Ekatarina

Ekatarina, originally uploaded by alington.

The first Barbie Club Barbie, Ekatarina, has arrived--and she's quite lovely. She's a Gold Label doll, and a Silkstone.

Her hat is sewn into her hair in two places, but those are easily removed. I love the color of her hair, and she's got great boots. Her outfit has a tiny bit of 1980s flavor, I think. The brooch is plastic and clips on with a single hook, though the bracelet feels nice and heavy.

Her boots:

And see more on Flickr!

Mattel made a Canadian Barbie, eh?

 They sure did - and she happened to be my Christmas present from my friend, Alison! It was news to me that Mattel's Dolls of the World Collection included a Canadian Barbie, as Canada seems so close to the United States, and not very "exotic." (Although, being a Canadian living in the US, I can testify that there are definitely differences between the two countries...and their inhabitants.) Besides having that beautiful 80s Barbie face, she makes me smile. Seeing the Canadian flag on her box makes me feel like she and I are sharing something special.

New Year's 2011 Barbie Auction from MHarrisLive

Check out the one-of-a-kind Barbies, outfits and vintage dolls offered at this fun auction from MHarrisLive. You'll need an account to bid and watch the auctions, and the auctions close at 8PM EST on January 2, 2011.

Swirl Ponytail in Let's Dance

Swirl Ponytail in Let's Dance, originally uploaded by alington.

Here's a vintage Barbie just for the sake of beauty.

A new dress, Let's Dance (#978), which was produced in 1960-2, is being modeled by my lovely blonde Swirl Ponytail (1964-5). She has not been retouched.

See more photos on Flickr. You can find a doll and an outfit like this for yourself or a great gift from Kathie. If she doesn't have one listed, contact her, and she can find you almost anything.

1976 SuperSize Barbie

 My newest girl: a 1976 SuperSize Barbie. (One of the few dolls I own that is older than me!)

I acquired her in a trade at my local doll meet last weekend. She came with her original white outfit (plus box, accessories & stand), as well as this blue dress and a handmade velvet dress. She is the same proportions as Barbie, but 18 inches tall. I was drawn to her beautiful face and plan to make her design her a beautiful wardrobe to match it.

I couldn't help snapping a few photos...

I'm thankful for... #4

2010 Holiday Hostess Barbie. What says Thanksgiving better than this nostalgic Barbie doll? She will become an annual part of my Thanksgiving decor.

1965 American Girl Barbie Doll, Stock #1070

The 1965 American Girl Barbie doll has a short pageboy style haircut with a center part. She came in a number of hair colors including variations of blonde, brunette, and titian. The American Girl Barbie pictured here has a box marked as "pale blonde". Later issues of this doll include long-hair and sidepart versions. There are also American Girl Barbie dolls which were exclusive to the Japanese market and had pink skin tone.

This Barbie has bendable knees which the box refers to as "lifelike bendable legs". Her skin tone is tan. Her side-glancing eyes are blue and she has molded lashes and curved eyebrows. There are a wide variety of lip colors. She was dressed in a multi-striped and turquoise one-piece swimsuit that is tagged with a black and white Barbie label. The striped portion of the swimsuit is cotton and the bottom section is knit. She has matching turquoise open-toe shoes one of which is marked Japan on the sole. Other accessories include a gold-wire stand and a fashion booklet.

Both the finger and toenails are painted coral. The toenail polish is often missing on played-with dolls. Her body markings are: c. 1958 Mattel, Inc./US Patented/US Pat Pend.

There was a foil tag on the right wrist.

The American Girl Barbie box was not wrapped in cello but there was a piece of cello on the doll's head. The graphics on the box sides include depictions of Barbie wearing Slumber Party, Golden Evening, Skater's Waltz, Student Teacher, Modern Art, Disc Date, Poodle Parade, Matinee Fashion, Learns to Cook, Jr. Designer, On the Avenue, and Holiday Dance. These are all highly coveted 1600 series fashions any of which look wonderful on an American Girl Barbie doll. Current market prices for short hair American Girl Barbie dolls are approximately $125 for a played with doll with some flaws to $795 for an NRFB example.

Barbiecollector.com - Grand Re-Opening is live now!

