Vintage Doll Revolution

In the late 80's, Barbie was nothing more to me than a beautiful doll with her long hair, big eyes and wide smile. As a child, that was enough to move my imagination at play.  When I became a doll collector I had discovered her many faces, from her side-glances, to her toothy grins and her more reserved closed-mouth smiles.  There was so much more to this iconic doll and it was only in the past year or two that I've really come to appreciate her vintage self that started the doll revolution.

I began collecting silkstone Barbie dolls just two years ago, knowing it was fashioned after the no.1 Barbie face mold.  But that was the end of my interest for its history.  I loved the dolls because they were beautiful, chic and of high quality.  Like potato chips, I couldn't just have one.  However, since Barbie's 50th mark in the toy industry last year was a great celebration of her incarnations throughout the decades, I was suddenly more inclined to explore her beginnings.  The originals were too risky and pricey to purchase and dissect, for a collector like myself who lacked the knowledge for what's real and what's fake so I turned to the vintage reproduction Barbies.  Apparently, the face mold was just one thing with reproducing the originals.  There were also the make-up colors and shades, hair styles, hair lines, body and hand sculpts, etc.  To put it mildly, I was blown away by how much I didn't know and how much there was to this 11.5" of plastic!  I was in love with the silkstone doll collection for its modern take on vintage.  Nevertheless, a silkstone doll was merely a by-product of that, which is vintage Barbie.  And the reproductions, though not always as true to the originals as some doll purists would criticize, were screaming to be acknowledged for their historical standpoint.  I take my hat off to that!

Here is a look at a silkstone doll and a vintage reproduction: 50th Anniversary Debut Barbie and 1964 Swirl Ponytail Barbie.