Saturday, June 16, 2012

Mattel's Carla to Debox or Not

First issued in 1974 as Tutti's new black friend, I found the 1977-reissued, Carla on eBay in approximately 2002.  Bendable, poseable, 6-1/4-inch Carla arrived from a US seller never removed from box and remains in that state.  I recently thought I would take some out-of-the-box photos of her but decided against it.  Her box is too pristine. I can see her through the cellophane, so there's really no point in removing her.  I admit, I am a little obsessive about preserving certain dolls in their manufactured state.

I did take the following photos of the front and back of Carla's box to share here. 
Carla is a 6-1/4-inch, all-vinyl doll with bendable arms and legs, wears orange dress with white pockets and trim.  Her white socks and shoes are enclosed in plastic attached to box liner. Carla has black, rooted hair styled in two side ponytails with bangs; brown painted eyes.  
The back of Carla's box illustrates Tutti (Barbie's little sister); Tutti's friend, Chris; and Todd (Tutti's twin brother).
Shortly after becoming an adult doll collector, I was reunited with Carla's friend, Tutti, which I believe was my sister's childhood doll.  Tutti, now mine, was found by my mother in December 1995 among my remaining childhood Barbies.  Neither of us owned Tutti's twin brother, Todd. 

According to Doll Reference.com, Tutti, and her friends were discontinued in the US after 1971, but still sold in Canada and Europe until 1980.  My doll's box date (1976) and the four-language box text (English, German, French, and Italian) confirm her non-US market status.

For my own pleasure and to share here, I found the following links to images of freed Carla, Tutti, Chris, and the original Todd.  Note:  The original, 1960s Todd and the 1990s Todd, twin brother of Stacie, are not one in the same.   I do wish Mattel would reissue the 1990s Todd, the dark-skinned version specifically; and for those who want her, Carla would be a nice reissue, too. 

Enjoy the links! 

http://www.shimmeringmagic.com/english/media/members/005%20(2).jpg

http://www.funnybunny.se/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/carla.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/olivierdeboheme/6243955963/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51711576@N02/5998869348/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bellasdolls/5515786942/

dbg

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11 comments:

  1. Carla is a cutie. I wanted one once upon a time. It's nice to see her both ways in & out her box.

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    1. She is a cutie, Dollz4Moi. I want to play with her and recall the feel of posing my sister's Tutti back in the day. I guess I can do that with Tutti since I have her.

      If Mattel reissues Carla a third time, I'll buy and debox the reissued version.

      dbg

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    2. Carla deserves a reissue. I will buy one and fill that on/off want for her :O)

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    3. It sounds like a "We Want Carla Reissued" campaign is order.

      :-)

      dbg

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  2. I wanted Carla for a long time and finally gave up. I hope that Mattel does reissue her one of these days.

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  3. This is my first time seeing her. Thanks for sharing. She and Todd are both cuties. I wouldn't have deboxed her either.

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  4. Thanks for sharing the Carla photos, DBG, both of her in box and out of box. I can understand wanting to keep her unopened. Cute as she is, there are more recent cuties that you can more readily debox.

    I had a TNT PJ and a TNT Casey that I bought NRFB that I opened. I did so because I had roles in mind for them - oh and I was much younger.

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    1. Oh yes, I've deboxed the majority of my recent playscale purchases and will continue to do so.

      Like you, none of the dolls I received (I never purchased my own dolls as a child) when I was younger remained in the box for longer than a minute after I received them.
      :-)

      dbg

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  5. Carla is too cute! I would keep her in the box. Just maybe Mattel will do a reissue on all of their old dolls one day. That would be great!

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  6. Roxanne, Vanessa, and Georgia Girl thanks for reading and for your comments.

    Hopefully Mattel will reissue Tutti, Todd, and friends. I'd love to see a reissue of AA Skipper too, since white Skipper has already been reissued.

    dbg

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  7. There are features all over my blog with photos of dolls in various states of box removal (or not!). I am always tempted to get them as out of the box and take a few pics whilst trying to preserve the 'legacy' as much as possible. Perhaps I should think about using one of those medical cameras that can get inside the box and take photos without disturbing anything!

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