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

1970 Growing Hair Francie

1967 Bend Leg Francie

1967 Bend Leg Francie

Twist n Turn Barbie

Finally I found my very first TNT Barbie.  I don’t know the exact hair color but it doesn’t matter so much to me. It’s just good to have one. I have been looking for one for several months or years… I have forgotten it. Anyway, here she is…

Tnt2

Tnt

She’s the one from 1966 with the marking that you may have seen something like Pat. Pend. then (C) 1966.  She has real eye lashes but I have to replace them later since they are not perfect anymore. She’s the first one with bendable legs with joints and a hip joint.  She was produced in Japan ( typically for early TnT Barbie dolls). Later versions were produced in Taiwan and Korea. I did a short video to show her with all her beauty. Here’s the link to my Twist n Turn Barbie video.