Skipper and her variety of face molds in the 90s

Have you ever realized that Skipper had in the 1990s more head molds than ever before in her existence? Have you noticed that we not only have one Skipper face but at least 3 different ones in the decade?

In the begin of the decade we only have the big eyes head mold from 1987 which is also known in Germany to as the “Kulleraugen Skipper“, means simply big eyed Skipper. Somehow these eyes remember a lot of collectors to the comic or manga like outward appearance of some Japanese comics.

I don’t want to do any speculations here but maybe this comes from the fact that after having cable TV in Germany and other European countries some broadcasters bought licenses from Japan to show some classic Animés like Georgie, Lady Oscar and a lot of other series from Japan. I think this hit a nerve back then without realizing it.

I did not question the TV program, just watched back then but I had no idea that the stuff came from Japan. It was mixed with American comic series. The offer to fill a whole afternoon with comics was broad enough. However after 20 – 25 minutes there were breaks for advertising and that’s where Skipper came into the game. We had no chance to escape the ads. We had no chance to recognize that we were trapped in the advertising and always got a little brain wash. They created the wish and we the need to buy it.

It was a thing to talk in school breaks about “Have you seen this and that” advertising? But to come now back to the face molds we only had the big eyed Skipper for a while in Europe. Maybe that’s why she was popular among us little girls? From looking into all my research books I know that the Pizza Party Skipper appeared in the US in 1993 but in Europe she was not sold ( as far as I could find out). I don’t remember having seen her anywhere. The first Skipper I remember is the Phone Fun Skipper. She had this new smile in her face and I admit I was attracted by her. So I asked my mother to buy one. I can’t really remember how I got her but she’s one of the few Skipper dolls I kept from my childhood.

In retrospect I did not realize at the age they were available that this doll could ever be a rarity because she was only used for a few head molds. So that’s sometimes something that you find out much later. Much more often you saw the big eyed Skipper. At the end I think it’s not bad because I think she hit a nerve at least among us Europeans because of the Japanese comics running in TV. In retrospect I also realized that the 90s had a bigger variety of Skipper face molds than any decade before and that’s why I decided to talk about this topic.

The Native Spirit collection Barbie dolls

From my early times as a collector I knew that hunting for dolls was always very exciting. You never knew what you would find in the single toy shop back in the times before internet. I guess some of you remember these times. Me too. Belonging to the last generation that went to department stores and shopping malls for purchases it’s possibly hard to believe that this was not even 25 years ago.

I don’t know how it is in other parts of the world but in Germany the department stores and shopping mall owners made one big mistake so that even all the companies where you could order via catalog disappeared within a short period of time. They missed the opportunity to sell online. They simply did not want to update to the latest technique. Their product range became overpriced and they did refuse to adapt to the market situation. That’s also true for toys and toy shops. Toys R us was in Europe also one of the toy shops with a very late online presence and you had no possibility to shop online. If I had had the opportunity to buy all of these dolls online while they came out.

Of course I did not have the opportunity and so I had to wait until somebody offered the Native Spirit Collection Barbie dolls to me. At first I had only one, the Spirit of the Water Barbie for a long time. An eternity later the other two, the Spirit of the Earth Barbie and the Spirit of the Sky Barbie were offered to me and I bought them.

At the end I think it would have been easier if I had the chance to buy them online. Nevertheless they are wonderful dolls and I thought this is a good opportunity to present them to you.

25 years of collecting and not even realizing it

Last month I had my silver Barbie collecting anniversary and I didn’t even realize it. I think it happened due to a lot of work in the pre-December time. December is always the month with the biggest amount of work. I have holidays around Christmas and I have to pre-produce my videos for December/January in advance. So time is short and the time schedule really tight.

That’s how I completely forgot about my silver Barbie collecting anniversary. It all started by the end of November 1996 after having seen a Barbie Collectibles catalog with all these great Barbie dolls from the Great Eras collection, BobMackie, Escada, The Hollywood Movie series, Wedding Flowers collection with a lot of porcelain Barbie dolls that are unfortunately not produced anymore and other great Barbie dolls.

