More Vintage Black Barbies and Other Shelved Dolls

Three-shelf bookcase contains boxed vintage Barbies and other fashion dolls

Because I could not access SuperStar Christie for my previous post, the need to take a quick inventory of my boxed, shelved vintage Barbies became apparent.  A few larger dolls and one 30-inch boy doll seated on a child-size wooden rocking horse were moved to gain access to the bookcase of three shelves of dolls.  Each shelf was photographed individually.  I also recorded the names of the dolls on each shelf.  Prior to photographing the three shelves, I had already removed the rest of my Malibu dolls to photograph.  Since the Malibus were not on the shelf at the time the shelf photos were taken, I took group and individual photos of these, which are shared first.

Malibu Dolls, L-R:  Sun Lovin' Malibu Christie, Sunsational Malibu Christie, Sunsational Malibu Ken, and Sun Gold Malibu Barbie

Sun Lovin’ Malibu Christie has a box date of 1978.  She has the Steffie head sculpt.  Her innovative feature is her tan lines, which are illustrated in the above photo by the lighter brown areas that her two-piece swimsuit covers.  

There is an illustration of Sun Lovin' Malibu Christie and other Sun Lovin' dolls on the back of the box.  

Sunsational Malibu Christie (box date 1981), has the Teresa head sculpt.  The front-of-box image, however, is an AA doll with Steffie head sculpt.  The back of this doll's box illustrates other dolls in the Sunsational Malibu series, including AA Sunsational Malibu Ken (a.k.a. Afro Ken, 1981).  Afro Ken is seen on the back of the box posed with the Steffie-faced doll.  The same graphics were used for the back of his box.

Sun Gold Malibu Barbie (1983) also uses the Teresa sculpt.  The side panel of her box shows an image of the actual doll.

Bookcase Photos:

Top Shelf

Top Shelf:  The dolls and other items on the top shelf of the bookcase are:  Free Moving Curtis, boxed Tiffany Taylor Fashion, Free Moving Cara, Ballerina Cara, Barbie Stila makeup canister, Dave Cub Scout, Cool Sitter Teen Skipper, Golden Dreams Christie, WNBA Christie; Shani, Nichelle, Asha (in colorful gowns that transform into other fashions); Shani’s boyfriend Jamal in yellow/gold suit, and a Shani fashion.

Middle Shelf

Middle Shelf.  On this shelf are:  2003 Boxed Barbie Fashions “Trend” and “Style” (see next photo) and 2002 Fashion Avenue box that contains a Fashion Madness Kenya fashion with a guitar that Jem Shana has claimed (see last photo), Malibu Christie (yellow swim suit), Carla, Magic Curl Barbie, Beach Blast Asha, Beach Blast Christie, Beach Blast Steven, Island Fun Barbie, Malibu Christie #2 (yellow swim suit), Beach Dazzle Shani, Surf’s Up Beach Steven, Prince Naveen in Steven Box, Island Fun Steven, Surf’s Up Beach Barbie, Beach Streak Nichelle, Grown Up Tammy, Big Brother Ken and Little Brother Tommy, Hawaiian Fun Steven, Live Action Christie, Hip 2B Square Christie, Cali Girl Christie,  Red White Warm Christie (a Barbie Fan Club exclusive), Dynamite Girls Boogie Beach Reese, and Shave ‘N Style Ken.

I had to have these two retro Barbie fashions when I saw them at Toys R Us sometime during 2004.  One is labeled Trend; the other is labeled Style.  The Fashion Avenue fashion that was in the third blister card on the second shelf is now worn by Rock Star Kenya, who is a suitable stand-in for the elusive Get Christie Love doll.

Bottom Shelf

The bottom shelf dolls from left-to-right/top-to-bottom are Kissing Christie, Sergio Valente Fashion Doll, Flower Power Barbie,  Sergio Valente Male Fashion Doll, Big Jack, Talking Julia, Jem Starlight Girls Krissie, Barbie in a Mermaid Tale Steven, Jam ‘N Glam Christie, Reproduction Julia, another Reproduction Julia, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Barbie, Twirling Ballerina Barbie, Dance Moves Barbie, Jem Shana, SuperStar Christie (seen in next photo), Brad, Butterfly Art Christie, and Purple Panic Christie.

SuperStar Christie (1976), who was unable to be photographed for my previous post because the box was on the formerly obstructed bottom shelf, posed for the above photo.  Her box is in poor condition (most of my vintage Barbie boxes are) but as I have often said, "I collect dolls, not boxes."  The back of her box illustrates the doll and her attributes:  Gorgeous new face & long sunstreaked hair!  Arms that pose like the models do!  Twisting waist! Fabulous evening dress & silver-sparkle stole!  Shining "diamond" ring! Many glamorous model poses!

