1990s onward

We’re starting with one I was actually tempted to put in the 1980s…

Anyone else out there who’s my age probably doesn’t need me to tell them I’ve named this doll “Darla.”

For those who do need me to tell them that, let me explain:  this doll’s costume is almost identical to one worn by the henchwoman (and fashion model) Darla in 1981’s The Great Muppet Caper.  I really, really wanted to find a photograph of the actress in the dress, or at least a convenient YouTube clip showing the scene in question, but none of the clips seemed to be the right scene (even though it’s really funny, with Diana Rigg mocking three high fashion dresses (which her character had designed)) and I couldn’t find any photos of it, either.  (Irritatingly, there were lots of photos and clips from later in the scene, after the three henchmodels left and Miss Piggy came in.  Which, I suppose, is not surprising, now that I think about it.)

Anyway, Darla here is a CED doll, designed by Laura Meisner and Doug James, and was probably released sometime between 2003 and 2006.  Officially, her name is Colin Elia Dehan, and she’s supposed to be an African-American of Nigerian heritage, but she’s totally Darla, which makes her African-English.  (Um, probably.  Carla, Marla and Darla didn’t have much in the way of dialog, so maybe they’re not English?  (I mean, nationality didn’t seem to mean much in that movie; Charles Grodin didn’t put on an English accent, despite playing Diana Rigg’s brother.))

Petite Barbie (and Skipper (and others))

So, in her report on the new Barbie body types, aikifox85 mentioned the idea of comparing Petite Barbie to Skipper, and once that idea was in my head, I couldn’t shake it; I had to do it.  While I was at it, I added a few other Barbie-family dolls to the mix.

Before I get on with the post, though, let me apologize for the poor quality of the photos.  I wanted to get this post up before tomorrow (I’ll explain my reasons in another post later tonight) so I had to take these pictures last night by artificial light.  And in order to make the large number of dolls stand up easily without messing around with a bunch of stands that wouldn’t fit very well, I decided to lean them against a pillow underneath the comforter on my bed.  So it’s even more amateurish than my usual photography.

Meet Petite Barbie.  I don’t normally name my Barbies (I guess they’re all named Barbie?) but in the cases of Petite and Curvy, I’ve been giving them names and a little bit of background.  So, my Petite is named Esperanza la Mer, and she’s from Casablanca.  And I hate the earrings she came with, because they’re huge and clunky and don’t even match her dress, but Mattel made them non-removable, unlike the Barbie earrings of my childhood.  (Which, admittedly, I frequently lost, which I suppose is the reason these are non-removable.)  This morning, I gave up and cut them off.  (I’ll have to post a picture of her at some point in her new, earring-free state.  Actually, I should find some better earrings to put in the holes.  No, better still, I should make some.)

Anyway, comparison time!

I wanted to put a traditional Barbie body (the body she had from 1966 until the late 1990s/early 2000s) in the mix for comparison’s sake, and I picked the “My Favorite Barbie” line’s “Black Barbie”, a reproduction of a 1980 doll.  (A reproduction that I got two of, btw, one to leave in box and this one that I opened.  I got two for two reasons:  one, this is my favorite Barbie face mold, and two, because I wanted to change her into her wonderfully disco second outfit.)  Beside her is Chelsie of the Generation Girl line.  (And no, I would not remember her name if I hadn’t found one of the Generation Girl booklets in the basement yesterday, still in the protective plastic bag so it wasn’t musty and moldy and disgusting.)  Moving past Chelsie, we have Jazzy, the central doll of a short-lived side-line.  On Jazzy’s other side is a reproduction Francie.  (Yeah, I got two of her as well.)  Then, of course, there’s Petite Barbie, followed by Teen Courtney, one of the friends of Teen Skipper.  Beyond Courtney is a (fairly) recent Skipper from the brief return of the Teen Skipper face.  (Not sure how brief; I only have two of them, and they were both actually the same doll.  Maybe I missed the start of her return, or maybe I passed on some later ones.  Or maybe they only did one.  I’m not sure.)  And on the far end we have the current Skipper.