Tarina Tarantino in a Wig!

I bought a nude Tarina Tarantino doll from one of the members of the forum. She also was ready to re-root so instead I decided to put a brunette wig on her. She is wearing a Fashion Fever outfit from 2008.

Fabulous Barbie Weekend

This weekend the Barbie Runway Fashion Show took place featuring 50 designers modeling outfits created especially for the show. There were several full size Barbie outfits. I'm sure you will recognize them. You can view the whole show here! Here is one of my favorite outfits. I'm sorry, but I don't know the designer of this one. See more pictures here.

ASM Magazine has pictures from Mattel's Toy Fair display for your viewing pleasure. They feature the playline dolls first, then there are photographs of classic Barbies. The Collector Line follows on the last page. Finally, there are some beautiful photos on Flickr.

Have a wonderful Barbie Week!

Miss Shanghai's Friend

Oh, Mattel, why does this dolly not have a name? She is so cute, and yet she is only Shanghai Barbie's friend. Well, this friend is much more appealing to me than Miss Shanghai. I'm not sure if I'm getting a true picture of a girl in Shanghai but her presentation and accessories are almost like playline plus. These sets are somewhat reminiscent of the Fashion Week giftsets from 2005. I wish Mattel would produce more sets like this with a variety of dolls and accessories. Maybe it's a sign of things to come?

Fashion Fever Dolls on Sale at Target

The latest wave of Fashion Fever dolls are on sale at Target for approximately $7.59. The sale lasts until September 8th so you have plenty of time to stock up on this new wave at a great price. Here is the new Rocker Barbie. The pictures are courtesy of souverignofsilence. This doll has been found with and without the socks! She has been the most limited so far.

Fashion Fever Ken Winter Gear

This is the newest Fashion Fever Ken. He is part of a "Winter" set with Summer, Teresa and Barbie. I have not seen any of the other dolls in the Winter set so far. I picked up this Ken at Target.

Special Occasions Collection Barbie

While at Tuesday Morning I picked up this Barbie. The back of the box reads, "Barbie doll and friends love to dress up and celebrate special occasions," so I call Barbie and the other dolls in party dresses the Special Occasions collection. I also got her for 7.99 which is really great considering she is a brand new Fashion Fever doll.

Here is a picture of the entire collection that also includes Summer and Teresa.

New Finds This Month!

A lot of new dolls are starting to appear on store shelves. This month we will feature new dolls and new finds. I managed to find some of the new Fashion Fever dolls myself. They are slowly appearing in stores. So far the Rocker Barbie has been hardest to find. She seems to be available only at Tuesday Morning so far. Here is the Rocker Nikki doll I found at Tuesday Morning for 7.99. It's great to buy new dolls on sale!

The 2009 Barbie Convention Is Sold Out

For once I did not procrastinate. I had the strong feeling this convention would sell out early. I'm proud of myself that I actually sent in the form within a few days of it going online. I'm also proud of myself for booking the hotel arrangements as soon as they were posted. Even the hotel rooms at the convention rate are almost sold out. I have the feeling this is going to be a very grand affair. I am looking forward to meeting some online friends for the first time and seeing some old friends again. I just can't imagine what the convention doll is going to be like. There are so many possibilities!

It looks like there is a mini Fashion Fever picture theme here so I will share this very beautiful picture of the new Fashion Fever Raquelle. She is courtesy of forum member Mary Kathryn.

Here's Summer for your Mid-Summer

Here is a picture of the new Fashion Fever Summer from the current wave. Pink and shine are the themes here. I have yet to see any of these new Fashion Fevers in person but luckily forum members have found them and posted some great pictures! This picture of Summer is courtesy of Hunca.

New Fashion Fever Dolls

Some members of the forum are finding the new wave of Fashion Fever dolls. Typically, these dolls are released in Spring and Fall but it looks like this wave is slowly arriving in stores now. They have been spotted at Walmart, Target, and Tuesday morning for about $7.99. You can find them at some Kohl's stores but they are listed at $12.99! Ouch! Kohl's does have a 50% off toys sale in early October. Maybe I will just wait until then to pick up some of these dolls.

Here is a picture of the new Teresa still in her box. This picture is courtesy of forum member handsomeddie.

Amazing Tarina Tarantino Dolls for Charity

I recently read about 6 beautiful Tarina Tarantino one of a kind Barbie dolls that will be auctioned for the charity Clothes Off Our Back. The auctions include a customized Collector Series Tarina Tarantino Barbie Doll, customized Barbie® cars and Tarina Taranino jewelry. You can view all the auctions here. I really love their names. Here is a list: Sparkling Star Barbie, Candy Cameo Barbie, Glam Rock Barbie, Popstar Barbie, Peace, Love, and Sparkle Barbie, and Hippie Princess Barbie. I think my favorite one is the Glam Rock Barbie. Well, it's really hard to pick a favorite! As you can see, each doll has her own distinct hair style and includes differently styled customized jewelry and a cute car or scooter to match! I wish the opening bids weren't so high, but it's for charity so it's worth it. Whoever wins these dolls is going to have a real steffie treasure!

