Dream a Little Dream

 Friends, I'm here to tell you... dreams come true!

This beautiful #3 and her MINT wardrobe will be the gem of my collection... probably forever.

YEARS ago, I wrote a little article with a passing reference to Samsonite-branded, Barbie-sized luggage.

I found a few more pieces, and these are definitely OFF BRAND and CHEAP.

On first glance, they look like regular Barbie / Samsonite luggage, but... 

The Samsonite-Branded luggage has a handle that is hinged, and movable (and often missing!), but this one has a molded-in-one-piece handle, though it visually is identical to the Samsonite-branded luggage.  The quality is noticeably cheaper, and it is unmarked.  The red one is marked "Made in the U.S.A." but again, no hinged handle.  The plastic is flimsier and lighter.

g

Maybe Samsonite kept making them and just went cheaper on production at some point.  Who knows how long these things were even made.  Definitely 1960s - 1970s, but these were found with 1980s dolls.

I've also never seen this brown color "NRFP," but to be fair I haven't looked that hard.

NONE of this luggage is super-easy to find.  You see the ecru and teal ones pretty frequently but other colors are scarce.

This one at least has proper hinges and doesn't fall apart like the brown one.  Maybe it's legit, but the handle gives me pause.

Clone or legit, these are very fun to collect... you can really use them for storage, or travel, too!

Anyway, that's all!

Unusual Tag

 

Here's a quick pick of an interesting "MATTEL, INC." tag as seen inside a "Miss Barbie" swimsuit.

Summer Finds

Wow!  It's been a while, huh?

Well, I'm still here and still collecting, even though probably nobody out there reads this.

Of course, I went to see the Barbie movie and it was amazing!  I'll write more about that later, for now I wanted to talk about a little collection I picked up from the very sweet original owner.

It all came in a purple Ken case, which I didn't have one of those... and I like better than the yellow one.  Purple is my favorite color.  Let's see what's inside!

Hmm... looks fun!  Let's dig in.

A nice little family! :)  I don't know what makes Ken's head stain like that.  I've seen it many times.  Very unfortunate.  His hair is really a brownette shade instead of black.  Midge is in good shape but Barbie has green ear.  Still a nice bubble cut, though.

Hi, Barbie.

Lots of booklets, which always make me happy, even though I've seen them all so many times.

#942, Ice Breaker, in very good condition with a nice fluffy coat... but sans one skate.  The coat is not usually so white, so I feel lucky about that.

The PAK set with knit shorts and top... kinda racy!  You know, in all my years of collecting I never have picked one of these up.  I found out some stuff I didn't know about it!  First of all, the shorts are tagged, and lined with red fabric.  A really nice touch and really nice quality!  Secondly;

I truly didn't know the shorts had that cute little notch on the side.  What a cute detail!  

Hoo mama!  Where were you allowed to wear this in 1963?  

Barbie in Holland #0823, in very nice condition.  Missing the hat and socks, but I have the hat somewhere.  Really looks like it was hardly played with.  Travel pamphlet is also missing.

Ken in Holland #0777, missing shoes and socks, plus his bouquet of tulips, but honestly, near mint condition and looks unplayed with.  Travel pamphlet is also missing.

Theatre Date, #959, missing the shoes, and technically, the hat, which only was included in 1963, but not in 1964.  Again, very nice condition!

Miscellaneous Ken items.  Some not in very good shape, except for the white pants, which are minty.  The little swim trunks came with a snorkeling PAK but none of the other items are here.  White pants likely go with the sweater (Campus Hero, #770.)  Yellow shirt, tan slacks, and stripey socks are from Casuals (#782).  Sweater is often full of moth holes like that.  There's also a clone version of it that looks nearly the same.

Ken clone items.  A clone of his bathrobe, a really nice jacket I haven't identified yet and a nice shirt.    The shirt is well made and marked British Colony of Hong Kong.  The shirt, and maybe the pants, likely belongs to Babs doll's boyfriend, Bill, an outfit called "Sports Ensemble."  The robe is also probably Bill's, a shameless copy of Ken's.  It was called "Beachcomber."

There's a clone Ken top... on the right, compared to the actual Ken top on the left.

 Ballerina, #989, great condition, missing the small accessories.

Solo in the Spotlight, #982.  Dress is a bit of a mess, none of the small things are here, but glad to have the microphone.

Movie Date (#933) and After Five (#934), not in great shape.

Cruise Stripes (#918) in excellent shape but no belt!

Pretty clone Barbie outfits.

Interesting little set.

Interesting and cute lingerie set!

More clone stuff

This clone swimsuit is one of my faves, sold on numerous clone dolls.  It's often called the "Fashion Queen Clone" swimsuit, because of it's design and the included headwrap.  Also it was sold on wig-head clones.

Handmade coat.

I'm nuts about this clone of Evening Splendor.  Jacket isn't included here, but I have one somewhere.

Fits really snug, but snaps instead of a zipper like in the Barbie versions.

Random stuff found in the drawers.

Midge advertising insert.

Pak hanger and some clone shorts also found in the drawers.

Also, there was definitely once a "BARBIE FAN CLUB" sticker over the K of KEN.  Maybe someone whished they had a Barbie case instead, haha.

Here's the clone robe next to the real thing, you can see how different the tailoring is.

Oh well, that's all for now!