Check it out: lots of fun stuff on the rather slow-moving newly redesigned BarbieCollector website:

• Enter the Grand Re-Opening sweepstakes--it's a free drawing. No purchase necessary, and you can enter every day, now through November 9, with a new winner each day. You can enter without a purchase, too, daily. Check out winners each day after 11 am CDT. Plus, they've even listed the daily prizes, and they aren't always just a single doll!
• Sales: don't forget. you'll get 25% off your entire order today only, and the discount should appear in your shopping cart automatically.
• Special gifts with purchase: You'll receive a special gift when you order two items from the Barbie Basics collection (a 5x7 sketch valued at $5), and/or a single item from the Christian Louboutin line (Barbie by Christian Louboutin calendar, valued at $12).

Now, on to my personal opinion and a review of the site. A few complaints:

Save the date - November 3!

Barbie Basics No 5, Lea sculpt.

BarbieCollector.com is launching their new website on Wednesday, November 3, and will be offering shoppers some specials.

• For 24 hours only, get 25% off all in stock items, from midnight 11/3 CT through 11:59PM CT. The discount will appear in your shopping cart.
• Get a special gift when you purchase Barbie Basics or Christian Louboutin products.
• Enter a chance to win the Barbie Collector Grand Re-Opening Sweepstakes 11/3-11/9. No purchase is necessary, nor will it increase your chances of winning, but you must be a legal US resident to enter.

Take a sneak peek of the new homepage here!

Diamond Barbie sets a new record price.

Stefano Canturi Barbie, a one-of-a-kind doll sold at auction in New York for $302,500 to an anonymous bidder. The doll is wearing a black strapless evening gown with a choker with a one carat square-cut pink diamond, per the article from the BBC.

$17,091 was the previous record for a Barbie auction.

Canturi is an Australian jewelry designer, and his goal was to accent the doll's "modern yet timeless style." The proceeds of the sale will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Check out the full story, and an AP photo of the doll, on the BBC's website.

A Little Halloween Display

For quite a few years I've been meaning to set up a Halloween doll display. Each year I'd find new items to include, but I'd never quite manage to get it all together. That changed this year. As part of my goal to rein in my collecting, instead of buying more items this year, I hunted throughout my house for all the goodies I've been amassing over the years. Once I found everything, I put together the above display.

This display is dedicated to items in the playscale size, also known as 1:6 scale. Included are Halloween Barbies, Halloween Kellys and one Tommy, the Lucy and Ethel Martians from Lucy is Envious, and various Halloween decorations. While the first Halloween Barbie came out in 1997 as a Barbie and Kelly gift set, I didn't start collecting the Halloween Barbies until 2001. Every year since 2001 is represented in this display with the exception of 2005.  I'm not sure what happened that year to keep me from buying the Halloween Barbies, or maybe I did buy them and they're still lost in my house somewhere.  There's a truly scary thought!

OK, I have a confession.  I fibbed at the beginning of this post. I actually did buy something this year...the Kellys and the Tommy. While putting the display together, I realized I didn't have any of the costumed kid dolls. What is Halloween without the trick-or-treating kids? For these I resorted to eBay. I found some great deals on these dolls by buying the ones sold in groups. While some sellers will only list one doll in an auction, other sellers will group several together. Even after combining my bid price with shipping cost, I still paid less than original retail on each doll.

The props were a lot of fun to discover. The Mummy's Mansion sign in front of the Target Exlcusive "Halloween Fortune" came from Michael's. I don't remember the price on the sign, but I do remember it was on sale. That's one thing I love about Michael's; they'll put special occasion merchandise on sale even before the special occasion! The tiny skulls are from Target and came in packages of 30. I believe they retailed for around $5.00. The different headstones and gargoyles came from several different stores, Target, Michael's, or Big Lots, and each retailed for less than $2.00. If you look closely at the "Beware of the Black Widow" headstone you will notice a little spider sticker.  She's from a Halloween sticker set from Michael's.  I've scattered the other pieces from the set around the display. The two pumpkins came from a six pack I purchased for $2.99, also from Michael's. They're great because they are not decorated for Halloween. I'll be able to use them again in a Thanksgiving display. The tiny handled pumpkin in front of the little Genie Kelly is a cupcake topper from my childhood.

I'm really happy that I finally set up a special occasion display. As much as I enjoy discovering all these neat things in the stores each year, I think I might have had more fun arranging them and rearranging them until I had them just the way I wanted. Now to start thinking about my Thanksgiving display!

