Tag Archives: Barbie

My Second Barbie – she’s a Wonder Woman!

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Presenting, my second Barbie… (first one here)

Dear readers, I am thrilled to add my second Barbie to TVTA’s toy collection – the 2003 Mattel Barbie DC Comics Playline Edition Wonder Woman doll.

My Barbie as Wonder Woman came mint in her original box, complete with accessories and a mini lunchbox keychain. A display stand is also included.

The reverse of the box shows an uncredited Wonder Woman comic artwork (possibly by Bruce Timm from Justice League Unlimited era, anyone?), and an image of the three DC Playline Edition Barbie dolls available at the time: Catgirl, Wonder Woman, and Supergirl.


She’s Wonder Woman, and she rules, but she’s also Barbie… therefore she must strike her glamour poses…

I was tempted to get one of the many exquisite Barbie Wonder Woman dolls based on the modern Gal Gadot version, but hesitated for the moment in favour of a more traditional comic book Wonder Woman + traditional Barbie look.

Honestly though, examples like the one below are going to be hard to resist!

In other Wonder Woman news…

Here is my freshly scanned copy of Odyssey of the Amazons – a ‘Before Wonder Woman’ tale. I’m hoping to jump into this epic story during my two days off before the weekend slog at work.

 

And finally, for those of you who just can’t get enough of Wonder Woman…

Look out for TVTA’s upcoming Wonder Woman tribute post, scheduled for this October in time for a very important film release 😉

Thank you for being Wonderful with us 🙂 

Barbie: diversity in yet another new decade for the perennial doll

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Barbie and friends. A new decade, a new direction.

Long gone are the days of the insanely-proportioned body type Barbie, with her ever-flowing hair, perfect skin, and her once misguided advice to losing weight as: ‘Don’t eat!’

To be fair, those days were already pretty far behind the perennial doll, who has been glamming and adventuring it up since 1959. In recent years, maker Mattel has done much to present Barbie and her friends to a world more in tune with diversity and eager to see inclusion in action.

As a new decade begins, it’s pleasing to see Barbie’s designers steer her in the right direction by introducing dolls with baldness and vitiligo – this in addition to their recent physical disabilities range of wheelchair and prosthetic limb Barbies, and a continuing drive to enhance their dolls with different skin tones, hairstyles and body types.

All images from Barbie© Fashionistas© by Mattel.

TVTA is not affiliated with Mattel and receives no incentives – but, yo, Mattel, if you want to send me some free Barbie to go with my first Barbie California Dream and beach dune buggy, I’ll be one happy vintage editor 🙂

Barbie bags and stationery – the 1998 Mattel France Maroquinerie et Papeterie catalogue

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Front cover. Mattel 1998 Maroquinerie et Papeterie catalogue.

The Mattel France 1998 Maroquinerie et Papeterie catalogue (leather goods and stationery) was aimed at school kids and featured carrying bags suitable for the school term as well as stationery items such as exercise books, folders, pens, pencils, and erasers. In addition, Mattel France offered a range of leisure bags suitable for the weekend when school was out.

TVTA is pleased to present the scans showing the Barbie range. The catalogue also features accessories for the characters Batman & Robin, Superman, Babar, Polly Pocket, Noddy, and Extreme Dinosaurs – the scans of which will be coming soon to TVTA!

In the meantime, here’s 1998’s Barbie school accessories…

Mattel 1998 Maroquinerie et Papeterie catalogue. Barbie.

Mattel 1998 Maroquinerie et Papeterie catalogue. Barbie.

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Art Gowns does Schiaparelli on Barbie

Gallery

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This gallery contains 16 photos.

Originally posted on Art Gowns:
Did you ever notice how one thing can lead to another? Yes! Well, that’s exactly how my old Barbie got an Art gown.  In Art Gowns spirit, nothing new was purchased for this project. Barbie’s…

Barbie, Ken and Midge Wardrobe Booklet, 1962 (yellow version)

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Here is the third of the three 1962 Barbie in-pack booklets I recently added to my collection. These beautifully illustrated catalogues show the fashion range available back when Barbie was just 3 years old!

