An Elegant #1 Barbie-ish Clone

Seller's photo

When I saw this doll on a Chinese site (the name of which I won't state*), I couldn't believe the price, which was $7 and some change at the time I ordered. The price jumped to $8 and some change after I ordered (and some sellers on the site had/have it priced much higher). I was skeptical about ordering because the first images on the ordering page appeared to be the doll's head on a human's body with real arms and legs without visible doll joints, as illustrated in the photo on the left. It was in the wee hours of the morning when I hurriedly carted the doll and submitted the order, along with one other doll that I'll post later. During the time I waited for the dolls to arrive, I kept thinking this one was too good to be true. She arrived better than expected, and in a box! The box was so banged up near the bottom that I just knew the doll's legs or something else were damaged, but they were not.

The box, which I unbent for this picture, describes the doll's features: artwork, faceup, handcrafted details.

STYLE in bold letters is on one side panel of the box.

The doll was attached to a box liner. A black hairnet covered her head  Double-sided care instructions and a free gift of a pair of aviator sunglasses were also in the box.

This is the front of the care instructions and the packaged free gift.

The flip side of the care instructions is shown above.

A close-up of her lovely face illustrates how much she looks like the #1 Barbie sculpt.

This first full-view photo illustrates the extra articulation.

After checking the movement in all her joints, which moved well, I fluffed out her bubble cut hairstyle. Next, I added earrings, which are pearlized map or craft pins. In my fashion doll clothing collection, I found a red party dress for her to wear, and I made a red felt clutch purse. I accented the purse with a pearl button. Because I didn't have a suitable pair of red shoes, I painted a pair of fuchsia high-heeled shoes red to match the party dress and clutch. I also made a pearl necklace for her.

She wears a red party dress, pearl earrings, and hot pink shoes.

This is a close-up of the dark pink shoes before I painted them red.

I placed each shoe on top of a pencil while painting. The bottom of the pencil served as a handle to steady the shoes as I painted. The shoes dried on top of the pencils with the pencils placed inside a paperclip dispenser.

The now red shoes

The glued sides of the red felt clutch were held in place with a paperclip on each side while the glue dried. I accepted the clutch with a pearl button.

She models the pearl necklace I made. 

This lovely doll poses for two final full-length photos.

She's simply stunning.

This doll looks much more elegant and sophisticated beyond her $7 and some change price. I am so happy I took a chance on ordering.

*The reason I don't share the name of the China-based site is because ordering from them is usually seamless, but I have had issues with quality and more recently a difficult return/refund experience that I don't want anyone else to experience who might happen to order from them based on my mentioning the site's name. 

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©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

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

__________

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An Unbranded Barbie Clone

An unbranded, articulated Barbie clone

This unbranded Barbie clone arrived a few weeks ago. My curiosity about the quality prompted the purchase. Was she worth it?

She has boucle yarn hair, brown-painted eyes, and a light pink lip color.

The first thing I did to improve her appearance was to change the awful pink lip color. 

I repainted the lips with Tuscan Red acrylic paint.

A couple of layers were applied to achieve this result.

To maintain the matte look, I opted not to seal the paint with satin varnish. 

The next and final thing I did before incorporating the doll into the collection was to redress her as illustrated next.

The camera slipped as I attempted to take a full-length photo.

She is redressed in a Sparkle Girlz fashion and a pair of silver high-heel shoes.

Her love-themed Sparkle Girlz dress works well with the silver rose stud earrings she wore originally. I added a pair of silver high-heel shoes and made a spiral bracelet from pliable silver wire. Next, I placed her on a doll stand and incorporated her into a display of branded fashion dolls.

The others think she is worthy of being here.

For $4.99, I agree, she was worth the purchase.

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

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

__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.

Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
*New*Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!

A Barbie Clone, Repainted and Dressed

This Barbie clone with the Lara head sculpt had "red" eyebrows (!) and pink lip color.

Because this dark-skinned Barbie clone (possibly a clone of the Lara sculpt) arrived with red eyebrows and pink lips, I immediately repainted these areas of the face before I even knew what the doll would wear. 

She is seen in a full-view picture before the repainting was done.

Except for the waist and/or underneath the breast area, this doll has several points of articulation. 

Repainting

I colored over the red eyebrows with a black eyebrow pencil and later painted over that with black acrylic paint.

Next, as much as possible of the pink lip color was removed with fingernail polish remover.

White acrylic paint was used to repaint the tooth area.

For the lips, I used red acrylic paint, which was sealed with a matte varnish after the paint dried. I enlarged her lips some by painting above and below the natural lip line.