1961 Flocked Hair Ken Doll, Stock #750

Barbie's boyfriend Ken was introduced in 1961 and, for the first year, had "flocked" hair (fuzzy headed). This hair flocking easily rubbed off so Mattel changed Ken to a molded hair model in 1962. The hair colors available that first year were blonde, brunette, and a rare brownette color. Ken had blue forward-glancing eyes, mauve lips, and brown eyebrows.

He was made of hard plastic with a hollow torso marked: Ken T.M./Pats. Pend./c. MCMLX/by Mattel, Inc. He was dressed in bathing trunks, sandals, and sometimes a red and white beach jacket. The trunks were a solid red knit or red cotton with a white stripe up the sides, solid red cotton. The sandals are cork with a red vinyl strap. Other accessories included a fashion booklet, black wire stand, blue foil wrist tag, and a yellow towel (not found with all Ken dolls).

The box liner is in two pieces and is made of cardboard. The box top graphics consist of drawings of Ken in several of his early outfits including Saturday Date, Campus Hero, Tuxedo, Dreamboat, In Training, Terry Togs, Sleeper Set, and Casuals. There are also three drawings of Barbie doll in Enchanted Evening, Friday Night Date, and a coral swimsuit. Note that the black and white trunks depicted on Ken were never produced. Earlier boxes show the black and white trunks, later boxes depict Ken in red trunks. Boxes may or may not be marked as to hair color.

My flocked hair Ken came with his original store receipt from Grant's department store for $1.88 and was purchased on September 14, 1961. If you'd like to add a flocked hair Ken doll to your collection today it will set you back a bit more at about $20 for a nude Ken to approximately $175 for a boxed Ken with all the accessories.

Encyclopedia of Barbie Doll Family & Friends Licensed Products

This book is without a doubt the most comprehensive and accurate vintage Barbie reference book ever published. It is over 500 pages long, hardcover, and contains thousands of full-color photos. Many of the illustrated items are rare. Topics include vinyl products, playsets, musical toys, paper dolls, coloring books, furniture, and more. This is a must have for any vintage Barbie collector. Available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble bookstores, and on Ebay.

Sales at Target

Crappy iPhone photo of the new Target exclusive Happy Holidays Barbie. Despite my photo, she really is cute.

I stopped at Target today for household shopping, and of course I had to check out the dolls. They had the Halloween Barbie for $10, and also a new Target exclusive playline Happy Holidays Barbie for $14.99. Fashionista dolls (several new ones) were listed for just $7 each--their lowest price of the season, the sign claimed.

As for other dolls, amazingly, the Monster High dolls were both in stock and listed for $15 each. I picked up Ghoulia Yelps. She's got blue hair and gray skin, and a red outfit, and the most fabulous glasses. Photos to come!

My daughters picked up two Liv dolls that they've been wanting--and Kate bought a third with her allowance. At this month's Barbie club meet, I saw Barbie can wear these fashions, too, which is fun. They are a nice quality!

If you're in the San Diego area, this was at the Target in Santee, by the way.

The Mod Standard Barbie Doll, 1970-1971, Stock #1190

The “Standard” Barbie doll has two versions: the first issued from 1967-1969 and the second issued from 1970-1971. Today we will cover the second issue Standard Barbie doll.

This doll has always been one of my favorites because she is very easy to dress. The legs are made of hard vinyl making it simple to slip on hose, pants, or her bathing suit. Unlike the bend-leg mod dolls, clothing will not “stick” to the vinyl. Standard Barbie dolls also have a jointless torso (no Twist-N-Turn waist). 

The head mold used was the TNT head mold and although her box states that she has rooted lashes, she does not. The blue eyes are side-glancing (1970) or centered (1971) with the centered eye versions being harder-to-find. 

Hair colors included various shades of brunette and blonde. Titian dolls have also been found; however these are believed to be brunettes which have oxidized to red. The redhead dolls are usually found in boxes marked Light Brown. The hair length is always uneven and the sides of the hair are pulled up and tied with a band and pink bow. 

She has pink lips and blush and light brown brows. Her nails were painted coral and her skin-tone is flesh-colored (usually referred to as pink skin tone). Her swimsuit is hot pink and lime green nylon with a pink plastic flower at the left hip. 

