Doll-A-Day 254: Ricky

  Today's doll is Ricky.

He's not the same Ricky we saw recently. He's the new guy I got at Salvation Army Friday evening.

He's a tan skinned Ricky. The Ricky I showed recently, on Doll-A-Day 215, is a pink skinned Ricky.

 
He actually has a slightly lighter red hair than his pink buddy.

 And, of course, they both have freckles.

They have a molded cowlick in their hair.

 Ricky was introduced in 1965 as a tan skinned doll. The pink skinned version followed the next year.

 Ricky shares the Skipper body mold with Skipper and Skooter.

This Ricky is wearing his original outfit: swim trunks and a beach jacket.

Don't let the greenery fool you. It was pretty cold out there today for this outfit!

He's supposed to have cork sandals with red straps, identical to Ken's original sandals. This guy doesn't have his, but his beach jacket and swim trunks are really nice.

 Ricky is the only Skipper friend to ever have his own line of clothing. Six outfits were produced for Ricky. His beach jacket has a Ricky tag inside the collar.

See you tomorrow for another doll. (I've got to get another line!)

Doll-A-Day 215: Talkin' 'Bout Boys Week: Ricky

  Today we're looking at Mattel's idea of the All American Boy from the 1960s. It's Skipper's friend Ricky.

Ricky was introduced in 1965 as a 'tan skinned' doll. (Those are the ones with the grayish complexions.) The next year he was available with the new pink skin tone, but, alas, not the bendable legs that Skipper and Skooter now found themselves with.

Ricky has pretty detailed molded red hair, and cute freckles.

I have been wanting to put a pink skinned Ricky head on a Living Skipper body, so he can ride a bike and look like he's really playing.

1966 was Ricky's last year. The tan skinned Ricky's can be had for a decent price, but the high colour pink skinned dolls are more expensive.

My beautiful little pink skinned guy was more affordable because he has a nick on his nose.

Most collectors think, or at least want to think, that Ricky is Allan's little brother and Skooter is Midge's little sister. But if the books written about Barbie and family are to be taken into consideration, Ricky and Skooter are brother and sister, and no relation to Allan and Midge.

Unlike Skooter, Ricky was given his own wardrobe.

I'm sorry Top Right and Bottom Left pictures, but Ricky's legs CAN NOT move like that.

 I suppose that was necessary. Skooter could share all of Skipper's clothes, but Ricky was more limited in that respect. He does look good in Skipper's green and blue plaid shirt from Fun Time,and aside from the Ricky tag, there isn't much difference between Ricky's white short sleeved shirt from Sunday Suit, and Skipper's similar shirt from School Days.(Ricky's shirt has a shaped tail and his collar buttons.)

 

Four fashions were sold for Ricky in 1965,and two in 1966. The limited number of fashions makes it possible to complete a whole collection of Ricky items. His clothes are a little harder to find than most of Skipper's though, and can be a little pricey.

This guy is wearing Little Leaguer, from 1965.

Little Leaguer consists of the red baseball hat with an 'M' for Mattel, red shirt with blue stripe,denim jeans, red socks with a blue stripe at the top,(They match his shirt.),white tennis shoes, baseball glove and ball. I have the ball, but the bat from Ken's 1963 outfit, 'Play Ball' was easier to get him to hold.

 

Actually, Ricky is wearing the Barbie jeans to Picnic set, because I think they fit him better!

Unlike some of the other members of the Barbie line that have been discontinued, Ricky has never come back. I think that's a shame. He was a cute little guy, and there just aren't enough boys in the Barbie world. I suppose that's because little girls don't want to play with boy dolls as much as they want to dress and style the hair of girl dolls they can live vicariously through. And now days, little girls are raised to believe they can do anything boys can do. So whatever adventures little girls of the past might have lived out through Ricky, they can now live out through a girl doll,or even live it themselves.
  Tomorrow we'll see another boy.

Doll-A-Day 115:Pink Skinned Straight Leg Skooter

Quick posts this week, as I'm trying to get things ready for the big doll show on Sunday. (And trying to talk Emma into going to the doll auction tomorrow!)
  Keeping with the 'quick' idea, today's doll is one I could grab easily! She's pink skinned straight leg Skooter, in her original swim suit.

She's missing her red hair ribbons.

Skooter was Skipper's first, although short lived, friend,introduced in 1965 and discontinued in 1967.

This girl is starting to lose the pink from her lips. Like some Skipper's, the lip paint can change from pink to yellow, or even become invisible over time.

She came in blonde, brunette, or titian, just like Skipper, although Skooter always seems to have crispier hair than Skipper. Maybe that's because her hair needed to hold a curl, in the ends of her ponytails.

She was originally produced as a tan skinned straight leg doll, but was later produced as a pink skinned straight leg, and after that, as a tan skinned bend leg doll.

She even made it far enough to be produced as a pink skin bend leg before she disappeared.

In the Barbie books written in the 60's,Skipper goes "to Skooter and Ricky's house". So Skooter and Ricky were siblings.

Skooter originally came in this two piece bathing suit. Bend leg Skooter advanced to a ruffled crop top and denim shorts.

 This swim suit has a tendency to lose the little metal belt 'buckle' from the bottoms, and the top rolls up and/or stretches out at the shoulders.

Skooter never had any fashions produced especially for her, with her own tag inside.She did have one gift set, Skooter Cut 'N Button Costumes. The set was a Sears exclusive. It contained the makings of a dress with cute sailboats on it, a red coat, and a night gown and cap set.Kids could make the clothes themselves without sewing. They were like the Sew Free clothes sets produced for Barbie, and had real buttons and a buckle for the coat's belt.I know I'll never afford the set in box, but I would like to get the clothes, especially the dress and coat,some day.It would be nice if my Skooters had something of their own.

Tomorrow's Skipper Saturday will be another quick post with a handy Skipper doll!