Alongside dozens of fashion items for Barbie, Midge and Ken, other gems found inside the catalogues are the Barbie board game, the Dream House and Fashion Shop, knitting patterns, Trousseau Set and the Barbie fan club and magazine.

Below are the complete scans from the yellow version wardrobe booklet – Barbie, Ken and Midge.

More Barbie catalogues and adverts can be seen here

As always, thanks for looking 🙂

Barbie’s ‘Feeling Groovy’ Trash to Treasure 70’s Pad

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Just fab! So creative, colourful and groovy. I have an 80s Barbie but this makes me want to go out and find a 70s Barbie now 🙂 Top marks to Starrcreative.ca for more up-cycling Barbie goodness. Please check out Starrcreative’s post for more great photos!

Starrcreative.ca

If you love the home decor show Trading Spaces, consider this an opportunity to decorate a room for someone else, just on a smaller scale! As most of you know, I love to come up with up-cycled Barbie Doll furniture from Thrift Store or garage sale finds, even stuff you might consider throwing away can be transformed into something new. I also like to incorporate great finds from the Dollar Tree for parts and embellishments.

I’m partial to bright colors and the ‘Feeling Groovy’ theme is certainly that! My goal is to share ideas and inspirations, and encourage kids and parents alike to get creative, reuse and have some fun. You might not find the exact same pieces, but you’ll see how easy it is and hopefully get inspired to go on a treasure hunt of your own! There is no sewing and no tools so…

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It’s a doll’s world: clone wars, law suits, and inappropriate names.

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Clone after clone after clone. Presenting: The Babs, Randy and Bill wardrobe booklet, 1960s, US.

Babs, Randy and Bill wardrobe booklet, 1960s. Fab-Lu Ltd.

Babs, Randy and Bill dolls were sold by the Fab-Lu Ltd company of New York in the early 1960s. The line was a cheap clone of the popular US Barbie doll brand, and the German Bild Lilli brand that predated both.

Babs’s wardrobe imitated many of Barbie’s costumes, as well as clothing from various Hong Kong cloned Lilli dolls. Babs also mimicked Barbie’s tag of “Teen-Age Fashion Model” by declaring herself as “Queen of Fashion”. Not that Barbie should complain too much, seeing as she herself was a clone of the German Bild Lilli – the original fashion doll.

Randy

Randy was a clone of Barbie’s younger sister, Skipper.

For the British market, Randy underwent a name change to ‘Mary Lou’ due to the English sexualisation of the word randy (meaning ‘to feel sexually aroused’). However, the problems didn’t end there for Randy/Mary Lou. The doll, as seen on her featured pages of the Fab-Lu booklet, was actually a Tammy doll as made by Ideal and ‘borrowed’ for the photoshoot to model Randy’s wardrobe. Fab-Lu tried to get around this by painting a beauty spot on the cheek of the Tammy doll in the hope no one would notice. It failed, and Fab-Lu was later taken to court and sued by Ideal.

Bill

Bill was a clone of Barbie’s boyfriend, Ken.

“Every inch a he-man. Powerful body. Powerful physique.” Check out Bill’s ‘sales pitch’ …

Bill – every inch a he-man?

The Clone War(drobe)s.

Below are the remaining scans of the Babs, Randy and Bill product booklet. It is the only known catalogue to exist for the line to date, and was included in packs of individual dolls and accessories.

Click images to enlarge.

Low, low prices!

Babs dolls and outfits were exceptionally cheap to buy compared to Barbie. Statements such as “fashions made to fit all leading fashion dolls”, and “Other male fashion dolls can and do wear Bill’s extensive wardrobe” were almost a call to arms to buy Babs outfits to put not just on Babs dolls, but on Barbie dolls too.

To find out more about the fascinating history of ‘clone dolls’ – from Lilli to Barbie to Babs and others – check out the excellent article Bild Lilli and the Queens from Outer Space

Until next time, thank you for cloning around with us 🙂