not react well to boil washing.

Not only Skipper’s hair is wild, but so is her outfit. There are so many conflicting patterns that it’s unimaginable how Mattel put them all together and actually made it work! But it does! It’s lucky that I had no idea of this doll’s existence when I was a little girl. I would torment my mom with constant pleas. Skipper also comes with dummy jewelry and some pretty cool sneakers. There were also 4 crimpers and a bottle, but they’re gone now. You can see them in the below commercial.

Mattel decided to discontinue the big-eyed mold and they gave us a really great farewell series. I truly want them all and the AA doll is my absolute number one AA Skipper of all time. She’s pretty expensive though and it’s unlikely I should get her. Kevin’s quite interesting too and I mean to get one. It may not be Cool Crimp Kevin though. I’d be glad to have any Kevin for that matter, the boy is pretty rare. So far, I’ve been more than happy with my two girls. They’re so lovely.

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.