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Friday, March 6, 2009

Skipper - Barbie's Sister.


The First Skipper Doll
Skipper Roberts was introduced by Mattel in 1964. She was made to be a little girl, about 10 years old. She was 9.25'' tall, had blues eyes, long hair (Blonde, brunette or redheaded) with bangs, flat chested, straight legs with no bend at the knees. She was made of soft vinyl for the head and hard vinyl for the body. She's referred today, by collectors, as "Straight Leg Skipper".







The Commercial



In 1965 was released a Skipper doll with bendable legs.



As the 1965 Skipper Doll, the 1968 Doll also came in swimsuits with nautical stripes to match her name. The first Twist N' Turn Skipper doll had a mobile waist that swerved and rooted eyelashes.






The Twist N' Turn version of Skipper had a new hairstyle in 1969 with two sausage ringlets.



The 1970 Skipper Doll had very flexible body. The Doll elbows and knees could bend, as well as her wrists and ankles, which had swivel joints. Living Skipper dolls came in pale blond and strawberry blond hair.




In 1971 the Malibu Skipper Doll was released.


As a second issue was released in 1973/1974



In 1975 Growing Up Skipper™ was released. The gimmick of the doll, which led to some controversy, was that if Skipper's arm was rotated, the doll would become an inch taller and small breasts would appear on her rubber torso.



In 1979 Skipper's® entire appearance changed. She was advertised as "Super Teen Skipper", She had a new body mold which included small permanent breasts, and a different head mold that made her look slightly older


In 1985, Hot Stuff Skipper™ was released, which had a new head mold that included the addition of dimples and a longer face




Skipper changed again in 1988 with the release of Teen Fun Skipper. Her new body mold was taller and more graceful. Her waist was more flexible and her breasts were slightly bigger. Her eyes were also enlarged, giving her a cartoon-like look. At this stage she appeared to be somewhere between 12 and 15 years old. Later, Skipper had a new head mold with smaller eyes in a Pizza Party line. Many collectors believe that the 'Pizza Party' head mold was the most popular, if not the prettiest, version of Skipper.





Finally, in 1997 she was a teen.She again had a new body mold and was now almost as tall as her sister Barbie. This was mostly because of her legs, which were now long and lanky. Most notable of all, however, was Skipper's new face mold. She no longer looked like a child, but more like a girl on the brink of becoming a woman, appearing to be about 16 years of age. Teen Fun Skipper, with what some collectors refer to as the "Big Eye" head mold.






Skipper Doll was discontinued in 2003.



One of the last ones released.

Skipper around the World
Just a few of so many...
Japanese Skipper Doll



German Skipper Doll



Europe Skipper Doll



Brazilian Skipper Doll

4 comments:

  1. I've got a complete list of all the Barbies and Skippers made up through 1999 at
    http://www.skippercollector.blogspot.com/
    It took me months to compile them.
    I also have a Twitter page that is mostly about Skipper at
    http://twitter.com/skippercollecto

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  2. they actually have a new skipper doll for the glamour camper now. She looks about 16 or 15. Serious change compared to 1964. o_0

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  3. Well, this is such a treat to see! Thank you for posting the pretty retro Skippers!

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    1. Sure :-), I actually have been try to get info from other - Barbie doll's family - dolls as well, but they are very time consumer.
      Well,thanks for stopping by :-)

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