ABC Wednesday: "K" Is For...

KAYLA!!!

I've written before about my doll collecting mania, and also about my travel doll. Kayla is a member of the Barbie family and as she's a rather tiny doll (about 3 inches tall), she fits nicely inside a purse or a pocket or a suitcase – so she's perfect for taking along on excursions. She never changes outfits, so she acquires a sort of "Where's Waldo" effect in all her photos. But she's game for just about anything. She's been to the beach and the mountains, and to big cities like New York and Chicago. Since she came to live with me, she's never been out of the USA; although I suspect she originated in China or Japan. Generally, she lives in a display case in our dining room, but she does love an occasional outdoor romp. Here she is at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, enjoying some chips and salsa on a sidewalk table.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

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Cross-posted @ Joysweb.

Doll of the Week

Make that Dolls, plural. And these aren't dolls from my personal collection. At least, not yet. But I've really got to have them.


These are the new "Mad Men" Barbies and Kens. From the left, the characters are Joan Holloway, Roger Sterling, Don Draper and Betty Draper. It's interesting (and a little disorienting) that both Joan and Betty have the same measurements. Shouldn't Joan be a little more generously endowed?

The show and Barbie seem like a perfect match. After all, Barbie was introduced in March 1959, and the show's first episode is set in March 1960. And many pundits have pointed out Betty Draper's similarity to the B doll. Apparently, the choice of characters to represent created a bit of controversy, though. The Times article said:

That two dolls [Joan and Roger] represent a relationship outside wedlock, and Don Draper’s propensity for adultery, may be firsts for the Barbie world since the brand’s introduction five decades ago. But for the sake of the Barbie image, her immersion in the “Mad Men” era will go only so far: The dolls come with period accessories like hats, overcoats, pearls and padded undergarments, but no cigarettes, ashtrays, martini glasses or cocktail shakers.

Darn! I would have loved a teensy martini set. But I'm really interested in those padded undergarments, too!

This photo is from the New York Times article about the dolls. As I said, I don't have my own dolls yet. They don't go on sale until June or July, and they're listed at seventy-five bucks each. A little expensive, I guess, but I'm definitely putting them on my wish list.

Cross-posted on Joysweb.

Miss B Makes a Call

That should probably be: Miss B and Her Shadow Make a Call. OK, for all you collectors out there, this is the Silkstone Barbie from the Continental Gift Set, wearing a Fashion Avenue outfit called Front Row at the Spring Show (2001; No. 25702-52878). And I'm not sure if this is the cell phone that came with the outfit, or one from a Teen Skipper set. I know for most normal folks, that must sound like gibberish, but real Barbie enthusiasts will be able to decipher it. Doll collectors are a strange lot.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)




Shadow Shot Sunday is a weekly photo meme hosted by Hey Harriet. To see many, many more shadow shots or to contribute some yourself, head on over to her blog.

Dreaming of a Pink Christmas

It's been a few years since I got a doll for Christmas. I've collected dolls for many years now, but lately I really haven't been actively collecting. Even so, I do like to add a new girl occasionally. And this year, one of the new Silkstone Barbies caught my eye. Called "Preferably Pink," and designed by Robert Best, she actually arrived a little early for Christmas, back in November.

Pretty, isn't she?

And very pink, too. Now I don’t dislike the color pink, but I'm not really a huge fan, either. Probably the result of all those pink party dresses my mother made me wear, before I got old enough to fight back. However, when I was color typed back in the '80s (remember that?), pink and yellow turned out to be my "best colors." So maybe mother knew best, after all.


But in spite of all that pink, I was attracted to this particular doll mainly because of the outfit she's wearing. Her Chanel design suit reminds me so much of a similar suit I had as a teen. It was my Christmas outfit in 196--. Well, let's just say one year when I was a very young Boomer and the world was a younger and pinker place. Here's a shot of me in the outfit. You'll just have to trust me when I say it was pink, too – although a much lighter pink than Barbie's. Don't look like I'm very happy about having my picture taken, do I?

The ornaments on the tree were pink, too, as I recall. And the tree was white ("flocked"), and I think it belonged to my aunt. One of my other aunts had a silver aluminum tree that year. Well, as a family, we were nothing if not thoroughly modern.

(Cross-posted at Joysweb.)