Doll-A- Day 2023 #280: Dark Brunette Skipper

   I discovered today that I have been misnumbering my posts for the last ten days or so! It happens every time I do a year of daily dolls. At some point I mess the number up and continue on with the wrong numbers! At least I caught it this time before it had gone on for months! I am still ten days behind for the year, and I do still intend to catch up. But we're coming into what is always a busy time of the year for me anyway, writing Christmas cards, wrapping presents, making presents, etc., and this year we'll also be back at the house trying to get things straightened around. So we'll be extra busy. We should be getting the windows back in soon, and the house rewired, and then we'll be there, trying to get the house back in order, scrubbing soot off the walls, washing up all the bedding and clothes that got smoked, scrubbing down my ENTIRE LIFE that was blackened by smoke, and ripping up the carpet on the landing and stairs. I have a brand new carpet standing in a corner in my bedroom, that was going to go in the living room, but it may be too blackened now to put down. We'll have to see. I might also have to strip my wallpaper. That's another thing we'll have to see about. If I have to do that, I don't know what I'll do. I hate to just paint the walls. I wanted a bedroom with rose wallpaper ever since I was a kid, when my sister had a bedroom with rose wallpaper. (I also coveted her four poster bed and matching chest, and I have those now too. The bedroom of my dreams, up in smoke, so to speak.) Wallpaper is way too expensive for me now. I don't think I could afford to wallpaper  a bedroom any more. Anyway, we'll see.

  Hey! Good news though! You might remember I've been having trouble with my shoulders for months. My right one wasn't nearly as bad as the left one, and has been okay for quite a while now. The left one was still terrible, but slightly better. But I woke up Monday morning and it was BETTER! I thought it had been popping back into the socket before, but was easy to pop back out again, and very sore. I think it must have not been popping back in all the way, and/or that maybe there was a nerve pinched or something. This time it's really in, and only slightly sore in the muscle where I have been using it weirdly because normally hurt. There doesn't seem to be a pinched nerve or whatever any more either. Everything must have gone back into place, I don't know what I did. It's been good for a couple of days now, although I am being a bit easy on it to make sure it doesn't pop out again. I am trying to exercise it though, to make sure it doesn't stiffen up again.

  Today's doll is the last one I got at the recent doll shows. She's a bend leg Skipper.

 I hadn't bought a Skipper for quite a while. I  was trying to be good, because I figured I had enough Skippers. Well, I do. But this one has very dark brunette hair...is that black?

  She needs her eyebrows touched up, but I've done that before. But this hair colour is pretty rare, and I only have one Skipper with this colour.

  I got her for only $7, because she has a few pin marks in her ankles, and what seems to be some hair missing. I don't think it's hair loss though. I think she just needs her part rewoven. I have done that before, but I hate it. It's really aggravating.

  I'll do it though. I'll show her to you again when I do.

  That's the doll for today. See you again tomorrow.

Doll-A-Day 2023 #157: Scott

  Today's doll isn't particularly well known. He's Scott.

That's Skipper's Boyfriend Scott.  He was Skipper's boyfriend in 1979.

He was your typical 70's 'active super teen-always ahead of the crowd'. As proof of this, he comes with roller skates, shorts, jeans, sneakers, and one of those jackets everybody had in the 70's. (Even I had a form of that jacket. Shut up.)

And one giant head of hair.

What's so special about Scott? Skipper seems to have dumped him after one year. Well, his head sculpt was used for only that one doll. It's never been used again.

Not that that's a bad thing.

I know he looks a lot like Ken. What can I say? I guess Skipper and Barbie have the same taste in men. Scott is from the same line of dolls that included Super Teen Skipper. (She was a 'super teen' too!) That was  a Skipper with a very short lived head sculpt, and thank goodness for that. There are people who dislike the big head skipper dolls with the anime eyes, but at least they weren't ugly.

  I didn't have a camera with me and Ken took these with his phone. I know they leave a lot to be desired.

  Scott was shorter than Ken, about 10 or 11 inches tall to Ken's 12. But then, he was to match up with Skipper, who was shorter than Barbie.

  That's the doll for today. I have to get up early tomorrow to take Emma to have her stent removed from her recent gall bladder ordeal. but I'll see you at some point tomorrow. 