Shana with a little wardrobe malfunction on the left is enjoying her new guitar.

Thanks to this inventory and my finding the Fashion Madness Kenya fashion formerly worn by Rock Star Kenya, Shana now has a guitar.  The guitar is smaller than she desires or deserves, but it will work for now.

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Some of My Favorite Vintage Black Barbies

Live-Action Christie, Talking Brad and Super Star Christie are among my favorite vintage Black Barbie family of dolls.

"Top Favorite Dolls" was the July photo-sharing theme in my Facebook doll group.  On a daily basis most of us shared photos of our top favorite dolls and shared information about the dolls.   One of my posts featured some of my top favorite vintage black Barbies.  There are others that I was not able to photograph at the time (a better photo of Super Star Christie being one). The dolls I shared, in addition to one other, are shown below.

Talking Brad has a box date of 1970.  Look at that handsome face!

Now mute, Brad wears his orange swimming trunks with his orange and yellow jacket.  He has black molded hair and brown painted eyes.

Live Action Christie wears her original purple/orange/white psychedelic-print midriff top and bell-bottom pants with purple square-toed pumps and orange scarf.  Her box date is 1971.  She was temporarily removed from her original box to take this photo.  Her booklet includes images of other dolls and fashions that were available on the market at the time of her release.  Scans from the booklet can be seen here.

Malibu Christie has a box date of 1975.

Malibu Christie was released to the market in 1976.  Her box date is 1975.  This lovely ebony-complexioned doll wears a yellow bathing suit and has straight, long black hair.  I love her so much that I have two.  At one time, I owned three.  Sunset Malibu Christie, dressed in red bathing suit, was on the market from 1973 through 1977.  She remains elusive to me, but if she were here, she would also be a favorite.  

Cutie Patootie, Carla, 1976

Carla, made for the European market, has a box date of 1976.  She has bendable, posable arms and legs and the cutest little face.  She is all vinyl and, at only 6 inches tall, she is the smallest of my favorite
vintage Black Barbie family of dolls.
  

The back of Carla's box illustrates Tutti (I have my sister's Tutti), Chris, and Todd (Tutti's twin brother). Mattel would later reuse the name Todd for a taller doll (approximately 8-1/2 inches) that was released as African American and Caucasian.  I believe the AA version was always part of a Barbie gift set, one of which is shown here.  I also have Todd in another wedding set with AA Barbie and Stacey.

Super Star Christie has a box date of 1977.  Dressed in a yellow satin gown with a yellow lacy shawl, the doll has brown hair with golden blonde highlights and uses the Super Star head sculpt.  

There is a lovely illustration of SuperStar Christie's on the back of the box.

18-inch Super Size Christie, 1977

A doll stand and aqua pants are attached to the box liner.  The two-piece, shimmery-front bodysuit and skirt that Super Size Christie wears was originally the color of the aqua pants. It is, unfortunately, common for this to fade to tan/light pink. Aqua high heel shoes are be in the package attached to the liner.

Super Size Christie uses the Super Size Barbie head sculpt, which is quite lovely.

At 18 inches tall, Super Size Christie (1977 box date) is the largest of my favorite vintage Black Barbies.  Like Super Star Christie, Super Size has dark brown hair with golden highlights.  At one time I owned two of these.  The first doll only had her body suit, doll stand, and original shoes (no box).  After upgrading to the mint in box one shown in this post, I sold the other. 

Side panel of Super Size Christie's box illustrates a girl holding the doll and two additional images of the doll. Note the doll is illustrated wearing an aqua fashion.

The back of the box illustrates the doll wearing the aqua bodysuit with pants, with the skirt, and the bodysuit alone.

The other side panel of Super Size Christie's box illustrates the three ways the doll can wear the aqua fashion.

For me, box graphics are as appealing as the vintage dolls.  Super Size Christie's box, as illustrated in the above three photographs, does not disappoint.  The same holds true for Magic Curl Barbie's box.

Magic Curl Barbie (1981) with hair that can be worn curly or straight is the doll that was not shared with my doll group as one of my top favorite vintage Black Barbies, but she is.

The back of the box describes and illustrates how Barbie's hair goes from curly to straight using the Magic Mist solution included with the doll.

One side panel of Magic Curl Barbie's box includes a head shot of the doll with curly Afro and a full-length photo wearing her yellow peasant-style, full-length dress.

