Dolls I want but don't need: Barbie's upper tiers

If you've read this blog enuff then you likely know that not all Barbie dolls are the same.  There's your playline dolls, toys meant for kids and kids at heart, and then there's your collector dolls, items meant for the pleasure of teens and adults.  Today is for the collector dolls, the ones that have set my heart a-flame-a at various times in my life.

MASQUERADE GALA ILLUSION BARBIE
DESIGNER:  Robert Best
YEAR OF RELEASE:  1998

No, still no owner pics yet.  If I don't hear from the doctor by closing time on my birthday, her post is going up.

WATER RHAPSODY BARBIE
DESIGNER:  Not listed
YEAR OF RELEASE:  1998

Water Rhapsody was a dream come true for my ten-year-old self.  She was dressed in blue velvet with pearls, and she had the Mackie head, which for me was perfection.  I wonder what her shoes look like?  I wonder that for just about all of the dolls in this post, as most of 'em are wearing long dresses that conceal their shoes.

THE FABERGE TRIO
From left, these are Imperial Elegance, Imperial Splendor, and Imperial Grace.
DESIGNER:  Robert Best
YEARS OF RELEASE:  1997, 2000, and 2001

I credit these three with inspiring my love for the Faberge eggs, as all three of them are based on one or more of the bejeweled Easter eggs.  Splendor is based on the Imperial Spring Flowers Egg, which doesn't appear on Mieks's list and may not be a true Faberge egg.  Grace and Elegance appear to be based on the eggs in general, and all three carry egg-shaped handbags that have little Swarovski crystals concealed inside.  This too is a nod towards the Faberge eggs, many of which have smaller trinkets concealed within.  These girls are porcelain, by the way, just like Charleston and Tango are from yesterday.

MILLENNIUM BRIDE BARBIE
DESIGNER:  Guess who?  Robert Best!
YEAR OF RELEASE:  1999

This one is my favorite example of dolly hubris, as when she was available she cost over a thousand bucks, and it was predicted that only a fraction of collectors would get their hands on her.  Now it's possible to get her, in-box with her papers, for between one and two hundred dollars.  That's still more than I want to pay for a Barbie, but it isn't a grand and some change like the original catalog wanted.  Millennium Bride is a feast for the eyes though, with all that sparkle and beading.

MAIKO BARBIE
DESIGNER:  Katiana Jimenez
YEAR OF RELEASE:  Late 2005

It's hard to see in a low-res stock image, but this Barbie is a knockout.  Memoirs of a Geisha was a thing right around this time, and I...I had never even heard of geisha, so I was intrigued.  I ended up learning a lot about the history of geisha and oiran, and about what they're like now.  Geisha no longer have to auction off their virginity, for example, and modern-day geisha often have a lot of trouble with foreign tourists wanting pictures.  Seriously, the harassment got so bad in parts of Kyoto that authorities had to put up signs warning visitors to leave any geisha they saw alone.  Geisha are humans too, after all!  They're pretty, but they're humans.  Anyway, this Barbie is one that I had a hard time not begging Mama for, as she was expensive and we had bigger fish to fry in 2005.  But she's still a favorite, with her pretty face and all those details in that outfit

TARINA TARANTINO BARBIE
DESIGNERS:  Bill Greening and Tarina Tarantino

YEAR OF RELEASE:  2008

C'mon, y'all knew there'd be a Steffie in the mix!  That, plus the doll's pink hair and cute green dress, were what sold this one for me.  I didn't know until last Friday that Tarina Tarantino has pink hair herself, LOL!  I also liked the innocence of this one, compared to the other dolls in the catalog with their saucy expressions and somewhat vampy clothes.

ELTON JOHN BARBIE
DESIGNER:  Caroline DeMersseman; Sir Elton John also contributed 

YEAR OF RELEASE:  2020

As with Tarina Tarantino this one is kinda predictable, as I'm an avowed Elton John fan.  I thought I read somewhere that Sir Elt liked dolls, but that may have been my sixteen-year-old self stepping out of the past and hoping that she and her idol had something in common.  My sixteen-year-old self wore platform shoes like Elton John did, even though she was already five-foot-eight, LOL.  My sister and I agree that those shoes may be part of the reason why I'm crippled now.  Anyway, I love just about everything about this doll, though I kinda wish she had red hair and brown eyes, like Elton himself does.  Oh well, she's BARBIE, and Barbie is almost always a blue-eyed blonde.  I freaking love this doll.

