35th Anniversary Barbie

After seeing the “Barbie” movie, I was inspired to look at some of the original dolls that brought this pop culture icon to fame. While the original 1959 doll is out of my financial ballpark, some of the later replicas are much closer! The 35th Anniversary Barbie, released in 1994, is shown here in all its pristine boxed glory. As you can see the hairdo is a bit different when compared with the original release (pictured on the back of the box below). I prefer the 1994 version, which is more flattering on the 12" doll.



When I unboxed her, I noticed that the 30-year-old rubber bands that held her classic ponytails in place had all disintegrated. Before I could photograph the de-boxed Barbie, I had to fix her hairdo. My dental bands were too small, so for a temporary fix, I used gold thread and wrapped/tied it around the base of the ponytail.



Photographing Barbie reminded me while I focus on the 16" gals vs. the 12" ones. First, Barbie cannot stand on her own. Without a stand, she will fall over. I’m not sure how much harder it would have been to design the feet/shoes to be able to stand on their own, but for photographs, it’s a pain in the a$$. For the shot below, I had to use Photoshop to remove the stand and place Barbie on the beach of Santa Monica. I also took the liberty of removing her seams.



Here is Barbie with Malibu behind her.



Barbie Land from the movie is the background here:



The sunglasses look great on Barbie, but they are EXTREMELY tight. Getting them properly placed on her face was quite a process, and caused her hair to unravel. “But Dave,” you say, “her hair looks good here!” Of course it does; I spent a lot of time digitally cleaning it up!



On the plus side: I love the retro face and classic styling of this replica Barbie. The sculpt of the contemporary Barbies is just too bland for my taste. For a cool retro toy to fill up your display cabinet, Barbie is great.

On the con side: For playtime, dressing/redressing, and posing…this is a very frustrating doll. Since this is a mass-market doll, the tailoring (and clothing quality) for Barbie outfits at this size is not all that great. I can easily understand where “Weird Barbie” came from. The hair and clothing can easily become ratty. When it comes to posing, this Barbie is extremely limited; the elbows, wrists, and knees do not bend; the head spins around, but it doesn’t tilt up and down. For little tots who want to play with Barbie, these are probably non-issues. A toy that retails for approximately $15-25 can only be expected to do so much!

See more doll/action figure photos at my website.

Lucy Meets Tom of Finland!

In 2003, the Rebel 001 action figure was released by the Tom of Finland Foundation, a huge name in erotic art. 12 years later, the Rebel met Lucy Ricardo and as you can see, it looks like it might have been a very hot encounter. I wonder how long Lucy was able to hold onto that cup of coffee?!?

The 13" Rebel figure was designed by Norman Franklin Lloyd, a professional and experienced toy sculptor and CEO of Adult Action Figures.



Although the sculpt is supposedly based on James Dean, the finished product looks more like Steve Reeves.



Not only is this figure articulated, but it is anatomically correct and comes with a choice of 3 male genitalia, depending upon your preference.

See more Gene Marshall Doll photos on my regular website.

Mattel Timeless Treasures: The Wicked Witch

Generally, vinyl dolls seem to bear a much closer resemblance to their celebrity counterparts than the porcelain versions do. However, Mattel surprisingly proved to be the exception to the rule when they released their Timeless Treasures series of Wizard of Oz dolls. Fitting into the 12" Barbie scale, it's even more amazing to see the accuracy of the sculpt. Few Wicked Witch/Margaret Hamilton sculpts look as good as this one.

Even the broom is accurate to the one used in the movie.



You can almost hear her saying, "I'll get you, my pretty!"



Compared to most other Oz dolls that typically deflate in value, these have held up fairly well on the resale market.

See more Wizard of Oz doll photos on my Oz doll web page.

Breakfast at Tiffany's: Mattel-style

Since Integrity is releasing their own line of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" dolls this September, I decided it was time to take my Mattel version out of storage and do a little pre-comparison to figure out what would stay...and what might go.

Attempting to put the Mattel head on an Integrity body, I discovered that the Mattel clothes were too short, as the Integrity body is longer than Mattel's. Besides that, the skin tones were different; Mattel has the New Jersey orange tan look, and Integrity's is a more natural caucasion skin tone.

I had never really looked too closely at all the "Breakfast at Tiffany's" outfits from Mattel; upon doing so now, I see that the tailoring, attention to detail, and quality are what you would expect from Mattel. In all fairness, Mattel has a price point to meet, and they do it very well. Does it appeal to a high-end picky doll collector? Not at all. Would it appeal to a casual collector who doesn't want to pay more than $25-35? Sure.

So here I present to you Mattel's Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly from the opening scene of "Breakfast at Tiffany's."



Despite the flaws in craftsmanship or fit, Mattel gets high marks for how close they do get in the accessories: the sunglasses, the coffee cup, the donut bag, and the purse. Amazing!