A vinyl imperfection on the side of the nose was recolored and transformed into a mole with a black eyebrow pencil.

These human earrings were fashioned to fit the doll's already-pierced ears by trimming off all except the first four rows of dangling disks.

She modeled the earrings before they were modified.

The earrings have been trimmed to the perfect length.

Several weeks ago, in lieu of adding the Silkstone 45th Anniversary Black Barbie to my collection (that usually sells for $200 to $300+ on the secondary market), I opted to buy the fashion instead for a mere fraction of the cost of the doll. My first inkling was to dye a White Barbie that uses the #1 Barbie's head sculpt and body and redress the dyed doll in the Silkstone fashion. With the painting of this doll completed, I browsed the doll room for clothing and found the 45th Anniversary fashion. She wears it well as illustrated in the final pictures.

The fashion includes the 45th Anniversary logo dress, a white faux fur stole, pink elbow-length sateen gloves, and black high-heel shoes (seen in the next photo).

The high-heel shoes have a heel strap. To secure the shoes in place, clear rubber bands were knotted around the heel straps. Next, the open ends of the rubber bands were looped and crisscrossed around the doll's ankles and the feet placed into the shoes.

Two tan-skinned Lara clones that have been here for some time posed with the new doll for a headshot comparison. 

See more dolls that use the Lara sculpt here (which include On Location: Milan Barbie).

dbg


There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
*New*Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!

When They Go Low

Two 14-inch 1960s fashion dolls have side-glancing eyes and heavy blue eyeshadow.

The daughter of a doll collector sent photos of two "Barbie clones" and asked if I had any interest. I did, except I don't actively collect 14-inch vintage fashion dolls, which is what I considered these. I do enjoy collecting Black Barbie clones and competitors. After deciding whether I wanted these two or not, based on the photo above and their lovely faces, I made the purchase. The dolls arrived swiftly in a much larger-than-expected box. 

A larger-than-expected shipping box was necessary to accommodate their lacy cotillion-style dresses. 

After opening the box, I realized the dolls had not only been redressed in lacy cotillion-style dresses, but because of the length of the dresses, which is double their height, the dolls would require a display height that exceeds 28 inches!

The plastic lining of the dress is visible in this photo of the white high-heel shoes.

A thick plastic lining is stitched to the dress skirts. A crisscross of lace forms each bodice. Both dolls have matching lace hats. The dolls still wear their original white plastic high-heel shoes. The heel of one shoe is bent, but I can probably straighten it by dipping it into boiled water to soften it before reshaping. The length of the dresses will prevent anyone from seeing the shoes unless the skirts are lifted.

The dolls have quite lovely faces. 

Typical of this type of Hong-Kong-made doll, the head is soft vinyl. The body is hollow plastic.

My initial plan was to redress the dolls. Based on their head mark, SHARING NO. 3001, and the upper back mark, MADE IN / HONG KONG, the dolls are possibly circa 1960s Dr. Ben Joins the Nurses Dolls made by the Sharing Doll Company. Their head sculpts are identical to the doll shown here except their hair is styled in a bubble cut. The Sharing nurse is probably a competitor of the 12-inch Ben Casey nurse doll sold through the Sears catalog. Dolls like these were also sold by Sharing Doll Company in baggies under different names, one of which was Miss Mod. (Visit the links at the end of this post to see pictures of a mint-in-package Sharing doll, the Ben Casey nurse, and three Miss Mod Dolls).

After these dolls arrived, I asked the seller if her mother made the dresses and if she used the dolls as boudoir (bed) dolls. The seller shared that her mother purchased them from an estate sale. The owner of the estate had used a pedestal-type display. 

I would prefer their original clothes (nurse uniform or mod fashion) over these lacy dresses. However, during the '60s and '70s, using lace, women would fashion dresses like this for dolls they found nude or just because they wanted to dress them like this. It was a thing to do, so I'm going to preserve "that thing," at least for now, and display them higher up than most of the other dolls.

The lower area in my doll room — the floor space — is already occupied with dolls. All shelves are full. The walls are either covered by free-standing or mounted shelves that are filled with dolls. Some NRFB dolls are stacked against walls. Doll-related paintings and photos and family photos are on what little wall space remains. I had no place to display these dolls in the usual areas, so I decided to hang them high.

Using two Command brand self-adhesive utility hooks that will accommodate up to 3 pounds, I mounted the hooks to the double doors of a metal file closet. The dolls are connected to the hooks at the back of their velvet ribbon waist sashes.

This is where the two dolls hang.

Here is the big picture.

So when they (the dolls) go low (and cover most of the floor space of a doll room), another display alternative is to hang them high, which is what I've done.

