I bet you have all experienced this situation that you have a doll with wild Barbie hair and you did not know how to get them under control again. This happened to one of my viewers in the last weeks and he asked me if I could do a video with the content of how to get wild Barbie hair under control again.
Skipper with wild pony
To be honest I had two ideas in mind when he asked me and I realized that wanted to make a video about this topic but lost the idea somehow in my mind because I had so many other things I wanted to do in the meantime.
Working on a lot of parallel projects is something you have to do when releasing at least one video a week. No losing the overview is important. The video of how to get wild Barbie hair under control again was an easy one and very relaxing. The amount of time I needed for planning, taping and processing was manageable.
Using a special kind of rubber is what I think is the most useful thing for getting long and wild Barbie hair under control again. That’s at least my experience after 10 years of rerooting https://barbie.final-memory.org/my-first-barbie-reroot/ . The second little diy helper I show you here in my video is very simple to diy. You often get these little plastic caps when you buy used Barbie dolls or her sister or family. Let’s call this plastic thing cap. It’s very helpful when you have a doll with a short pony. These hairs have tendency to become wild and uncooperative. It may be in the nature of the short hair. Anyway but I have a solution for these wild hairs. It’s really easy and fun to craft these caps yourself.
Skipper’s wild pony under control Barbie’s wild hair under control
Don’t forget to plan some weeks until you might have it finally under control. Sometimes the hair is really unwilling to cooperate. Sometimes it can last some months until you see a success.
Some Barbie collectors do repairs themselves and some don’t. The ones who repair the dolls maybe consider themselves as very talented. That’s often not the truth. Some of them only have better techniques and know what things to use for Barbie repair. Sometimes you only need the faith to believe in what you’re doing. Some of the things exist in every household.
I don’t want to go too much in depth in this article. I just want you give an overview what is possible to do diy.
Hair repair & restoration
It is not so hard to repair Barbie hair. The only exceptions are melted hair and Color Magic Barbie hair. Color Magic hair is very fragile or it at least has become very fragile over the decades. We shouldn’t forget that it’s fifty years old now. Frizzy Barbie hair can easily be treated with conditioner. You put the conditioner in and work your way through the hair with a comb. The hair should be lovely after treatment again. I made a video about frizzy hair some months ago. Just watch it and you’ll understand how easy it is to do. It’s a great method to remove tangles.
Another thing you can do with Barbie hair is to restore a gone hair style like the flips from the 1960s and 1970s. The curls can appear again when you know the little tricks how to do them. Another example I’d like to show you is my Francie flip video. In this video I show you what to use as little curlers for her hair.
That’s not all you can do yourself. No, I’m no professional hairdresser but I learned in the last decade a lot about Barbie hair. So, what can you do when the hair is cut? Then you have two options. You can make the best out of the cut or you can give her a reroot. A reroot is practically to give her new hair.
For a reroot you can use replacement hair. You can buy hair for Barbie dolls in several shops online. I can give you the name of some of them like restoredoll.com ( have ordered there myself), I bought a lot from mylittlecustoms.com ( but the shop is almost sold out every time I look around). There are several other online shops for Barbie hair but I have not bought from all of them. When I buy hair, I order a lot of hair and then I have a stock at home. I used the loop & lock technique for rerooting (giving Barbie new hair). It’s what the sewing machine in the factories did ( but much faster).
Problems with Superstar Barbie dolls
Of course please don’t forget to plan enough time and use the right needles for your restoration. The ones I use are called “doll needles”. It’s a pack that contains three needles. I use the shortest of all three. The other two are bigger and I don’t want to destroy or enlarge any precut holes in the head. Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes it’s a hard task. You often find the problem with the holes when you work with late Superstar Barbie dolls. They have so many holes and so many hair that it’s very difficult to keep everything in perfect condition.
Another problem can dissolving make up be. In some Barbie faces the make up comes off. Certain countries are known to have this problem like Spain. US versions usually don’t have the problem. So don’t say I haven’t warned you. Maybe I can figure out the origin of the problem in the next weeks. Anyway I’d like to give you this information before it’s too late. When the make up of Barbie starts to crumble within a reroot it’s hard to stop.
