The real eyelashes of Mod Barbie

Have you been wondering how they did these real eyelashes of the Mod Barbie dolls starting in 1967 with the Twist n Turn Barbie?

Well, originally this was done by a sewing machine. I really admire everyone being able to do this with a sewing machine. I’m not able to do this but I found my own way how to do this without a sewing machine but by hand. From my experience I can tell you it’s a lot of work and it’s time consuming to get these little lashes back it.

It is possible to repair missing or damaged lashes without a doubt. However you need some skills, the right needle and a lot of patience.

I will give you a short video instruction below.

Like mentioned above it’s possible to repair but it’s a lot of work and I think this was stopped after several years due to costs. In the late 90s some collector dolls like the ones from the Great Eras serie suddendly had them again but the had much more lashes in the end than the late 60s and early 70s Barbie dolls. For reasons of comparison I will give you some pics below.

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Twist n Turn Julia 1967
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French Lady from the Great Eras series, 1997 made for collector market

The Barbie doll wiki: The truth about her collectors

Believe it or not, but there is a truth about all her collectors. The truth is that her admirers are all different. They have different motives to collect. What we all have in common is the passion for one doll – Barbie doll. Some consider her as shero, icon, object of desire or childhood memory. Some try to look like Barbie or they have a Barbie tattoo or do strange things with their bodies to look like Barbie. I think I differ from my fellow collectors in the case that I don’t want simply to collect or have a look at the dolls but I also want to learn. The learning motive is something likely to be forgotten.

Do I need only one motive to collect?

When the TV people come they are always open for sensations. You often read about the proportion stuff. You know her body is unrealistic. I know it too, but I never felt the desire to look like Barbie. My motives are different. I’ve been interested in learning about fashion and fashion history since I was ten years old. At that time I had the first lessons in history and we learned about ancient Egypt and I wondered how the people back then ran around. What did they wear? Did the wall paintings in the Pyramids tell the truth? Could somebody wear the fashion from back then nowadays? I know not every 10-year old girl would ask herself these questions, but I’ve had a thirst for knowledge.

Brand-awareness in pre-teens?

In the mid 90s when I was 10 years old I saw my fellow classmates wearing fashion from certain brands. The older we grew the more brands appeared. I also started to wonder what these brands wanted to tell me. How did the fashions looked like? That was the time when many Designer Labels did a Barbie doll like Macy, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and many more. The clothes themselves were way much too expensive for me, but I saw it as a way to have something from these brands at home. Something in the long run, not like the clothes you wear and throw away later. I really loved the Escada Barbie from 1996 the first time ever I saw her in a catalog. I have some of the Designer Barbies from the mid 1990s but not all. I sold my regular Playline Barbie dolls for the Designer Barbie dolls. They were very expensive back then. Little did I know about what would later come.

Interests in collecting expanded

I’m a long time collector and I don’t regret it to be one. Collecting things is in my blood. I got the genes from my parents. I started back in1996 and I knew I wanted to be a collector. For 10 years collecting itself was okay, but my interests expanded. My interest in Playline dolls, the ones with the pink boxes that you’ve probably seen until the early 2000s grew. So I started also to collect some 90s Barbie dolls I had when I was little. They were not expensive back then and ebay the place to go. That was the time my interest changed for the first time a bit, but it wasn’t the only time. In the early 2000s amazon offered books in Germany too, and it was the first time I had access to them. Before it was complicated to order non-German books.

Social Media is helpful

So after my first book purchases from amazon I learned about early Barbie fashions, identification and got in contact with other collectors for the first time. That’s good and bad at the same time. It’s good because you can learn a lot, meet new friends and buy Barbie dolls you are looking for. You can learn about the release of new dolls. That’s positive, but there are also negative effects like stalkers. They try to give you a hard time. Like in every community there is jealousy. I found my interest in doing extended research and doing repairs the Social Media. I saw some other collectors did it and I tried it and had success.

No negative effects in my life

I’ve never had the wish to transform myself into a Barbie doll. That may attract other persons, but I’ve never had the wish. Barbie is good the way she is. No doubts. I’ve learned many things and read about interesting books I’ve probably never read without my interest in this fashion doll. I’ve even learned languages with her help, but I realized it all later. My interest in sewing fashions grew. I started to deal with making patterns for Barbie dresses. The understanding of techniques is what I want. I have many more books that wait for me. Let’s see if I can learn Japanese to get more knowledge. I know that’s crazy, but it’s me.

Why Victorian Holiday Barbie is sexy

Have you ever thought about how Christmas celebrated in the Victorian era? Well it must have been very different from how we celebrate today. Can you imagine a Christmas without Christmas Card written or no holiday from work? I can’t imagine it. Can you imagine only handmade toys were given to children? The most part of the society was poor only a few were wealthy. With the industrialization coming up the society changed. 

uSanta Claus was not red like we know him today.  Queen Victoria was one of the first persons in Great Britain with a Christmas tree. This tradition was unknown in GB before Prince Albert came to GB. But I think most of you have never thought about it. Anyway history has always been romanticised in the look back. This is what this Barbie shows you. She’s nice, beautiful and very festive. Do we really want to know how it would be to live in Victorian times? I think most of you don’t want it.

