Barbie of the Month: Walk Lively Steffie

The beautiful #1183 Walk Lively Steffie with her pretty brown eyes and dark brunette hair was Mattel’s big surprise for 1972.   

 

 

Walk Lively Steffie

 

 

Steffie was packaged wearing a one-piece sleeveless jumpsuit with a soft pink chiffon scarf that she tied around her neck to accent her ensemble, with closed toe chunky pink shoes which completed her stylish outfit.

 

 

Walk Lively Steffie

 

 

She came with a unique walk-n-turn stand.  With or without the stand she could walk using her legs.  Her head would turn back and forth and her arms would swing.  Mattel described her “looking very graceful”.  There was no fashion booklet included in the set.  In 1972, Mattel stopped including fashion booklets with their dolls.

 

Walk-n-turn stand

 

Walk-n-turn stand

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steffie had long brown hair which she wore in a flip, real eyelashes, and bendable legs.  Her waist could twist ‘n turn as well

 

Look at those long eyelashes!

 

 

There were four Walk Lively dolls released in 1972; Barbie, Ken, Steffie, and Miss America.  All the Walk Lively dolls included a walk ’n turn stand (except for the mail order version of Miss America from the Kellogg Company).  The walk ‘n turn stands were all tan in color except for Miss America’s which was white.  All Walk Lively dolls are marked: ©1967 Mattel, Inc./U.S. Pat. Pend./Taiwan. 

 


Walk Lively Barbie, Ken and Steffie (From Mattel Catalog)



Miss America  (From Mattel Catalog)

 

I love the commercial that debuted with three of these dolls.  Miss America was not in the advertisement.

 

Commercial for Walk Lively Dolls

 

 

Walk Lively Steffie retailed for $4.97 in the Sears catalog and $4.77 in the Montgomery Ward & Co catalog.   Since her release, her popular head mold has been used on numerous other dolls in the Mattel line.

 



 

 

Happy Hunting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barbie of the Month: Talking Busy Steffie

 

Talking Busy Steffie

The Talking Busy set consisted of Talking Busy Steffie, Talking Busy Barbie, and Talking Busy Ken, who were all released in 1972 and discontinued after one short year. These are the only Talking Busy dolls Mattel released, and are extremely hard to find on the secondary market.   Mattel called these dolls the “The Doingest Fashion Dolls Ever!”  Is “doingest” even a word?

"The Doingest Fashion Dolls Ever"

Talking Busy Steffie arrived in stores wearing a pink and white checkered shirt with matching knee high socks, light blue cuffed short shorts, a navy blue and white tiny checked wide belt made out of fabric with a matching checked hat, and she finished her outfit with white squishy closed square-toe low heels.

Steffie in her original outfit

Also in her original packaging she had five accessories she could hold with her busy hands.  They were a telephone, television, record player, soda set (brown tray with two glasses), and a travel case.   Busy hands are hands that can grasp items. In Mattel’s advertisement, it said: 

“Now Barbie and her friends can hold things with their brand new kind of hand!  It can bend and turn at the wrists.  Open and close!  Clasp and Carry, too!  Do almost everything your hand can do.”

When you pulled on her string located on the back of her neck she would talk like “real teens” about all the fun she has.  She could say:

“I love to wear my hair in curls.”

“I am having dinner with Barbie.”

“Let’s call Barbie now.”

“I dig having my own TV.”

“The new fashions are wild.”

“That music is groovy.”

 

Her set included a white plastic “X” stand that could double as a seat.  She is marked:  “©1967 Mattel, Inc./U.S. & Foreign/Pats. Pend./Hong Kong”.

White "X" Stand

Even though Talking Busy Steffie was around just a short time, her famous head mold was used on numerous other dolls over the years such as the Quick Curl Barbie dolls, Yellowstone Kelly, Quick Curl Kelly, Walking Miss America, Quick Curl Miss America, Sunset Malibu P.J., Free Moving P.J., Gold Medal Olympic P.J., Quick Curl Cara, Free Moving Cara, Hawaiian Barbie, and Walk Lively Steffie.  And, that’s just to name a few! 



Faces of Steffie:  Free Moving P.J., Yellowstone Kelley,
Hawaiian Barbie, & Walk Lively Miss America



Happy Hunting!

 

www.myvintagebarbies - Steffie Dolls