Incredible possibilities to be creative
Doing reroots can give you incredible possibilities to make OOAK Barbie dolls. You can use any color you find for your reroot but I recommend to use Saran or Nylon hair with good quality. Why? The hair looks more natural than cheap wig hair for carnival. You can buy the length you want and need. You can mix different hair colors. Creating unique Barbie dolls is no problem. The only thing you need for this is your fantasy.
New eyelashes
In general it’s no problem to insert new lashes to old Barbie dolls. I recommend to use a normal needle for the replacement. I’ve used black Saran hair for my restorations yet. Insert long hair. It’s easier to work with long hair than short hair. Don’t forget that you can always cut the hair afterwards. My technique here is also the lock and loop technique.
That’s the easiest technique imitating a sewing machine with your hands. It’s clear that not everybody has a special sewing machine for hair at home. These machines need lots of space and are very expensive. The easiest way to solve the problem with your hands with the lock & loop technique.
I’d like to share another article about my Barbie wiki today on another sister of Barbie called Kelly. Kelly is in variation still today available on the market but I’m not so much interested in the new doll called Chelsea. The name was changed to Chelsea in 2011.
I’m going to give you all information I found and know about Barbie’s baby sister Kelly and her early years. Baby sister Kelly was available in 1994. She was developed by Carol Spencer, a longtime Mattel employee, who started her career in the 1960s at Mattel. As far as I was able to find out Kelly her very own project. She wrote about this time in her recently published book called “Dressing Barbie“.
Love at first sight with Shelly
I really loved the doll the first time I saw her in a catalog. She was so cute and I decided that I wanted to buy everything I could find for and about Kelly. That was in 1995. And from the early years I have almost everything in my collection.
Carol designed all her clothes. Kelly was known as Shelly in Europe and Canada. Maybe a decision for better sales figures? I have no idea why they changed her name for the European market but in 1995 she was also available in Europe too. I would estimate that she was approximately three or four years old in 1995. The first edition of Kelly “Bedtime Fun Kelly” included a Kelly doll with a pink pyjama and a baby bed. She also came with a Sunday dress made out of black velvet and lots of toys . A short while later she got three friends. They were called Susie, Chelsea and Melody.
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They reminded me of a comic
I’m not sure but I think in 1995 there was also a very big gift set with Barbie, Skipper, Stacie and Kelly having fun on a big sleigh known as Winter Holiday gift set. This set it very special because Skipper is one of the few dolls with the back then recently newly introduced Pizza Hut face mold which is lovely but different from the mold that was used before. Kelly in her snow suit always reminded me of character of a Japanese comic series inspired by Louisa May Alcotts “Little Women”. Maybe that’s why I wanted the set but I’m not sure. I had no set with all four sisters until then.
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Many sets and dolls became available
Later in 1996 there was the first Barbie Kelly gift sets called Strolling Fun Barbie and Kelly this set came with a stroller. Shelly was able to move her on arm while sitting in the stroller. In 1997 there was another Kelly Barbie gift set called Shopping Fun gift set. In this set Kelly sat in her shopping cart. She had magnet in in her hand. She was able to hold a pair of prepared boxes (also with a magnet). In 1996 she was also produced as Bathing Fun Shelly. I found two variations in pink and yellow for the trim of her towel and bathrobe. I also found variations in the dolls themselves. One of my Bathing Fun Shellys has Saran hair and the other one has Kanekalone hair.
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Barbie & kelly strollin fun Th. 1995, rare.. dus rusak tapi isinya bagus, new ya masih segel (kenangan anak 90an) sold . . . #jualbarbievintage #barbie1995 #barbiestrollinfun #barbiekelly #barbie90s
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My two Bathtime Fun versions ( Kanekalone hair in box, Saran hair below)
In 1997 she got her potty training set. The Potty Training Kelly has a bottle you could really fill with water and then push on the heart button on her belly to make her pee. I think it was a similar mechanism like used for the drink and wet dolls but in a much tinier execution.
More functions
Carol Spencer produced several very sweet clothing sets for her in in the first years. I have made lots of pics of early outfits which you can find here https://barbie.final-memory.org/my-shellykelly-fashion-show/. These sets very not only available for Kelly but in in a combination for Barbie and Kelly. They got matching styles.
