It’s December already, and this is the month I enjoy
featuring one of Barbie’s fabulous gift sets.
In 1963, #861 Barbie Mix ‘n Match gift set was released, and retailed
for $10.00. Along with a beautiful
Bubble Cut Barbie doll in her red one-piece swim-suit, the set included many of
the early Pak items, which allowed Barbie to make twenty-six different
outfits.
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| Bubblecut Barbie |
Pak
items were first introduced in 1962 for Barbie and Ken. They were
intended to be more affordable clothing, which were usually single items such
as a dress, sweater, or skirt. Others were sets of several pairs of
shoes, or a trio of purses. These Pak items didn’t have all the
additional accessories that were included in Barbie’s beautiful ensemble
series. Pak items retailed for 80¢, $1.00, or $1.20, depending on which item
was purchased.
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| 1962 Pak Items Introduced (Photographed from Mattel Catalog) |
The Mix ‘n Match gift
set contains mostly Pak items, but there are a few nice accessories from
Barbie’s ensembles as well. The set includes a pink gathered skirt, pink
cardigan, pink square neck sweater, white clutch purse, white short gloves,
pink open toe heels, white sunglasses with blue lenses, orange scoop neck
playsuit, orange wide belt, orange open toe heels, blue panties, blue bra,
orange slacks, orange cotton slim sheath skirt, white shorts, red and white tee
shirt, black and white gathered skirt, white open toe heels, white telephone,
pearl graduated necklace, pearl bracelet, and pearl post earrings. It came with
the Barbie and Ken fashion booklet as well as Barbie's black wire stand.
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| The belt shown should be orange, not red. Missing in picture: 1 pink open toe shoe |
This set has also been
seen without the pink gathered skirt, which was replaced with the orange
gathered skirt. With this variation, the orange sheath skirt, was replaced with the pink
sheath skirt. Also some sets have a black telephone rather than a
white one.
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| The set has been found with this variation in skirt colors. |
This
set has the same name as the 1960 and 1962 Barbie Mix ‘n Match Gift Set, but
with a different stock number. The earlier sets were marked #857, and the
contents were completely different from the 1963 set. The 1960 and 1962
sets featured a ponytail Barbie, along with partial clothing items from several
of the 900 series fashion ensembles.
All
the Barbie gift sets are truly amazing, and maybe this year you’ll find a
vintage gift set all wrapped up under your Christmas tree!
Merry Christmas, and Happy Hunting!