Doll-A-Day 2023 #116: Malibu Barbie

  I'm trying to get caught up, and I am getting a couple of reviews ready. But mainly today was doing some cleaning, and visiting with Emma. She was transferred to a bigger hospital today. She may have the stent put in tomorrow, but it seems they probably won't put the camera down her throat and look at her insides tomorrow. I'm guessing that kind of thing won't get done on the weekend either, so she may be there until Monday! She's feeling much better though, which is great. She had been having so much pain and was feeling terrible for so long. This gall bladder removal may also be the end of some other problems she's had for years. If anybody is experiencing severe stomach pain, chest pain, vomiting, etc., obviously you should get yourself checked out. But make sure you ask about the possibility of gall bladder problems when you talk to your doctor. Emma went to see the doctor just a week or so ago, in the midst of her really severe troubles. She was told she might have GERD, and gall bladder was never mentioned. If this had been caught early, she could have been in and out with the removal in a day. Instead, her gall bladder was so deteriorated that she was extremely sick and in great pain, her gall bladder became infected, and she developed a leak in her liver. She went in the hospital Tuesday morning, and as of tonight, (Thursday night), she's still not home.

  On to today's doll. She's Malibu Barbie.

Malibu Barbie, first produced in 1971, became the idea of the quintessential beach girl. She had long blonde hair, blue eyes, a heavy tan, a 'perfect' figure, and lived at the beach. 

Pardon her dirty swimsuit. The ocean waters ain't what they used to be.

Yes, she does seem to have had a piece chopped out of her hair.

Personally, I never thought she was one of the more attractive Barbies. She was made with the Stacey head sculpt. Stacey is my favourite Barbie and Friends doll. But Malibu Barbie was given weird little 70's eyebrows, spikey lashes, and a cancer inducing complexion. Also, the hair on Malibu Barbies is usually coarse and unattractive. (Must be all that swimming in salt water.)

Malibu Barbie came in a light blue swimsuit, and originally would have had sunglasses attached to the top of her head. The ones I have mostly seen are a thin nylon, like the extra suit pictured below with Barbie. This doll though, was wearing the suit you see on her here, which is a heavier fabric. The colour difference is probably due to fading, but the fabric difference has me confused.

The staining doesn't make it easy to see the colour difference clearly.

But maybe you can tell from this close up that the suit she's wearing is a heavier fabric than the extra suit. It's much more structured looking.

  Malibu Barbie was part of a line that included Malibu Ken, Malibu Skipper, Malibu PJ, which used the Steffie head sculpt, Malibu Francie, which used the old Casey head sculpt, and Malibu Christie.

  Malibu Barbie was first reproduced in 2008, as part of the 'My Favorite Barbie' line, to coincide with Barbie's 50th anniversary the following year. She was also celebrated on her own 50th anniversary, in 2021, with a reproduction doll, sold alone, and as part of a gift set with reproductions of Malibu Christie and Malibu PJ.

  Later original editions of Malibu Barbie were made to 'tan' when laid in the sun. They actually stayed pale under their swimsuits. It's kind of weird looking, and you'll find many of the dolls with their 'pale paint' all scratched up.

  There is a doll that looks like a pale version of this Malibu Barbie, complete with a (different) light blue swimsuit. She was a European doll called Fashion Fireworks. You can see mine HERE.

  This girl will end up on the sales page. She was in the Room of Water, with the dolls I don't want, and she didn't even get wet!

  That's the doll for today. See you again tomorrow.

  

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. 

Doll-A-Day 2023 #103: Babs, Kathy, and the Doll Show!

   My sister and I went to the doll show on Saturday. I was pretty good about buying stuff. I did make one purchase of a large item, but I got it for a really good price, and I had a really good reason. We'll get to that another day.

  First of all, let me show you some of the goodies I saw at the show, and then we'll get to today's featured dolls.  

  Not too long ago I featured Young Sweethearts Michael, and showed you some of the things made to go with the doll. I didn't even notice that at the show I took a picture of a mint, unopened Young Sweethearts Wishing Well Park! I was distracted by Elvis and Pricilla. And I don't even like Elvis.

I'd never seen this Monster High set. It's pretty neat.

  

I looked longingly at the boxed European Todd clothes and boxed Skipper outfits. Oh well. I'd rather have them out of the box anyway, so I could enjoy them.

There was even a boxed Ricky outfit! You don't see Ricky clothes very often anyway.

  I was really tempted by this red haired Skipper. She was so pretty, and had that powdery complexion that usually only the test market, or 'sample' dolls do. (She wasn't one though.) She was only $20 too! But I was good. I looked at her two or three times, but I left without her.

Some nice dolls here. I have the Frank Sinatra. You may have seen my post on him HERE.

There were some Fisher Price toys, even though almost everything at this show is Fashion Dolls. My sister bought a Fisher Price hen pull toy.

  It was hard to get decent pictures sometimes, because there was really bright lighting hanging from a very dark ceiling.

  There were a lot of vintage Barbie and friends dolls, more than you usually see these days. 

  These girls were one of a kinds.

There were some newer Blythes.