Here's a closeup of the sculpt. Although it definitely resembles Audrey, it more closely resembles what would happen if Erica Kane/Susan Lucci were crossed with Audrey Hepburn. I would hazard a guess that this sculpt was used for both dolls. I definitely prefer this sculpt over the dreaded frozen-bitch sculpt that perpetually comes out of Integrity.



The white shawl is huge though; you could wrap a third world country in it. As you can see, I cropped the photo close so that you wouldn't see the abundance of material.





With Integrity, and I am guessing that the clothes will be pretty amazing; most likely I will ditch my Mattel versions but keep the doll. The Integrity doll's face is awful though; I will either do a repaint or a Frankendolly with the Mattel head. Check back in October!

See more Audrey Hepburn/Holly Golightly doll photos on my Audrey doll web page.

We Still Love Lucy: The Operetta

In celebration of what would have been Lucille Ball's 100th Birthday last week, I am going to feature a few tribute posts to this comic legend. Today's entry features the Mattel Lucy doll based on an October 13, 1952 episode of "I Love Lucy" titled "The Operetta."

Always trying to crash her way into show business, Lucy is determined to be heard above the other (trained) singers during the number "Queen of the Gypsies."



Once you hear Lucy sing this song, you'll never get it out of your head!



Mattel has done an outstanding job of capturing her comic facial expression as well as the outfit with this 12" doll. The sculpt is out of this world.





Follow my Gene Marshall, Madra Lord, Zita Charles, Violet Waters, Trent Osborn, Poppy Parker, and other classic movie star doll updates on Twitter. See more I Love Lucy doll photos at my regular website.

Doris & Rock: Pillow Talk

Doris Day & Rock Hudson are one of the most beloved screen teams of yesteryear. The 1959 classic "Pillow Talk" is still a fresh and enjoyable romantic comedy romp. Mattel chose to honor the duo with this recently released doll set.



The positives? The Rock Sculpt is incredible; for a 12" figure, they sure did capture his face. Doris' outfit and jewelry are extremely faithful recreations of the ensemble she wore in the movie, shown in the first photo which is of the scene that Mattel followed for this set.



The negatives: c'mon Mattel; what is the deal with your doll bodies? They have released yet another static set with virtually NO poseability. The costumes are sewed tightly onto the doll bodies to give the illusion of perfect tailoring. If you want to remove them from the box to photograph and pose them, you are screwed.



I am sure this is a pricepoint decision, just as it must have been to eliminate Doris' white fur stole. Speaking of Doris...the sculpt is ok, but just doesn't quite capture the fresh-faced innocence of the real Doris Day, which is surprising when seeing how accurate Rock's sculpt is.





Overall, it's fantastic that Rock & Doris were honored by Mattel; just a little disappointing that Mattel couldn't have taken a few extra steps (for which I am sure collectors would have shelled out a few extra bucks) to make this a higher quality release.



See more Gene Marshall & friends photos at my regular website.

Lucy: LA at Last by Mattel

"I Love Lucy" is still one of my favorite TV shows, and "L.A. at Last" ranks as one of my all-time-favorite episodes.



After a particularly grueling cross-country car trip for the Ricardos and the Mertzes, the gang finally arrives in Hollywood where Ricky is to film a movie. Anxious to see all of the movie stars, Lucy goes to their "watering hole": The Brown Derby. There she encounters her ultimate dreamboat, William Holden. Tired of being stared at by too many fans, a playful Holden turns the tables and focuses his gaze on Lucy. Unable to handle the situation, Lucy promptly leaves the restaurant, but not without repercussions: she runs into a waiter who accidentally dumps a pie onto Holden’s face.



Wanting to please his wife, Ricky decides to bring his new Hollywood film-star friend home to meet her: William Holden. Lucy is terrified to leave her bedroom to meet him, so she dons an outlandish disguise: fake rhinestone glasses, a turban, and a large putty nose, which continues to change shape as Lucy itches her nose.



When Holden lights her cigarette, her nose catches on fire and Lucy's ruse is over. All ends well as Holden graciously changes the story from their previous encounter so that Ricky won't be angry with her.



This episode must be seen; words just can't describe the comedy. The facial expressions (of which Lucille Ball had a mastery), the lines, the story...it is absolute perfection.

Speaking of perfection, Mattel's version of this particular show is also perfection. Not only is the costume the most accurate one ever done, it captures the comedic beauty of Lucille Ball. My one regret is that the nose is not removeable. Other than that, they have captured just about every other detail, including the sparkles on her waistband and necktie.





Kudos to Mattel on a job well done, which is even more astounding at this small scale. And yes, the coffee cup is included!

To see more I Love Lucy doll photos, visit my regular website.