Barbie dolls

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Thu December 30th, 2010, 6:24 am

I had 3 or 4 females and only one Ken. I never had purchased clothes, but fortunately my mom is a fantastic seamstress so I always had the best-dressed dolls, anyway!

I've still got all the clothes Mom made, plus a dress or two my grandma crocheted, and I've got the patterns Mom used, too. Of course, as a kid I didn't appreciate how well-dressed my dolls were, because all I wanted were store-bought clothes (naturally!) which were out of the question (too expensive).

I did have one doll case, which I still have. And one Christmas I got a camping set -- a tent/trailer and sleeping bag, etc. So I must have had a car too, although I don't remember......

Can't wait to see BB's pictures -- I'll have to wait and view them at work in the morning. I don't think I can post pictures, but I will give it a try -- if it works I will post a few of the collectible dolls I have in my curios.

Along the lines of Barbie dolls -- did anyone else here play with Dawn dolls? They were kind of a spin-off of Barbie dolls made by another company. A much smaller doll and only made for about 3 years (the company went bankrupt). I still have all of mine!!

Telynor · Post by **Telynor** » Thu December 30th, 2010, 10:11 am

Every now and then one of the Barbie catalogs shows up in my mailbox. The ones for the serious collectors are pretty spectacular -- two recent ones that come to mind are the Athena (armor and all), and the Chinese Empress one. I also think that they have rereleased some of the vintage models, but I am not absolutely certain.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Thu December 30th, 2010, 1:32 pm

Michy said:

Along the lines of Barbie dolls -- did anyone else here play with Dawn dolls? They were kind of a spin-off of Barbie dolls made by another company. A much smaller doll and only made for about 3 years (the company went bankrupt). I still have all of mine!!

I did! Mine are long gone, though. They came out just before I got too old to play with dolls, so I got the first few.

Telynor said:

Every now and then one of the Barbie catalogs shows up in my mailbox. The ones for the serious collectors are pretty spectacular -- two recent ones that come to mind are the Athena (armor and all), and the Chinese Empress one. I also think that they have rereleased some of the vintage models, but I am not absolutely certain.

They have! I bought a couple of the re-releases, but I prefer to dream of being able to purchase some of the originals.

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Thu December 30th, 2010, 4:38 pm

[quote=""boswellbaxter""]

I did! Mine are long gone, though. They came out just before I got too old to play with dolls, so I got the first few.[/quote] I actually had 10 of them! 9 girls and 1 guy!

I think because they were cheaper than Barbies is why I got more of them for Christmases and birthdays. And because they were small I took them everywhere (literally). So as a result, I got much more attached to them than to my Barbies. Again, store-bought clothes were out of the question, and making clothes for them was impossible because they were so small (although I did manage to knit a dress or two for them when I was a kid). So they had a small wardrobe, limited to the little dresses they came in -- the girls all had to share and switch clothes.

Mom kept them and gave them back to me a few years ago. Once I cleaned them up and straightened their hair, I was amazed at what good shape they are in, considering how heavily they were played with. I now have them on display in my guest bedroom, dressed in clothes I made for them out of scraps (I took my inspiration from the collectible Barbies and dressed them as the four seasons, a Victorian lady, a Grecian lady, etc. etc.) There is a woman in Montana who is a very serious collector and I was able to order little dinky doll stands from her.

but I prefer to dream of being able to purchase some of the originals.

Isn't that the truth..... those ladies can go for hundreds of dollars apiece, which is why I don't collect them.

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Thu December 30th, 2010, 4:45 pm

Thanks for sharing your pictures -- your dolls look like they're in very good condition. They're from the same era as the very first Barbies I had that were lost in the fire -- from the "mod" era, very collectible. The ones I have now are from the early '70s -- tanned skin, sunglasses, not very highly prized by collectors. But they have sentimental value for me.

I do wish I still had the ones I lost in the fire -- for some reason, those are the ones that have the most nostalgia for me. Even looking at pictures of them brings such a strong sense of deja vu.........

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Thu December 30th, 2010, 4:54 pm

I found some images on Google (go Google!) of some of the dolls I have in my collection.

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Thu December 30th, 2010, 5:00 pm

Here are a few more, including the Scarlett O'Hara dolls that started it all (there is a fourth one that isn't shown in the picture).

The doll on the left (part of a series of 3 Faberge dolls -- note the egg purse) and the Victorian doll in the middle are porcelain.

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Thu December 30th, 2010, 5:27 pm

Beautiful! I have the Romeo and Juliet set. One thing I would love to do if I hit the lottery would be to buy a Little Theatre and set my de-boxed Romeo and Juliet dolls on its stage.

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Thu December 30th, 2010, 6:12 pm

I have the King Arthur and Guinevere set, also. Those were the only two pairs I bought in that series, I didn't care for the ones they came out with after that.

So, BB, you've mentioned Coca-Cola a time or two. Do you by any chance collect Coca-Cola memorabilia? (may need to start a new thread for this)

ejays17 · Post by **ejays17** » Thu December 30th, 2010, 10:40 pm

These are gorgeous Michy! A few years ago when Lord of the Rings films were out, I saw Arwen & Aragorn Barbies, I was very tempted to get them, but I don't need to start another collection.

I really liked the Scarlet O'Hara dolls, which outfit is the missing one? I recognise the other 3, but can't think of another iconic dress it could be. Of course, as soon as it's mentioned, I'll feel like an eejit...