These dolls made me start to collect although they were very expensive at first and were marketed exclusively through only very special toy shops. You were not able to find them in every toy shop. So at first I had to drive with my parents to Hamburg, Germany or Bremen, Germany to have a chance to see any of them. I was living back then in a province near the North Sea. We had toy shops in town but they had no Collectibles. The Dolls of the World ( like the one below) were the only Barbie dolls to be found. With 50DM (25 euros) of costs for one doll they were pretty expensive while normal playline Barbie dolls were only up to 35 DM (17 euros).

In times when the internet just started it was impossible to buy online especially when you were under age. I was only eleven when I made the decision to become a collector. This was a very intentional decision. Through all my collector life I was able to learn a lot of things. I learned more than other fellows in the same age. For example one of the first Barbie dolls that inspired me was the Victorian Lady Barbie ( one of my very early gifts from my parents) and made me interested in this time period concerning fashion and other things. It’s not just this one doll that inspired me to look beyond my own nose. I not even improved my English for understanding the texts on the boxes better but also inspired me to learn more than just one foreign language. I focused my learning habits around what interested me and it made me pretty successful in school.

By the way I think I often made my parents mad because my interests were not the interests of a normal teenager. My ideas were always different and I made my parents often to drive to special toy stores in the pre-Christmas time in the hope to find one of these very special dolls. Sometimes we were lucky and sometimes not.

Barbie doll wiki: Don’t forget Santa Claus Ken ….

The crazy Barbie collector is back again and has a new topic for you. Christmas is coming up in the next week and it’s time for Santa Claus. In the last weeks a thought came into my mind. What about the Santa Claus Ken?

He came into my mind because I don’t have him in my collection but it would be nice to have one. I have the whole series of Coca Cola Barbie from 1998 & 1999 but Santa Claus is missing. This year I realized it in time and I hope that he’ll arrive in time since I’m not at home for the holidays.

I have them all

I bought almost all dolls from the Coca Cola series several years ago. I have them all, the blonde waitress, the Soda Jerk Ken, the Coca Cola Soda Fountain Sweetheart Barbie with her petticoat, the Majorette and the Cheerleader Barbie. When this series came out around 20 years ago I wanted to have them all. I think they are cute, they are dressed in one of my favorite decade’s outfits and there is a diorama for this series. The diorama, the Coca Cola Soda Fountain, is great. I wish there were more of these dioramas. It came in a giant box from Spain. Okay, I got mine from Spain. Hey, but who cares? The most important thing is to have it. What about you?

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??? ?? ?? . ?? ?? ??? ? ?? ??? ?? ??? ???? ????? ??? ? ?? ???? ????? ??? ? . . #?????? #?????? #colabarbie #cocacolabarbie #barbie ?????? ??? #???? #?? #???? #barbiedoll #cocacola

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Coca Cola Barbie. NIB. 350 ribu. Damaged box. Kaos kaki kotor dan bahan kulit jaket mengelupas. #jualbarbie #jualmainan #jualboneka #barbie #cocacola #cocacolabarbie #garasirana #sold_garasirana

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???? ???? – ????? – ?????????? – #??????#?????#??????#???#??#???#??#??#????#????#??????#barbie#cocacola #cocacolabarbie#???#???#??#???#????#bemypal

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Many years I didn’t realize that the Santa Claus Ken belongs to this series because the other dolls look more like it’s more like summer and not like Christmas. Maybe it was the reason why I didn’t consider him being part of this series.

https://barbie.mattel.com/shop/en-us/ba/barbie-special-occasion-dolls/coca-cola-santa-23288
Coca Cola Waitress waits for Elvis Presley Ken
My Soda Fountain with Elvis Presley

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Barbie from the Barbie loves Elvis gift set sings

I hope my little photo stories become better and nicer with the new Santa Claus Ken. That’s the joy of a Barbie collector … just play around with your dolls. Believe it or not but I have seldom time to do so.