Her body markings are as follows: Midge T.M./c. 1962 Barbie/ c. 1958 by Mattel, Inc./Patented. Her accessories included her box with a full-length photo of her in swimsuit, a clear X stand, a fashion booklet (there are several different versions), a wrist tag on the right wrist (not pictured), and a one-piece cardboard liner.

New Barbies available to preorder for 2011!

Several new Barbies have been announced and are available for pre-order from your favorite Barbie dealer:

Darya Barbie, from the Fashion Model Collection, Gold Label, retail $159.95. Due to ship May 2011. I find her red and gold dramatic outfit utterly stunning.

Mila Barbie, also from the Fashion Model Collection, Gold Label, retail $94.95. She's due to ship February 2011. Inspired from an Imperial Russian past to a chic modern present, this doll is another beauty.

Nikolai Ken, from the Fashion Model Collection, Gold Label, retail $89.95. Due to ship March 2011, this majestic Ken is dressed in traditional military garb.

Verushka Barbie, from the Fashion Model Collection, Gold Label, retail $129.95. She is due to ship April 2011. Ever chic, ever warm, ever evening, ever dramatic.

Happy Birthday Ken Barbie, a special occasion Pink Label, retail $49.95. She's due to ship this December. Her blue gown is accented with gold, and includes a plaid bodice, which is a subtle nod to Ken's traditional sweater vests.

I Love Lucy and Ricky Gift Set, from the Pop Culture collection, another Pink Label, retail $79.95. The set is due to ship February 2011. The set features outfits from the "Cuban Pete" episode, in which the couple performs on stage.

Photos property of Vogue Collectibles and/or Mattel.

Chinese Baby Adoption Barbie, an exclusive from the White Swan Hotel

At the risk of posting some controversial, I read this interesting article about "Going Home Barbie" in Marie Claire magazine, thanks to JennyGrey, who pointed it out to me this morning.

In reading a bit about this doll online (and yes, I know you shouldn't believe everything you read online), I hear some advocates are pressuring Mattel to a) make this doll available to all adopting families, and b) make this doll in other races besides white (hello? What year is this again?).

And others are generally offended by anything Barbie says or does, and she's just a doll (who doesn't say or do anything).

Look, for a mere $70, this doll is available from Amazon.com:

Barbie Dream Sale starts September 21...

Loving You Barbie® 1983

Mark your calendars for the BarbieCollector.com  Dream Sale, which runs from 12:01 am, September 21 through 11:59 pm, September 27, 2010, central time.

Tuesday (9/21): Save 25% off every regularly priced doll, fashion and accent, plus additional 25% on already reduced Dream Sale shelf items. These discounts will appear in your shopping cart only.

Wednesday (9/22): Save 25% off already reduced items on the Dream Sale shelf. These discounts will appear in your shopping cart only.

Thursday - Monday (9/23-9/27): Save as much as 67% on Dream Sale shelf items, and these items will be indicated on the listed prices.

Have any items on your wish list? Have any early holiday shopping to do?

The fine print: Offer is valid while supplies last. You're limited to five of each Gold Label doll per order, and no discounts may be applied to previous orders. Prices exclude shipping, handling and tax, Barbie Fan Club membership, club dolls, and gift wrap or cards. You must be 18 or older to order.

Barbie update!

Some exciting new Barbie are on the horizon, according to my Mattel dealers. Let me introduce them to you, in case you haven't heard about all of the new dolls to be released yet:

• Barbie Basics 2.0 are on the horizon. They have an intended release date of late fall 2010, and there will be Models 1-17 (and surprise! 15, 16 and 17 are boys!). All the models are wearing jeans and t-shirts of various styles. Four accessory packs will also be avaliable, and Look Four is especially designed for the men. Retail for the dolls (according to Vogue Collectible in Canada) is $25.99, and $19.99 for the accessory packs.

How to turn those extra bookshelves into Barbie real estate!

My two-year-old niece, Emma (whom I absolutely adore! all you Aunties out there know what I'm talking about) is starting to express some interest in Barbies. So, when she recently came to visit, I wanted her to have a doll house to play with them in.

If you've ever been to my 600-square-foot condo, you know that there is not much room inside for an additional residence, Barbie-sized or not. So, to save room and cost, I cleared off two bookshelves and transformed them into a brand new housing development!

If you have a niece, granddaughter, neighbor or friend coming over, or just want to create your own display diorama, here are a few tips I've discovered: