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| Steffi Love has a very pretty face. |
I stopped by the thrift store yesterday and found this circa 1990s doll, Steffi Love. She was only $2.99 and within her baggie, appeared to be in decent condition with articulation. So I purchased her.
Before now I was not familiar with this 11-inch line of fashion dolls, made by Simba. I did a quick Internet search and found several white versions with the same face. The newer versions have a different head sculpt and also do not appear articulated. A male counterpart, Kevin, is shown at the Steffi Love website. I did not see any dark skinned dolls there.
My doll, as mentioned is 11-inches tall. She is articulated at the elbows, waist, knees, ankles, and the usual areas: neck, upper arms-to-shoulders, upper legs-to-hips. Wrist articulation is absent. Her head is marked: SIMBA-TOYS
STEFFI LOVE
Her back is marked:
SIMBA (with a rearing up elephant alongside)
MADE IN CHINA
Her black hair is rooted in approximately four layers. The eyes are painted brown. Her feet are flat. The dress she wore when found appears original.
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| Steffi Love in what appears to be her original dress (looking a little stiff in this pose). |
Made in China, the quality is decent, above that of dollar store dolls, but not as high as a Mattel-made doll. Her arms and lower legs are a lighter brown than the rest of her body.
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| Steffi shows off her articulation. |
Because of her flat feet, I thought about LIV shoes and clothing. Her feet are smaller than LIV feet, but the outfit I chose for her includes boots, which fit without obvious slack. Her shoulder/breast areas are broader than LIV dolls making it difficult to close the upper back of the LIV blouse completely and the denim vest will not close in front. Fortunately, the fashion looks good with or without the vest.
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| Steffi wears the LIV for Hair! fashion, Country Fair with denim vest which will not close in front. |
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| Steffi has removed the vest and feels and looks more comfortable without it. |
She's all set and for $2.99, I am glad I did not leave Steffi Love behind.
dbg
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Love Steffie Love! You got a great deal.
ReplyDeleteShe is soooo cute! I love her younger look. Great deal.
ReplyDeleteWow! She is sooo cute! Not many doll have an articulated body and so that was a plus too! I love her boots! Great deal!
ReplyDeleteVery good find Debbie!! She looks great in her new fashion.
ReplyDeleteHappy Saturday to you!
Interesting! Steffi Love is a staple in toy stores here (Sweden) along with Barbie and Bratz but I had not seen a black version, only the white ones. There are immigrants from diverse African and Middle Eastern countries living here but many of the toy stores still only sell blond-haired, blue-eyed dolls. :-(
ReplyDeleteThanks, ladies. I love Steffi's youthful look, too.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that Steffi Love dolls are a staple in Sweden, Erin, but unfortunate that there are only white ones.
I'd like to know the actual year my doll was made. I am guessing 90s but she has not received very much play time, so she may be newer than my guess.
dbg
What a cute little find. I haven't seen her before. I like her button features.
ReplyDeleteI have seen Steffi Love dolls here in Philly, but they've all been white dolls. I'll check if there are any black Steffie dolls here. Interesting. You know I love a doll puzzle ;-)
ReplyDeleteOh and congratulations on your find!
I have never seen a black Steffi Love doll before and I collect them. What a great find at such a great price! She is beautiful. You are soooo lucky! Enjoy her.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jeannie! Your comment reminds me that it is time to make a return visit to the thrift store.
Delete:-)
dbg
I wrote on 2/21/14 saying that I never saw a black Steffi Love doll before. Now I have one! I found her on Ebay by accident. She was $7.99. My doll looks exactly like yours but with a non-articulated body. She has a heavier, Barbie body with rubbery bending knees. I was so lucky to find her!
DeleteCongratulations on finding a black Steffi Love, Jeannie! Is your doll's hair line mine? Now we know there are at least two black versions. Thanks for sharing.
