Tea & Backstory

Hello Dolls! Tonight, I will talk about my twenty some-odd year long love affair I have had with Barbie. And not just Barbie, but her friends, as well as others like Barbie but not 'genetically' related (I mean other 12" dolls that are not part of the Barbie brand). So go brew a cuppa and settle in for my story.

I don't remember my first Barbie. I don't remember getting her. I don't know for sure when I got her nor do I know where she came from, what edition she was, or how much she cost. I do know that it must have been after I was 6, because I was no longer living with my two older sisters.

I did end up with one, though. That one was shortly followed by another, and another. I loved Barbie. I must have developed a taste for her from my older sisters, though I'm sure I would have discovered her on my own. I do know that by the time I was 8, I had maybe thirty Barbie dolls, Barbie Friends, and Ken dolls. I would design clothes for her, and I would try to make some as well. Most of my own creations ended up looking like a long poncho with a belt. Nonetheless, I would try.

Unfortunately, at about that time in my life, I became friends with the boys across the street. I was embarrassed at owning the dolls, although I loved them all. This embarrassment was a flaw that proved fatal to my beloved Barbies... The neighbor boys got violent with them, and I, too afraid to tell them to stop, joined in. All of my Barbies eventually found themselves in various pieces, in various places throughout the yard. My grandparents would not buy me any more (understandably so!) and I was left Barbieless.

I did have a few Ken dolls left, along with a few G.I. Joe dolls. Neither sort looked good in dresses, and I eventually had to move on to other toys and pastimes.

I bought a few Barbie dolls when I was 18, though they wouldn't stay around long for various reasons, be it moving, my older sister stealing them, etc. Then, a few years ago, I came across a 'special' Barbie doll while shopping with my best friend. This doll was the Tarina Tarantino doll that I have previously written about.

When Tarina came into my life, I found that I was no longer at risk of losing my collection. Barbie Tarina opened a door (or dare I admit 'floodgate') to my Barbie collecting. In the 5-ish years since Tarina came in, I have amassed about one hundred dolls. The majority of them came to me used via thrift stores, ebay, and craigslist, but others have been store-bought. Currently, there is not an accurate count as I have moved and have had to pack some away temporarily. But I do believe I have at least one hundred.

Although I have been a fan of Barbie for most of my twenty seven years, I do not claim to be a Barbie know-it-all. I am merely a Barbie enthusiast, an amateur collector. Some may ask why I have a blog devoted to Barbie, since I am not an expert. To this I reply (jovially)... this is the internet; none of us are 'experts'. I like to share my collection. I like sharing pictures of my dolls for multiple reasons. Initially, I believe I was inspired to start this blog because I could not find many photos of certain dolls I was interested in. I thought someone, somewhere, would appreciate seeing pictures of a doll they may be interested in before they took the plunge and bought the doll. Since I like taking the dolls out of their boxes - a faux-pas to most collectors - I thought perhaps I could shed light on what the doll may look like without her/his box and ssave another collector the trouble/curiosity.

Though I take my Barbie dolls out of their boxes, and almost all of them from their cardstock backings, I do tend to save most of the boxes (generally I toss the boxes to the cheaper dolls I buy new). I don't intend to ever part with my collection, but I know that the boxes do add to the value of the doll, and whoever is next in line to have my dolls may appreciate my efforts.

And that is my story. Stay tuned; there are plenty more entries for me to write about!

Barbie Basics, Model #08, Collection 002

Today's entry is my brand new Barbie Basics doll, Model number 8, from Collection 002. I just bought her about half an hour ago.
I found her in the Walmart toy clearance section, slightly hidden. I got her at a great price, $8.50. With tax, $9.10! I was planning on buying the Beach Barbie from A Mermaid's Tail 2 (since it's $5.24 and I don't have her yet), but I got this one instead, since the beach one will be there next time I go. This doll has the model muse body that is more slender than the typical Barbie body. She came with a stand and a certificate of authenticity.

I like the Model Muse bodies over the regular bodies because they have extra details that are nice to have, such as painted finger- and toenails, individual feet (right/left), etc.