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There was also Pool fun series shown in advertisements. I had a long time problems to find out if this series was produced or or if it was was only a prototype shown in the advertisement (like often in catalogs in the 1990s). In 2007 or 2008 I finally found her and her friends and I know this series was produced and I got mine. https://barbie.final-memory.org/a-first-impression-of-my-shellykelly-collection/
Pool Fun Kelly
Kelly goes abroad
Eating Fun Shelly/Kelly was introduced in 1997 but I can’t tell you how the mechanism works since mine is still in box. After that came in 1997 there was another set with all four sisters called “Travelin Fun Sisters” https://images.app.goo.gl/Cj4XFoZgRGVNEkh48. Last year I furthermore found the Power wheels Jeep set with Shelly and Tommy (male baby counterpart for Kelly). In box this set is hard to find and it’s often very expensive. So I had to wait a long time until I found one.
I have for example many sets of early Kelly/Shelly sets. I’m going to divide this article in at least two parts. Next part is coming soon.
In 1964, Barbie welcomed her first sister, Skipper, marking the beginning of a growing family for the iconic doll. Skipper was the first addition to Barbie’s expanding family, which continued to grow until 1999 with the arrival of Krissy.
Just for fun, imagine the age of Barbie’s mother when Barbie was born, and then consider she was 40 years older when Krissy arrived—a true marvel of fertility!
When Skipper debuted in 1964, she was offered in both blonde and brunette hair colors. Unfortunately, a red-haired version wasn’t part of the initial release, which left a gap for those of us who love a bit more variety in hair color.
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My “mint” (haha) Skipper also suffers from green tarnish from her original headband. I’m sorting my #skipperdoll collection tonight deciding which dolls most need a spa visit with @angiepangiepaints ?????? #vintageSkippers #barbiecollector #vintagebarbie #barbieskipper #skipperbarbie #vintageskipper #instabarbie #barbiegram #barbie #barbieaddict #barbiesisters #barbiegrammers
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More changes in the 1970s
Until 1971 her look was not changed very much. The first change of her face I think came when she was available as Living Skipper. Her hair style also changed a bit. In her history her body was also changed several times. One of the most controverse Skipper dolls was the Growing Up Skipper (available, I did a little bit of research https://youtu.be/9LuI0W8SmzY) in 1975.
She has a mechanism inside her body and when you twist her arm in the right direction her body grows and she gets breasts. From a technical point of view very interesting since this mechanism works in my Growing Up Skipper until today, so it must be a very simple but effective mechanism with a spring I think (just from the sounds I hear when I move her arms). Her body also changes a bit. She becomes taller.
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The Evolution of Skipper: From Super Teen to Pizza Hut
In the late 1970s, Skipper underwent a significant transformation and was reintroduced as “Super Teen Skipper” to align with the era’s fascination with everything “super.” During this period, Skipper received a new face and body design, reflecting the trend of the time. The variations were so pronounced that it’s rare to find two Skipper dolls with identical sizes in my collection. The frequency of changes in Skipper’s face and body increased as the doll remained on the market, with each iteration bringing something new.
The 1980s saw the debut of Hot Stuff Skipper, featuring yet another face and body redesign. In 1988, Skipper received a notable update with her “Kulleraugen” face—a term used in Germany to describe her large, expressive eyes. This new face design resembled the Japanese comic (manga) style, even before many of us were familiar with manga. Although early Japanese TV series took time to reach us, Skipper’s comic-like eyes perfectly mirrored the popular style we saw on television.
However, Skipper’s appearance continued to evolve. By the mid-1990s, the “Pizza Hut” Skipper introduced a new head mold and body, marking yet another shift in her look. I remember acquiring her back then under the name “Phone Fun” Skipper. This version of Skipper was short-lived but remains a unique and memorable part of her evolutionary journey.
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My childhood dream came true today. I had a tiny picture of the two phone fun girl when I was 11. I kept that tiny bit of paper for many years as a wishlist later as a good luck charm. But after many years the paper just gave up but I never forgot them. Today I received Skipper who was a great deal and she is in amazing condition. Getting Courtney will be a bigger challenge but I am hopeful. Now skipper is going to a glass cabinet in Kamilla’s future room ?? #phonefunskipper #dollymail #childhooddream
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The Transition to Teen Skipper: A New Chapter
Following the release of “Phone Fun” Skipper, a significant change occurred. Skipper grew up to match Barbie’s size and was reintroduced as “Teen Skipper.” This new iteration featured an entirely redesigned head mold and body, marking a notable shift in her appearance. With this transformation, Skipper moved away from her previous look as a 13-year-old, adopting the appearance of a 16-year-old.