Deletedbg
You are lucky. I got a black Steffie from my dad twenty years ago. Simba toys is not known for manufacturing black dolls. They have done so very rarely and they barely ever advertise them. They recently had a line with four different characters, one of which was black (line is "Supermodels", character is "Bel") but it was on sale one year and gone the next. I strongly suspect that my Steffie, which was not marketed as such but bore the Simba markings on her body and had the unmistakable Steffie love facemold, was a "genuine" fake. Given what I know of how some Chinese doll factories accept custom orders from some retailers and are not scared about using the trademarked molds of reputable brands for which they make dolls too, my guess is that my Steffie love was one of these true fake dolls because she could talk in creole when you pushed a button on the back. She's broken now... There seems to be new ones right now here in Martinique. I don't know if it's being sold anywhere else.They are lighter but still...
ReplyDeleteThe only black Simba dolls I have seen in retail stores were baby dolls. I still have one that was my daughter's, purchased sometime during the 1980s.
DeleteThe Steffi Love found at the thrift store is the first dark skinned fashion doll I have ever seen by them.
Thanks for letting me know about Bel from their Supermodels line. I Googled the name and found images here.
dbg
She is gorgeous. Of all the dolls I have, I don't believe I have her. At least not a black one. ��
ReplyDeleteThank you, MamasPearl224. I think I lucked out when I found this gem.
ReplyDeletedbg
I have a white version of black Steffi love doll I bought it in a thrift shop a few years ago I came across three black steffis in tkmax the other day they are in different packaging , one I s a pregnant Steffi and another is a mummy and child walking adog and the other is a magic night Steffi but I'm hoping to come across the the vintage dark complextio Steffi doll
ReplyDeleteIf you purchased the three black Steffi Loves from TJ Maxx, congrats! I haven't seen any other vintage Steffi's like the one in this post since finding this one several years ago. The company has lightened the complexion of the recently-released black dolls.
DeleteI wish the manafacters of the Steffi dolls would do a variety of skin tones on the dolls and even do different head sculpts to represent the ethnic groups their seposed to All their Steffi face molds are identical even the Asian version it just has different eye screening and a very pale completion I have a collectis mostly black dolls of all different shapes and sizes I've even bought other black fashion dolls by unknown manufacturers in a variety of skin tones and they have different hair textures and just as well made as a Barbie doll I bought them off a local African lady who lives not far from me she was selling traditional African garments at a local market and she was also selling the dolls she said she bought on the website without any clothes and her and her sister made the clothes she even bought some dolls off me and dressed them
DeleteA variety of skin tones for Steffi would be nice! I've done the same--purchased other fashion dolls because I enjoy buying non-Barbie dolls that are well made. Good luck with your doll searches.
DeleteI have a vast vintage toy and doll collection , I can't pinpoint when I started collecting it just happened by accident , being born in the early sixties born into a working class family and not being a spoilt little so and so any toys I received from my parents wether it be for Christmas or birthday's or simply a treat , most children of my generation tended to hold on to Thier toys well into adulthood like myself ,I wasn't encouraged to play with dolls simply because I was a little boy back in the day it was considered taboo , but when I was playing house with my female cousins and friends i played with Thier dolls and sometimes one of the girls would gift me a a doll , one time my an older girl took me to a local shop which sold news papers and sweets and groceries and dolls and toys the young girl asked me to choose a toy and I choose a very pretty black doll in a powder blue dress it was a proper black doll as it had African American features and silky tight curly hair it also had a beautiful smell a Christmas morning smell and it's eyes opened and closed but they also moved side to side , I don't recall the price , my mum didn't stop me from playing with it but encouraged me to take care of it i still have the doll it was made in England by a firm called pedigree,it's a bout ten inches tall,it still has the original dress a bit faded but the doll is still in good condition mum would wash the hair the hair every now and a gain and made it clothes it's fashion moved with the times mum also named her Rosetta after a well known African American gospel singer , since then I've a great many other black dolls
ReplyDeletefrom different eras right up to the present day I've also have old antique dolls of various nationalities in hoping to have my collection put into a museum after my passing hopefully that's a long way off I don't want it scattered to the four winds ,
Thank you for sharing your story. It's wonderful that you were allowed to play with the toys that you enjoyed, dolls included. It's also wonderful that you still have Rosetta. Continue to enjoy her and the others, and thanks again for sharing your doll story.
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