Twice As Nice "Double Date" on Crystal Barbie

One of my most memorable Barbie outfits from my childhood is "Double Date" from the Twice As Nice range. It's very Dallas. I have since gained this twice in a strange turn of things, I keep getting things twice as you will see with my upcoming postings when new items arrive.

Tropical Island Fun with Barbie & Miko

These are my $5 bargains from the USA. As you may already know my sister got me Miko for Christmas in the box. I contacted a private seller who was selling Tropical Barbie and Island Fun Miko and Barbie at $5.00. He wrote back to say Island Fun Miko had been sold but had Tropical Miko for the same price. It turns out that Miko was listed on his site at $25 so I think I got a great bargain at $5. It was only a week later when my sister surprised me with Miko in her box. So now I have 2


Island Fun Barbie has the sweetest face (If her eyes look a little strange my camera seems to make them look a bit kookeyed) Its a shame her hair is a tad fuzzy but I may be able to get some conditioner on it to chill it out a bit.


Miko is just a stunning doll, I was going to sell her on after my sisters suprise however she looks totally different next to her so I decided to keep her.


I always rememeber Tropical Barbie being more pretty than this one here. I still like her and her hair is just so silky, long and soft.

I think Miko on the left looks more Hawiiain, she has more green eyshadow too. They are both very pretty dolls.

Barbie Fashion Extras

All for a £1, which is a bargain!

1989 Dance Club Kayla (SOLD)

I just love Dance Club Kayla, she uses the beautiful Diva mold. She is very Jem inspired with her outfit. She has the most amazing hair. I am not too much in to the later 80's dolls but Kayla really stood out and with her being a bargain price too. I don't think she was released in the UK.


She comes with some rather cool shades!


She is very Jem/Misfit in this outfit!

You can just make Kayla out in this advert, Barbie is just awful in this range, Devon is Ok but I won't be getting her in a hurry! I don't know why the range was "Dance Club" as they don't actually have any special feature to make them dance?

1987 Perfume Pretty Barbie (SOLD)

I would think that Perfume Pretty Barbie would have been one of the last Barbie's I got as a kid that I can remember. I was really quite dissapointed with her as her hair is rather dry and quite cheap to be honest. Maybe I got a duff one though?


It was the dress that reminded me of her, you can have it long or short.


I remember trying to squeeze Jem into this dress, it wouldn't fasten as she is quite a bit wider.

Perfume looks much prettier on her box art that I have previously posted and in this great UK ad. She was priced at £11.99 back in 1987 which is pretty pricey for those days. I remember Jem being £12.99 and I thought she was more deluxe than good old Babs!

Great Shape Barbie & Ken UK Versions

Here are my Great Shape Barbie & Ken, which are quite different to thier US versions.
I don't know why they are green, my only thought is maybe it was to do with Tennis that year in the UK and we did have a TV fitness lady called the "green goddess" who wore a green suit like Barbie's.
Barbie herself is quite different with her strawberry hair and dark green eyes. She is a very unusual Barbie.


When I saw Great Shape Barbie on the web I only saw the blue & pink US version so it never clicked my memory on having both Barbie & Ken from this set. When I stumbled accross them on e-bay I remembered them. I got them really cheap,with skipper too but the pink version.
I didn't have many Ken dolls as a kid but I did like this one.

Here is the US version in an advert

1982 Twirly Curls Barbie

I won Twirly Curls quite by accident. I was bidding on Peaches & Cream (Which I lost) but also bid on Twirly from the same seller hoping to get both for a bargain. I forgot I had bid on Twirly for 99p until I noticed I had won her for 99p!
She turned up looking like a wild woman, crazy hair, filthy and stinking (No the seller didn't say any of that)
After a scrub up she does look nice, she came with all her stuff too (Ribbons, Chair, Clips, Comb etc) so I can't really complain at my 99p win.

Twirly was always a favourite as a kid, I remember my sister getting her for her birthday and being insanely jealous.

1982 Bride Tracy (SOLD)

I got Tracy at a bargain price as her box was pretty shoddy.

I went for obviously as she has the Steffie face and really pretty green eyes.

She doesn't photograph that well though I must say as she is much prettier.

The first picture is Tracy before I took her hair out of the twists as the bands had disintergrated.

I am not a huge fan of brides and would never have gone for her as a kid if I had seen her, but she is quite different which makes me like her.

