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Warning: You’re losing money by not getting Miss Yanbal from Basa (Peru)

I was recently told that there are several undocumented Barbie dolls produced by under license by Basa in Peru. It made me curious and I was offered to buy one of them. To be honest I never heard of  Miss Yanbal before. Maybe her title is similar to Miss Universe. I don’t know exactly.

What I know is that she’s from 1985 and it seems like she originally came in a bathsuit with white and golden lace and a sash that says “Miss Yanbal 1985”.

Interesting to know is that she has no markings her body. There are obviously some Basa Barbie dolls that have no marks. It seems that some have marks and some not. Among the collectors it caused confusion in the past. Some said that without a marking the dolls are clones.

Barbie from Peru
Miss Yanbal Barbie 1985 from Basa, Peru
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The only Magic Moves Barbie from Congost resource you will ever need…

I admit in the last months I found lots of Congost Barbie dolls from Spain. I have no idea why but I buy the dolls when they become available somewhere. My latest find is a Spanish version of the Magic Moves Barbie. I have no idea what her name is. I bought her as Spanish Magic Moves version. She is indeed different from the US version. It seems that the boxed dolls from Spain are extremely hard to find so I bought mine without any box. She still has 95% of her hair (which is quite good for a Barbie doll from Spain). She also has her complete make up. This time no problems with repaints. The only thing she’s missing is her original outfit. At the moment she’s wearing a mini dress. I’m not sure to which Barbie doll the dress belongs.

 

MagicMovesCongost

Magic Moves Barbie Spanish version

 

The mechanism does not work anymore but I don’t care very much about it.

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You haven’t seen this Barbie Venezuela trio anywhere before

Last week I got a parcel from Spain with an unusual content. I got my first Barbie dolls from Venezuela. I saw them recently and bought them immediately. What’s so special about Barbie from Venezuela? Well, they are hard to find in Europe. They were produced by Rotoplast in Venezuela similar like the one from Basa I wrote about last week. I learned that the hair quality is quite good. It seems that the make up on the cheeks was normal make up for humans. It obviously happens often that the make up from the cheeks is gone first. I think that’s interesting to know.

With a little help of a collector from South America I was able to identify all three.

Peach n Cream South America version Barbie

 

Peach n Cream version venezuela

Melocotón Barbie

The first one with the hair cut is called Melocotón Barbie doll. She’s from 1986 and the Peach n Cream version from Venezuela.

Barbie para Vestir Venezuela

Barbie para vestir Venezuela

Barbie para vestir

Barbie para vestir Venezuela

 

The second one is called Barbie para Vestir what means “Barbie to dress” in English.  She was the hardest one of the 3 to identify. She’s from 1992. I was also told that she has a fabrication error ( the strange thing you can see on her neck).

Aqua Marina Barbie Venezuela

Auqa Marina Barbie Venezuela

Aqua Marina Barbie Venezuela

 

The last one is called Aqua Marina Barbie and was released in 1990.

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What would the world be like if Workout Barbie by Basa (Peru) didn’t exist?

I wasn’t able to find out much about a Peruvian company called Basa but they produced Barbie dolls from 1980 til 1991 under license for Mattel. I recently found a Workout Barbie doll from Peru and that’s why I’m writing about it right now. The skin tone is much more orange than usual. She reminds me of Royal Barbie from her skin tone.The smell is also different from normal Barbie dolls. I don’t really know how to describe it but it’s different.

Here she comes…

Barbie from Peru

Barbie PeruBarbie Peru

As you can see she has the marking on her butt and not on her back. And you can see the name Peru written in big letters so that you can’t oversee it. I was surprised to see it on her butt. At first I searched on her back.

I was also able to find the commercial. If you know more about the company, please let me know. The only article I was able to find is this one here http://barbievenezuela.blogspot.com/search/label/Historia%20de%20Barbie%20en%20Latinoamerica but there is not very much information given.

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If you read one article about Santacruzan Barbie read this one

Do you know that you can buy Barbie on the Phillipines t00? It’s possible since 1989. Obviously the island nation liked the doll so much that she became a hit there. I recently got two Barbie dolls from the Phillipines (Santacruzan Reyna Emperiatrix Barbie in dark magenta velvet and  Flores de Mayo Reyna Mora in blue). As far as I know these dolls were produced under license by Richwell or at least sold by Richwell there. The basic idea is that the children should not forget their Spanish heritage.