The other side panel of Magic Curl Barbie's box illustrates the doll with straighter hair.  She is dressed in a yellow spa towel in the full-length photo.

Magic Curl Barbie (box date 1981), a doll my daughter also owned, is probably not considered vintage by die-hard Barbie fans.  At 36 in doll years, she's vintage in my eyes and included in this post because she is one of my favorites.  I remember watching my daughter style her doll's hair using the Magic Mist and enjoying the fun she had in doing so.  I had once thought one of the dolls from my daughter's childhood that is now incorporated into my collection was a Magic Curl Barbie, but based on lip color, I am not sure (unless my daughter painted the lips of the doll on the far right in the next photo).  

From left to right the head sculpts used for my daughter's dolls are Teresa, Steffie, Christie (with the square face x2), and Steffie (the one that is possibly Magic Curl Barbie).  

See the before photos of my daughter's dolls here and their makeover post here.  

As indicated, I have more "vintage" Black Barbies, but those shown here rank among my top favorites and are the ones that were readily accessible to photograph.  

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Festival of Black Dolls Show and Sale

Little Ruby is a 12-inch porcelain doll-tribute to Ruby Bridges. The text in the above image reads:

But there was a school

for white children

even closer to my house

than the school

for black children.

It was the William Frantz

Elementary School.

The governor said:

“Ruby Bridges should be allowed to

go to the William Frantz school.”

"Little Ruby" was made by the ladies of American Black Beauty Doll Artists Club of Oakland, California.  The doll is a tribute to Ruby Bridges, the first African American child to integrate an elementary school in the American South (William Frantz Elementary School on November 14, 1960).

American Black Beauty Doll Artists Club is holding their annual Festival of Black Dolls Show and Sale on November 4, 2017.  Attendees will have an opportunity to win "Little Ruby" in a raffle during the show.  Raffle tickets at $5 each will be sold at show.

Learn more about the show on the Events page here and on Facebook here.
Learn more about Ruby Bridges here and here.

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Preordered Classic Cool Ken

Preordered Classic Cool Ken arrived in mid-July.

This past June when Classic Cool Ken became available as a preorder from the ShopMattel website, I ordered one along with Boho Glam (the latter doll has yet to arrive).  The preordered Ken did not arrive until mid-July.  

I purchased another Classic Cool at a Walmart store a week or so after the preorder.   If you follow this blog, you have probably seen the results of the "parts" I painted in between the first doll's cornrows.  As a comment to one of the posts, Jewell suggested in lieu of painting the scalp, I could have used a fine-pointed Q-tip and acetone to remove the original paint.  A member of a Facebook group made the same suggestion. 

The preordered doll arrived in time for me to try this technique and send that doll to my niece for her end-of-July birthday.  The lack of time, however, prevented me from completing that task, so I sent her the first Classic Cool, after repackaging him, of course.  I wrote her a note to let her know that I painted the doll’s scalp to give him a more realistic appearance. 

I finally found time to try the acetone technique (but I used fingernail polish) on the preordered Classic Cool Ken, which was for me a total failure.*  A fingernail polish-dipped Q-tip removed hair from the scalp as well as from the edges of the braided cornrows!  I needed to have used something thinner than the end of a Q-tip.  I even tried removing some of the cotton from the end of the Q-tip, but it was still too wide.  Since I did not have anything pointed and firm enough to both absorb the fingernail polish and remove the paint only from the desired areas,  I removed all the paint with fingernail polish and cotton swabs and repainted the braids and sideburns.

After-paint-removal and after-painting photos are shown next.

Kens braids are a lighter brown than the manufactured color as illustrated by the original color of his eyebrows.  He now has a facial mole that I added.  Take a closer look at the mole in the next image.

I was going to temporarily give him earrings (without piercing the lobes) using nail art crystals, which have an adhesive back, but I did not have any more on hand.  (I have used these before to add earrings to dolls, never for myself.  I rarely even polish my nails.)

*Acetone and fingernail polish both work well to remove manufactured paint from vinyl dolls, but if the desired area is tiny, the correct tool will be needed to only remove paint from the desired areas.  I even tried using a thin-bristled paint brush, but of course the bristles were not firm enough to allow the necessary pressure needed to remove the paint.  With that said, I must admit that the natural color scalp looks better than the painted scalp and both are far better than the manufactured black scalp.

Here's Classic Cool Ken dressed and ready to rejoin the doll family.  