Barbie doll wiki: Barbie variations

Yeah, the crazy Barbie collector is back with a new topic. Today I’d like to tell you a little bit more about the theme of Barbie variations. For some collectors it’s the icing on the cake. For some other collectors is it uninteresting. It’s depending on your area on interest.

My ideas why

Let’s keep in mind that the make up was at least partly done by hand. Handmade is handmade. No doubt. Handmade things differ. It’s in the human nature. We see things in different ways and we do things in different ways. That’s clear. We also know that there is a kind of samples for every Barbie doll. I can’t prove it but I think there’re samples in every production plant but maybe due to a lack of colors not every plant did the work in the same way. That’s the most logical explaination for what could have happened and how variations probably into life.

Some collectors like differences

With the emergence of the internet it became much easier to buy Barbie dolls. The range of the worldwide offered Barbie dolls became much bigger than it was ever before. Suddenly the whole world became a village and buying became easier than ever before. The years of release played no role anymore. You did not need a magazine to find what you were looking for (like it was before). You could tell your friends about special offers within minutes. I already to you about the difference of the make-up between different countries but it does not mean that it’s everywhere the same one. We have differences in the production plants and we have differences in the taste of the population. A lack of a special color can of course cause a difference in the outward appearance of a Barbie doll. Sure.

The internet however made it possible for collector to notice these differences. I can’t speak for other collectors but would have never seen the differences if we had never talked about them. You can have one doll from three different plants and you have three different Barbie dolls. I know it sounds strange but it is the truth and I can prove it. Some collectors have one Barbie from x countries or factories and you see the variations. It’s sometimes incredible. And incredibly interesting too.

Let me show you an example. I have four Magic Curl Barbie dolls. Three of them are from Taiwan and number four comes from Spain.

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That’s my first Magic Curl Barbie. I found her on a flea market several years ago. She was produced in Taiwan. Have a close look at her eyes. #magiccurlbarbie #magiccurlbarbie1981 #barbiesuperstar #superstarbarbie #busybfromgermany #barbievariations

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That’s my second deboxed Magic Curl Barbie. She was also produced in Taiwan. She has still her original hairstyle. She is looking different than her sister. #barbiemagiccurl #magiccurlbarbie #magiccurlbarbie1981 #barbiemadeintaiwan #barbiesuperstar #superstarbarbie #busybfromgermany

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My third Magic Curl Barbie is still in box. She was produced in Taiwan too. Have a look at her face. The make-up is different again. #barbiemagiccurl #magiccurlbarbie1981 #magiccurlbarbie #barbiesuperstar #superstarbarbie #busybfromgermany

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My fourth Magic Curl Barbie is called Rizos Barbie and comes from Spain. Here you can see a big difference in comparison to her sisters from Taiwan. #barbierizos #barbiemagiccurl #magiccurlbarbie #magiccurlbarbie1981 #superstarbarbie #barbiesuperstar #busybfromgermany

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There are popular but hard to find variations

I hope you understand what I want to say in the section above. Some of these variations are hard to find and some collectors spend big sums to get them. One of the first variations was the very first Midge with teeth. I don’t know how many Midge dolls with teeth were painted but I estimate between 1% or 2% of the whole production.

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Put my Midge with teeth up for bid on eBay. $49.99 starting bid if anyone’s interested. SOLD. Rare VHTF Vintage Midge With Teeth – Original Swimsuit OSS – Japan #midgewithteeth #midge #dollforsale #MacWadeStudios #penelopescollection

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Midge is not the only example. There are lots and lots of variations in the Barbie history. Some came into existence because the plants had rests which they used. Mattel is known for the use of leftovers.

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.

Barbie doll wiki: Books you should know

In this week I’d like to blog about books, or better books you should have in your collection. I’m sitting in the middle in a heap of books while writing.  I can tell you from my long term collecting experience that it’s a big advantage to have some books as reference. I have not only one book but almost a shelf of Barbie doll books. The topics are very different.

