This is a collection of the dolls and outfits we have been making.
These are some of my Barbies I have had that I like very much. This is a Dred Lock Braided hair Blonde Barbie in a pair of nice blue spike higheel strapped shoes with an oversized head. The next is an African American two toned hair swing hip and head doll with jointed arms. The Skipper is a Dazzle Hair skipper with many colors in it.
I have been collecting dolls for years and giving them to children who are poor. Occassionally I run into dolls I like too much to give away to anyone, sometimes I auction them off, sometimes I keep them, sometimes if I run out of room I will go ahead and give them to charities or poor children.
When I was younger Barbie only came as a dress up fashion doll. Since many women complained she was not a good roll model she has been everything from a doctor to an astronaut. My favorite Barbie to buy and give away is Pocahontas because I think she is one of the best roll models that a young girl can have as she is designed after the Disney version of Pocahontas and I recently obtained the video to find out why little girls love her so much.
Doll are excellent for using to help tell stories, to teach reading and writing as often they have books and movies to accompany them like Pocahontas. I have bought books about Pocahontas, and comic books to help Kyla learn to reada and write.
Most Barbies are durable enough for a young girl to play with and small enough she can carry her around with her for entertainment. Only the smallest of young children tend to find a way to destroy her such as rip off heads and chew off feet. I would not recommend her for any child under three as they may destroy her.
As a child I hated Barbie as I could not relate to her as she seemed to be tall slender and blonde. As I was short red haired and freckle faced I preferred Midge. The modern Barbies have become very beautiful and can be found in almost any character or person one likes from television to movies. But get her quick when that particular movie star is popular because she may be difficult to find or locate when that movie becomes less well known.
Dolls like Pocahontas are still around to be found at garage sales, charities and auctions online as she was incredibly popular and sold very well to my good luck because I was away overseas in the military.
Right now I have three I am taking to Mexico for a young rain forest Indian girl with a Pocahontas DVD in spanish that is more cartoon in nature which also comes with an Anastasia in Spanish as I think Pocahontas is more designed for an older girl. Though I think the Disney movie is incredible I intend to send it in Spanish to Anna Gabrielle when she is a bit older.
These are some of my current Barbies I have run out of room for that I hate to give to the destroy a toy poor children who are rough and tumble but as they are Indians I gave them Pocahontas this Christmas even though a few had their heads torn off all ready.
This is categorically what was called Magic Skin. A group of dolls were made for awhile with the intent fotr the dolls to feel more like they had real skin. Some of this strategy exists today in the Ball Jointed dolls that are larger sized. Some were made with hard plastic covered by a softer plastic covering and some were made with a very soft rubber like plastic or vinyl body. This doll is very interesting to touch and hold. She may be the predecessor to the idea for creating a water filled baby doll such that this doll felt more realistic to little girls as she is somewhat hollow inside the soft plastic body. She drinks and wets and is life sized at 20". I am sure she can bathe with a young girl but it may be rough on the plastic if not properly cared for cleaned and occassionally conditioned with some sort of plastic treatment like armorall. I have treated this one with armorall as she was stored for awhile and her plastic was slightly discolored. The treatment helped restore her original color as it was slightly faded where it had been exposed and not under the outfit. So I am assuming some color loss was caused by the drying out of the plastic slightly. She is a 1973 doll in excellent condition. Often dolls even stored in boxes do not survive as well as the places where they are stored are not climate controlled and the doll may be exposed to excessive heat, dryness or humidity to get some mold damage. This doll was surprisingly in very excellent condition when I found her. I intended to take her to Mexico but as I ran out of room and like her too much to give her away to just any child I have put her up for auction. The dolls that do not go up for auction will go with me and I will just have to take out some clothing from my second suitcase intended for clothing to fit them in as poor children cherish dolls in Mexico enough to not let them be destroyed unlike many of the children I give toys to locally who are poor who often have a supply of new and used dolls from charitable persons and sources like me such that they take for granted if they leave one outside to be destroyed in the elements another will turn up. So those days are over for me as one baby doll that was mine I spent a long time redoing and kept for myself awhile I found in the yard ruined in the rain hurt my heart. So they get them from time to time and I sell them give them to other charities or persons who need them or send them to Mexico to the very poor Rain Forest Indian children there who often do not even have floors in their houses much less a doll. We take for granted all that we have until we learn of other places who have not been so fortunate to live in a country that promotes population control. A woman with 7 to 20 children has a very hard life in a poor country like Mexico.