TOKIDOKI BARBIE

DESIGNER:  Simone Legno
YEAR OF RELEASE:  2011

2011 was already crazy enuff without Barbie making a stir, but she managed to do it anyway with that full sleeve tattoo.  I thought she was cute, particularly with her pink bob.  It isn't every day that Barbie has short hair, and it looks particularly becoming on the Steffie head.  Since Tokidoki and Tarina Tarantino are both Steffie heads with pink hair I pretend that they're sisters, the stereotypical punk/girly pair.

PERUVIAN BARBIE, SECOND EDITION
DESIGNER:  Not listed

YEAR OF RELEASE:  1998-1999

There really wasn't a loser in the Dolls of the World bunch, but of them all the second edition of Peruvian Barbie has always been my favorite.  She pairs the Kira head with a lovely outfit, and I've always been a fan of the combo.

PINK IN PANTONE BARBIE
DESIGNER:  Linda Kyaw

YEAR OF RELEASE:  2011

Oh, I loved how clever this one was!  I always loved those little paint swatch cards, but it never occurred to me that they could be used as an inspiration for a dress, let alone be part of the dress.  Since this doll is on the Model Muse body the asymmetrical dress looks particularly flattering.  I just like this doll...except for the bow on her chest.  I'd have put that in her hair, LOL.  But I adored the originality of this one.  She's wearing her signature pink, but in a whole new way.

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS BARBIE
DESIGNER:  Javier Meabe

YEAR OF RELEASE:  2019

I'm so glad Mattel has made this a yearly thing!  This year's Ken is to die for.  But so far my favorite one has been the debut doll, from 2019.  She's about as Day of the Dead as they come, with nothing Barbie-fied or anything.  Oh, and she's got a gorgeous face.  The others are pretty awesome too, though.

Oh sure, I could probably add some more, but I think thirteen is a good place to stop.  These are the ones that immediately came to mind anyway, so they're the most memorable.

Love,
RagingMoon1987

Dolls I want but don't need: the Mackie edition

Treesa wisely suggested that I do a post about either my favorite Mackie Barbies or my favorite collector-level Barbies.  Either/or, right?  Well, it's been a long time since I posted anything worth reading, my MRI results STILL aren't in yet, and all I really need to do for a post like this is nick a few stock images.  So here we are, in no particular order, my favorite Bob Mackie Barbies.

NEPTUNE FANTASY, 1992

This is the first collector doll that I died and went to Heaven over, because...well, she's wearing teal!  I also went wild over all those beads, since my dad did beadwork (I later learned, LOL).  I can remember a time when this doll cost nearly a thousand bucks, but nowadays...well, they're still pricey, but one can find a nice in-box example for significantly LESS than a thousand bucks.

THE CHARLESTON, 2001

From the halcyon days before 9/11 (seriously, that year had been awesome up 'til then) comes the Charleston, who inspired my love for flapper dolls.  The Charleston is a porcelain doll, something I didn't oft like because porcelain Barbie dolls are more figurines than they are dolls, but this one looks like she's actually moving rather than just holding a pose.

THE TANGO, 1999

This one actually came out BEFORE the Charleston!  But the Charleston is the one I remember best, and then after I'm through thinking about her I go "Oh yeah, the Tango was gorgeous too!"  As with Neptune Fantasy, I love the colors and the beadwork, but dang, I wish those awesome shoes came off!  One of my dolls could steal 'em!  The Tango is porcelain like the Charleston is, and both belonged to a collection of dance-themed dolls that Mr. Mackie designed.  To my considerable disappointment they were the only dolls in the collection!  No ballet, no waltz, no cha-cha, kinda a bummer, but the two that collectors did get are epic.

BRUNETTE BRILLIANCE, 2002

Mama was looking over my shoulder when I put this post together, and she liked this one a lot.  I like her too; she looks...welllll...she kinda looks like Mama did when she was young!  Mama never wore her hair like Brunette Brilliance does, but the overall look is there.  The hairdo also reminds me of Liza Minnelli, if any of y'all like her.

MOON GODDESS, 1996

Barbie?  Lots of beads?  A blue dress?  The moon?  Yes, please!  This one has a sister, Goddess of the Sun, but I've always loved the moon.

FANTASY GODDESS OF THE ARCTIC, 2001

I think this one is my favorite of the Goddesses.  She predates Queen Elsa by a country mile!  That open-front dress looks kinda cold, though.  Maybe the Goddess is like Elsa, and the cold doesn't bother her anyway.  But despite my hatred of winter I love winter-themed dolls.