A cute detail on the jeans is the Barbie "B" logo embroidered on the back pocket. Also, the jeans have a snap button, which I haven't seen on a Barbie product in a while. (Not that I'm any kind of expert on Barbie!)

She wears black slingbacks.

I love slingbacks on Barbie, but the drawback is that they tend to fall off easily. This is easily solved by using the clear tiny rubber bands.

Another tip I have is to use a seam ripper when removing Barbie from her box. As any Barbie collector knows, Barbie is almost inseperable from her cardboard backing insert. Using a seam ripper makes the chore fast and simple. Just be careful as the tip is pointy, and can easily damage the doll's clothing or your fingers.

If you've never encountered one of these wonder tools before, they can be found in the sewing/crafting section. They usually don't cost very much. It's great for many things besides its intended use. It has a sharp section between the prongs.

Anyway, Back to Barbie. Here are some more pictures.

One last thing I think is cute is her hair. I like it, and it also matches a barbie I featured in my previous entry (the last doll of that blog).

HOMEWORK: Do you have a preference of Barbie's different body types?

All Things New Again

One of my hobbies is rescuing Barbie from the thrift stores. A second hobby emerges from that hobby, and that is returning a trashed-up, dirty Barbie with whacked out hair muddled into knots Houdini himself couldn't get out of, into her former glory. I scrub them down, and wash, condition, and comb their hair. I trim the ends so that they are even. I wash whatever clothing they may have come with, and do whatever else needs to be done (gluing broken parts, etc.).

I love seeing the transformation, and the more dramatic, the better. I didn't think to take pictures when I started doing this. I wish I had, because I don't have any photos of the worst cases. Still, the photos I'm including should give a good idea. Most of them are from a couple of years ago, when I bought several 'last chance Barbies' on ebay.

This last Barbie is a bit off topic. She was purchased new, from Big Lots (for 5$). When I removed her from the box, I discovered that the lower half of her hair had been ruined from some kind of pre-packaging heat exposure. I didn't get a before picture, because I didn't think I'd end up with a good result. Most Barbie lovers know that when you cut Barbie's hair, it tends to stick up at odd angles and just look overall horrid. Fortunately, this was not the case for this girl. I had to cut off most of her hair, but there was enough left for a cute bob that I decided to make asymmetrical. I love how she came out, and am astonished that I was able to cut her hair so short and still have an appealing result.

See you next time!

2010 Couture Angel Barbie

Today I am featuring my 2010 Couture Angel Barbie. She is a Pink Label collector's Barbie designed by Ann Driskill. She was released on June 17, 2010.

I first came across her while I was at Tuesday Morning one day this summer. I of course fell in love immediately, with her gorgeous feathered wings, celestial blue gown, golden halo. She vaguely resembles Sarah Brightman in a Harem concert costume, except with blonde hair, not brown. This is unrelated but fabulous and therefore worthy of entry.

Back to the featured Barbie... The Barbie Collector website describes her best : Couture Angel™ Barbie® doll shows off goddess style in a strapless, celestial blue gown, worn with a ruffled white underskirt. The bodice features intricately stitched detailing. Faux pearl stud earrings, golden belt buckle, and whimsical peep toe shoes are the perfect accessories. Fluffy feathered wings are the final angelic touch. Divine design delivers a devilishly delightful doll!

As I said, I came across her this summer. Money has been tight this year, so I kept saying "I'll have to get her next month" for several months, never forgetting her, but, like a true angel, she was just out of my grasp.

Then one of my closest friends, for no reason other than she loves me (and I love her too!) fulfilled my dream of having this fantastic angel in my collection. I am so very lucky to have this lady as a friend!

I immediately went to Tuesday Morning (coincidentally where I bought my Tarina Tarantino Barbie I featured in my first post) and saved this angel from the clutches of some less-appreciative shopper. My heart fulfilled, I rushed home and, of course, freed the angel from her prison of a box. I discovered that her shoes were some of the cutest shoes I've ever seen on a Barbie.

I glued them to her feet so that they would not fall off (fear not, it was merely white glue that would not compromise the shoes or the feet.).