BARBIE’S BEGINNING

BARBIE’S BEGINNING

The Year: 1959

The place: The New York Toy Show.

The Barbie Doll Debut……….

And the rest is History.

The Creators:

This story takes place in the 1930’s. It’s a story that starts out sounding like one we’ve all heard before.

Girl meets Boy. Girl falls in love with Boy. Girl graduates from high school. Girl has visions of great career success in the real world. Girl wants to go to college. Parents are not overly enthusiastic about college since it is more traditional to get married and raise a family. Girl goes to college anyway and marries boy too. This married girl and boy are Ruth and Elliot Handler. They raise two children, Barbie and Ken.

In the mid 1940’s, the young ambitious duo Ruth and Elliot Handler, owned a company that made wooden picture frames. Elliot and his partner Harold Mattson built the samples and Ruth was in charge of marketing them. Elliot began to use the scraps of wood from picture frames to make doll furniture. This was the beginning of their toy business. It was in 1945 that Ruth and Elliot Handler joined with their close friend Harold Mattson to form a company that would be known for the most famous and successful doll ever created. This company would be named Mattel, MATT for Mattson, and EL for Elliot. Mattel continued to grow from a very profitable business into a corporate giant.

In the mid 1950’s, while visiting Switzerland, Ruth Handler purchased a German Lilli doll. Lilli was a shapely, pretty fashion doll first made in 1955. She was originally fashioned after a famous cartoon character in the West German Newsletter, Bild. Lilli was made of hard plastic with molded on shoes and earrings. She was available in 11 ½" or 7" in heights. Her hair was long and pulled back into a ponytail. There was a large wardrobe available for this doll. Lilli is the doll that would inspire Ruth Handler to design the Barbie doll.

Ruth knew what she wanted Barbie to look like. With the help of her technicians and engineers at Mattel, Barbie was born. Ruth then hired Charlotte Johnson, a fashion designer, to create Barbies wardrobe.

It was in 1958 that the patent for Barbie was obtained. This would be a fashion doll unlike any of her time. She would be long limbed, shapely and beautiful, all of this and only 11 ½" tall.

Paper fashion dolls of the times would give way to a three dimensional beauty with a wardrobe of unsurpassed quality. Ruth and Elliot would name their new fashion doll after their own daughter, Barbie. Barbie dolls’ soon to be boyfriend Ken, would be named after their son Ken.

In 1959, Barbie doll would make her way to the New York Toy Show and receive a cool reception from the toy buyers. She would be viewed as risky to buyers since she was not the typical style selling baby doll of the times. Upon seeing Barbie on store shelves, the public decided differently. By 1960, the mood would change and the orders started pouring in to Mattel. It took several years for Mattel to catch up with the demand for Barbie. Within ten years, the public purchased $500 million worth of Barbie products.

Barbie has undergone a lot of changes over the years and has managed to keep up with current trends in hairstyles, makeup and clothing. She is a reflection of the history of fashion since her introduction to the toy market. Barbie has a universal appeal and collectors both young and old enjoy time spent and memories made with their dolls.

THE BARBIE FAMILY TREE

The immediate family prior to 1992: BARBIE, SKIPPER(Sister), TUTTI & TODD(twin sister & brother)

The immediate family after 1992: BARBIE, SKIPPER(sister), STACIE & TODD(twin sister & brother), KELLY(baby sister)

Following is a list of the dolls made during various time periods. Following each name is the years of production and then the relationship of each doll to Barbie.