QUEEN OF HEARTS, 1994

This one is another that Mama liked a lot, and surprise, surprise, she's got dark hair like Mama once did!  I like that eye-catching shade of red, meself.  She's just a pretty doll.

HONORABLE MENTION:  BEAD BLAST BARBIE, 1997

Bob Mackie did NOT design Bead Blast Barbie, but she does utilize the Mackie sculpt so I'm giving her an honorable mention.  I love Bead Blast Barbie, with her colorful clothes, her long, lush hair, her kid-friendly gimmick, and of course, that soft, closed smile.  

Y'all may have noticed that I omitted Illusion Barbie, and it turns out that she was NOT designed by Bob Mackie, but by another of Mattel's brilliant designers, Robert Best.  Like Bead Blast Barbie, she utilizes the Mackie sculpt, and she'll appear on the list of my favorite collector dolls...or sooner, if the doctor calls today (which I doubt).

All my love,
RagingMoon1987

Are any of y'all having trouble?

For me this is what Blogger's feed has been saying, and it's been this way for about two weeks now.

You and I both know damn good and well that someone is posting something somewhere, and as many blogs as I follow, someone will have something pertinent up.  But it's not SHOWING up and I'm starting to get frustrated.  If any of y'all see this, please gimmie a holler and let me know of any steps I can take.

To Fantasywoods, Illusion Barbie arrived alive and well yesterday, and I will give you that post for her that I promised, but I'll probably wait until I get my MRI results back.  That way I can kill two birds with one stone instead of putting up another boring post like this one.  To the rest of y'all, I love y'all.  I'm still here and I'm still having some problems with motivation, but I intend to get back into the swing of things eventually.  Please just be patient with me.

Love to all,
RagingMoon1987

Daisy, Denika, and some random stuff

Ho-hum, I haven't done much with the blog and I apologize for that.  It's once again excruciatingly hot in the Bootheel (and elsewhere), and our A/C doesn't work right so my only effective reprieve from the heat is at work.  We may be getting a break from it starting Monday, and...oh, I never dreamed I'd say this, but Monday can't get here fast enuff.

Anywho, y'all probably know by now that Girl of the Year 2027 is in the building.  Her name is Daisy Davenport, and she attends the same summer camp that Molly McIntire attended.  Looks like she may own the same breed of dog, too.

Can't say as I'm terribly impressed with Daisy, but then I said that when Lila Monetti was around too and she grew on me.  Daisy's wiki entries aren't complete yet, but it looks like she's another danged Josefina head, albeit with very pretty gray eyes.  She hails from Madison, Wisconsin, she has a brother, and her parents both appear to be alive, but that's all I know.  I know that a lot of critics are gonna freak out about race and inclusivity, and...well, this first publicity pic shows what could've been.  

One of Daisy's friends is in a wheelchair.  We've not yet had a differently abled Girl of the Year, but no sense in beating a dead horse.  GOTY 2027 is in the house and...I probably will pass on her.  I've barely touched the new American Girl doll I do have (Electra), so why bother with another one?  For now, anyway.

The same fate may await my newest doll, though as with Electra I don't intend on forgetting her forever.  This is Denika Newton, my new-to-me My Twinn.

Y'all likely forgot this, but I've been wanting a Denika Twinn for quite some time now.  I'd hoped to find one with darker skin, but...well, can't have everything.  She is from 2003 and has a good-sized pull on her belly, but I love that face!

Not bad!  Since My Twinn is discontinued pickins' on Etsy are pretty slim, but there are still some nice things to be had if one's willing to dig.  I do have something cute for Denika to wear...but I forgot to photograph it, LOL!  It's a Halloween-themed dress.

I also got a small teddy bear haul from Treesa, in the form of some Build-a-Bear accessories for National Teddy Bear Day.

Dang, I wish I could find Flaxie!  These are her all over!  

Lastly, if you're a Barbie fanatic then you've probably heard that Bob Mackie passed away.  Mr. Mackie was responsible for a great many beautiful dolls, including a few of my favorites.  I was too little to own a lot of 'em, but I have my all-time favorite en route now...and it's not Neptune Fantasy!  I said in the past that Neptune Fantasy was my favorite of Bob Mackie's Barbie designs, but I didn't know that he was also responsible for this lovely lady.

