This summer, my husband and I discovered a flea market! We live in such a rural area, that these seem to be so few and far between, but low and behold, there was one within 20 minutes from our house! Apparently, it's been there for years, LOL.
I was really lucky to stumble upon someone who was selling her daughter's Barbie Dolls of the World collection and she had a bunch of dolls there, but this one in particular caught my eye.
2006 Oktoberfest Barbie!
She was listed for $10 brand new in-box, so I thought that was a pretty good deal! I LOVE the Dolls of the World collection, but unfortunately I only just started re-collecting Barbie again at the end of 2015, so I missed out on pretty much all of the dolls that are already out. And there are A LOT of them.
I was able to grab a bunch of other DOTW dolls from this seller, mostly out of box, but they were in great condition and I'll make a post soon to show you who else I found. :)
Theses boxes are really nice and give some information about the featured festival as well as some information about the doll and the designer. There are 2 more dolls featured on the box from that year's "Festivals of the World" line (Kwanzaa Barbie and Diwali Barbie), which I hope to collect eventually! I think there are 7 in total.
I decided to take mine out of her box as I am not really an "in-box" collector; I just don't have the room. She comes with a stand, collectors card and a certificate of authenticity, which is nicer quality than the newer Barbie Collector dolls! Although, I'm sure that's not a shock to most of you, now that we can see that Mattel has made a pretty slow and steady decline into cheaper, crappy overpriced dolls!
She has a very sweet face and I believe this is the closed mouth Mackie mold (one of my favorites) and her hair style is really unique!
She's wearing a traditional German dirndl costume that consists of three separate pieces. The fabric is thick and durable with some tiny embroidered flowers on the bodice. The skirt has a second lace layer underneath The arm bands are separate from her outfit and she also wears a black choker necklace.
I love those colorful teeny tiny ribbons that are coming out of her hair!
Her stockings are textured, thick and very good quality. Shoes are plain mary-jane pumps, but do the job. You kind of have to cram the feet down into the shoes and I feel like this "shoes sort of fit" effect is pretty common with dolls that are wearing stockings. No big deal in my book, though!
Overall, I'm so happy to have found this doll! She's sitting out on display helping to promote Autumn cheer as we play this game we always do this time of year where we "see how long we can freeze before we turn the heat on." ;)
The only thing that would make her more perfect, is if she came with a tiny pretzel and a big mug of beer. And a tiny accordion. :)
Just for fun, here's a little behind the scenes of this photo shoot. I was excited to get the "fall backdrop" out. :)
Hope you are all having a Happy Fall (or Spring!) where ever you are.
xoxo Farrah
Cute!
ReplyDelete:) Thanks (love your profile pic!)
DeleteMy mom used to collect these back when they first started--sometime in the late 70's or early 80's. They had some really cool ones, my favorite was the Eskimo version. Great find, and I love your backdrop!
ReplyDeleteThe Eskimo one was really cute! Glad you like the backdrop, I should do more photos on here since it would be easier than dealing with the wind, balance issues outside. :)
DeleteWhat a lovely find Farrah, I must say she's one of the best looking Barbies I have seen, gorgeous face up and I love her hair. Isn't it funny how sometimes things can be right under our noses and we don't seem to be able to find them. I'm pleased you found out about this flea market though, perhaps you'll find more exciting dolls to share with us.
ReplyDeleteLovely backdrop too!
Hugs,
X
Thank you! I agree, always funny to know that things can be all around us, but not quite on our "radar". I think the most dolls I've actually seen are porcelain dolls, which I don't collect, but it's always fun to see what treasures people will bring to sell. I've seen a few old vintage dollhouses as well, which are really neat! I hope you are enjoying Spring and warmer weather where you are!
DeleteHi Farrah. What a lovely doll.
ReplyDeleteI really like the outfit as it reminds me of something I wore when I worked at a German restaurant during my youth (although my skirt was longer!).
Thanks for including the behind the scenes photo. I always wondered how people used backdrops.
I'm glad you liked the last photo! I've always been curious about the backdrops as well. I also used to work at a German restaurant (in the kitchen) and our waitresses had very similar dress, too!
DeleteWe've already turned on the heat here, at least during the nights where it's dropped down to the mid-50s. Part of that is concern for my daughter's rabbit, though.
ReplyDeleteYes, absolutely. It's supposed to get up into the 70s this week, but by Friday, solid 50s and 40s at night, so that will definitely be the day that the heat comes on. I've had a enough of being cold!
DeleteWhat a lovely Barbie! I like the outfit also. Thanks for showing the "behind the scenes" of your photo shoot. That is always helpful to me as I am just learning how not to cut off my dolls' heads or make my photos crooked (smile).
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dorothy and I'm glad it was helpful! I always love seeing the behind the scenes as well as it's fun to see what other people do! :)
DeleteThank you for posting your lovely pictures of Oktoberfest Barbie! Because of this, I went out and bought one. :>)
ReplyDeleteThat's so awesome and thank you! I hope you enjoy her :) :)
DeleteWhat a pretty Barbie and what a great find, never mind a real bargain....can't be bad! I like her outfit very much, it does look well made and I agree that the later Mattel dolls are not great quality, they just look sort of cheap and plastic-y to me.
ReplyDeleteThank you for showing us your 'behind the scenes' photo, it's very interesting, and I like the big lamps. I have just got my lamps out and am hoping that when I try using them (because I think I've only used them twice before...unsuccessfully... that my photos come out as well as yours have, especially now that I have my backdrops.
Big hugs Sharon xx
I think they will come out great as you're already a great doll photographer! I'm hoping to get a winter background soon as well. It's definitely easier to take the indoor photos than to fight the wind and snow outside. :) I'm glad you liked the photos!
DeleteHugs back, xx
Oh she's wonderful! I have some pictures in my Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/beegrateful/ Thanks again for posting your pics! :>)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Stephanie! Your photos of her are great and I really love that cute Halloween dress you have your Francie doll dressed up in as well. So cute! :)
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