Hannah Montana

Very nice garage sale find. No help needed here, it didn't take me long to figure out who she was.

 

At first I didn't know she was a Hannah Montana but I knew she definitely wasn't a Barbie. But...she sings! So you type in the Google search "dolls that sing Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and you come up with her. Hannah Montana Holiday Pop Star from 2008.

She came complete with all her bracelets and her necklace was still held in place by the clear rubber bands. I knew she hadn't been played with much because her hair was still relatively shiny and didn't take much effort to comb. And her white velvet coat wasn't dirty.

She came wearing some blue knee-high boots and I realized that they weren't on all the way. When I pushed them on, they didn't seem to fit under her tight pants very well. When I took them off, they were the same boots that the Really Rosy Barbie dolls wear. I wondered if this doll was made by Mattel.

Another Google search and I quickly discovered that those are not her original boots.

www.amazon.com

Cute little silver platform heels. The only silver heels I have are open toe and would fit a Barbie doll with thin toes. Her foot is a little thick so I dressed her in some cute black ankle boots.

But anyway, I love her and she will definitely have a place on my shelf. (And I even push her play button once in a while because hey, her version of Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree is kind of catchy!)

Don't you think the Mickey ears fit the picture? She is after all Disney :)

~What I wouldn't give for a coat like that!~

Shani and Friends? Kira? RESOLVED!

9/3/12 - A big thank you to an anonymous poster who informed me that this is Splash n' Color Kira! Also, the earrings are not her original ones. She came with seashell earrings.

www.amazon.com

First order of business was to see if her hair still changed color in warm water. Yep, the purple and teal changed to pink and white. And then changed back about 30 seconds after I took it out of the running water. 

It's hard to believe that I did not have a swimsuit. So I dressed her in one of my Sun Sensations Fashions.

And only fitting of her to be displayed with Sun Sensation Ken.

Outfit fits her pretty nicely doesn't it?

~Original Post~

Another garage sale find. When I saw her I immediately thought "Kira". But upon further inspection I think she may be from Mattel's Shani line.

She's beautiful again after I fixed her ratted hair.

As some may know, the Shani line was marketed toward african-american girls. The lineup included Shani, Nichelle, Asha, and Jamal; Shani's boyfriend.

The help! So who is she? Is she truly a Kira or Shani's friend Asha? From what I've found from pictures on the internet, all of the Shani line wore these earrings.

If she truly is from the Shani line, she could only be Asha because her skin tone is lighter than the rest of the dolls. But her eyes resemble Kira, not Asha.

Also this purple and teal streak and the glitter in her hair made me think that she might be one of the "sun" or "beach" Kira's.

But she is not Sun Jewel, Sun Sensation, Sparkle Beach, or Hawaii Kira. She is also not Beach Streak Asha. None of those dolls have this hair scheme. Help!

~The first Kira (or Asha) doll of my collection~

Another version of Who Is She? RESOLVED!

9/13 - My wonderful reader found out that she is the Easter Bunny Fun Barbie and Kelly Target Exclusive Gift Set. So cute!

www.pinterest.com

I don't have the original outfit for her so I had to pick a piece from my collection. Here is a fun springtime dress and I think the jacket is handmade. I got it from a yard sale.

I also added some cute purple platform heels. These were the shoes that seemed to match the best.

I love her. She has such a sweet face and is so cute and springy. Thanks for the identification Andrea!

~Original Post~

Beautiful doll, can't find her online anywhere!

The hat is sewn on and she has a kind of strawberry-blond hair.

The help! What doll is this? I would love to dress her in the correct outfit. She looks like a Barbie, not like a Teresa and the lighter hair also suggests that she is a Barbie.

~Want to dress her in correct clothes~

Who is she? RESOLVED!

8/27/12 - I found out who this Barbie is. When you have a singing Barbie doll, go to YouTube and listen to some vids.

I saw a Barbie that looked like her and even though she was singing in German, the tune was the same. This is Princess Luciana from the movie Barbie and the Island Princess. She sings "A Love That's Always There" from the movie. The arm is hinged so she can hold the cat that came with her. 

So now I am hoping to get her original outfit (and maybe the cat too!)

~Original Post~

VERY distressed Barbie.

Yeah, so I haven't done her hair yet. :)

The help! Who is she? She has one arm that is hinged at the elbow and the jewel on her necklace is a button. She takes three of the small batteries and has a small square on her back above the battery box which makes me think that she might be a fairy Barbie.

The year states 2006 but I don't know if that is the specific year for this doll or if that is just a year for the body mold.

~Who is this lovely lady~

Cute Faux-Fur Tops RESOLVED!

8/28/12 - Okay, kind of a funny story.....

When I first saw these tops I knew they looked really familiar. Blue for Teresa, Pink for Barbie, and I knew they were from a more recent Barbie (recent as within the last 10 or so years).

Through various Google searches such as "faux-fur Barbie tops", "floral tops", "floral faux-fur tops", I was coming up empty. So I posted it here thinking maybe someone could help.

I have a doll with the goddess head mold and red hair and was trying to search for this doll online. I tried searching some names of Mattel dolls and I tried the name "Kayla". I didn't find the doll I was looking for. But this is what I did find.

