Still Cleaning Up and One More New Girl

I've been working very hard cleaning up the galleries for the grand opening. Looking through the various galleries and deleting many pictures also brought back some memories. The Mattel playline has really changed in recent years. It seems like the playline is really trying to separate itself from the collector line with the body changes and head mold and head size constantly changing. But then again, Mattel adds Model Muse dolls to playline with the Top Model collection. It's hard to know what direction Mattel will go in next.

On that note, there is always Ebay and I could always go back and buy dolls I missed out on! Speaking of new dolls, today I ordered the AA Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader. I'm really eager to get her. She's the last one I need from the set. I haven't de-boxed the Blonde or the Hispanic doll but I'm sure as soon as I receive the last one I'll have a little de-boxing party . . .

Here is another doll I worked on last weekend. With the Barbie Collector $12.99 sale I picked up two extra AA Birthstones. One of them was Opal. I thought she would perfectly match the Birthstone Opal from the last collection. I'm quite fond of this doll because she was the only one with this skin-tone in the entire collection. In addition, very few Hispanic or African American dolls are made with the Mackie mold and this is one of them. In addition, my birthstone is Opal. I'm quite pleased with the way she turned out.

So Many Memories

One of the things that so many doll collectors share are the memories that a special doll brings. The 1969 TNT Barbie 1160 is one of those dolls for me.

Once I started collecting dolls again I always kept the special memories I had of my childhood dolls very close. This TNT Barbie was one of my first dolls. I always remember having this doll and taking her everywhere. I mean everywhere. She was really my best friend. She even travelled with me to South America when I was eight years old. She brought me a lot of comfort!

I recently obtained this doll again. I had seen many of her in doll shows and even on ebay but I could never find one with the right look. It's hard to find one with perfect hair. Actually, that doesn't really matter to me. I just can't tell you the feeling I had when I first held her. She was a little dirty and even smelled a tiny bit of mildew. That's ok. I gently washed her hair, her arms and legs and even her swimsuit. I made her mine again. It's like we were never apart. I am holding those memories close at this time. I have a lot more friends now and so many more memories, but they will never replace the thoughts and emotions of my childhood "best friend."