In honor of these beautiful charity dolls, here is my newest Steffie. She is a Canadian hollow body, straight leg doll. She came dressed in varying outfits and is from the late 70s to early 80s. She is dressed here in a Fashion Fever Fashion from a Wave A Barbie.

Gold Label Dolls at TRU

It's so nice to be able to pick out the dolls that you want directly in the store. I was at my local Toys R Us and noticed that they had Hello Kitty Apple Tree and Cha Cha Dance Off from Grease right on the shelf. I already had Hello Kitty and probably would have bought Cha Cha, but I held off. I also saw the Holiday 2008 doll. It's nice to see these collector dolls on the shelf and be able to pick out the best one. Mattel recently announced that a select number of Toys R Us stores in the U.S. will carry Gold Label Barbie dolls. The dolls will be displayed in beautiful in-store cases. There are none in my area but if I take a little drive I can visit one of these stores.

Today's close-up is another one of my favorite Fashion Fever dolls from Wave A. She is Teresa with the hat and white washed jeans. She has the super cute classic Teresa face. I think you can still find this girl on Ebay for a reasonable price.

Still De-boxing Dolls!

Today I spent several hours de-boxing the last of my Fashion Fever tubed dolls. These were the dolls from Wave U and Wave V. There are still a few I'm going to keep in the tubes like the very first FF Barbie, the Tokyo Barbies and some of my foreign exclusives like the Girls Aloud set. I was missing the Barbie face molds and styles and workmanship of some of these dolls. I also decided I could part with some of my duplicates. These include Modern Trends Lea and Tia and a few more. I'll post an ebay link once I list these dolls.

I recently purchased one of those photo studios from ebay. It's a box with different color backgrounds and lights. Actually I'm still getting used to using it. I'm not sure that there is enough light for my dolls. I ended up still using the flash for my pictures. I'm not exactly sure I like the results. Here is a close-up of Teresa from Wave U that I took using the studio.

AKA Barbie Doll

A special Barbie doll will be released to commemorate the oldest black sorority. She is named the AKA Centennial Barbie, the first Barbie based on any sorority. You can read more about her here. She will be available to purchase in August at the Barbie Collector website. She is a model muse doll. Her dress is based on the sorority's colors.

Today's close-up is Fashion Fever Kira. I love this doll and her facial screening. Unfortunately she is the only Kira doll produced in the Fashion Fever line.

New Fashion Fever Outfits

I found four cute new Fashion Fever outfits at Walmart today. The packaging is the smaller single outfit packaging from the last wave. This cute picture is courtesy of Forum member Cyano. I will post some pictures of the actual packaging in the gallery soon.

Back to Business!

Thanks to all the members that have returned to the forum. I still have to email several more people but I left my flash drive at work and don't have access to the email list for now. I hope to alert everyone by email soon of the forum opening.

I got some of the dolls I ordered today. Kate Spade is so incredible. I just can't bring myself to de-box her for now. I've admired her for so long that it's strange to actually have her in my hands. She was worth every penny. I also stopped by Walmart to pick up the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader AA doll. I really like her deep chocolate skin tone. Very nice contrast to her white outfit. I'll have to de-box all three girls soon for a photo shoot.

Bill Greening, Barbie Collector line designer, reported on the BC.com BB that the Vidal Sassoon Barbies were very much under wraps. They were not part of the collector design team but were designed by a Fashion Fever designer! Mattel is still working out plans for the 09 collection and dolls of this type will definitely be considered. Count me in! I'll take two of each please!

Sale Alert: Toys R Us in the US has all their Barbies marked down. Click here for the playline dolls and here for the Collector Dolls. I cancelled my Hello Kitty Apple Tree pre-order and picked one up at the sale price. I also ordered E! Live on the Red Carpet, The Interview, and Tout De Suite. The new Silkstone Preferably Pink Barbie Doll is on sale but I really don't need another blond girl in a suit so even though she's on sale I'm passing. There are many other bargains like the Dolls of the World and Vintage Repros. Check them out!

Work Behind the Scenes Continues

I'm still working hard for the grand opening of The Doll Cafe. I finished reorganizing the gallery and have begun posting some new pictures. Currently I am re-doing the forum. This is proving to be more challenging. Finding just the right colors and layout will take a little time. I've been going through the posts, editing some and moving others. I hope that will only take one more day.

I took a little time to review some of the pictures I took this weekend. This poor Shakira was stuck in a box with no clothes on. I decided to de-box this Fashion Fever outfit from early 2007. I didn't think it would fit because it was so tiny but I think it looks just great. This set also comes with a jeans vest but I decided it would not look that great. More pictures here. She is such a pretty doll. Forum member Zoila commented to me that she looks like Hard Rock Cafe Barbie. I think she's right. I had forgotten that I took some pictures of them together. Here is one of them.