Dolls

Dolls

Monday, December 10, 2012

Day 10: Breathtaking in Black - 1998 Happy Holidays Barbie

I remember when this color scheme was "in". Do you? Everyone had to have everything in black and hot pink. I even had a friend who's wedding colors were black and hot pink. Oh, that was AFTER 1998? Well, Mattel and Barbie were ahead of the times then!

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What is more beautiful than this dress? Nothing I say! :) Okay, I love all the dresses but this one is totally new. Black with silver trim and a pink stole? And the hair! Mattel went for their first "up do"

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Anyone ever wonder how hard her hair is? Remember back to your prom days where you had "helmet hair" to get the curls to stay in. Her hair is probably twice as hard. So pretty with the little ringlets out the side!

I just can't get over this stole. What a contrast! It's breathtaking!

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The back of the box reads: "A velvety silhouette in a crystalline dream, Barbie make the holiday sparkle and gleam."

Gleam? How about "Barbie is as beautiful as a silver moonbeam" HA! They should hire me to create these for the back of the box.

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I have a problem with this picture. I like the way the stole is behind her but I like it a little more out front like the way she is boxed. However, when it is behind her, you miss the adorable little tassels at the end.

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Friends, this marks the end of an era. The Happy Holidays Barbie dolls were only scheduled to be produced for 10 years. Read this excerpt from "The Fashion Doll Guide".

Happy Holiday Barbie Dolls Dolls were made from 1988 to 1998. The 1988 Happy Holiday Barbie is considered to be the first "Collectible Barbie", although it wasn't originally planned that way. The dolls rapidly sold out and almost immediately began to command big prices on the secondary market. Based on the popularity of that doll, Mattel realized there was a huge market for Barbie Dolls for adult collectors. This was the beginning of the "Barbie craze" that continued to grow, reached an absolute fevered pitch in the late 1990s (thanks to the advent of eBay). Unfortunately for many, the craze has died down since the early 2000s, but there are still many adult Barbie collectors.

This series was one of the most (if not the most) popular of all times. Many began their Barbie collection because of this series and many collected only this line. Many girls received a "Happy Holiday" Barbie each year for Christmas. 

Did you receive a Happy Holiday Barbie each year for Christmas? I did and it was the highlight. And I did start a collection because of this series! It was a tradition!
See you tomorrow!

3 comments:

Andrea said...

Actually I got one every year not neccessarily for Christmas, but I got one. I have extras of some of the Happy Holidays Barbies, mostly from ebay-lots or fleamarkets. I also have an extra of this one from the fleamarket, but she was nude. Her hair is stiff as a rock.

When she was released, I couldn't decide which doll I liked better, the Caucasian or the African American
version. Hubby was a sweetheart and got both for me.

Actually the Holiday Dolls were the first Barbie line that I seriously collected.

Andrea said...

Almost forgot, about the pic on the back of the box. I think this is a picture of the prototype doll, because it looks like the stole is merely a huge collar, almost like a hood. No ends visible behind the doll and it seems sewed to the dress.
I f you look at the ornament pictured in the bottom corner, it also has no stole ends visible. I think they exchanged the collar for a stole when they got into production. Probably for easier dressing.

Forestminuet said...

What an awesome hubby! My hubby is okay with my doll collection but he doesn't actively "encourage" it if you know what I mean! :) Ah yes, it could be the prototype. I always wondered about not seeing the ends of the stole, now I know why. Maybe the collar was too hard to make it stand up in the box like the picture?