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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.
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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

 

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After Five! Really after five?

It is said that in the time when this dress was made you dressed in a dress you wore after five when it was over five o’clock. Really? Sometimes I wonder how often the dressed and undressed themselves in the time. I know that I don’t have the time to dress and undress all the time because I’m at work usually and come home around 5 p.m. Anyway, I liked the Vintage After Five ensemble ever since I found out that it was made. Recently I got a my version but it’s not in the best condition. A button is missing and there are some holes in the dress but I’don’t want to complain. It has less holes than the Enchanted Evening I showed you last week. I plan to do my own copy this summer … I know a long time but I have another sewing project coming up but I’m still waiting for the fabric. So here’s the real After Five and stay tuned in for some new project in the future.

 

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5 reasons you should be talking about the Enchanted Evening dress

The other day I bought a Vintage Barbie outfit named Enchanted Evening and was very disappointed when it arrived here. The condition was so bad that I gave it back. I had no chance to use it for display. The only thing I could have done was using it as a pattern for sewing but that was not the intention I had.  The fabric is very delicate. I don’t know exactly the fabric maybe some kind of satin and I saw no chance to repair it with my abilities. Here’s a pic of the back.

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I even had problems to put the body into the dress because of it’s tightness. I didn’t want to destroy it and I thought this might happen by the next time I dress or undress the body.

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So my advice before buying the dress from anyone selling online is

  • let them send you a pic from front and back
  • let them send you detail pics from the seams so that you can check before buying
  • try to read as much as possible about the fabric
  • ask someone who has the dress to tell you about the color
  • get yourself a reference book about the dress

 

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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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Miki from Takara (Japan)

Last weekend I saw something special. I had never seen nor owned a Kelly from Takara. Takara is practically a synonym for Barbies from Japan since the 1980s. They are very popular there like the real Barbie dolls have been there in the 1960s. Yesterday I collected this cute being from the postal office. IMG 4621 e1524730380836

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Update: I did a little research when I got home. Since I’m not familiar with Takara dolls I asked other collectors. This little doll is called Miki. She’s one of the twin sisters of Licca. They are called Miki and Maki.