Black Doll Collecting

Thursday, March 27, 2025

You Create Barbie Kit 003 Part 2

You Create Barbie Basics 003 clothing and accessories compartments

Each compartment contains one or more envelopes of clothes and/or accessories.

This is how Mattel presented the dolls, unassembled: Doll 1 (a head with blue outlined, almond-shaped eyes is above a Curvy Made to Move body). Doll 2 (a head with fuller lips and a beauty mark is above a Petite Made to Move body), and Doll 3 (a head with slightly almond-shaped eyes is above an Original Made to Move body).

A closer look at the heads, clockwise, are referenced as Doll 1, Doll 2, and Doll 3 in this post. (Their names are Minh, Rose, and Caro, but I'm not sure which is which.)

Watch the following package unboxing video of the clothing and accessories included in kit No. 003.

The wigs are attached to a silicone cap. All clothing is made of spandex.

The still photos that follow were taken while I assembled the dolls and determined which head and body, and wig and clothes were more appealing on the assembled dolls.

From L-R: Doll 2 is on an Original MTM body. Doll 1 is on a Curvy MTM body. Doll 3 is on a Petite MTM body.

A close-up of the assembled dolls from the photo immediately above this photo

Only the wigs were changed in this photo.

This is the same "fit" as in the photo immediately above this one, except Doll 2 wears the sunglasses.

Doll 2 wears the blonde/black ombre wig.

The Afro wig is a better fit for Doll 3.

The black/blue ombre wig is a better fit for doll 1, but the body is not.

The final look (for now). Dolls 2 and 1 body swapped because the Curvy body is a better fit for Doll 2's stronger facial sculpt. The blonde wig softens down Doll 2's strong features.

In the final look, Doll 2 (far left), on the Curvy MTM body, wears a black spaghetti-strap crop top with the full-length skirt, faux leather jacket, and transparent sandals. (All dolls have flat feet, by the way.) Doll 1 (in the center), on the Original MTM body, wears the blue/black wig, a one-shoulder top with a handkerchief skirt, black shoes, and the copper-tone earrings and choker. Doll 3 (on the right), on the Petite MTM body, wears the Afro wig, sunglasses, a halter top, a ruched skirt with a drape of fabric on one side, and black boots.

The kit dolls are joined by Barbie Basics No. 03.

I opened Barbie Basics No. 03, a doll with a removable head that has the same complexion as kit No. 003 dolls. The basic doll has rooted hair, so mixing and matching with clothing, shoes, and accessories is the only option for this one. The basic doll uses the MTM Tall body.

Pros

The overall idea of interchangeable kit dolls is a welcome addition to the Barbie line. It provides endless hours of creativity and doll building. I've wanted something like this for years. However, my concept was for Mattel to create separately packaged bodies and heads in different skin tones. Mixing and matching would still be possible, would be more buyer-friendly, and less costly than buying three dolls at once. Along with my idea, I envisioned clothing, wig, and shoe packs for singly-sold interchangeable heads and bodies.

Cons

The spandex clothes are acceptable, but some pieces are flimsy.
The waist of the handkerchief skirt had missing stitches that required repairing.
The transparent shoes are slightly long on the Petite doll's feet.
Only one pair of earrings was included for the three dolls to share.
There is an obvious ridge underneath each doll's chin and jaw area.
I love articulation, but I am not fond of the action-figure-type joints used for the Made to Move body. Sleeker-looking joints with less exposed plastic would be more aesthetically appealing.

Related Links

You Create Barbie Kit 003 Part 1

Barbie Basics No. 03

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All photos and text are copyrighted and cannot be used elsewhere unless permission is granted by the author.

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.

__________

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Black Doll Enthusiast

I am a Black-doll enthusiast, doll historian, freelance writer, author of The Definitive Guide to Collecting Black Dolls; Black Dolls: A Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion; and The Doll Blogs: When Dolls Speak, I Listen.

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Tuesday, March 25, 2025

You Create Barbie Kit No. 003 Part 1

Left on my front porch unattended for several hours (even though I was home), my impressive You Create Barbie Kit No. 003 arrived this past Saturday. I love everything!

Box front

Box back

The opened box

The kit includes three different heads, three different bodies, clothing, accessories, wigs, a doll stand for each doll, a certificate of authenticity, and a diagram illustrating how to assemble.

The three-doll set and accessories are housed in a beautiful shiny black box that opens in the center to expose the central compartment where the dolls are attached and where the clothing and accessories are inside four slide-out storage boxes. There are two side panels. One panel illustrates three ways to style the dolls. The other side panel has a written "Ode to Black."

Inside the box, this side panel image illustrates three of the many ways to style the dolls.

