Thursday, October 10, 2013

Throwback Thursday: Cool Cuts Kara

Cool Cuts Kara by Kenner, 1990
Among others, Cool Cuts Kara was purchased from a list of dolls for sale by collector/author, Myla Perkins.  The purchase was made during the late 1990s/early 2000s (pre-2002). 

I recently had to move Kara's box to access other dolls.  After the reconnection, I decided to photograph Kara and include the photos and brief description here as one of my Throwback Thursday doll installments.


As indicated in Perkins' Black Dolls An Identification and Value Guide 1820 - 1991, page 185, Cool Cuts Kara by Kenner, ©1990, is a 13-1/2 inch-tall, all-vinyl doll.  Her brown eyes are painted.  She wears a purple dress with fuchsia print overskirt, molded-on pink panties, and purples shoes.  Kara's own dark rooted hair is very long and very full.  The main attraction is the extra hair included that can be attached to her head, cut, and replaced by purchasing separately sold hair attachments.

The back of the box illustrates the many ways Kara's hair can be cut and styled.

In addition to the extra hair pieces, Kara's accessories include a pair of functional scissors, comb, pouch (for hair attachments I suppose), and purple doll stand base that has slots to hold her feet.

Closeup of Kara's face

I wonder how many little girls not only cut the hair attachments but also cut Kara's own mounds of hair.



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11 comments:

  1. Cool! I don't think I've seen her before! Have you posted about all your dolls? A blog record of everything?

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  2. She's an awkward size, but I think she's pretty cool, too, Ms. Leo. I only purchased her because she was formerly owned by someone I hold in high esteem and because she was probably "the" doll featured in that person's book.

    I have not posted about all my dolls and have no plans to do that. My three books and my Excel spreadsheet that I didn't create until 2007 serve as my personal documentation.

    The dolls I share here are either new to the collection or those that I "interact" with that inspire me to write about them.

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  3. I see this tradition of extra hair continues! Many of today's dolls, Mattel's dolls specifically, have extra hair sets. I was interested in the ones they did for SIS because I wanted the black hair care products inside but the price never went down enough for me.

    I do remember my sisters had a doll that if you pulled on the hair in the center of her head it would "grow" into a long pony tail. I don't recall the name though.

    Although Ms. Cool Cuts Kara was manufactured in the 90's, she's giving me a mid 80's vibe. Very Huxtable. I could see her being a friend of Denise's.

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  4. Hair, hair, and more hair - it's something that many big girls and little girls of all colors have obsessed over for years and the doll market has and continues to capitalize on it.

    The doll your sisters had, Muff, may have been the Grow-Hair Crissy doll and other dolls in that family. You can see some of my Crissy and family dolls in one of the images I shared in my conversations with the cable guys post.

    An online article I wrote on Crissy and Family can be read here.

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  5. I love Cool Cuts Kara (And almost every other fashion doll made by Kenner). I have 3 (2 white, 1 black) and I just purchased a couple of her separate Fashion/Hair packs on eBay. The clear pink thing is a cape for her to wear while you cut her hair, just like in a salon (She has a Hair Salon Playset as well that is very hard to find). She only included 3 replacement hair plugs, which was annoying because all of her hair is designed to be cut, but once you were done, you could only give her a mullet with the 3 available replacement plugs. Separate "full head of hair" packs were sold for 4.99 each, which did get expensive over time for parents. Her Fashions were 7.99 each.

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    1. Your enthusiasm for Cool Cuts Kara jumps off the screen in your comment, Paralyze. Thank you for sharing your passion about the dolls and accessories. I have since given this Cool Cuts Kara to a well-deserving young lady.

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  6. Something else I forgot to mention, with this being a Black doll collecting site, Only ONE Hair refill pack was actually made for Black Kara. It was Dark Brown. The small plastic plugs that inserted into the scalp were brown, to match her skin. However, the other 3 available hair colors AND Fashions, all had hair for White Kara (With peachy colored plastic plugs) So if you give your Black Kara "White Kara" hair, the lighter base plugs will be visible.

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    1. Well shoot... that wasn't fair. Thanks again for sharing.

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  7. CUTE DOLL GREAT HAIR

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  8. GREAT HAIR COOL CUTS KARA KENNER DOLL

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  9. Thank you! I gave her to young autistic woman several years ago.

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