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Victorian Holiday Barbie

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Victorian Holiday Kelly
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Victorian Holiday Barbie & Kelly
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Victorian Holiday Barbie  & Kelly

The Insider’s Guide to Takara

Have you heard about Takara yet? Probably not. Do you know that they are Japanese toy makers? Probably not. Why the hell am I asking you so much questions? Well, I like to teach and discover the world. So, if you have no idea what Barbie and Takara have in common, watch my video.

and if you want to know more about the Japanese doll craziness, watch this episode of Japanology.

And here’s a short commercial about Takara from the early 1980s.

 

Happy New Year!

Before this year ends I’d like to post something for the last day of the year. What to wear on New Year’s Eve. Do you like to go to a ball or stay at home? What about these dresses for New Year’s Eve?

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Christmas time

Christmas is not very far away and I thought  a long time about what to write execpt the ordinary wishes and greetings but it’s not easy. For many years I found it  very exciting to show you the latest purchases or completed outfits, dolls or play sets.  In the meantime many things changed. It has become easier to take pics and show them to your facebook friends rather than bringing anyone to read a blog article. Sad but true somehow but nevertheless I’d like to show you some pics of great Barbie dolls I bought several years ago. So here’s my Merry Chritmas to you.

First Holiday Treasures Barbie

First ever produced Holiday Treasures Barbie

Holiday Treasures Barbie

Second Holiday Treasures Barbie doll

Second Holiday Treasures Barbie

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Last Holiday Treasures Barbie

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Club Exclusive Holiday Treasures Barbie

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My first review

I’d like to change my blog a little bit. Usually I only show you the new Barbie dolls in my collection but I haven’t bought any dolls in the last weeks. The reason to write this review are the pics from the new “Gone With the Wind” Barbie dolls that were available yesterday. Here’s a short link for you that you know what I talk about https://www.dollgenie.com/profile-dg.php?id=3175 .   My first impression is that they look well. Obviously the new head mold developed for the 2001 Gone With the Wind Barbie dolls was also used for these dolls.

Pro:

  • + New head mold
  • + A new dress for Scarlett
  • + A new suit for Rhett
  • + Price

Contra:

  • + The red dress was already available in the 1990s
  • + Design of the box, why not a more beautiful box?

Can’t really say things about the quality now. In general my first impression is good . I’m surprised in a positive way. What I would like is more “Gone With the Wind” Barbie dolls. I know that Tonner produced more characters from the movie like Ashley, Melanie Wilkes, India and Belle Watling. I wish Mattel would offer them, too. Furthermore I would like to have different dresses. Scarlett has a lot of beautiful dresses. Tonner even produced a series of six dresses that were designed but didn’t make it into the movie. I think that are interesting points they could consider.

Society Style Collection (TRU)

Today I gonna open my treasure chest again this week and I’ d like to show you my latest complete series, the Society Style collection.  This series was released by Toys ‘R’ Us in the mid 1990s and I think this is one of the most beautiful series they ever made. For me they are a memory to my first trip to Toys’ R’ Us in 1996 when I was 11 years old. I saw this series among others in their showcase and it was no question that I had to had them in my collection.  Some years passed by but yesterday the last one missing ( Emerald Enchantment Barbie) finally arrived.  I’m so happy to have the Society Style Collection now complete.

Emerald Enchantment Barbie (Close up)

Emerald Enchantment Barbie

Emeral Enchantment Barbie in Box

All three Barbie dolls from the Society Style Collection

Byron Lars – the first dolls

Today I gonna open my treasure chest again. What may be inside ? It’s the first series that Byron Lars made for Mattel in the late 1990’s. I must tell you that before this series no Afro-American Barbie doll was released in Europe.  I think it’s because the percentage of Afro-Americans living here. The percentage is very low and there was no reason why  no ethnic dolls were back then on the German market.  Few collectors, who had relatives in the US, were able to get them. In times before Internet was used as a source to buy dolls, getting AA Barbie dolls was hard. Now we also have books in which we can look them up.

The situation changed when the first Barbie dolls by Byron Lars were available.  From this series I own Cinnabar Sensation (CC version, only doll available in AA version and CC  version), Plum Royale and Indigo Obessession.  In my collection In the Limelight Barbie is missing but I didn’t really like her.

Indigo Obession Barbie

Indigo Obessesion (close up)

Indigo Obession

Plum Royale (close up)

Plum Royale

Cinnabar Sensation (close up)

Cinnabar Sensation

Beauty Haunted Ghost Barbie

By the end of the last year I bought the Beauty Haunted Ghost Barbie. She belongs to a Fantasy series. In the last years lots of Fantasy Barbie dolls were produced.  I didn’t expect her to be sold out that quickly. I read somewhere that she also won a doll Award but I don’t know in which category. Let’s hope that the chains don’t change somehow in the next years and develop a green colour. Unfortunately several Barbie dolls from the last decade have developed green ears. I hope that it will work out better this time.

Beauty Haunted Ghost Barbie

Beauty Haunted Ghost Barbie

Beauty Haunted Ghost Barbie