Doll-A-Day 2023 #105: Japanese Midge

   Today we're looking at a doll you don't see often. I saw her at the doll show last Saturday. 

  Midge is, of course, Barbie's first best friend. She was introduced in 1963. She came as a red head, a blonde, or a brunette. She had freckles and a friendly face, much less sophisticated looking than Barbie. She was discontinued in 1967, when her head sculpt was turned over to Barbie's new best friend, PJ. But in between the introduction of Midge and the introduction of PJ, there was another Midge.  Her name was New Midge, but she's known to collectors as Japanese Midge.

That's because she was sold only in Japan, and only in 1964 and 1965. (I've also seen it as 163 and 1964.)

  She had the same body as U.S. Barbie and Midge, but her own unique head sculpt, which was never used for any other doll.

This doll has had her rubber head band replaced with a ribbon. The head bands on Fashion Queen Barbie and Wig Wardrobe Midge are actually removeable, (and can be put back on), but why would you do it?

   Another fairly unique feature was that she was a wig doll. She had a sculpted head of hair, like Fashion Queen Barbie, or the lesser known Wig Wardobe Midge. She had the same rubber headband they had, in blue, and she came with a brown wig.

  Most Japanese Midge dolls seem to have come in the brunette wig. This rare Japanese dressed box doll has a blonde one.

The box is unusually large, and she comes with a very rare black plastic stand with her name on it, like the earliest Barbie stands. Not all the Japanese dressed box dolls came with the blonde version of the New Midge wig.

   That's the doll for today. And that's the last of our posts on dolls from the most recent doll show, except for the few things I brought home. We'll see them starting tomorrow.