Showing posts with label Department Store Special. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Department Store Special. Show all posts

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Barbie of the Month: Walking Jamie

In 1970 Sears released the exclusive #1132 Walking Jamie doll.  She was never available in the Mattel Catalog.
 



Jamie came with a choice of three hair colors; blonde, brunette and titian, which was styled in a shoulder length flip.  She had brown eyes and rooted eyelashes.  On Jamie’s back she had a button.  When pressed, her legs would move, her arms would swing, and her head world turn as she walked. 


Button on Jamie's back

 


 
Jamie is marked: ©1967 Mattel, Inc./U.S. Patented/ Pat' d Canada 1967/Other Pat's Pend/Japan
 
Original Box

In her original box, she was dressed in a yellow, pink and orange knit mini dress, with a matching belt, yellow panties, and orange calf length boots.  A sheer pink nylon head scarf tied in her hair completed the outfit.  There was a clear plastic X stand as well as a fashion booklet.  She originally retailed for $4.97 in the Sears catalog.
 
 

Walking Jamie



Jamie also had two gift sets which included a Jamie doll.
The first was #1584 Jamie Furry Friends Gift Set (1970-71) which retailed for 8.99 in 1970 and $7.99 in 1971.  The stand-alone Jamie doll was reduced by $1.00 in 1971 as well.  The set came with a fuzzy orange coat with attached belt, matching hat, her original outfit (dress with belt, pink head scarf, yellow panties, and boots) gray poodle, pink collar and leash, dog dish, white bone, box of dog food, and pink bow shoes. 
 
Jamie Furry Friends Gift Set


Sears Ad

 
The second set, #1247 Jamie Strollin' in Style Gift Set from 1972, is not listed in the 1972 Sears catalog.  That makes me to believe it may have only been available at Christmas time in the Sears store (the stand-alone doll wasn’t listed in the catalog in 1972 either, but I did read the doll was available by mail-order through the fall).  The gift set included the doll wearing a red, blue, and yellow knit dress with crocheted blue belt, matching red calf length boots, and a blue sheer nylon head scarf.  Also included in the box was a second outfit which consisted of blue bell-bottom knit pants, with a matching blue and yellow knit top.  Blue pilgrim shoes completed the outfit.  Jamie also had a white poodle with a blue collar and a blue and yellow ball.


Walking Jamie Strollin' in Style Gift Set
Not shown: Blue pilgrim shoes. (Photo courtesy of Catherine)
 

Strollin’ in Style is by far the most difficult of the two gift sets to find complete, and it usually commands a higher price on the secondary market.
The only clothing that was made specifically for Jamie were the items packaged in her gift boxes, and the clothing she wore in her original box.  Fortunately, Jamie was the same size as Barbie and could wear all her beautiful fashions as well.
 

 



Jamie did have two Sears exclusive doll cases that were made for her in 1971; Jamie’s Party Penthouse, which was a luxury apartment that also could hold four dolls (it retailed for $9.99), and Jamie’s Studio Apartment, which opened into a room of her own, and could store one doll (it retailed for 4.49).


Jamie's Party Penthouse
 
Jamie's Studio Apartment Case



 
With the decrease in price after only one year, Walking Jamie probably wasn’t the doll kids were asking for.  But forty-six years later she is the doll collectors are wanting!

 



Thursday, January 1, 2015

Barbie of the Month: Color Magic Barbie

Merry Christmas to me!  I recently acquired the beautiful and oh so rare Midnight Color Magic Barbie doll. What a perfect way to start this New Year’s Day blog!


Color Magic Barbie Dolls

In 1966 Mattel released these highly sought after dolls, and they were only available for two short years.

The #1150 Color Magic Barbie doll came in two hair colors, golden blonde or midnight.  Both came with changer solution packets to change the hair color and swim-suit. The Golden blonde dolls hair would change to Scarlet Flame, and the Midnight dolls hair changed to a Ruby Red hair color.

The doll was on a bend leg, non-twist body.  The first issue of the Color Magic Barbie doll had the same markings as the 1964 Miss Barbie and the first issue 1965 American Girl Barbie doll.  All three dolls had indented letter markings. The later versions of the American Girl and Color Magic's used raised letters in their mark.  All these dolls were marked the same “©1958/Mattel, Inc./U.S. Patented U.S. Pat. Pend Made In Japan”.
 

Color Magic Barbies -  Golden Blonde and Midnight

In 1966 she was packaged in a hard plastic box which doubled as a closet.  In 1967 the packaging changed to the standard open faced cardboard box.  The cardboard boxes are very hard to find because most were thrown away, where the plastic boxes were saved for play.  
 
In either the plastic or cardboard box, the doll was dressed in a diamond print swim-suit with an attached turquoise satin ribbon which tied at the waist, a wide diamond print head-band, plastic blue hair clip, turquoise open toe heels, a wrist tag, color magic changer packages A and B, a dabber, hair setting net, extra gross grain hair-ribbons, extra hair clips, and a fashion booklet. 


Cardboard box and hard plastic closet box


In 1967 these dolls also had five unique fashions made just for them that were sold separately.  These clothes could change colors using the same process that was used for the dolls swim-suit and hair. Apply the magic color solution "A" to the clothing or hair and magically you'd have a new color.  Apply solution "B" to convert the clothing or hair to it's original color.  Each fashion ensemble included a dabber, color magic changer A and B, and instructions. They were #1775 Stripes Away, #1776 Smart Switch, #1777 Pretty Wild, #1778 Bloom Bursts, and  #1779 Mix n’ Matchers.


Stripes Away, Smart Switch, Mix n' Matchers, Pretty Wild, Bloom Bursts,


Besides the fashions, there were three Gift Sets as well; In 1966 the #4040 Color Magic Fashion Designer Set, #4041 Color Magic Fashion Fun, and a Sears exclusive #4043 Color Magic Doll & Costume Set.  The only one that came with a doll was the Sears exclusive set.



Color Magic Fashion Designer Set,Color Magic Doll
& Costume Set and Color Magic Fashion Fun

There were two additional sets that included the color changing solutions. #4039 Barbie's Color 'N Curl set which came with a fashion Queen molded head, and four wigs that could be styled and color changed.  Included in the set was a battery-powered hairdryer, and other accessories for styling hair.  #4038 Barbie's Color "n Curl Hair Fashion Fun Kit, was a smaller version of #4039 that came with only two wigs and without a hair-dryer.

 
#4039 Barbie's Color 'N Curl Set

 
In 1965, before the doll was released, some of the fashion booklets pictured this new doll wearing a floral swimsuit instead of the diamond print that she debuted in. This is one of many misprints made in the Barbie World.  You can see more of these bloopers on my web site.


This swim-suit was never released


I’m still smiling about my new doll, and hope you can add one of these to your Barbie collections as well.





Happy New Year and Happy Hunting! 

Web Site: Color Magic Barbie Doll