Photo from google.com search "Mattel Kayla dolls"

There she is!

After I saw this pic and found out she was the "Really Rosy" doll I kept thinking to myself that I had those boots somewhere and/or I had those boots at one point in my life.

After looking in a tub of my NRFB dolls, I found her.

I had my very own Really Rosy Kayla doll! With the box but no wrist tag. Funny story of how I got her. You can read it here!

Looking at the back of the box I also discovered that the blue top I have belonged to the Christie doll. There was no Teresa doll in this set. It also shows Kayla with white fur. Maybe they changed to purple mid-production? 

So in my garage sale doll finds, I had a Barbie that had the same body and hands as Kayla. So I put the pink fur top on her. Also her face mostly resembeled the Barbie on the back of the box.

Now I needed something for the bottom. I tried on a pair of jeans that didn't really fit well so I thought I would dress her in the pink skirt from the 1964 Satin n' Rose Fashion Pak #1161. I have another doll wearing the shirt, jacket, pants, and shoes so now I have a doll to showcase the skirt!

When skirts were made to be worn around the waist. Dress it up with cute pink mary-janes. Awesome. :)

Next up: Finding a Christie doll for the blue top. :)

~Original Post~

In my distressed Barbie finds, I also look for clothes. I have these two adorable faux-fur tops with a floral print. I know the pink is for Barbie and the purple and blue is for Teresa.

The help! I remember seeing these dolls in the store within the last few years. Any idea on what the name of these dolls were? And these tops don't seem to fit the "old" dolls very well (before Barbie was redesigned to have a smaller chest). Most of my dolls are from the 90's before the redesign so I guess I will have to get one of the newer Barbie's when I display them.

~Cute tops, would love to put them on a doll!~

Original Twist N' Turn Barbie

I remember my mom telling me about how she could trade in her old Barbie, pay $1.50 and get the new Twist N' Turn Barbie. Well, here she is! She is wearing the original My Favorite Barbie American Girl Swimsuit. (I have the neon orange bikini with the white mesh cover-up she came in but I'm missing the top!)

I guess along the way I thought she was a Francie doll because when I got her from my mom she was wearing the poncho shown below. The poncho has the "Francie" label inside. So my mom must have had Barbie's Mod cousin at one point!

 

Photo from www.rubylane.com

The help! I don't have the cowboy boots that go with this poncho. Some pictures I see on eBay show plain light blue boots and some have a green trim at the top.
So which are correct? And where to get just the boots?

www.pinterest.com

 

~My next purchase, Francie doll~

PJ!

The latest garage sale non-distressed find. Meet Fashion Photo PJ! With the Steffie head mold! She is beautiful! And she was complete. With the camera and stand, mini-photos and mint box.

The help! The Fashion Photo dolls came with a stand that their feet fit into. It looks to me that their feet fit into some kind of "tube" that holds them there so when you snap the camera, they move around without coming out of the base. My stand is missing that so I can't set PJ up with her stand and camera. See pics below.

I'm thinking some PVC pipe from the local home improvement store would work? Sticking that where her feet should go in the base? What do you think?

~Loving my PJ~

Welcome to My Barbie Blog!

So I've decided to blog! This blog will be anything and everything about my Barbie collection. But Barbie collectors and connoisseurs, I need your help! Read on to find out.

To start: how I got started in the wonderful world of Barbara Millicent Roberts. From my mother! What mother doesn't tell her little girl about Barbie. My mom grew up in the day and age where you could go down to the local store, trade in your old doll, pay $1.50 and get the new and improved Twist n' Turn Barbie. I know right! The first pieces of my collection came from her 1960's vintage fashions.

My childhood: Barbie was a huge part of my life! My brother and I would play together, I was always the Barbies, he was always his action figures. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meet the Barbies, Captain Planet meets the Barbies, Ghostbusters meet the Barbies, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers meet the Barbies. Children of the 80's we were!

The now: I finally moved a cabinet into my office to display all my de-boxed Barbies. They are played with but I took IMMACULATE care of my Barbies. NEVER cut their hair. NEVER got water on them. NEVER played with them in the sandbox or outside. They were always in their original clothes when I stored them. I have always wanted to display the NRFB Barbies that I have neatly and carefully stored. But what about the de-boxed ones that are stored never to be seen or played with again (since I'm 30 with no children of my own?) Not happening here!

Details on Barbies here in future posts

Where I need help: What better way to display some of my mom's vintage fashions than on an actual doll itself! I know that the dolls are not from the 1960's so therefore do not have the proper head mold. But what I like to do is go to garage sales or secondhand stores, buy distressed Barbies (or Teresa, or Kira, or Midge or ???) and clean them up, fix their hair and display them. From what I've seen Barbie bust forms are somewhat pricey and I think putting the clothes on a doll is much better!

So I buy Barbies and clothes and sometimes I need a little help figuring out which doll is which or which clothes went on which doll. These will not be one-of-a-kind dolls or clothes. Most of them are generic which may be why I'm having a hard time locating them. There will be a few posts today about dolls and clothes so keep reading and thanks for looking!

~Teresa (so excited to have a doll named after me, however I have blond hair like Barbie) :)~