1959-1965 THE EARLY YEARS

BARBIE 1959-present

KEN 1961-present, Barbie’s boyfriend

MIDGE 1963-66, Barbie’s friend

ALLAN 1964-65, Ken’s friend

SKIPPER 1964-present, Barbie’s sister

SKOOTER 1965-66, Skipper’s friend

RICKY 1965, Skipper’s friend

1965-1970 THE MOD ERA

TUTTI 1966-69, Barbie’s baby sister, Tutti & Todd are twins

TODD 1966-67, Barbie’s baby brother

FRANCIE 1966-76, Barbie’s modern cousin

CHRIS 1967, Tutti’s friend

CASEY 1967 & 1974 Francie’s friend

CHRISTIE 1968-present, Barbie’s friend

STACEY 1968-70, Barbie’s friend

PJ 1969-1985, Barbie’s friend

BRAD 1970, Ken’s friend

JAMIE 1970-72, Barbie’s friend

1971-1976 THE MALIBU ERA

FLUFF 1971, Skipper’s friend

TIFF 1972, Skipper’s friend

STEFFI 1972, Barbie’s friend

KELLEY 1973-74, Barbie’s friend

CARA 1975-76, Barbie’s friend

CURTIS 1976, Ken’s friend

GINGER 1976, Skipper’s friend

THE 1980’S SUPERSTAR, DISCO, ROCK ERA

SCOTT 1980, Skipper’s friend

TRACY 1983 Bride Doll

TODD 1983 Groom Doll

DANA 1986-87 Barbie’s friend

DEE DEE 1986-87 Barbie’s friend

DEREK 1986-87 Ken’s friend

DIVA 1986-87 Barbie’s friend

MIKO 1986-89 Barbie’s friend

WHITNEY 1987-1989 Barbie’s friend

MIDGE 1988-present, Barbie’s friend

BECKY 1988 Barbie’s friend

BELINDA 1988 Barbie’s friend

BOPSY 1988 Barbie’s friend

STEVEN 1988-present, Ken’s friend

TERESA 1988-present, Barbie’s friend

DEVON 1989, Barbie’s friend

JAZZIE 1989-1993, Barbie’s cousin

CHELSIE 1989, Jazzie’s friend

DUDE 1989, Jazzie’s friend

STACIE 1989, Jazzie’s friend

COURTNEY 1989-present, Skipper’s friend

KAYLA 1989 & 1994, Barbie’s friend

NIKKI 1989, Barbie’s friend

THE 90’S NEW FAMILY LITTLE KIDS

STACIE 1992-present, Barbie’s new sister

TODD 1991, 1993-1994, Barbie’s new brother, twin to Stacie

KELLY 1995, Barbie’s new baby sister

JANET 1994, Stacie’s friend

WHITNEY 1994, Stacie’s friend

BECKY 1996-present, Kelly’s friend

CHELSIE 1996-present, Kelly’s friend

MELODY 1996-present, Kelly’s friend

DEIDRE 1997-present, Kelly’s friend

JENNY 1997-present, Kelly’s friend

MARISSA 1997-present, Kelly’s friend

TOMMY 1997-present, Kelly’s friend

THE 90’S FRIENDS ADULTS

KIRA 1990, Barbie’s friend

NIA 1990, Barbie’s friend

KEVIN 1990-95, Skipper’s friend

ALAN 1991, Ken’s friend

SHANI 1991-94, Barbie’s friend

ASHA 1991-1993, Shani’s friend

NICHELLE 1991-93, Shani’s friend

JAMAL 1992-1993, Shani’s boyfriend

TARA LYNN 1993, Barbie’s friend

BECKY 1997-present, Barbie’s friend

NIKKI 1997, Skipper’s friend

http://www.dolls4play.com

Style Magic Whitney Box Art

I was quite dissapointed with Style Magic Whitney, Her hair had lost it's wonder over the years and was a big fuzzball. I will post pics of the doll later but here is her box art.

Barbie & The Rockers Year 1

(From the 1985 World Of Fashion Leaflet)

Barbie & The Rockers where Mattel's rival for Jem & The Holograms. While these dolls are not a great as Jem, they have to been seen in their own right. I love Diva, Dana & Derek who are all on my wishlist. Barbie is the most dissapointing of the range but is being re-released this year.


The fashions are also very Jem esque and a great looking set of fashions. I think another set that I will invest in.

Dream Date P.J. Box Art

Day To Night Barbie Box Art

Perfume Pretty Barbie Box Art

Whitney is just stunning in this range, I really want to get her.
Barbie Pictures will be posted soon.

Barbie 1983 Fashion Fun Box Art

I love most of these cute fashions and this box art is from the beautiful Purple dress "Everyday Outing".
I had the blue dress "Right In Step" as a kid too as I remember those pink triangles.

Barbie "Twice As Nice" Fashions Year 2 Box Art

Year 2 Twice as Nice fashions box art, Again like year 1 I love all these fashions. I think I only had the dress on the bottom right picture.

Dance Club Kayla Box Scans

I only really like Kayla from this set, due to the fact she has the cute Steffie face. She is pretty HTF but I got her for a bargain price in the box. Doll Pics to follow.

Nurse Whitney Box Scans