Archive for March, 2012

They have finally decided to do this! Mattel announced yesterday via their Facebook page that next year they’ll release a bald Barbie friend with wigs, scarfs and other wonderfull accesories. Their official statement is below:

Play is vital for children, especially during difficult times. We are pleased to share with our community that next year we will be producing a fashion doll, that will be a friend of Barbie, which will include wigs, hats, scarves and other fashion accessories to provide girls with a traditional fashion play experience. For those girls who choose, the wigs and head coverings can be interchanged or completely removed. We will work with our longstanding partner, the Children’s Hospital Association, to donate and distribute the dolls exclusively to children’s hospitals directly reaching girls who are most affected by hair loss. A limited number of dolls and monetary donations will also be made to CureSearch for Children’s Cancer and the National Alopecia Areata Foundation.

Through a thoughtful approach, we made the decision not to sell these dolls at retail stores, but rather get the dolls directly into the hands of children who can most benefit from the unique play experience, demonstrating Mattel’s ongoing commitment to encourage play as a respite for children in the hospital and to bring joy to children who need it most. We appreciate the conversation around this issue, and are interested to hear what you think!

Mattel is definitely doing the right thing, but don’t worry if you won’t be able to buy one. You can create your own by removing a Barbie’s hair and using Mattel wigs that have been produced for other dolls. I purchased this Tarina Tarantino Barbie bald from someone who was going to re-root her. I like her this way. She also has wigs for when she’d like to sport a new look. Spa Retreat Silkstone is bald and the Fashion Queen Barbie and repro are bald. Be creative and have fun, that’s always been what Barbie is about and I’m glad to hear that little girls going through hair loss will have a Barbie that looks like them.

Kudos Mattel!! I will definetly buy this doll.

Nik and Marie are hard at work! If you follow them on Facebook you have already seen a lot of behind the scenes photos of the new doll releases so here are the final images of this weeks dolls. My favourites are Miss Brazil, Miss Massachusetts and Miss Wyoming.

Waiting for Miss Romania 2012.

Yesterday i got together with two of my collector friends, Doru and Silvia. I really wanted to see Silvia’s new Fashionistas 2012 that came in a special package with two dresses and a box that looks like a wardrobe and can be used to store the doll. I saw these special packages some time ago and I really wanted to get them because I just love special packages and special editions. I also really love this wave. I want all the dolls inclusidng Ken and I hope I can get them all soon.

I’ve only seen the two Barbies, Nickki and Raquelle with the special package. The promo pic is below.

Silvia got Nickki and the two Barbies. The one with the closed mouth is just stunning. I must get two of those so I can debox one of them. Just amazing! For now I got one of the boxes and two of the dresses and tonight or tomorow I’ll post pictures with two of my Fleur dolls and one of them is dressed in the white top and pink bottom dress that you see in the pictures. I was so glad it fit her but we’ll talk about that later. Now just enjoy the pictures.

Doll Attic has just announced they are taking preorders for this amazing Gala Ball Gown Barbie 2012. Check out the HQ image below. She’s simply stunning. I must definetly get her.

My dear, dear friend Sandra has just started blogging again and I couldn’t be more happy! She’s an amazing person and a GREAT collector so be sure to follow her blog and read her posts.

Click on the image to go to her blog.

This is one convention I MUST attend. My husband has promised me that he’ll do everything possible so that we can go next year to New Orleans to attend the 2013 Barbie Convention. I can’t wait to meet Sandra, Nik and Marie and all the other amazing collectors I’ve met online. Let’s just hope my dreams will come true.

The logo of the new convention has just been uploaded on the official Yahoo Group dedicated to the Barbie Conventions.

I love the theme! Can’t wait to see what great convention dolls and fashions will be created for this event. For more info be sure to join the group. Some important details are posted below.

Convention dates are August 7-10. 2013.

Room Rates are $149 plus taxes per night for up to 4 people in the room.
1 bedroom suites are available for $349 plus taxes per night.

Registration Fee Structure:
Green $350 July 14 – Aug 31, 2012
Printed b & w $365 July 14 – Aug 31, 2012
Green only $400 Sept 1, 2012 to Jan 31, 2013
Green only $425 Feb 1 to Aug 7, 2013

MUCH more information will be available in July, 2012.

Great news for all the Barbie collectors via The Doll Cafe forum. There has been another designer doll chat and here’s what has been revealed:

- The Wal-Mart exclusive USA DOTW will be Hawaiian. Hawaii has a closed mouth. There will also be a new Brazilian DOTW Barbie. (When will Mattel do a Romanian DOTW doll?)
- “Empress of the Aliens” is coming in June, preview in April.. She has a beautiful print and lots of jewelry and a Goddess face. (I must get this one! Really loving Linda’s dolls)
- There might be more Twilight dolls. (Yahn…)
- There will be a “gothy” Halloween doll this year. (Collector Monster High inspired doll? )
- There will be two silkstone Francies in 2012 – an AA and a platinum-haired no bangs with a cat. Kitty Francie will be available in August. (OMG must have them!)
- The Hunger Games doll will be sneaked very soon. More Hunger Games dolls might come depending on how well the film does. (Curious but not very interested)
- There will be a Mackie doll in 2012. (Yey for that!)
- The next Basics-like concept for 2013 may be more fashion-based. If the replacement for the Basics is given the green light, it should be released in Spring 2013.(OMG!!)
- There may be a Midge 50th anniversary doll in 2013. (Interesting)
- Regarding repros, it seems 1600 fashions, Japan exclusives, and Talking Barbie are on the table. (I’m not a repro fan but I’ll be getting those.)
- There will be more new DOTW countries, and an unrelated mention of global fashion. And designer dolls.

Wow! How about this? Lots of interesting dolls. Can’t wait to see the new Basics like line esp if it’s fashion related.

I’m not a JamieShow collector, but I thought it might be interesting to let you know that the first ever JamieShow convention is taking place on September 28th-30th in Canandaigua, NY.

Cost per Guest: $475.00 More info HERE. I can’t wait to see the convention dolls. Have I told you how MUCH I love convention dolls?

Ok, so it’s almost 7 oçlock in the morning and I couldn’t get much sleep tonight. I woke up at 6 and sat down at the computer to change the look of this blog. I’ve been actually thinking about moving my blog to Blogspot as most of the doll and Barbie blogs are hosted there. I’m so mad at Google for making Google Friend only available on blogs hosted on Blogger/Blogspot! It made thinks so much easier.

But anyway, here’s the new look. I got inspired by Robert Best‘s amazing drawing s and I just could pass the opportunity to do a minimalistic and bright look with the sketch for the upcoming Silkstone that you saw in Sandra’s amazing pictures from Studio P.H. 8442! What do you think of the new look?

Don’t forget that if you want to follow this blog you can do it by joining us on Google +, like our Facebook page, following us on Twitter or adding our feed to your feed reader. You can find all the buttons in the two sidebars.

Now off to sleep again. I need at least one hour more.

This I have to admit is the craziest rumor about a Barbie I’ve ever heard! Rumorfix.com is reporting that RHOBH star Kyle Richards told the people at a book signing in Palm Springs this Saturday that there are talks about a Real Housewife Barbie. Can this be real? I mean maybe I understand why Mattel would think about doing Kardashian Barbies as the girls are were very popular and they are good looking, but RHOBH dolls? Why? They are not even that popular outside the US, they are not even that interesting and I hardly think that doll collectors will be interested in them. I suppose the dolls will not be playline because then we’ll have another scandal.

I’m going to follow this rumor and see if it’s true but I want to know your opinion: yey or nay?