An Ode to Black defines the many ways to dress in black.

With the dolls still attached to the box, photographing was difficult because of the black background of the box. I used the above and additional photos to vlog the remainder of my initial review.

Because I did not have much time to create, I asked doll-friend Telisa Spain to allow me to share her photo of dressed dolls from kits 001 and 003 and her written review.

2025 Barbie Basics Doll 003 (front and center) and dolls from You Create Barbie Kits 001 and 003 were dressed using clothing, wigs, and accessories from the kits. (Photograph courtesy of Telisa Spain)

Telisa posted the above photo and review in my Facebook group:

I purchased set #1 and #3, but I liked them so much that I ordered set #2. They are the first of the newer Barbies that I have purchased in a long time that I don’t have any complaints about. I will complete a mini review of them. (1) The price point is pretty good. For approximately $33.33 a doll, you get the doll, outfit, shoes, jewelry or sunglasses, shoes, wig, and stand. (2) The packaging is great. The box is sturdy and nice, and you wouldn’t want to throw it away, because it can be used for future storage. The clothing and accessories come individually packaged, similar to how the OMG and Rainbow high dolls use to be packaged. (3) The dolls are well made. Although, I am not a fan of the new Barbie bodies, these dolls use the made-to-move bodies, which is the best of the lot these days. Sadly, I realize that the classic body is a thing of the past. (4) The dolls are very versatile, and come in three different sizes. The outfits and wigs fits all of the dolls regardless of the size, so you can change it around. (5). I love the face molds. They are different and some of them I have never seen Mattel use before. (6) The heads are interchangeable and they can be switched with the new Barbie basic dolls that came out.

In conclusion, I hope Mattel continues this line of Barbies, or at least come out with wigs and clothing accessories for them. This set makes me believe that Barbie is being a little retro, because this series reminds me of the 1960s Fashion Queen Barbie and Midge, which came with wigs.

My plan is to remove my dolls from the box to "customize, create, and play" and share the results in a second blog post.

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All photos and text are copyrighted and cannot be used elsewhere unless permission is granted by the author.

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.

__________

Black Doll Enthusiast

Thursday, March 20, 2025

The Final Two Justyne Smith Doll Restorations

The green-circled dolls are the subjects in this post.

This could have been more than one post; but since it's the finale of this project, I wrote it as one long illustrative post.

I retrieved the last two circa 1940s Justyne Smith cloth dolls from the shed to begin their restoration. They were included in a package of eight dolls I received in December 2023 from the late textile artist, Trish Williams.

The dolls' first photos after undressing are shown above and below.

First Things First

Upon reinspection, except for their smell, I didn't think these last two dolls required much restoration. Unfortunately, the dolls had a heavy moth-ball scent because I keep mothballs in the shed to ward off vermin, and they had been exposed to mothballs for over a year.

After treating a stained area on one dress, the clothing and one doll's hair ribbons were soaked overnight in a mixture of liquid detergent and OxyClean. A wooden pole served as an agitator to swish the clothes around in the soapy water.

I removed the clothing and sprayed a stained area of one dress (made of satin) with a stain remover before soaking the clothes overnight in hot water, liquid laundry detergent, and OxyClean. I wiped both dolls from head to toe with disinfectant wipes and inspected their cloth outer surfaces. During this process, I noticed that one doll had a small horizontal tear on the neck and a few holes in the cloth feet. I laid both dolls on the washing machine to air dry and air out overnight before attempting to repair them.

The next morning, I saw several fine black specks on the washing machine and discovered that one doll's yarn hair had dry-rotted. The slightest touch and movement caused tremendous shedding. I cut the yarn off the doll's head, discarded it, and fashioned a new wig as described next.

This photo was taken after I removed the dry-rotted yarn from one doll's head. (This is the doll on the left in the 2nd and 3rd pictures.)

The head from the back after the yarn was removed illustrates how Ms. Smith fashioned the original wig, but instead of sewing the yarn to the head, I devised a quicker method.

Making the New Wig

Working with a mask on, I began making the wig but had to stop after only one side was completed because the scent of mothballs was too overwhelming. I placed the dolls outside to air out for several days (and had to wait for rain to stop in between days). I brought them in each night. The following short video and photos illustrate the wig-making process.

Making the New Wig Captured in Pictures

A vertical piece of yarn tacked in place at the top, bottom, and center creates one side of a center part. Strands of yarn were looped around the vertical yarn and secured tightly as illustrated in the next two photos and the above video.

In this photo, two equal pieces of yarn have been folded in half, a loop created on top, and the loop was slid underneath the vertical yarn (the doll's center part). The long ends of the looped strands hang loose.

