Barbie Archives - Page 8 of 8 - Barbie Treasure Chest

November 28, 2018November 28, 2018

Unexpected ways to meet Tropical Barbie

Do you know Tropical Barbie with the vibrant swimsuit from 1985? Yes, that’s right. She is already 33 years old but she’s not alone. She has many sisters worldwide and I don’t want to talk from the US version. She has a sister in Spain, one in Peru and one in Venezuela. Maybe there are even more versions I never heard of. I have four versions. Two versions made for the US, one from Spain and one from Peru. I haven’t found a version from Venezuela but there are pics online.

Anyway today I want to share my versions of the dolls with you. The Spanish one came in May into my collection although she is hard to find. One of the US versions came recently. My first version came several years ago but her hair is very thin. The versions from Malaysia and the Phillipines are the same but the make up is different. The blue is different and the amount of make up used for the dolls.

Phillipines — Different versions of the Tropical Barbie

Spain — Different versions of the Tropical Barbie

Peru — Different versions of Tropical Barbie

November 21, 2018November 21, 2018

Let’s celebrate 22 years of Barbie collecting!

Sometimes the time goes by really fast. That’s how it feels when I look back. I really started 22 years ago with Collecting Collector Barbie as she was called in the last 10 years. When I started in late 1996 the whole collector thing was known as Barbie Collectibles. I still have some advertising and catalouges from back then. All of them were made very high-quality. I guess the input to produce the whole thing was very expensive and very time consuming back then. Not to forget to mention that it was a very expensive hobby since single dolls were very expensive and at first I had to convince my parents to drive with me to special toy stores where they were sold. You were never sure what to find. It was not like ordering online. It was still unknown to most people. I got my first book online ordered in 2003. Man, that was a thing… and the delivery time for English books to Germany was 4 weeks from amazon.

Busy B.s Barbie doll collection turns 22 — My collection is not under age anymore

In the last decades I got to know many Barbie collectors. Some collected only for a short while. Other are long time collectors like me. What we all have in common is a topic to talk about. Although it became easier to order the dolls online you often still need the help of other collectors because there’s always you want and can’t buy immediately.

October 24, 2018October 24, 2018

How not knowing the Winter Holiday outfit makes you a rookie

You maybe know the say “unexpectedly comes often” and so it was with this outfit. Last week I saw it and bought it. I had seen it in a video before and liked it. It was not a long time ago. My outfit is not complete here. It’s just a part of the whole outfit. The handbag, the jacket and the shoes are still missing but I like the hoodie and the pants. I was surprised how the hoodie was cut. The idea with the little zipper is just great. In general I think I have told you about the quality of early Barbie doll fashion. It’s very good in comparison to what is sold nowadays in toy stores.

October 17, 2018October 17, 2018

How to put a perfect crest for Barbie doll from the 1980s

Have you asked yourself how to do a perfect crest after a reroot? Well, here’s my method in pics.

Start at the back of the head
It’s easier to start here.

The more streaks the more difficult is the task.

The head you see here is the Peruvian version of the Tropical Barbie from 1985. I got her bold but I wanted her to look great again. So I rerooted her.

The complete result will follow as a video on my youtube channel Busy B from Germany. I hope you’ll watch it.

November 30, 2017December 3, 2017

Francie, the cousin of Barbie

Today I’m going to present you Francie. She’s the first and only cousin of Barbie. She was released in 1965 and was produced for approx. 10 years. She disappeared around 1975. When she was available she was popular among young girls. At first she was only available as Straight Leg doll (without knee joints) but in 1967 a Bend Leg version was available too. Francie has a different body than Barbie and she is smaller. She was originally called Francine Fairchild but she was sold under the name of “Francie” and was thought to be a 14 year old.

The Francie dolls are popular among the collectors too. She was available in a wide variety of dolls like the two one I have in my collections. The “No Bangs” Francie is the most expensive doll. She has no bangs and giant hair do. I don’t have one yet in my collection but I really like her. She so late 1960s – stylish. Her wardrobe is very beautiful. Exiting outfits from the Mod-era (Mod-era 1966 – 1975) contribute to her popularity. The Growing Hair Francie was the only mechanism Francie doll. I was glad to get one last week.

1970 Growing Hair Francie

1967 Bend Leg Francie

March 9, 2017September 18, 2017

Birthdays

Today Barbie celebrates her 58th Anniversary. She was presented first on the New York Toy Show in March 1959. Since then she had a lot of friends, a lot of cars, a lot of houses and lots of pets as well as horses. She gave us courage as kids to try out new things like being a female astronaut. She always was the fashion icon of the time. To me Barbie always had the significance of being something very positive. She had something mysterious that was also interesting. I got my first Barbie doll from one of my grandmothers. I got a Crystal Barbie (1983) and I still have her in my collection. I think this was one of the first milestones in my interest in Barbie. My wish to the birthday girl is that she may be produced for further 58 years. I think she’ll have the right dress for the party in her closet.

I would like to mention that Ken also celebrates his birthday this week. He’s only two years younger than Barbie and was introduced in 1961 as Ken (Kenneth). Ken was created as the boyfriend of Barbie and also introduced on the New York Toy Show in 1961.

November 16, 2016September 19, 2017

No no no I haven’t

No, to be honest I haven’t forgotten to post anything but in the last weeks. I hardly found anything. Sometimes it is like this… for a while you find every week a new item you want and in other weeks nothing, nothing and nothing. I recently had nothing weeks. This week I can show you something new from my collection. Wanted the Barbie for a long time and finally found her at a reasonanble price. As far as I found out she was a TRU Times Square exclusive.