Steffie of the Day: Barbie Style Midge

I found a new Steffie on Amazon the other day. She was new to me--which is unusual, but not impossible. Seeing as I wrote the book on Steffie--well, two books, and am now working on a third--I shouldn't be surprised--but I was, and quite delighted!

This is a playline doll from the Barbie Style collection, on an articulated body--like the original Life in the Dreamhouse, in fact. She differs from the original LitD Midge, though, in that her head is more to scale and her hair is a paler shade of red (more strawberry blonde, in my humble opinion).

I think the retail price on these dolls is around $20-25, but Midge was closer to $30 when I bought her, but she has since dropped in price (of course).

The selling point on the dolls is their outfits! They have really great clothes, fun to mix and match. My favorite outfit is Barbie Style Raquelle Gold-Denim Jacket Doll, who has a great jacket, shorts, gold sparkling tights, and a denim shirt. I'll add a link to both her and Midge below this post. But Midge's outfit is really cute in a country chic way, too. She includes:

• an aqua cardigan
• a lace collar shirt
• polka dot capri jeans
• red peep-toes
• a silver bracelet
• a red watch
• silver earrings
• white glasses
• a brown shoulder bag

Plus, she's got long applied eyelashes (mine are applied a little weird--I ended trimming them a little), smooth hair, and a nice articulated body for easy posing.

You can see more photos of her, and also comparison photos of her with Life in the Dreamhouse Midge, on Flickr.

Suggested Reading: The Toy Box Philosopher

The Toy Box Philosopher blog

If you're interested in the latest reviews of dolls, subscribing to The Toy Box Philosopher is an absolute must! Emily's blog is an honest, down-to-earth and extremely detailed account of reviews of all sorts of dolls and collector items--ranging from Monster High dolls to Tonner Dolls to Sybarite--with a lot of detailed photos and humor thrown in as well.

I love her photography--it's really fun to look at, and she considers all sorts of things collectors consider (and things I often wouldn't even think to consider) when purchasing dolls. She purchases the items and reviews them, but I bet if we can get her some additional readers, and doll companies start discovering her site, manufacturers would be wise to start sending her free goodies to review!

You can follow Em's blog directly and also on Facebook.

Seriously, people, I know I get a lot of readers here looking for photos and reviews of Monster High dolls--you must go check out some of her reviews of these products. Here's another courtesy screen shot and a link to one of my favorite reviews--Howleen and Clawdeen Sister set:

Also--did you know she did a giveaway in May? Of Cupid?

Stop wasting your time reading my drivel and go start reading the Toy Box Philosopher. And as always--don't forget to support your local bloggers by leaving thoughtful comments, clicking on their ads and buying their previously loved items.

Plus, I have to say--if you ever do business with Em on Prego--she is just totally 100% awesome, too.

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.

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...

New Liv Dolls, finally!

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I wanted to wait until I got some new Liv dolls, but I didn't know it would be this long. I'll try to post about other dolls, too. I recently got some dolls from one of our writers. So watch for that one!

The first one shown here is Daniela in her Moonlight Dance costume. The label says they are only at Target, but they are really hard to find. When I got Daniela they only had her, Katie, and Alexis. No Sophie, even though they are Target exclusives. I tried searching them on Amazon but nothing was found.

She has a short layer of dark hair and a long layer of blonde hair. Her dress looks like a sleeveless dress with a one shoulder blouse underneath. I don't know for sure, because I still haven't opened her. You may or may not be able to see her earrings. They are sideways on the right side and gold.

Another Liv doll I finally got (to complete my collection of one of each sculpt) was Hayden. She came with a plaid jacket, butterfly net, a magnifying glass, a bunny, and a butterfly journal. She has little tiny braids in the front of her hair. But now that I've got her, I want to get the rest of the Back To Nature dolls.    

But this time, no cat went up to sniff either of these dolls. I guess that good because I don't want cat fur all over them! I saw the back to school Hayden but I liked this one better.

10 Reasons you should consider playline items for your collection

Dynamite Girl Feelin' Fierce Dani surrounded by Barbie playline furniture and accessories, and a Rement tea cup.

1. The price is right. You can't go wrong with a $15 Barbie play set for your diorama display.
2. Interchangeability: Did you know Liv doll clothes (nice quality) will fit Model Muse Barbies, for example?
3. Accessories: Check out the purses included with Moxie Teens!
4. Variety: Every girl needs a variety of clothing, shoes and accessories. Sort your dolls' wardrobe by color, and you'll be surprised what outfits you can put together!
5. Thrift stores and garage sales: You're much more likely to find playline dolls here than collector dolls. Don't snub them--check them out, see if sanding or painting them would fix them up to your liking and style.
6. Vintage Barbies were all playline dolls at one time!
7. You never know what sorts of tiny items will be in that play set.
8. Playline stuff is a lot of fun to play with--plus, you can pass it (or unused items) on to younger collectors when you're finished with it.
9. If you break it, it's not a big deal.
10. You'll have more money to spend on dolls!

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!

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.

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:

These Barbies may not cater a luau, but they will waitress!

My good friend, Stacy, is expecting her first baby very soon, and I had the privilege of throwing her a baby shower - the first one I've ever put together. The shower was co-ed, and - much like Stacy herself - not entirely "traditional." In the spirit of bucking tradition, I decided to enlisted my little Mattel army to host the snack table.

Free wig with Liv doll purchase!

Through June 30, you can receive a rebate from Liv Dolls when you buy both a Liv doll and a wig pack. Here are the details:

• Buy one of the four Liv Fashion Doll with Dog (it must be one of the girls with the dog) and a Liv Hairstyle single wig pack.
• Complete the mail-in rebate form.
• Send in the original cash register receipt with the items circled. It must be dated.
• Maximum rebate check for the wig is $6.50.

Check out the website for the complete terms and conditions. Visit the website for more info on these dolls--they actually have a pretty fun wardrobe, and my daughter Kate, who is nine, really loves them.

Monster High

Well, tonight I'm sharing with you the newest Mattel line of playline dolls called "Monster High".  The dolls are all teenage children of famous monsters.  The tagline is that they are "Wild, Fierce and Freaky Fabulous".  It has just recently been reported that there will be a Monster High musical film at some point in the future as well as a line of novels that will be available in the fall. 

Well, I succumbed to the cuteness and monstrousness of these darn dolls.  For those who know me, I have NEVER been into any playline dolls so this is a big change in my doll collecting.  So I'm here to do a little review about these cute dolls.