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!

Ken's Face!

These two Ken dolls are both 1st edition Kens with fuzzy, flocked, brunette hair.

But, look at how different they seem!

Of course, left-side Ken is slightly worse condition than right-side Ken, but a lot more is going on here.

-  Eyebrow shape and size is different

-  Head size seems different

-  Lip color is different

I've heard in the past that head sized varied due to molds changing during the production process.  A new mold would be less worn down and the head would be smaller.  A old mold would have been used longer and worn away causing a bigger head.  I don't know if this is true but it seems likely.

Lip color could vary depending on who was doing the painting that day.  Left-side Ken has pale lips, while right-side ken is very peachy.  All early Barbies were "hand painted" in Japan.... though what "hand painted" means varies.  (Brush / airbrush / stencils / etc.)

Eyebrows, again, varied on who is doing the painting that day.

I gotta say, I prefer Right-Side Ken.  I think Left-Side Ken is on the football team, while Right-Side Ken is on the baseball team, haha!

Theoretically speaking, Right-Side Ken is older than Left-Side Ken, but I don't feel positive about that proclamation, either.

I've been thinking about doing some videos to go along with this blog.  I've been collecting Vintage Barbie for close to 30 years, but I still see things that surprise me. 

Lots of times, when I haven't seen a particular outfit in person or up close EVER, or in YEARS, when I finally see it in person something will surprise me... like.. "oh, the closure is like THAT?" or "Wow, THIS is what the fabric feels like?"  Some things, you just can't portray well in a picture.  Maybe some videos would help other collectors know what they're looking for.

Mini TLC Barbie Haul

A little luck at the Fleas this weekend and found a junky Barbie haul... must have been from sisters because there were doubles of everything.  Nothing particularly fantastic, but they needed rescued so I was glad to oblige.

Poor, poor, junky Bubblecut Barbie has a beautiful titian bubble, but her nose and chin are nipped very badly.  She also has a bad necksplit.  I thought I'd try to repair her nose/chin with "the nail acrylic method" and see how it goes.  She's messed up badly so nothing to lose, really.  Her hair is so pretty so it's a shame her face is such a mess.

Ponytail Barbie fared a little better, with a lip rub and chopped hair....

Oh dear, someone chopped her ear as well.

Only one Ken, but the presence of two Ken jackets indicate there were probably two of them once upon a time.  He's in fairly good shape, but his leg keeps falling off.

There were two of these fairly-hard-to-find cases but unfortunately they are both in pretty crappy condition with rust, though the zippers aren't broken, just hard to use.

Lovely doubles of multiple mix-and-match PAK items, which does that make me happy?  Yes it does, because I flippin' love PAK stuff.  Some of it is kinda grimy but it should clean up no problem.

More PAK goodness.. the floral top is stained but it should come clean, to be honest.  I'll let you know how it goes when I get a chance to clean it up.

The pants were in the best shape overall.

Two PAK sweaters...

Filthy PAK playsuit (where's the other one?) and a dirty PAK silk sheath that needs the zipper repair.  Both will probably come clean with some effort, and the silk sheath can be repaired.  Too bad there weren't two silk sheaths, they're somewhat hard-to-find  (White is harder to find than the colors in my opinion.)

One PAK apron with one lonely rolling pin.  I have so many rolling pins!  But where have all the other utensils gone?

One Wig Wardrobe head was included with two out of three of the wigs.  The inside of her head is totally green from earrings but it hasn't seeped through her head (yet.)

There were also two full sets of ecru luggage (3/4 pieces shown here) which if you've read my previous entry, you know was actually sold with Samsonite branding.

Also included were some cute clone clothes, again in sets of two.  A few shoes, a mirror, a few Ken items.. but nothing really special... still... I have to adopt them, haha.

Kinda fun, right?