Links

Dr. Ben Black Nurse Doll in Original Package

1960s Dr. Ben Casey and Nurse dolls

Three Miss Mod Dolls by the Sharing Doll Company

Miss Mod in DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum 

dbg


There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
*New*Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!

More Cheap Fashion Doll Thrills

This girl from China finally arrived wearing the black short-sleeved top and ethnic print shirt shown in the above image.  Because the waist of the skirt is too wide for her, I immediately redressed her in a denim dress purchased from Instagrammer, Laylee.m.doll.clothes.

She wears the ruffled-collar denim dress with her pink high heels.  She continues to wear her silver-tone earrings and permanently attached necklace.

She actually has a beautiful face.  For years I hesitated to buy dolls with this head sculpt because of the long chin, but she is actually quite attractive.

I like her even better wearing this Sparkle Girlz fashion.

She poses here with a My Scene Jai look-alike and two other Barbie competitors.

Family Dollar Finds
-Wedding Set

I purchased this couple from Family Dollar when they were having a buy-one-get-one 75% off sale.  I purchased two sets.  The other was for someone who had been looking for the set in her area for a while.

The guy gives me a Frank Sinatra vibe.   He wears a gray tuxedo, white shirt, black tie, and black shoes.  His straight combed-back hair is molded.  His eyes are brown.

Distributed by Midwood Brands, LLC, the female doll uses the same head sculpt as the Glimma Girlz dolls from Family Dollar.  She too has pencil-thin legs, but I have no immediate plans to remove her full-length wedding gown.

The bride has black rooted straight hair and brown painted eyes.  As seen in their first photo, a pink bouquet and silver-tone necklace are attached to the box liner.

Also from Family Dollar, distributed by the same company as the Wedding Set were two additional dolls that I purchased a couple of weeks after purchasing the Wedding set.  I had seen the biker earlier but dismissed her initially because of the bike.  (I collect dolls not accessories because I have no room for the extra paraphernalia.)  After someone shared a close-up photo of her striking facial sculpt, I went back to Family Dollar and purchased her and another rather FLD (funny looking doll) just because she is different and because she has shapely (instead of pencil-thin) legs.  Their photos are shared next.

-Family Dollar Biker

This $10-priced doll includes the pedal bicycle with a helmet, a yellow puppy, and a pet basket.

The bike pedals are attached to the liner above the helmet.  The bike also has a kickstand!

Doesn't she have a lovely face?  Her lip color complements her complexion.  Incidentally, the doll from China could be used as a body donor for this doll, but I have no plans to do that.  I'd buy another one from China first.

-Family Dollar Teacher

This is the FLD I referred to earlier.   She was sold in a set as a teacher, a nurse, and a third version that slips my mind.  The teacher includes a stand-alone blackboard.  Each one was priced $5 as shown on this doll's box.

Her shapely legs can be seen in the image on the back of the box and in the next photo.

She wears gray high-heel shoes with a plastic-feeling dress.

This photo was taken with the doll still attached to the box liner but removed from the outer box.  Her black rooted hair does not appear to be closely rooted based on a gap in the rooting that is visible on one side, but I have not fully examined the hair.

What a face!  At least one collector has transformed this doll into a male.  I have no plans to do that, but it is an option.

Janay & Jordan Holiday Set Special Edition

Janay and Jordan Holiday Set Special Edition, Integrity Toys 1999

The Janay & Jordan Holiday Set Special Edition by Integrity Toys has the copyright year of 1999.  One of my Facebook friends who faithfully follows my blog posts there found this set at her local Goodwill and offered it to me at cost plus shipping.  Prior to receiving this set, I owned only one Jordan and only two Janay dolls that use this original Janay head sculpt (Janay Princess Delight and African Dancer Janay).

The back of the box illustrates the couple in a holiday setting that differs from the backdrop used for the box liner.

This Janay is dressed in a lovely burgundy gown that has a full skirt with a black raised leaf design.  She also wears dark red faux ruby drop earrings and necklace and a gold ring.  Her shoes are probably red, based on the image on the back of the box.

The backdrop image is a room decorated for the holiday with a Christmas tree, wreath, white poinsettias, and other holiday decor.

Janay's black rooted hair is styled in a top bun with twisted strands of hair.  The bun has gray streaks.  Jordan has black molded hair and wears a black tuxedo, white shirt, red cummerbund, and black shoes.  Both dolls have brown painted eyes.

Thanks again, Frankie, for offering the Janay & Jordan set to me.

dbg


There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for following, commenting, and sharing using the share button below.

Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!