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If you read one article about the Barbie cleaning process read this one

Today I cleaned a new Barbie doll in my collection. She’s from the 1980s and she’s from Spain ( made by Congost). I know it’s hard to find any information about Congost but they produced Barbie dolls under license in the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s for Mattel. I don’t know how many they produced but they must have produced a lot. I have heard that the quality is not the best one but anyway I like them.

This one arrived here only hours ago and since it’s Saturday I had time to clean her immediately. I can’t repeat myself often enough to tell you how easy it is to clean an old Barbie doll. I think I removed the dust and dirt from decades. You just need rubbing alc. and some Q-Tips. You dip the Q-Tips in the alc. and remove the dirt. Some collectors may say that it is dangerous because of the knee joints but I never had any problems with rubbing alcohol. You can literally see the dirt on the left leg. The right one is already cleaned.

Barbie Spanish version of Crystal Barbie

After the procedure I had a lot of dirty Q-Tips.

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6 ways Jewel Hair Mermaid is cooler than Michael Jordan

It lasted a long time until I was able to find a Jewel Hair Mermaid that was not soooooooooooooooo expensive like all the others. For many years I had 3 Jewel Hair Barbie dolls but the fourth was missing. Then I got one in a lot but her hair was not perfect. The problem with these dolls is the hair. You have almost immediately tangles in their hair. She is definitively the Barbie with the longst hair ever made but the problem was to keep the hair in good condition. As a child this was a real nightmare. Tangles, tangles, tangles. I sold my version of the Jewel Hair Mermaid in 1997. I found the Afro-American version along my road as collector more than 10 years ago for real good price and the Midge in blue too. Teresa followed in 2011 0r 2012.

Märchenhaar Barbie

Märchenhaar Barbie

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3 European Jewel Hair Mermaid Barbie and 1 African-American Jewel Hair Mermaid Barbie

 

So why is she in my opinion cooler than Micheal Jordan?

  • I don’t know Michael Jordan in person
  • I have never owned any Michael Jordan dolls as a child
  • I’m not a fan of basket ball players
  • Michael Jordan has short hair
  • There is no movie about her
  • She’s cheaper than any Michael Jordan TV appearance

 

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The only Vintage Kens resources you will ever need

When I started to collect Vintage Barbies I had no idea how to distinguish all the different Ken dolls. Now I have one from each year (1961- 1964). When you have a look at the pics you can see differences. The make up differs each year. These pics show only the straight leg Kens.

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Barbie Cool Trends Fashion Designer 1996/1997

When I was ten I saw the Fashion Designer for Barbie doll. I loved to see the fashion for Barbie in the stores when I was younger than 10. I had my problems to choose one of the fashions I had in my hands. I always wanted to have all of them. This was seldom possible. Fashions were expensive in Germany. I liked the idea to design own clothes for Barbie but I was never able to do it in my childhood. In search of new sewing patterns the Cool Trends Fashion Designer came into my mind several weeks ago. Two or three weeks ago I won an auction. I got it for an incredible price. In the envelope was more than I expected. Even the textile paper was there and it has never been opened.

Barbie Design Set for children

The reason I bought it was the chance to get new patterns. The fashion patterns themselves are saved as .bfd – files.  I have been looking around to find a program for convert or open the stuff. The format seems to be so obscure that you find nothing about it online. I have an old PC where I could install the software without problems. The only solution I found for getting the sewing patterns was to print them directly. I have the chance to use several printers. One of them did print the pattern. So I was able to try the patterns. They are printed in the right size but you get no measures and no description about the number of pieces of paper that you need for one specific outfit nor where to put the second or third part it. I think I have to guess in the next weeks and just try my best.IMG 4615

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Print Aplenty Barbie doll dress

Do you know the feeling when you got a piece that you have been looking for an eternity?It’s a very good feeling. That’s what I feel at the moment like. Last weekend I found it unexpectedly and I won the auction. The postal service managed to ruin the envelope but nonetheless the dress arrived here safe and sound. I like it because it’s a nice piece of history. I have the green version dress although there is a black version of the dress too. Maybe that’s my next goal.

#1686 Barbie dress

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Finally a Japan body

Several years ago I got in different lots a  Twist n Turn Japan body (from 1967) and in another one the right head. I restored the doll down to her waist but the legs of the body had bite marks and the joint was coming out of the knee. In the last weeks I was lucky enough to find the right body with good legs. So in the next weeks I can finally finish a repair project that lasted several years. It’s good to know that my search has come to an end.

I will tape how to clean the MOD Barbie and how to do the rest that two dolls become one.

MOD TnT Barbie

 

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Do you also know “Floating Cool”?

Many many years ago I had a Bikini for my Barbie dolls. For a long time I was looking for this bikini. I had no idea how it was called. I did a long research and found it finally. Recently I found the bikini for a reasonable price. I’m glad to have it. This time I’m not going to sell it.

Barbie 1990s fashion

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How to reproduce a Vintage Mattel dress

Maybe some of you wanted to create own Vintage Barbie dresses (Vintage era from 1959 – 1966) but have no idea how to. Well, I had a similar problem last year and I solved my problem. The solution is easy. You can find the right patterns online. You just have to know where. I found an incredible fabric last autumn for which I had 1000 ideas what to do with it. I decided to do a copy of the “Let’s dance” dress from 1960. Here’s how I did it.



And you can do it too!