The long ends of the looped strands were crossed over the vertical yarn and inserted into the loop before the ends were pulled tight to create a knot on top of the vertical yarn.

This is how little I completed of one braid before stopping to air this doll out. Even with a mask on, the mothball scent was unbearable.

The first side was completed and work on the other braid commenced after a few days using the same process: another vertical piece of yarn was tacked adjacent to the first piece, and strands of yarn were looped around the vertically placed yarn.

Both braids are completed in this photo. I left some loose longer strands of yarn on both sides of the doll's face, which were trimmed later. The ends of the braids were trimmed later, too.

This is how the wig looks from the back. (I did not use a lighter colored yarn for the part like Ms. Smith used for some of the dolls. I might glue a tan string down the center of the hair later.)

I added bangs using the same looping method, except the strands were looped around a horizontal strand of tacked yarn. (The bangs are sparse and it is my fault that one side is longer than the other. Later, I might use thicker black yarn to redo the bangs. I'll cut them straight next time.)

The original ribbon headband dry-rotted. I attached a ribbon headband similar to the way Ms. Smith fashioned the original one.

Lastly, I trimmed the long sides of loose yarn that frame the face and stitched a couple of yarn strands on top of the stitched-on ends of the ribbon headband to conceal the ribbon ends.

Repairing the Neck and Cloth-Covered Feet

After the dolls had aired out enough for me to handle them a few minutes at a time, I repaired the neck and feet.

The Neck Repair

The neck tear with small pieces of a cotton ball placed inside to stabilize the area is illustrated above.

I painted over the cotton-stuffed tear with Mod Podge.

The mod podged area was painted with Apple Barrel's Classic Caramel acrylic paint.

I placed two overlapping strips of Micropore tape over the stabilized tear.

I painted the taped area to closely match the surrounding cloth again using classic caramel acrylic paint hoping the dress neckline would conceal most of this.

Unfortunately, just as I was about to dress this doll, I picked it up by the neck. My thumb pressed against the repaired slit causing it to re-tear.

To fix this, I wrapped Micropore tape around the neck on top of the existing tape three times for stability.

I painted the new Micropore tape wrapping. After the paint dried, I sealed and further stabilized the tape with ModPodge as illustrated next.

The still-wet Mod Podge has been applied over the painted Micropore tape in the top two photos. The Mod Podge is dry in the bottom two pictures. (This doll's original wig illustrates the lighter-colored yarn used by Ms. Smith to create the part.)

Lesson Learned: When handling this doll, I should never grab it by the neck!

Repairing the Feet

The holes in one doll's cloth feet are illustrated above.

All holes were covered with Micropore tape.

The taped areas were painted with brown acrylic paint that matched the brown cloth Ms. Smith used for the cloth-covered feet.

Thankfully, the neck and feet repairs were relatively quick fixes.

The Clean Clothes

The clean clothes and ribbons were air-dried.

After washing, I rinsed the dresses and one doll's hair ribbons and hung them up to dry. After rinsing, the bodice of the satin dress was torn. Age and fabric deterioration are the cause, but my agitation of the wet clothes with a wooden pole probably produced the tears. Small tears were on a few areas of one sleeve. It looked devastating, but I was determined to salvage the dress and keep both dolls as original as possible.

After washing and rinsing, one sleeve and the bodice were ripped as shown.

Rips in the sleeve

The Dress Repair

From the inside with some reinforcement on the outside, I mended the ripped areas of the bodice, sleeves, and other dress areas with Micropore tape as illustrated next.

Several strips of Micropore tape cover the inside of the bodice and the sleeve to mend the tears.

Strips of Micropore tape cover some outer areas of the affected sleeve and bodice.

Next, I used a sheet of copy paper to trace a bodice pattern.

Using the paper pattern, I used off-white satin blanket binding to fashion the new bodice.

After the binding was cut to fit the bodice, the excess edges were folded under and sealed using Stitch Witchery.

I used a combination of Stitch Witchery, a needle, and off-white thread to attach the new bodice to the old bodice.

Next, I sewed off-white lace to the bottom edge of the new bodice.

The dress and the lower edge of the pantalettes after the repair look much better.

After washing and drying the other doll's dress (the doll that needed its wig replaced), I only had to iron it.

Final Touches

Before redressing both dolls, I ironed both dresses, the pantalettes, and the original ribbons for one doll. I added ribbons to the new wig.

They are dressed and looking much better as illustrated here and in the next photo.

It took three separate sessions to repair all eight dolls. I am pleased with the results. I am confident that Trish Williams and the original circa 1940s doll maker, Justyne Smith, would be happy, too.