She's 35th Anniversary Midge.
Midge was Barbie's first friend,(besides Ken.)
Midge made her debut in 1963. The box date on this doll is 1997,but her 35th anniversary would have been 1998. You can also see her original price, $39.99. Not that bad really.
I think that, overall, Mattel did a great job with this Midge.
Her face paint looks pretty authentic,other than her lips being shiny.
Her hair is too silky though.
Vintage Midge had sort of straw like hair,like Skooter. The doll they show on the back of the box appears to be a vintage Midge with her lips touched up.
This was a habit Mattel had with their early reproductions. The boxes and publicity photos usually showed the actual vintage doll,instead of the reproduction.This was misleading. I think they have stopped doing it now.
Midge originally came as a blonde, brunette, or titian (redhead.) Most people think of her as a redhead though, so it was a good choice for Mattel to make the reproduction a redhead. My childhood Midge is a redhead. Modern Midge dolls have all been redheads.
Repro Midge comes with reproductions of her original booklet...
...white mules...
...and swimsuit...
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| Original Midge actually had three different original swimsuits, depending on her hair colour. Brunette Midge had a red and pink 2 piece,blonde Midge had a light blue/dark blue combo,and red haired, or titian Midge got stuck with this orange and chartreuse horror. Strangely enough,all the original boxes picture a red head in the blue swimsuit. |
..as well as a wrist tag, which clearly says '35th Anniversary'...
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| 'Clearly',although not in my photo! |
Most people think of Midge in 'Senior Prom'. It really suits her,and looks great on a redhead. But Senior Prom wasn't actually Midge's. Midge had no clothes with her name on the label. (Although, after Midge's introduction,Mattel changed the name on the Barbie body mold to read 'Barbie and Midge'.) She shared Barbie's clothes. 'Senior Prom',like everything else Midge wore,(except her swimsuit), was labeled 'Barbie'. It was still Midge's even to Mattel though,as that's the outfit they reproduced for her with this doll.
The dress is provided, along with the green mules with peal accents....
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| The pearls on these are flat on the back. The originals were round pearl beads. |
...and the dimpled gold foil purse.
That purse was used by Mattel for years. Oddly enough,that same gold foil purse,sometimes in silver,is still appearing in generic fashion doll sets! These days it's made of vinyl,and the colour doesn't peel off.
I have the same complaint about the 35th anniversary reproduction Midge that I have with the 35th anniversary repro Barbie. The legs are too shiny,and have a mold line up the front of them,and the hands have ragged mold lines.
They were a bit sloppy with that toenail paint.
There is some variety in early Midge dolls. Some of them had very curly hair,a rare Midge without freckles,and there is a rare Midge that had teeth painted in the gap between her lips. If you buy one, be careful. Some of them have been faked. When the American Girl Barbie came out, an 'American Girl' version of Midge was also released. She had a shorter hairstyle that curled under,instead of over,bend legs, and a striped one piece swimsuit.
That's today's doll. See you again tomorrow.