There are Barbie doll books for identification, books about Barbie history, books about Japanese Barbie and their clothes, Barbie books similar to catalogs, Barbie books about clothes, books about her accessoires and books in Japanese (no joke) about Barbie. Okay, I also have two German editions but do they count? They were some of the first books I found about Barbie doll as a collector. In times before amazon.com was known worldwide it was not so easy to get every book you wanted ( especially if they were written in English). Of course you could try to get them with the help of local book stores but hey, it was not as easy as you might think. I think I got my very first Barbie book in 1998 and it was a coincidence that I found it.

The possibility to talk to other collectors, who had books, was very helpful. That’s how I found out that there were books similar to catalogs. It was certainly helpful knowledge. I can recommend you lots of books but I think it’s useful to put them in categories.

Barbie books for id

In this paragraph I’d like to introduce you to some of my favorite Barbie doll books. Books for identification (often similar to catalogs):

  • The Ultimate Barbie doll book by Marcie Melillo
  • The collectors encyclopedia of Barbie dolls and collectibles by Sibyl DeWein and Joan Ashabraner (first published in 1977, I have the 1992 updated version)
  • Skipper: Barbie doll’s little sister by Trina Cottingham and Scott Arend ( for Skipper, her early fashions, Tutti and Todd and their fashions)
  • Barbie doll photo album from 1959 until 2009: identifications and values by Michael Augustyniak
  • Barbie doll around the world 1964 – 2007: identifications and values by Michael Augustyniak ( incomplete but nice)
  • Collector’s Encyclopedia of Barbie doll by Michael Augustyniak ( about collector Barbie dolls)
  • Collector’s Encyclopedia of Barbie dolls exclusives 1972 -2004 by Michael Augustyniak
  • Collectibly yours Barbie doll by Margo Rana
  • Identifying Barbie dolls by Janine Fennick
  • The wonder of Barbie dolls and accessoires 1976 – 1986 by Paris and Susan Manos
  • The world of Barbie dolls – an illustrated value guide by Paris and Susan Manos
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The Ultimate Barbie doll book by Marcie Melillo #barbieid #barbieidentification #barbievintage #barbiemod #barbiesuperstarera #skipperbarbie #barbieskipper #barbiebook #bookbarbie #barbiebookshelf #busybfromgermany

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ollector’s Encyclopedia of Barbie dolls exclusives 1972 -2004 by Michael Augustyniak #barbiecatalog #barbiecatalogue #barbiebook #bookbarbie #barbiedoll #barbiebookshelf #busybfromgermany

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In which books you can find fashions and accessoires

In this second paragraph I’d like to give you some titles about Barbie fashion and accessoires

  • Barbie doll fashion Vol. I, II and III ( from 1959 until 1979) including all fashions
  • Barbie in Japan by Keiko Kimura Shibano (special made fashions for the Japanese market, written in English)
  • Japan Barbie Yasuhiro Sekiguchi Collection (written in Japanese)
  • It’s all about the accessoires by Hillary Shilkitus James
  • The Complete & Unauthorized Guide to Vintage Barbie(r) Dolls – 3 Edition by Hillary Shilkitus James
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Barbie fashions Vol III by Sarah Sink Eames #barbiefashion #barbiebook #bookbarbie #collectorbook #barbiebookshelf #busybfromgermany

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Japanese Barbie books written in Japanese

In the third paragraph I’d like to give you some names of my Japanese Barbie books. I can’t tell you if they are the only ones in Japan but they sounded interesting to me any my thirst to get to know new things.

  • ??????????????????????? (Babi to watashi ? kisegae doresu o tsukuri tsudzuketa hansei-ki) by Fumiko Miyatsuka
  • ??????????? ( Babi kara hajimatta) by Yukiko Kanno
  • Twist Barbie (yomiuri kara-mukkusiri-zu) by Mineo Takami

The Japanese books are not so easy to get. The book by Fumiko Miyatsuka is currently available through amazon.jp. You need a credit card to buy the book but the shipment is very fast. I think my copy arrived within a week or less. The other books were a bit harder to get. You need a Japanese address to buy the other books over the marketplace. There are special forwarders who are specialized in shipping goods abroad. I used tenso.com for my orders and the books arrived at my house within two months. I used the cheapest shipping method because I have to pay taxes for the shipping costs too. I know it makes no sense but it is this way in Germany.