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Lottie Dolls: Sammi, Branksea Lottie, and Mia

Lottie dolls, L-R:  Sammi, Branksea Festival Lottie, and Mia
Lottie fashions:  Raspberry Ripple and Flower Power

Back in June, blog reader, Cynthia, informed me about the soon-to-be-released, deep complexioned Mia, friend of Lottie.  I have always wanted a Lottie doll and had considered buying Branksea Festival Lottie. Last year I did purchase a Lottie fashion during the time I hosted my doll group's travel doll, Janet.

The Lottie Blue Velvet fashion was part of Travel Doll Janet's Texas loot.

Janet went to her forever home with the Lottie fashion along with several other items.  I appreciated the quality of that Lottie fashion and expected the same quality for the dolls, which are manufactured by Arklu (Ireland) Ltd., imported by Arklu of London.

After reading their online description when the fashion for Janet was purchased, I knew Lottie and/or a friend or two would eventually enter my collection.  

·         Nurturing individuality and creativity through play, Lottie's a wholesome, age appropriate, fashion doll, she's perfect because “she's just like me"

·         A positive, healthy role model; she doesn't wear makeup, jewelry, heels or suggestive clothing, she's the girl next door; cute, fun and adventurous

·         Lottie wears wonderful, age appropriate clothes with great attention to detail; her long flowing hair is silky smooth, comb-able and resists tangles

·         At 7.5 inches tall, Lottie has moveable arms, bendable knees and can stand on her own two feet (a useful skills for all girls big and small)

·         This Lottie doll comes with everything pictured; for ages 3+

Last week, a Facebook ad about Mia prompted me to visit the Lottie website where I also discovered Sammi.  As a comparison shopper, I visited Amazon to see if the dolls were available for free Prime shipping.  They were along with a special discount from Arklu (which has now expired):  buy three and get 15% off the fourth item.  That is why my three were purchased along with two extra fashions for the girls.

Because I have not removed the dolls from their beautiful, house-shaped packages, in addition to my photos, I have shared stock photos of each doll and the separately-sold fashions.

Mia is a photographer.  As described on the website,“Mia wears a cochlear implant, which is part of her story rather than a focal point; as reflected in the Lottie chapter books. Mia is a collaboration with 'Toy Like Me' a UK non-profit who campaign for diversity in the toy-box and for better representation of disabilities so that differently abled children can see themselves reflected in the toys they play with.”  The back of her box, illustrated below, reads:  From birds and butterflies to all kinds of creepy-crawlies, I'm just mad about wild life  Everywhere I go, I carry my camera with me.  Because who knows when -- or where -- a brilliant photo opportunity will pop up?

Mia's description continues:  A beautiful photo can tell its own story.  I hope that my pictures will inspire other children to love wildlife as much as I do and to take good care of this wonderful planet of ours!  PS:  Look out for winning entries from our Wildlife Photography Competition inside!

Branksea Festival Lottie has a tan complexion.  The back of her box is shown next.

Text from Branksea Festival Lottie's box reads:  Summer has arrived at last!  The sun is shining and the sky is blue as Branksea prepares for its annual Festival.  Lottie is excited and is looking forward to live music, face painting, storytelling, and arts and crafts.  Will the good weather continue or will the celebrations be spoiled by rain?

Sammi was a pleasant surprise.  Until visiting the Lottie website looking for Mia, I had no idea he existed.

Sammi is a writer!  His back story from the back of the box reads:  Branksea School's Sports Day is a Sports Day with a difference.  We have athletics and gymnastics and team sports like football.  But -- because we're so close to the beach -- we have lots of water-based activities, too.  There are swimming and surfing and canoeing events.  There's even a kite-flying event near the sea cliffs!  I write about everything for the Branksea School News!  PS:  Look out for winning entries from my School News Competition inside.

The front of each doll's box has a cardboard "Winner" medal attached with a ribbon.  The front of Branksea Festival Lottie's medal reads:  Positive Role Model Awards Winner.  The back reads:  What makes Lottie special? Lottie has a 'childlike' body developed by British academics; she doesn't wear makeup jewellry or high heels.  Best of all, she can stand on her own two feet -- an invaluable life lesson for all girls, big and small.

The two Lottie fashions I purchased are Raspberry Ripple and Flower Power.  Raspberry Ripple includes a sundress, ice cream swirl tote bag, and raspberry pink ballet flats.  Flower Power has an apple blossom spring dress, cherry-pink cardigan, socks, and pink ballet flats.

These all-vinyl dolls have brown painted anime eyes and rooted hair.  They are jointed only at the neck, upper arms, and upper legs.  Their feet are flat, which allow them to balance and stand without the assistance of a doll stand.  The quality appears as expected, exceptional, but I won't know for sure until I open their boxes. 

Thanks again, Cynthia, for the heads up about Mia.  

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