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.

dbg
Follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black
Check out my eBay listings here.

Jem and the Holograms Shana Elmsford

From 1998 through 2001, I sold dolls and accessories on eBay for a woman from the East Coast.  Some of the dolls and accessories included her massive Jem and the Holograms collection of dolls, fashions, and accessories.  She had multiples of each.  These were among other, then, highly collectible antique, vintage, and modern dolls of all types that she bought and sold for profit.

I "met" this woman through a doll purchase and actually became more acquainted with her after receiving a subsequent handwritten list of other dolls she was selling.  She did not own a computer.  I was already buying more than selling on eBay at the time and was familiar with that market.  I knew her dolls would sell.  This was during eBay's infancy, at a time when collectors were eager to replace dolls and other relics of their youth and money was usually not an issue in that more stable economy.  The hunger for past playthings with fewer sellers offering the same items created the lucrative eBay seller's market of the late 1990s early 2000s.

After I explained the eBay process to this woman, we developed a partnership where I sold her dolls on eBay for a small percentage of the sale.  The business was quite profitable, but it became extremely time consuming for me.  My selling items on eBay for her was her effortless "job," but lots of work for me to scan the photographs she mailed me, create the listings, write the descriptions, and coordinate the end-of-auction sales. 

After the birth of my first grandson in 2001, my time between a full-time (albeit working from home) job and caring for him while my daughter worked, left little free time to sell on eBay or a desire to do it; so I gave it up.  She was not a happy camper, but I had given her enough warning before his birth by urging her on multiple occasions to purchase a computer.  (___, you need to buy a computer and sell your own stuff).  Not being computer savvy was her excuse, but eventually she was forced to do it and hopefully realized it as a blessing.

I still have some of the photographs of the Jem dolls and others I sold for top dollar on eBay back then. The Jem items are illustrated in the following six collages.

Jem and the Holograms dolls, top to bottom, L-R:  Jetta, Roxy, Kimber, Roxy, Raya, and Rio

Jem and the Holograms dolls, top to bottom, L-R:  Shana, Banee of the Starlight Girls, Rock  'N Curl Jem, Krissie of the Starlight Girls; Krissie (again), Glitter 'N Gold Rio, Flash 'N Sizzle Jem/Jerrica; Synergy, Video, Jem/Jerrica, and Clash

Jem and the Holograms accessories that I sold in the past included fashions, coloring books, playsets, cassette tapes, view master reels, wrist watches, and ball point pens.  Some of these with the exception of the ball point pens, are illustrated in the next four images:

I recalled this part of my eBay seller life this morning after browsing an Integrity Toys sale at Toonaroona.com, which includes Integrity Toys' version of Shana.  Reading Shana Elmsford's bio further stirred my Jem and the Holograms seller's memory:

Shana by Integrity Toys (stock photo) 

SHANA ELMSFORD is a fully articulated 12-inch vinyl doll with rooted hair and hand applied eyelashes. Always ready for a good jam session, SHANA ELMSFORD comes dressed in her truly outrageous stage costume and includes high-heeled pumps, her signature ultra-detailed bass guitar, complete with realistic miniature strings, whammy bar and plug-in amp cable! It also includes a doll stand and a certificate of authenticity. For adult collectors 14 and up only!

Jem and the Holograms Krissie Starlight Girl (1987) and Shana (1985) by Hasbro dressed in Smashin' Fashions Winning is Everything

I do not own IT's Shana, but I do own the original Shana and Krissie of the Starlight Girls, made by Hasbro in 1985 and 1987, respectively (shown above).  Shana was not acquired from the East Coast doll dealer, but Krissie was.



dbg

Follow my Dolls for Sale blog

Please visit and "Like" The Doll Blogs: When Dolls Speak I Listen