The Sacrificial Barbie Deluxe Style 12

After the price of Barbie Deluxe Style 12 Barbie was reduced to $14.99, I purchased three because this doll is a complexion match for my Barbie You Create Neutral Kit 1, one of the kits Mattel sold with one body and three heads. I wanted all three heads to have their own body. So...

After removing two of the three dolls from the box, I had to first tackle their dry and brittle-looking hair (why, you ask, since I'm only using their bodies). I had an articulated $2 body to use for one of the heads.

This is how two of my Barbie Deluxe Style 12 dolls' hair looked right out of the box—dry and brittle-looking!

I gave them a rod roller set.

I saturated the hair with Lotta Body setting lotion and rolled small sections under with tiny red rod rollers as illustrated above. I left the rollers in for 48 hours to allow the hair to fully air dry.

I removed the rollers and later (after this photo was taken) gently finger-combed the curls to slightly loosen them.

Here they are from the front before sacrificing their bodies to two heads in my Barbie You Create Neutral Kit 1.

This is one of the Barbie Deluxe Style 12 dolls after resetting the hair, removing the original body, rebodying onto a cheaper articulated body, and redressing.

I stored the extra Barbie head and the two sets of original clothes in a plastic baggie. The third doll remains NRFB.

Bodying the Barbie You Create Neutral Kit 1 Heads

I was ready to pop the kit heads onto the donor bodies, only to discover that the neck peg on the Deluxe Style dolls was too large and would require modification. After almost giving up, I consulted the resident doll doctor, who used a wire cutter from my dollologist kit to modify the pegs for me. 

The peg on the left is modified (excess plastic snipped off). I had wrapped it with micropore tape after my modifications to cover any rough edges before my husband performed the required extra snipping. The one on the right is the original, unmodified neck peg on the 2nd Barbie Deluxe Style body.

One of the kit heads (Lara) is added to the modified peg and body and fits perfectly.

This photo illustrates that the kit heads will not fit the original Barbie Deluxe Style neck peg without modifying the peg.

The second neck peg was modified by shortening the stem and the side prongs, and the circular area at the base was narrowed with wire cutters.

Both Barbie Neutral Kit 1 heads are attached to the Barbie Deluxe Style 12 donated bodies.

Dressing the Three Kit Dolls

The third doll or first doll in the kit continues to use the Petite Made to Move body provided by Mattel. With all three dolls bodied and dressed, they posed for the final two pictures. 

Nichelle, Lara, and Mermaid (their head sculpt names) are dressed in a mixture of kit clothing and other fashion doll clothes, shoes, and accessories. 

The ladies pose for a final full-length picture.

It took several days, off and on, to complete the hair setting and rebodying process, but it was time well spent.

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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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Visit and follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum for detailed installations of antique, vintage, modern, and one-of-a-kind black dolls. http://virtualblackdollmuseum.com

Elara Cover Girls

Mix and match fashion-doll clothes

I purchased new fashions for XianXian Supermodel Elara. In the next picture, the ladies model two of the three fashions. 

The contrast between their deep complexions and the bright colors of the clothing works well.

I love this look on them.  I'll use the extra fashion for another doll.

I wanted to create a 1960s mod-era look with matching Mondrian color-block dresses and fishnet stockings. 

Elara dolls wear a Mondrian color-block dress.

White fishnet stockings, white ankle boots, and wedge heels complement the dresses.

Because they both have supermodel magazine cover appeal, they are now cover girls.

They are indeed supermodels extraordinare!

Elara dolls look just as good in these off-the-rack clothes as in haute couture fashions. 

Sculpt Comparison

    

Before this post was published, another collector asked if I thought Elara and the above honey-skin-toned XianXian doll shared the same sculpt. My initial answer was no. After I took the above photo, my answer remained no. The head sculpts are similar; however, the lighter-complexioned doll's lips appear fuller, and her straight-forward eyes are set wider apart than Elara's. The head sculpt for the doll on the right is Gala, according to the XianXianToys website.

Related Posts

XianXian Miya

XianXian Doll 2

Who Makes XianXian Dolls?

More Supermodels

I Got the Right One Baby

The Other Doll in the Order

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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.
__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published. To contact me directly, use the About page link, which is also visible in Web View mode, find, and use the email link.

Visit and follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum for detailed installations of antique, vintage, modern, and one-of-a-kind black dolls. http://virtualblackdollmuseum.com

Looks Ken #25 Gets Redressed

Looks Ken #25 sizes up a male fashion doll clothing package.

I knew I would redress Barbie Looks Ken #25, but finding clothes for him might pose a problem because of his buff body. I ordered a 32-piece clothing and accessories set for him (sold/made in China) a few weeks ago hoping that everything would fit him. Some of it does, but just as I feared, several pieces do not.

The set includes two jackets, four shirts,...

...four pairs of pants, and an athletic set.

The accessories include four pairs of boots, two pairs of loafers, two headsets, two pairs of identical sunglasses, and seven hangers.

The hats are too small!

I'm not sure which doll the cowboy hats are scaled to fit, but they certainly do not fit Ken. I tried one on Looks #21 Barbie, and it doesn't fit her either. Vintage Skipper's head is too large for the hats. Maybe a Kelly doll with straight hair can wear these if I don't find another use.

The boots and shoes are shown closeup.

The white boots fit snugly with a slight gap in the back. The others fit nicely. Both black shoes are too small. He'd develop bunions if I forced the tapered-toe loafers on his feet. I won't do that to Ken. 

