Skipper Highlight Reel: Courtney, Skipper’s Best Friend
Courtney is my favorite of Skipper’s friends. Introduced in 1988 along with Teen Time Skipper, Courtney was Skipper’s first new female friend since Ginger came and went a few years earlier. Teen Time Courtney made a huge impact on the doll scene when she debuted as “Skipper’s best friend”.
Teen Time Skipper, who’s “school look changes for slumber party fun”, has a head of dark brown curls with a half ponytail. Unlike Skipper, Courtney has round brown eyes. (Courtney’s eyes would go between brown, green and blue throughout her releases.) Teen Time wears a striped white and red long sleeve shirt with a paint brush decal, a jean vest and a white skirt with red polka dots, which is really a nighty for when she and Skipper have their slumber party.
One of my favorite Courtney’s was 1989’s Cool Tops Courtney (center in photo above). Her mix and match outfit could be worked into 8 different looks. She had big, wavy dark brown hair with 4 half ponytails. This dolls look has always stood out to me. I love the bold red and yellow fabrics Mattel chose to bring this dolls outfit to life.
Courtney would be released pretty steadily through 2000, making it through the transition from the 90’s pre-teen anime eye face mold to the slightly older looking Pizza Party mold (seen below) and finally the more grown up Teen Skipper.
The final Courtney releases were unique to the rest, because Mattel decided to swap her dark brown hair with ginger. I don’t have any Teen Courtney’s from this era– yet! Unlike Skipper’s of this era, Courtney was only produced in the Caucasian skin tone.
If you’re looking to solely collect Courtney dolls, you’re in luck. It shouldn’t be too hard to find them all! Courtney was released in the following lines:
- Teen Time Courtney (1988)
- Cool Tops Courtney (1989)
- Babysitting Courtney (1990)
- Pet Pals Courtney (1991)
- Cheerleading Courtney (1992)
- Totally Hair Courtney (1992, Toys R Us exclusive)
- Cool Crimp Courtney (1993)
- Pizza Party Courtney (1994)
- Phone Fun Courtney (1995)
- Teen Courtney (1996)
- Totally YoYo Courtney (1998)
- Pajama Fun Courtney (1999)
- Fashion Party Teen Skipper (2000)
In this Skipper Highlight Reel video, I go over all the Courtney’s in my collection so far in a little more detail!
Courtney will always be my favorite of Skipper’s friends. I just love her look! Do you have any fond memories of Skipper’s friend, Courtney? Which one(s) do you own? Do you have a favorite? Leave your thoughts in the comment area!
Skipper Highlight Reel: A New Kind of Skipper
In this installment of the Skipper Highlight Reel, we’re going back to 1987. In the late 1980’s, after a few years of limited Skipper releases, Mattel debuted a brand new look for Barbie’s little sister. Besides developing a chest, Skipper’s eyes became rounder and more animated. The first releases of Skipper with this brand new look were under the title Teen Fun and included Teen Fun Cheerleader, Teen Fun Workout, and Teen Fun Party.
Interestingly enough, none of these Skipper dolls were produced with blue eyes. Teen Fun Cheerleader has brown eyes, Teen Fun Workout has green eyes and Teen Fun Party has purple eyes. It’s interesting because most Skipper’s, I’d say at least 85% of them, have blue eyes. Various shades of blue, but blue, nonetheless. It’s almost like Mattel was trying to work out what worked and what didn’t.
It’s no surprise that all three Skipper’s have different hairstyles, but there’s also another fun thing to point out here. As far as I recall, Cheerleading Skipper is the only Skipper doll with a mix of brunette/dull blonde hair from this era. Some dolls with the same mold have been brunette, like Wendy, but that doll wasn’t portraying Skipper. The other two dolls have great hairstyles, too. I mean, how amazing is the curly hairstyle on Workout Skipper? I also love the creamy blonde color Mattel gave to Party Skipper.
In the top picture, you’ll notice one other doll, Teen Sweetheart Skipper. Teen Sweetheart Skipper has the more traditional blue eyes and a 2-in-1 outfit. The 2-in-1 concept would be used a lot during this era of Skipper releases.
One trait that all these dolls share is, unfortunately, defective vinyl. The vinyl they used on these releases doesn’t age well. It’s common to find dolls from the late 1980’s with spotted legs. This happens in both white and African American skin tones. All the dolls pictured here have spotted legs and most of them were bought mint in box, so this problem has nothing to do with them being played with. You can see the spots on the picture above. They’re the white spots under the tights. A viewer on YouTube said that at this point in Mattel’s history, the company was trying to cut corners by melting down old vinyl and mixing it with new vinyl. That’s most likely why these bodies are so prone to this problem.
So, these three dolls were the worlds first introduction to the new tweenage Skipper. Which of these four dolls is your favorite? Share your thoughts in the comment area!
Skipper Highlight Reel: Dressin’ with Mickey, Minnie and Donald Set
At the Chicago Toy Show, I was lucky enough to score the Dressin’ with Mickey, Minnie and Donald special edition gift set. Sold exclusively at Toys R Us around 1991, this set features Barbie, Ken and Skipper decked out in Disney, complete with Mickey ears!
The Skipper in this set has her classic blonde hair done up in curly waves. Unlike most of the Skipper’s released, she has purple eyes. It’s not totally unheard of for Skipper to have purple eyes, but it isn’t common, either.
Skipper wears a fun shirt with a graphic of Donald Duck. It’s paired with red shorts and flats. The look is my favorite of the three dolls. It’s totally what we’d wear in the early 90’s. No Disney themed outfit is complete without a plastic Mickey balloon (which attaches to her wrist) and, of course, Mickey ears!
Tagging along to enjoy the Disney fun are Barbie and Ken. Both dolls have bright, colorful outfits and classic ‘pink box’ faces.