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Reine Emperiatrix Barbie

 

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Flores de Mayo Barbie

 

Flores de Mayo

Flores de Mayo Barbie

Flores de Mayo

Flores de Mayo Barbie

 

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The only 7 Barbie resources you will ever need

When you’re looking for suitable books I can recommend you these books:

  • The Collectible Barbie Doll: An Illustrated Guide to Her Dreamy World, by Janine Fennick (1996)

  • Barbie Doll Around the World 1964-2007: Identification & Values by Michael Augustyniak (2007)

  • The Ultimate Barbie Doll Book by Marcie Mellilo (1996)

  • Barbie Fashion Vol. I – III by Sarah Sink Eames (1990)

  • Skipper Barbie doll’s little sister, second edition by Cottingham, Arend and Hemingway (2011)

  • The story of Barbie by Kitturah Westenhouser (1994)
  • It’s All About the Accessories for the World?s Most Fashionable Dolls 1959-1972 by Hillary Shilkitus James (2017)
    Use only the bestresources

And when you’re looking online for information:

  • e-book: Barbie® Talks!: An Unauthorized Exposé of the First Talking Barbie® Doll: An Expose’ of the First Talking Barbie Doll. The Humorous and Poignant Adventures of Two Former Mattel Toy Designers (2001)
  • https://barbieinthehouse.com/2017 (for Vintage and MOD Barbie dolls)
  • http://papusilemele.com/en/  (when you search for information about the latest Barbie collector dolls)
  • http://www.sewingandpattern.com/all-barbie-patterns/ ( Source for free patterns)
  • https://plus.google.com/photos/115834299775567346266/albums/5279686365593771025 ( free sewing patterns)
  • https://www.dollreference.com/barbie_vintage_fashions1959-1963.html ( Page for Vintage Barbie dolls and clothes)
  • http://www.fashionave.info/ (Page with all Fashion Avenue fashions from 1990s – 2000s)
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Learn all about Spanish Barbie dolls from this blog

Have you ever heard from a company named Congost? Me neither until I found a very interesting book written by Michael Augustyniak. In the meantime he died but I still have the book and think it is a good source to get an overview what the global Barbie doll market has to offer. Recently I found several Spanish Barbie dolls made for the Spanish market ( not for the rest of Europe). Of course a collector wants to own what they can’t own. That’s the desire of collecting ( I think). Anyway, since I speak Spanish it’s no problem to look around. I did so and found some nice dolls in a short while.

What I found out in the meantime is that Congost got a license to produce Barbie dolls for the Spanish market in the late 1970s. Obviously they produced until the early 1990s. In the mid 1990s they can’t be found anymore. I assume that the capacity for production grew big enough in China in these years. It seems that there is/ was a problem with the quality. I saw some dolls with deformed arms and legs and missing hair. Barbie dolls in good condition from Congost seem to be hard to find. Why? No idea, I still investigate the problem.

Here’s a short video that shows some Congost Barbie dolls.I’m not sure if all are shown or not.

Here are some pics from my Congost Barbie dolls.
DaytoNightBarbieUSSpan

 

The skin tone is sometime a bit strange and the make up seems to disappear more often than from US version Barbie dolls. Here you can see what I mean in pics.

IMG 4916 e1530640698756

 

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Latest trend in doll stands

Have you bought doll stands for Barbie dolls in the last months? I bought some and I’d like to talk about the latest trend. I prefer metal stands for Barbie dolls but they are currently hard to find in good old Germany. I have no idea why but I have been searching for month and found no ones. I have some Kaiser doll stands and some no name stands in my collection. One doll stand is better than no doll stand. Anyway. It seems that in the last year doll stands from China have flooded the market. They are widely available and cheap. The processing is not bad and as a quick solution as transition they are okay in my opinion. Furthermore there is the advantage that just can adjust them to the size you need for Barbie, Skipper or Francie. IMG 4912

Nevertheless I have doubts that they may melt on the doll when using them for a long time solution. But I haven’t had the problem until now.

IMG 4913

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13 insane (but true) things about Barbies from 1966

As a collector you often learn this:

  • a person without any knowledge about Barbie dolls offer you a Barbie from 1966
  • inside your brain ( as a collector) “Great, another fool” pops up
  • Why?
  • Well, the 1966 mark on the back does not describe anything but the year of the patenting
  • The patent was used for more than 40 years and
  • there are very much Barbie dolls with the 1966 on their butt or backIMG 4862
  • how can you see if it’s really an old doll or just one from the year 2000 or later?
  • Early Barbie dolls have the mark on their butt

  • Later ones from the 1970s until 2000 have them on their lower back
  • Another important hint is the form of the face
  • Early dolls have this faceIMG 4854(this one is from 1964)
  • the dolls have painted fingernails and toenails (sometimes the colour has changed to a light peachy tone)
  • the colour has changed like the one you see in the pic with my 1964 Barbie
  • the you can twist and turn the waist but early ones are at an angle (I’m going to show this in a later article)
  • they have real eyelashes