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Time for Fashion Avenue … or what the hell is Fashion Avenue?

I got two new dresses last week. It’s summer and I didn’t find much new stuff for my dolls. This time I want to tell you about Fashion Avenue because the dresses came out under the label of Fashion Avenue. Fashion Avenue is a fashion line from Barbie which run from the 1990s until 2002. The quality was very good. You really got something for your money. Accidentally I found these two dresses. I always liked them but I found them to be too expensive in nrfp (never removed from package) condition. The fashions are not complete but I didn’t care about it at the moment. The blue dress seems to be very hard to find. I tried to find it via ebay but I had no success.

Fashion Avenue dresses

Fashion Avenue

I hope you can see the lovely rose on the seam of the blue dress. Very lovely!!! I already have a doll for this dress in my mind but she still needs a new body.

There’s a good page where you can see all the Fashion Avenue Fashions from the begin til 2002. Here’s the link Fashion Avenue . I hope you enjoy the page as much as I do.

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You are new in the Barbie world and have no idea where to search for information?

Hi guys,

I keep my promise and do not neglect my blog like I did in the last months. Today I’d like to show you a video that might be useful when you are new in the world of Barbie doll and especially interested in Superstar Barbie (era from 1977- appr.1999). Maybe you had a Barbie doll when you were little and want to have her again. Maybe you are completely without any ideas where to look for shoes. I know it’s one of the most difficult topics. What kind of shoe belongs to what kind of outfit and how do they differ?

I think this is a good video to start with when you are new but you want to know more about shoes.

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Time for Benetton!

I’m sorry for neglecting my blog but I hardly bought anything in the last months. Nevertheless I have two new girls that I want to show you. They are Benetton Barbie and Benetton Marina (no idea why a girl with Asian background is called Marina). Anyway I saw them when I was a child and suddenly I had the wish to have them in my collection. I found them accidentally within a short period of time. I like the bright colours of their clothes. So 90s like but also very cool and they remind me of my own childhood. I think they were available in Europe/Canada only in 1990/1991.

Benetton Marina

Benetton Marina (complete)

Benetton Barbie

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The problem with green ears and modern Collector Barbie

I don’t know whether anyone of you knows the problem but I assume you do. I bought Collector Barbie dolls for many years and for some reason I don’t know some of them developed green ears.  I have to say I don’t like green ears at all. I know it has been a problem for decades. I the first owner of some of the Collector Barbie and I stored them all the same way. This is what I did when I saw green ears. At first I removed the earrings from the doll. Most of them had no hooks at the end in the head. So it was easy to remove them. Then I cleaned them with a cloth for costume jewelry. After that I put them in a tiny plastic bag to be sure that the earrings don’t stain the clothes.  I put one of these little silicone bags inside the box before I put the box with the doll in my shelf. Then I forgot about the issue. When I looked into the box again….surprise the green was gone. This is so strange. I really did nothing and now it’s gone. I realized the green in an early stage.

Maybe this makes a difference!? I hope my post can help anyone.

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One of my latest OOAK-Projects

Here is my latest OOAK -Project. I reflocked another Ken. I didn’t take any pics of my first Ken but this time I took pics. The Ken was totally bold and had no flocking material on his head anymore. I think the original colour changed a bit and became darker within the decades since he was produced.

Comparision of the colours (the right one was my first reflocked Ken)

When I finished my reflocking process he looked like this…

After the treatment..

and now they look like twins.

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A bit late for Happy Holidays but here’s my first Happy Holidays from India

I know it’s a bit late for the Holidays and today is the first day of February. Nevertheless I’d like to show you my first Happy Holidays (HH)  from India. I like Barbie dolls from India but they are hard to find.  I’ve collected the Holidays series since 1996. I hoped to find the Indian issues too. I was lucky and found one. She has the box of the 1995 Happy Holidays and on the back you can see a pic of a 1995 Purple Passion Barbie from Toys ‘R’ Us. I have no idea if this was planned or not. The other Holiday dolls have pics of themselves on the back. The box of the 1995 Happy Holiday has a promo pic of a 1995 HH Barbie e.g..

One of the reasons to collect Barbie dolls from India is for me the painting in their faces. It’s very different from normal Western Barbie dolls, not so exorbitant.

HoI1

HoI2

I hope you can see what I mean.

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What to do when the hair is sticky… problems with Superstar Barbie

Maybe some of you had the problem of sticky hairs. Barbie dolls from the 1980s often have this problem. Sometimes even when they are NRFB. The cause for the stickiness is the softener that is contained in every doll head. I have no idea why and I’m not good in Chemistry but I know that it (the softener) managed to get from the head into the hair. The good news is that you can get rid of the stickiness. It’s no problem. At first all you need is a bowl with lukewarm water, normal hair shampoo (the brand doesn’t matter) and conditioner. Dip the the head of the doll into the bowl. When the hair is wet put a mixture of shampoo and conditioner mixed together in one of you palms and massage it softly in her hair. Then put the hair in the bowl. The important thing is that the hair has to be in the bowl for at least twelve hours. For the next step you need a big cooking pot. Fill it with water, put it on the stove and switch it on. Wait until the water is cooking. Then put the hair and the head in there for 5 minutes. Insure yourself that the hair doesn’t touch the walls of your cooking pot. It’s going to melt when it does touch the walls of your cooking pot.  After that you can remove the the head from your cooking pot. Use a guest towel for the drying process. Put the doll towel and wait until the hair is dry. Then the stickiness should be gone. If not, repeat the process for a second time.  My doll needed the process two times.

Please consider that you should only do the process with dolls from the 1980s. When you do it with Fashionistas the result might be that your doll is bold. The method of how the hair is fixed inside has changed in the last decade.

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My first reflocked Ken

Last week I tried something new. Last summer I got a Nr.1 Ken. He was bold and had lost all his hair. I felt sorry for him and decided to reflock his head. Here’s the result. I think it’s not bad for the first time.

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Another repaired Talking Barbie

I recently found the time to finish another repair. I think I got her two years ago but somehow I forgot that I had prepaired everything last summer. I only needed legs and I found them two months ago. So here she is… a nape curl Talking Barbie repaired to speak. This was my first repaired Talking Barbie doll. I already have repaired a Talking PJ and a Talking Truly.

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