This doll was a one of a kind too. I think she was by Angie Gill. She's customized from a Vitamin C doll.

Here's another one of a kind doll outfit for sale. I like it.

  I had never seen Evangeline Ghastly in person.

  This was a bright, colourful bunch of Tammy and family dolls. The one in red is Glamour Misty on Posing Tammy's clothes.

  A cute couple of Shirley Temples and a Sasha, along with some Ginnys.

Hey Raging Moon! Here's Mumpy Terri Lee again!

  Is that Ginger, on the left? the one on the right is Tressy, in her box, with her own hair pins.

My autofocus didn't know what to focus on half the time!

  There were some pretty dolls in this group. I like the Cher on the left, and the one in green, third from right. 

And here's the Mary Make-up you saw the other day.

She looks very suspicious.

  This was a nice group of Mod Era Barbie and friends. I love Stacey, (in the stripe bathing suit), but she's become so expensive that I can't afford to collect her any more. You can see my Stacey's HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and my reproduction Stacey HERE.

Ellowyne Wilde dolls.

The African American version of Ideal's Crissy, and a Madame Alexander Leslie. 

  This Tressy was so pretty I looked at er several times. But I have a Tressy with big, dark hair. You may have seen her HERE.

  I saw this Yoshiki doll in Barbie Bazaar years ago, but I'd never seen one in person. The doll is by Takara, and based on a real person, a member of a Japanese band from the 90's, (when this doll was made), called X-Japan.

Integrity dolls.

  I am old, so I had never heard of J Balvin. Of course, my sister is older than I am, and she has. This doll was being sold by a couple of collectors who said they had tried to transition from Barbies to the very jointed and very expensive dolls like this one. They said they just couldn't do it. I thought that was kind of funny. 

My sister and I went together to buy three jointed bodies and three heads and some extras from them. We got a really good deal. I was going to switch my Paul McCartney head onto the more expensive jointed body, but I'm not sure it's as posable as the one he's on now. I put him away after the smoke smell had aired out of him, but I guess I'm going to have to pull him back out and try the new body, versus the old one.

They were also selling this doll, which I thought was really pretty. She's a convention doll, from the Roma Fashion Doll Convention.

  I posted a Brenda Starr doll recently. This one by Tonner is more recent.

  Apparently Poppy Parker loves Mystery Date.

  I liked this Gigi Hadid Tommy Hilfiger doll.

  Some more Shirleys, Madame Alexanders, Tonners,etc.

  I told you my auto focus was being difficult.

  I had only ever seen the little fairy Kishlets before. Isn't this one cute?

  I would love to have one f these Mary Englebreit dolls

  A bigger Kish doll with the Kishlet.

 

  This is the same dealer. She had some beautiful dolls.

These are Madame Alexanders. The one on the right is especially pretty.

  Here she is again.

Love the girl in plaid too, and of course the Betsy McCalls on the right.

  Same dealer, different crowd. And on the left we see today's featured dolls.

Emma bought herself that house when she was younger. It's an Effanbee Wee Patsy house from 1996, that contains two dolls and extra outfits, a wooden coat rack, and wooden rocking chair, and some toys, and a paper doll book, complete with paper house. It was really cool, but the Effanbee Wee Patsy dolls are notorious for falling to pieces. Their stringing didn't last very long.

Okay. Here's today first doll. She is a Madame Alexander Babs doll, from 1950. She has the Margaret face.

 She was available in a couple of sizes. This one is the larger one, at 20 inches tall.

Her dress would have originally had marabou feathers around the shoulders and hem.

She's wearing her ice skates.

  Patterns were sold for the Babs dolls so you could make extra clothes for her. And on to our next doll. You can see her on the left. Isn't she cute? She's a Madame Alexander too. She has the Maggi face. She's Kathy Skater.

  She's 15 inches tall.

She even has her little basket of flowers on the chain hanging from her pants.

And she has skates too, only hers are roller skates, not ice skates.

  And on to other dolls. Here is Tina Turner.

Tina is prettier than that.

I remember when these dolls came out.

  I hadn't heard of the Wild Hearts Crew either. The doll is pretty.

tty

  Judy Littlechap looks huge hanging out with this Barbie crowd.

This weird ball jointed doll was half monstery thing.

The dealer said she didn't bother to unwrap him all the way because, "...they can see what he is, and you either love him or hate him."

  More problems with the ceiling lights.

The top row has some really cute dolls.

  I think the lady on the left was wax.

  This pretty doll was a convention exclusive from the 2020 GAW convention, A Knight to Remember.

  There were several knights and knight outfit sets from the convention around the  show too.

And last of all today, here's Mary Makeup again. Tomorrow we'll see some more dolls from the show.

   

  See you again tomorrow.