I love that this Barbie has two 'uses'... the first is obvious; as the fabulous doll she is. The second is that, since she is an angel, one could display her during Christmas, perhaps as the Angel at the top of the tree. I would love to have a tree topped with this lovely lady. Alas, this year I have a 4 foot tall pink-themed tree, so she would not only be too large for the tree but also in the wrong color scheme. But I digress.

Enjoy!

Heidi Klum Pink Label Barbie

Today's spotlight Barbie is the Heidi Klum Pink Label Barbie.

This Barbie is based on the supermodel Heidi Klum. She is also a fashion designer, television producer, singer, actress and philanthropist. She is married to the singer Seal.

This is a Barbie that I wasn't expecting to buy. I like Heidi Klum, but I didn't know that Mattel had released a Barbie version of her until I was out shopping one night. I was at Ross with my best friend, and I went down the toy aisle as usual. I came across my Heidi at the end of the aisle, with *gasp* a clearance sticker on it. It was priced at 9.99, and I grabbed it on principle. A Pink Label Collector Barbie for ten bucks? Of course I'll buy it! I didn't only buy it for the price, I really liked the doll. I loved the dress, and I loved that it was a Heidi Klum Barbie. I've had this doll for almost a year now, and it is still a favorite. I hope you can see why!

She comes with this lovely pink and gold sequined number, wearing a ring, dangly earrings, and gold heels with pink accents.

HOMEWORK: Which supermodel would YOU like to see made by Barbie?

Debbie Harry Barbie from The Ladies Of The 80's Series

This entry features the Debbie Harry Pink Label Barbie Collector doll from the Barbie "Ladies of the 80's" series. Deborah Harry is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is perhaps best known as the lead singer of the band Blondie (one of my favorites!).

This week's accompanying story is this. (Go grab that cup of tea!)

I only fell in love with Blondie/Debbie Harry in the last few years. I've always liked their music, but I never got around to actually buying an album or anything. Then, a few years ago, I uploaded the 1981 "The Best of Blondie" cd to my computer, and I listened to it a lot. I started listening to it more and more, and now I'm a bonafide fan. I've really liked Debbie for several years, I saw her in the movie Videodrome and I've seen her in other things as well.

I found out that Barbie made the Debbie Harry doll in 2009. I came across the Barbra Streisand doll at a store, and the Debbie Harry doll was next to it. I decided against the Barbra Barbie, and was considering the Debbie doll. I chose against it for a couple of reasons. One reason was that I wasn't a very big fan (yet) and so I just wasn't sure. The second reason was the hair. I loved how the doll looked, I loved the outfit, and I loved the microphone. I love the 1980's. But her hair didn't look good. The head/hair looked like the manufacturer had glued an extra piece of doll scalp with blonde hair on top of the darker hair underneath. I wasn't sure if the head was actually modified or if the head was normal and the styling was just off. I couldn't open the doll, since I was at the store, so I 'erred on the side of caution' and didn't buy her.

It wasn't too long before I began to regret passing her up. As I started listening to Blondie more and more, and becoming a bigger and bigger fan, I really started kicking myself. Then, 2 or 3 weeks ago, I was given another opportunity. I came across the Debbie Harry Barbie at Big Lots for 25$. The hair on this doll was not odd-looking. An extra unexpected bonus was that it was 'friends and family' day, and I recieved 20% off (5$). So I bought it, and I was very happy. I discovered that the hair was normal, and that it was just the styling that made it look off.

THE DOLL:

THE DEBBIE:

Debbie Harry and Blondie are still around and still rocking. They released their latest studio album, A Panic Of Girls, in 2011. I absolutely love this album. My favorite songs are "What I Heard" and "Mother". I definitely think you should check out this album.

I've had the doll for a couple of weeks now, and I am still happy with it. I always remove the doll from the package and backing, but this time I decided not to. I just love her with the background, and I don't think I could have a better way to display her. So I'm leaving it on, at least for now. I'll have the outer box off, but the cardboard backing is really cool.

HOMEWORK: Has your favorite music artist been made into a doll? Who is your favorite musician?