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( Babi kara hajimatta) by Yukiko Kanno #barbiejapan #japanesebook #japanesebarbie #barbiehistory #barbiebook #foreignbarbiebook #bookbarbie #barbiebookshelf #busybfromgermany

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My list of books written from employees, the founder itself and the history of Mattel

In the fourth paragraph I’ll give you some names of books from employees of Mattel, the company history itself and the founder. Let’s start with the founder. Again I’ll give you a list.

  • Dream Doll – The Ruth Handler story written by Ruth Handler and Jaqueline Shannon
  • The story of Barbie by Kitturah B. Westenhouser
  • Barbie her life & times by Billyboy
  • Dressing Barbie by Carol Spencer
  • Forever Barbie by M.G. Lord
  • Barbie (R) Talks by Gwen Florea
  • Barbie – A visual guide to the ultimate fashion doll by Mattel
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Barbie her life & times by Billyboy #barbie80s #80sbarbie #barbiecollecting #billyboy #barbiebook #barbiebook #busybfromgermany

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Books missing in my collection

There are some books I don’t have like

  • Barbie and Her Mod, Mod, Mod, Mod, World of Fashion by Joe Blitman
  • Francie and Her Mod, Mod, Mod World of Fashion by Joe Blitman
  • Barbie Forever ( not available in Germany yet, but I preordered my copy)

Of course I can’t tell you if these books are useful or not since I don’t have them in my collection.

That’s my whole book collection at the moment. I hope that my lists are helpful to some of you. I put photos of all my books in my instagram account.

Why I recommend buying Barbie books

Now I’ve given you the list with all the Barbie books I have in my personal bookshelf. I think it’s important to own books about Barbie dolls. You can make yourself independent from other collectors. I love to read in books and especially in Barbie books. You can learn a lot from them. That’s also one of my focus points. I like to learn things from books. You can use them as encyclopedia. One can help other collectors with knowledge. I know there are lots of collectors who start to collect and then immediately stop again. Forget this group. If you’re really interested in the topic buy books. They are helpful. They are fun. Go, buy and learn.

One Barbie doll, so many different make up variations

In the last days I saw a Magic Curl Barbie on Instagram and I wrote a comment that I have three of them and each is a bit different. You never see twins. Every doll is a bit different may you consider make-up or hairline. Maybe it comes from the fact that each doll was still kind of hand painted. I don’t regard the difference as something bad but just as something that we can see. Here are some pics of my dolls.

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First Magic Curl Barbie I got
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Second Magic Curl Barbie I found
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Magic Curl Barbie in box

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Comparison of my Magic Curl Barbie dolls



What do you think? All a bit different huh?

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

Reasons you should be talking about FAO Schwarz at the moment

Do you know the toy store FAO Schwarz in New York? Probably not if you’re not a habitant from New York or a Barbie collectors. Why do I talk about the shop here? 

Well in the last weeks there was an article that the shop should move. The shop belonged for a while to the Toys’r’us company which failed for bankcrupcy in 2017. In 2016 the Threesixty group bought it from TRU. Obviously they have great plans for the oldest toy store of the USA. There are plans to open a shop in the legendary Rockefeller Center in November 2018 and an additional shop in LAGuardia airport. 

The shop was known to Barbie collectors for their special FAO Schwarz dolls from the 1990s and 2000s. I have some of them but not all. I really like the creativity from the 1990s. Below you can see some pics.

FAO Schwarz George Washington Barbie 1997

The shop was also known for it’s big piano installed on the floor ( which can be seen in the movie “Big”with Tom Hanks which was filmed in the 5th Avenue Shop in 1988.

FAO Schwarz George Washington Barbie 1997
Jeweled Splendor Barbie 1994 FAO Schwarz
Jeweled Splemdor Barbie 1994 FAO Schwarz
Jeweled Splendor Barbie 1994 FAO Schwarz

And here’s the link that showed up last week https://www.wsj.com/articles/fao-schwarz-is-set-to-return-and-it-needs-people-to-dance-on-the-big-piano-1535410371