Birthday Wishes

Above is one of the Birthday Wishes Barbies from around 2007 I think.  Again, the ever popular Steffie face mold is being used here.  I really liked her soft colouring and strawberry blonde hair.  The outfit she came with is what I dressed that convention Giselle in (pic of her below).

The dress in this pic is from the Tarantino Barbie.

One gripe I have with Mattel is they cheap out a lot.  Sometimes they give us dolls that are just perfect in every way and other times the quality can be very questionable.  Especially when it comes to their hair!  Whilst this doll has lovely curls at the front, if you saw the back you'd be horrified!!  There are no curls but just straight, frizzy hair!  Also a lot of times I see some big bald patches on the dolls - like they are skimping out on how much hair they root them with.

But despite all that, I still really love this doll and her sweet look.

Tribute to Elizabeth Taylor?

This is Gal on the Go silktone which was last years' BFC Club Doll.  I'd seen a few re-dress pics of her and after that I knew I had to order her.  I'm glad I did.  I believe she is the first silkstone that has the bubblecut hair-do and I think her look with the raven hair and violet eyes was inspired by Elizabeth Taylor.

I thought this cute little dress which actually is from the LIV dolls was perfect for her and I had to take a pic of these cute new Barbie shoes.  Again I thought the little flower on these shoes was made for this dress.

Lovely Giselle

This is another version of Giselle from the Nu Face line.  She is a convention exclusive from a few years go which again I was able to purchase from a dear collector friend.  What appealed to me with this doll mostly is her green eyes.  I don't know what it is but I've always had a thing for green eyes.  LOL

And of course I thought this green Birthday Wishes Barbie outfit would look perfect with her red hair and green eyes.

Speed Racer Barbie

Another thing I look for when purchasing dolls is dolls with some different hairstyles.  Too many of them come with the standard waist length, middle part, straight long hair and that can get really boring.  It's not so bad if you are someone who is good at cutting and restyling a dolls' hair but I am not one of those people.  Another danger - and this is mostly with Mattel - is that the few dolls that DO come with short hairstyles like this have cuts that are very uneven. Luckily this Barbie from the Speed Racer set which I got from a lovely friend, looks pretty good.

Another annoying thing with some doll hairstyles is that they come with so much GUNK in them that they are stiff as a board and almost impossible to fix up if they have any flaws with them.

I think this Barbie not only has a cute hairstyle but a cute face.

Disco Diva

This little cutie I bought via the BFC (Barbie Fan Club) using one of the quarterly credits you get with membership.  Her name is Disco Diva and she came with a really cute sequined silver pantsuit complete with flares - very 70's!.  LOL

I love her cute little curls and in this pic she is wearing a nice little animal print bubble dress from the Fashionista line.  She has the Steffie face mold which is pretty popular among doll collectors.

Beyonce?

This doll is also from the Barbie Basics line which Mattel debuted last year.  They do not have names but numbers and sadly, I can't remember all their numbers as there are 12 of them all up.  I'm not 100% sure but I think this doll is using the Christie face mold.

Though the face mold is not correct, with her blondish hair, she kind of reminds me of Beyonce.  And I thought this outfit was perfect for her - another one of those single Barbie Pak fashions.

Being a very amateurish photographer, sometimes I do find it harder to take pics of the AA dolls as they can come out way too dark and need some editing to try and get them to look as good as possible.  Especially when the vinyl used is very shiny!  This is one case where the pic does not do justice to the beauty of this doll.

Eden

This is Eden.  The only new Integrity Toys doll I bought last year (she is from their Nu Face line - the Nu Face line has a much smaller bust and slightly smaller hips than the Fashion Royalty line).

When I first saw pics of her I was not so keen as the outfit she came in was pretty horrible - very un-colour co-ordinated, and I have a 'thing' for colour co-ordination.  LOL.  But then I saw some actual pics of her re-dressed by other doll collectors and I really fell in love with her.  Fortunately she was not sold out and I was able to buy one.  I love her gorgeous red hair and neutral/earthy colours.

In this pic she is wearing bits and pieces of outfits and accessories.  The dress is from one of the Barbie Basics dolls I got late last year (from the AA doll that you will see a pic of later).

Unfortunately one of her eyes in these pics looks a bit weird just due to lighting and reflections when I was taking the pics and I just lack the knowledge with photography to fix it.

Star Trek Meets Air Hostess?

This doll is Luchia, part of the Fashion Royalty line from Integrity Toys.  She was part of the basic line of dolls from about 2 or 3 years ago (it's getting harder to keep track of all doll names and when they were released these days).  

Recently I've narrowed down my collection and am trying to stick to dolls that I not only still really love but also have different looks about them.  There are so many dolls and doll lines nowadays that they are starting to look the same and sometimes you do feel you have too many dolls in your collection and feel so overwhelmed and un-inspired.

What really grabbed me about Luchia is her stunning blue eyes - though it does not show so well in my pics, her eyes are a very intense blue - almost aqua in colour and I think this outfit highlights that feature as well.  The outfit is just a single pak Barbie fashion I bought recently.  It is an Air Hostess outfit but it kind of reminds me of the Star Trek outfits as well.  The fishnet stockings did not come with the outfit.  

The Debut

I got this silkstone last year.  She is called the Debut silkstone.  The reason being is that 2009 was Barbies' 50th Birthday and in celebration of that Mattel created a caucasian and AA version of the original Barbie from 1959.

All the silkstones use the original Vintage Barbie face mold, but in the case of this doll, her facial screening and ponytail hairstyle are based on the original Vintage Barbie.  I believe this is also the first silkstone that has come out with this super pale skin-tone as well. I just had to get her not only in honour of Barbies' 50th but I also love her platinum hair and pale skintone.  The outfit she is wearing is by Dressmaker Details and is called Platinum Pleasures.  There is also a gold version of this outift but it is extremely limited and pretty much impossible to find for sale.  Maybe someday I will get lucky and will be able to get the gold version of this outfit and for a reasonable price.

Well...one can dream.  LOL

The Waitress

A few years back Mattel released 4 limited edition silkstones depicting 4 different careers.  If I remember correctly they were:

- The Stewardess
- The Artist
- The French Maid
- The Waitress

I was able to get the Waitress through a trade with a fellow doll collector a couple of years ago.  What appealed to me is her lovely strawberry blonde hair and her colouring matched this cute little dress perfectly IMO.  I like her cute little curls as well.

Lovin' Leopard

Once again Tatiana is featured this time wearing a mix and match outfit featuring leopard prints.  I have always loved animal prints however, personally, I prefer the real thing to remain on the animal.  Faux prints are just as good for me and my dolls.  Sometimes I think these dolls almost look life-like.

Barbie Basics Lea

I know it's been several weeks since I've been here and updated but that's me.  Sometimes I'll update often and other times I don't.  It depends on if I feel I have anything to share.

I've taken a few new doll pics recently and thought I'd upload the few I've taken.  The first here is of one of my recent purchases the Barbie Basics Lea.  I think she is just totally stunning with her raven her and lush red lips.  I rarely post pics of my dolls in their original outfits as I enjoy re-dressing them.  I can't remember the name of this dress but I thought it suited her perfectly.