She's from the Masquerade Gala collection, and her name/title is "Illusion."  She's still in the post, but I'll get her eventually.

Of course Bob Mackie did clothes for real people too.  Our dearly departed Dolly Parton was one of his clients, as were Cher, Diana Ross, and Sir Elton John.  I don't like the stuff he put Cher in, but then I don't like Cher much so that's not saying anything.  She's a pretty enuff woman with a decent voice, but like many other female singers she throws away her talent for sex appeal.  Oh, and she can't shut up about leftist politics during her shows.  If you wanna be a liberal, fine.  Live and let live, some liberals have sound points, and thank God, we still have freedom of speech in this country.  But if your job is to sing for the masses, SING FOR THE MASSES AND LEAVE THE POLITICAL CRAP AT HOME.  Ted Nugent, I'm looking at you too.  Both liberals and conservatives are guilty as sin in that respect.

That's about it for now.  I go to get my MRI on Tuesday.  It's being done at Cape Girardeau, and Mama has to work Tuesday, so...big sigh, I'm looking at a 150-mile round trip with Uncle Man-Child.  I am NOT excited.

Love,
RagingMoon1987

So random, July/August '26

I bought too dang many dolls during May and June, and I hit July running too.  July 5th.  Carola (from June) poses with one of July's first newbies.  The newbie's name is Ilse (pronounced "ill-seh").

Here's a full-body shot of Ilse.  She is a Revalo doll from Gebruder Ohlhaver, thus another German girl like Liesel and Ethel.  She's smaller than Liesel,and I suspect her wig may be original. 

I think I got her for a steal because she's not one of the big-name dolls.  Not a Kestner, not an Armand Marseille, y'all get the point.  She's got a sweet face, with lovely gray eyes...

...but if I don't position her just so, she can look kinda vacant.  She shares that problem with Queen Elfriede. 

Also July 5th.  This is Daisy.

Daisy is one of those ily 4EVER dolls, and she's inspired by...well, by Daisy Duck!  My mom likes Daisy Duck, and Donald Duck too, for that matter.  Their tempers match sometimes, LOL.  I have a further incentive for liking this doll; besides the hippie dress, she's got gray eyes.  Hey, just like Ilse!

Okay, Daisy's eyes are more bluish-gray, but my point stands.  I love dolls with gray eyes, and I love finding a doll of color with eyes that AREN'T brown.  Mind y'all, I like brown eyes, but not all Afro-American people have brown eyes.  Thus I like it when I find a doll of color who doesn't have brown eyes.

July 6.  Elias and Joyita Emilia get comfy on my pillow.  Cleopatra Chantale and Andrea Doria are partly visible behind them. 

Later that same day a package arrived, containing a Jesmar dress for Joyita Emilia.

I owe Candela Laura one too.  I feel like any Jesmar I own should have at least one Jesmar outfit.  I've since covered Joy's elastics with bows, by the way, as Kirari-chan was partially held in her package with white cotton ribbons.

Oh yes, Kirari-chan!  July 8th.  Kirari-chan is the orange-haired poppet, and her companion is a Famosa Expressions doll that I hadn't yet named.  I was leaning towards "Angelica," per my mother's suggestion.

Most Cabbage Patch enthusiasts picture Cabbies with butterfly eyes when they think of Tsukuda, but Tsukuda made other toys too.  Kirari-chan is one of those.  She's a hair-and-makeup doll, and she has a couple'a interesting features that make her worthy of a review.  I'll get to that...someday.  As for the Famosa doll, y'all may remember that I'm fond of Famosa dolls (examples here and here), and I'm also always on the lookout for dolls with "comical expressions."  Famosa Expressions dolls are new critters to me, but I like 'em a lot.  Squeeze their tummies and their expressions change a little.

Kinda like Tiny Cheerful Tearful, or full-sized Cheerful Tearful, take your pick.  I kinda wish I could lock her mouth shut, because I like that goofy grin.

July 14th.  This one is Whoopsie.  I may choose a different pet name for her.

Whoopsie is an Ideal doll and a squeeze toy.  Squeeze her and she makes an obnoxious squeaking sound, and her pigtails pop up.  I just like her cute little face.  I also like that she's semi-local; Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas is not exactly a hop, skip, and a jump away from Malden, but it's closer to Malden than Fayetteville!  

Another new arrival for July 14th is Georgette, a Clodrey doll.