One of the standout examples of this new Teen Skipper is the “Slumber Party Skipper,” which showcases her updated design beautifully. The transition to Teen Skipper represented a significant evolution in her character, aligning her more closely with the style and maturity of Barbie.
However, as the new millennium approached, Teen Skipper’s presence diminished, and she virtually disappeared from the market for nearly a decade. Despite this hiatus, her legacy remains an important part of Barbie’s history.
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old photo of my #teenskipper #skipperdoll #dollstagram
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A Comeback for Teen Skipper: Resurgence and New Looks
After a nearly decade-long hiatus following the turn of the millennium, Teen Skipper made a notable comeback. In 2010, she reappeared in a Target-exclusive gift set, where she was featured as a bridesmaid. This marked the beginning of her renewed presence in the market.
The resurgence continued in 2012 with a vibrant new look—Teen Skipper sported colorful hair, reflecting the evolving trends and styles of the time. This reintroduction was well-received, showcasing a fresh take on the beloved character.
As of 2019, Teen Skipper appears to be available on a more permanent basis, making her a familiar face once again in the world of Barbie. If you search for her online, you’ll find that she’s presented with an age range of 15 to 17 years, blending elements of her classic design with contemporary updates.
More About Skipper: Barbie’s Beloved Sister
Skipper Millicent Roberts, introduced in 1964, was designed as a 12 or 13-year-old teenage girl. Her creation was driven by requests from Barbie owners who desired an additional doll to complement Barbie, Midge, and Ken. Skipper provided a new dimension to the Barbie universe, serving as a bridge to younger girls who might not yet be teenagers.
In the early 1960s, it was quite common for teenagers to own Barbie dolls, which may seem unusual by today’s standards. Nowadays, Barbie often becomes less appealing as children transition from kindergarten to school, but Skipper’s introduction catered to a younger audience, making her a popular choice.
Over the decades, Skipper made many friends, each adding to her story. In the 1960s, she was accompanied by Skooter and Ricky. Later on, friends like Courtney, Kevin, and Nikki joined her, expanding her circle and keeping her character vibrant and relatable.
Barbie, the iconic doll, continues to captivate children and collectors worldwide. She is available in over 150 countries, as reported by various sources, including News18. Below is a list of countries where Barbie has a significant presence:
North America
USA
Canada
Mexico (Produced under license by CIPSA in the 1970s and Aurimat in the 1980s)
South America
Brazil (Under license by Estrela)
Peru (Under license by Basa)
Venezuela (Under license by Rotoplast)
Colombia (Under license by Dibon, which went bankrupt shortly after production began)
Japan (Initially produced by Mattel in the 1960s, later by companies like Takara, Ma-Ba, Bandai, and Mattel again after 1995)
China (Attempted market entry in 2009)
Indonesia
Taiwan
Philippines
Malaysia
Korea
India
Oceania
Australia
Middle East
Saudi Arabia
Egypt
Similar Dolls in Other Regions in addition to countries where Barbie is available
In addition to Barbie, there are similar dolls in other parts of the world that cater to local cultural norms and preferences. One notable example is Fulla, a doll available in the Middle East. Fulla is similar to Barbie but is designed to reflect the cultural values of the region, often featuring a headscarf. This doll has gained popularity among collectors and can be easily found online.
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Recent Developments not depending on countries where Barbie is available
Mattel has also made efforts to diversify Barbie’s appearance. In 2017, they released a Barbie doll wearing a hijab, reflecting a more inclusive and modern approach to representation (Insideretail).
Additionally, before Mattel introduced curvy Barbie bodies, there were attempts to create dolls with more realistic body shapes, such as Lammily dolls, which aimed to provide a more diverse and relatable option for children.
Additional Notes
the list is based on the latest available information and will be updated as new data becomes available.
Some countries, like Russia and Egypt, have had fluctuating market presence.
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This is one of my latest #takarabarbie. As soon as I know she’s a #jenny. She’s from 1986 but I found her not in any of my books. She reminds me of a school girl. Some collectors say she was re-named Jenny after a broken business deal with Mattel and Takara (so not Barbie anymore) #jennyjapan #takarajennydoll #takaradoll #barbiedoctor #barbiedoctora #busybfromgermany #barbievintage #vintagebarbie #barbiemod #modbarbie #barbiesuperstar #superstarbarbie
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