I think the Skipper in this set is super cute and am happy to have scored this great deal at the Chicago Toy Show!
If only it was so easy to find other multi doll sets from the 90’s for decent prices! What do you think of these dolls? Share your thoughts in the comment area!
Skipper Highlight Reel: A Trio of Customs
My Skipper collection has grown over the past few weeks! This Skipper Highlight Reel post covers three new custom dolls that just arrived! The first two Skippers were sent to me by my friend Arnaldo. He’s been working on Barbie customs for years and has even been featured in popular doll magazines! I met Arnaldo at a Kenvention a few years back. His customs were pretty awesome looking, but even more so, his personality was amazing. Because of this, I leapt at the chance to pick up a Skipper custom that went on sale recently on his Facebook page. The custom? A brown-eyed titian Skipper. I’ve always admired Arnaldo’s brown-eyed girls, because, as you probably know, vintage Skippers were never released with anything but blue eyes. Check the custom out below!
He was kind enough to send a surprise inside the box, as well! This Malibu Skipper has had her hair done up in a cute un-Skipper like ‘do.
The final Skipper in this post is one I commissioned. I hinted in a video a few months ago that I had purchased a Skipper doll for a special project. To make my idea a reality, I enlisted the help of Krista’s Doll Restoration. She’d done work for me in the past and I knew I could trust her skills to make my very special Skipper come to life. So, what was the project, you ask? Well, I commissioned a Skipper doll that mimicked the Skipper shown in the first ever Skipper commercial. In that commercial, Skipper didn’t have a side glance; she looked straight ahead. You can see it in the video below.
Because the reality of one of the Skipper dolls seen in the commercial popping up on eBay, let alone at a price I could afford, is a pipe dream, I figured why not create one, or ask a talented friend to make one for me! Below is the outcome and I’m very, very pleased with the results.
To compare, here’s a normal Skipper standing next to Krista’s fantastic custom prototype Skipper inspired by the original Skipper commercial.
I did have one slight hiccup in making this custom Skipper a reality. The doll I originally bought for this project is not the one you see in the pictures. I had first thought of going to a different person to create this custom, but after sending my doll off, the person dropped off the face of the earth. After a few months of zero communication, I decided that I needed to go elsewhere. I don’t think I’ll be seeing that doll again, but thankfully no money was exchanged.
I should have gone to Krista in the first place. She was kind enough to sell me a doll at a good price. Krista did an amazing job on Skipper and did it very quickly, too! (To learn more about Krista, visit her website!) I’m very pleased with how this straight gaze Skipper doll turned out!
Read more Skipper Highlight Reel posts here. What do you think of these three customs? What do you think of my special project? Have you commissioned a custom recently? Share your thoughts in the comment area!
Skipper Highlight Reel: Skipper Doll Cases
Recently, I’ve been taking inventory of my Skipper collection. I photographed the vast majority of my dolls and am now moving onto getting a clear idea of the ‘other’ items in my collection, like cases, coloring books and other Skipper branded items. The other day, I decided to look at my Skipper doll cases.
Produced by SPP, most of these cases are made of cardboard lined with a thin layer of vinyl. Because of this, it’s common to run into cases with splits, water damage or rust (to the clasps). If you stumble upon a case online that you’re thinking about buying, always ask about the condition. You may also run into cases that are very ‘musty’ on the inside, because, let’s face it, in many cases (pun intended), these doll cases haven’t been opened in years!
From 1964, the above case features Skipper in three different outfits: School Days, Red Sensation and Skipper’s Dress Coat. This case is pretty easy to find and comes in various colors, including beige, blue and yellow.
The Running on the Beach double case is one of my favorites. It has such an action packed graphic on the front, which features Skipper and Skooter running in the sand at the beach. They’re both dressed in their basic red and white striped outfit. This is also from around 1965 and comes in various colors.
Another favorite of mine is the European Travel Trunk from 1965, featuring Barbie, Francie and Skipper. Skipper wears Ship’s Ahoy, her sailor themed fashion. (One of my all time favorite Skipper outfits!) Another thing that makes this case stand out is Skipper’s super sassy side glance. It has more attitude than other promo graphics. This is also a more sturdy case than the others. And, of course, this comes in various color options.
This Barbie and Skipper Red Sensation case is a double case featuring Skipper in the popular Red Sensation outfit (featured in the School Days case, as well as the Purse Pal case). This case comes in multiple colors, including yellow, blue and beige.
This 1969 Mod Case showcases a Skipper drawn in a way that is very different from the other cases in this post. While less detailed, the design features Skipper with a head of full, bouncy blonde hair and a short, bright pink outfit. This case also was released in orange.
This double case includes portraits of Skipper and her pal, Skooter. This case is more simple than the others, but I love how big Skipper and Skooter’s faces are.
In this case, Skooter is seen modeling Platter Party and Sunny Pastel. This yellow case showcases a blonde and ginger haired Skooter. Like the rest, it comes in various colors.
The Purse Pal doll case is ‘unofficially’ a Skipper product. It was made by the company who produced the cases in this post, but not for Mattel. It’s rare, because it features a doll that looks a lot like Skipper on the toy shelf, which isn’t something Mattel did with their cases. You’ll find this in both blue, like mine, or pink. Notice that Red Sensation is also used on this ‘super generic looking’ doll on the doll shelf, a popular look used on many of the ‘official’ Skipper cases.
I’m happy with the cases I have so far. For someone who is pretty picky about case quality, I have gathered quite a few! (I need the graphics to be top notch in order to spend money on a case!) Do you have any doll cases? Do you have a favorite among these? Share your thoughts in the comment area!
Confessions of a Doll Collectors Daughter 