I'd heard of Clodrey from Crissy and Beth (they produced a version of Crissy and a very pretty dresser doll), but I'd only heard of them until I popped the name into Google.  Georgette is a "Coucou" doll, which I think may be a named line like the Revalo dolls are.  I largely bought her for her outfit, which reminds me of my favorite vintage Barbie dress, "Fancy Free."  But Georgette has a pretty face too.  Notice that her eyes follow the camera.  Georgette trusts no one!

I must say, the French dolls are a lot more serious than the Italian dolls I own!  I prefer the exuberant Italian dolls, but obviously the placid French dolls are welcome in my group too.  And there are always exceptions to the "French dolls are serious" rule.  Right, Praline?

Right, Sheena?

Sheena arrived on the 20th.  She is also a Clodrey doll, and she belongs to a wave called "Funky."  The Funky dolls were more punky than funky...or maybe they were both!  Anyway, I don't know of too many punk dolls that were/are geared towards kids, but here's this one at least.

We jump back now, to July 18th.  My cats (particularly Tommy and Chessie) had developed a sudden interest in knocking my dolls from hell to breakfast.  That morning Carla Jennifer (Cabbage Patch Preemie, left) and Mikey (Magic Nursery baby) were my latest victims. 

Good thing Tommy and Chessie haven't been able to reach my porcelain kids.  If that were the case then war might be declared. 

July 19th.  I put my resident ponytail Barbies together. 

The brunette is, of course, Mama's #3, and the blonde is the #4 that Treesa sent me in June.  As far as I know, Barbie wasn't a redhead until the sixth wave of ponytails came out, but if I can find one of them then the color trifecta will be complete.  Note, by the way, that Mama's Barbie is wearing "Fancy Free."

It's not a dead ringer for Georgette's dress, but the colors are bang-on.

July 21st.  It was balls soup hot, as my sister would say.  Temperature was 96 at 2:30 p.m., and the heat index was 120.  

Ayla and Lady waited patiently, for a new friend of their own.

Why they are relevant will become obvious later.  For now we go to July 26th, approximately 8:15 p.m.  It had been ridiculously hot all day (heat index of 118), and it was still stifling by nightfall.  I put Yuka in her bathing suit...

...but to quote one of my favorite library patrons, it was too damn hot.

July 27th it was STILL too damn hot!  Our A/C spent much of the night flashing an Error 34 reading and thus didn't cool the house like it normally would.  Mama and I slept poorly and woke up grouchy, and some of my dolls here appeared to feel the same way.

From left, they are Wendy, Chou chou, Mika, Nora, and Mali.  Mali and Nora retained a bit of optimism, as they knew Wednesday would bring cooler temperatures.  As for Wendy, she's ready for fall.

Wendy doesn't have her hat yet, but she's gonna be a witch this Halloween. 

Hot temperatures make me think of hot, neon colors, and my new Cry Baby fits the bill there.  This is Charlie, and she arrived on the 27th as well.

Sigh, every time I look up Cry Babies for the sake of reference, I find one I can't live without.  Charlie pairs a deep skintone with bright, splashy colors (just like Whoopsie does), but her eyes are green.  That's a nice change, as Ayla and Lady both have blue eyes.  

August 26th.  Yes, I spent August doing something else.  Paid almost ZERO attention to my dolls, but the Cry Baby Trio did manage to get my attention.

Rub-a-dub-dub, three kids in a tub!  Even though Charlie, Ayla, and Lady look a lot alike I still enjoy having 'em along for the ride of life.  Or the walk of life, take your pick.  Sometimes life crawls and sometimes it blitzes, so I guess both the ride and the walk are applicable terms.

August 28th.  I'd just told Mika that it was gonna get hot again. 

I know, sweetie, I'm not excited either.  Seriously, the first week of September is looking to be miserably hot.  At that stage NWS was showing temperatures in the high nineties clean through to the following Thursday (September 3rd), and neither Ryan Hall nor Max Velocity nor our own local weatherman had any words of comfort.  BUT...we'll make it through.  Mama and I have weathered hot summers with ZERO A/C at all, so we can survive one with a malfunctioning A/C.

And that's the past two months in a nutshell.  My promised focus on nail polish has come to pass, and I've become more obsessed with that than with my doll's, thus why August was so lean.  I'll try to do better in the weeks and months ahead.  The medication my neurologist prescribed is an anti-spasm med and has done wonders for my pain, so I may be able to complete some reviews soon...but no promises.  I love y'all, though. 

Cheers,

RagingMoon1987