Both pairs of identical black-framed glasses fit and the headsets fit. 

All the shirts fit, but only one pair of separate pants fit Ken (sigh), the aqua plaid, which only suits his taste for lounging around the house. 

Ken models three of the shirts with the aqua plaid pants in the next three photos:

A graphic tee

A white muscle shirt

Another graphic tee

Ken is still wearing the aqua plaid pants.

Next, Ken tried on the black faux leather jacket and a different pair of black boots. He determined he could pull this look off outside the house.

The tan pleather jacket

The tan pleather jacket is too small. Ken looks like he's wearing his little brother's clothes.

Made of jersey knit, the athletic outfit works well for Ken's muscular body.

Ken looks good in the white athleisure outfit. The opening in the back and Velcro closure make the top easier to put on and off. Note the gap in the back of the snugly fitting white boots. 

On the left, Ken is so happy he's found something he'd like to wear that he's doing the Carlton dance.

Worn with black boots, a two-piece hand-sewn fashion by Shasarignis received last year will give Ken something to wear in cooler weather. He tried it on with and without the jacket with one of the muscle shirts from the 32-piece set.

Slender-bodied Kens can wear the pants that do not fit #25's muscular body. 

Looks Ken #4

Because of his slender body, Looks Ken #4 wanted to try on some of the clothing. 

Ken #4 wears the black jacket.

The black jacket fits him. His heels tend to slide up in the back of these loafers. He cannot wear the tapered-toe loafers.

The tan jacket

The tan jacket pairs well with the orange boots and his original white shirt and pants. 

A graphic tee shirt

The gray graphic tee and dark denim jeans are worn with #25's silver boots. Ken #4 can wear these jeans with all the other shirts in the set and with any of the boots. 

Another graphic tee

Above, a black "Luck" graphic tee is worn with black pants and black boots.

Ken says, "no" to these skin-tight camo pants.

The gray camouflage pants fit like leggings; so, they are a "no" for us. One of the girls can probably wear these.

The aqua plaid pants fit slightly looser on Ken #4.

This Ken agrees that lounging in the aqua plaid pants is the only way he will wear these.

The guys pose for a final photo.

Hot summer weather aside, these "fits" are the chosen looks for both guys. 

Stretch or knit clothes or clothing made for muscular dolls work best for Ken #25. Ken #4 is not as difficult to redress provided the pants are long.

The 32-piece set is worth the $14 I spent on T--u, but I wish #25 could wear more of the pants. 

Related Link

Shasarignis' blog

©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.

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Betty Teen-Type Fashion Doll

Betty Teen (type)

The eBay seller identified this doll as an unbranded Betty. A Google search led me to several photos of white Betty Teen dolls by Tong and/or M&C (circa 1980s-1990s). These dolls are said to have been popular in Russia as a Barbie alternative during the 1980s. Their popularity rose in the US during the 1990s. Black versions are more difficult to find. 

I saw a similar doll on Pinterest several years ago and pinned the photo to my Vintage Black Barbie Clones and Competitors Pinterest board in hopes of identifying her and owning one like it. Well, this one looks very similar to the one I pinned, but she's not the same doll. So, the hunt is still on for the pinned doll. 

Full view of Betty Teen-type as she was upon arrival

This 11-1/2 inch fashion doll has the usual five points of articulation with an articulated waist and click-bend knees. The eyes are painted brown with painted upper and lower eyelashes—not rooted. The mouth has dark red lip coloring and the lips are closed. (The pinned doll's lips are slightly fuller.)

My doll arrived wearing white panties. Her severely tangled hair was appropriately described by the seller, but I knew I could make it manageable. 

Betty Teen-type with hair washed, conditioned, and detangled.

After she arrived, I washed the hair with a shampoo conditioner three times. I don't know if the brown water that resulted was from dirt or the dye in the doll's hair. Afterward, I applied a leave-in conditioner, finger-combed it to separate as many of the tangles as possible, and then used a fine-tooth comb to detangle small sections from the ends upward. 

Next, I trimmed about one-fourth inch of rough edges and gave her a temporarily banded ponytail.

Finally, a light gel was added to the bangs and an elasticized ponytail holder was wrapped around the head to hold the flyaway bangs down while the hair dried. 

So in Style Grace was willing to part with this ensemble to allow Betty to wear it.

I already knew what I planned to dress the doll in before she arrived—a purple floral-print handmade dress, a straw hat, and purple high-heel shoes. The dress was a gift from a doll friend who attended a Barbie convention years ago. So in Style Grace, shown above, was the first and only doll until now to wear it.

Grace wears her new light blue, pink, and white sleeveless dress and jacket with gray high-heel shoes.

Grace's original purple stud earrings were exchanged for pink stud earrings.

Betty Models

Betty models the clothes and shoes that Grace wore previously.

The purple pumps are too long for Betty's smaller feet.

She looks quite elegant in her new clothes.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the doll therapy involved in rehabbing Betty which only cost me about $13 (6.99 for the doll and the rest was for tax and shipping). 

Betty wears a better fitting pair of lavender high-heels in this photo taken with Grace.

Other dolls by different names such as Gloria, Tanya, and Steffi use the "Betty" head sculpt. Because my doll is unbranded and the original maker is unknown, I'll continue to refer to her as Betty. 

Read more here about Betty Teen dolls in an interesting article by Ekaterina Ziborova published on February 6, 2013.

©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!