African American set of nuclear family of original vintage Barbie dolls using original vintage sculpturing and same hair styles and same swimsuits and using the original vintage head sculpturing

[BarBBro]

I am advocating for the creation of African American versions of the original nuclear family of Barbie dolls from the late 1950s and early to mid-1960s; this would include the original ponytail Barbie, Midge, Ken, Alan, Skipper, Skooter:  the dolls would have the vintage original body and face sculpturing, hair styles, swimsuits; the only difference would be the skin coloring which would be negro or black or variations of brown color ranging from light brown to dark brown.  But the facial sculpturing stays the same as the original; vintage in keeping with the nostalgia of the time

 

  I got the idea for this creation while talking to a co-worker and we were both talking about toys to get kids for Christmas  and from there we started to think nostalgically about toys we use to have as children and I mentioned Barbie.  She said that because she was Black as a child back in the early 60s she never had a Barbie because Barbie was white and she could not identify with her.  I thought to myself, what joy you missed.  I also felt privileged because when  I was growing up my mother would buy me a Barbie doll and I do not remember ever projecting a race or ethnicity to her.  But that train of thought got me thinking that what my co-worker said was different.  It did make a difference to her.  So continuing to contemplate, I wondered to myself, WHAT IF - yes, what if - we could time travel and go into the past and make corrections.  And make things the way they should have been.  What a difference would that make.  

And that is how I have come to this stunning creation, if I may say so me-self; .

 

Now, all I need or all we would need is for Mattel to wave their magic wand and start putting this creative thought into creative motion.  And to promote it they can also create a vintage style black and white commercial to go with it on a DVD or as download, showing African American children racing down to a Christmas tree and opening up their boxes of toys come Christmas morning

I should mention as an aside that all the above is not meant to userp or override all the modern Barbies of today that Mattel has done over the years in African American ethnically   correct sculpturing.  This is more of a trip down memory lane and trip into the past to correct something that could have been done or should have been done back then.  Sometimes WE CAN go home again  

I would predict that the above dolls would sell across the board and ethnicities : as long as the nostalgic components are met!  

 

[ABSOLUTEMEISTER]

The closest we've gotten was the convention exclusive AA reproduction made for Mattel's 75th Anniversary. I'd buy these kind of dolls! I guess your friend missed out on black Francie (but she didn't last long on store shelves) or Christie. There were also some AA Barbies with the vintage sculpt in the Barbie Fashion Model Collection (BFMC). 

Also, could you please stop using the term "Negro"? That term fell out of favor a long time ago.

[Trent]

20 minutes ago, ABSOLUTEMEISTER said:

The closest we've gotten was the convention exclusive AA reproduction made for Mattel's 75th Anniversary.

I’ve been begging Mattel for years to release that 2020 AA Convention doll to the general public. It would be a massive hit! I’d buy several copies, plus the entire “nuclear family” set that @BarBBro described. Are you listening, Mattel?  🥹

[ABSOLUTEMEISTER]

16 minutes ago, Trent said:

I’ve been begging Mattel for years to release that 2020 AA Convention doll to the general public. It would be a massive hit! I’d buy several copies, plus the entire “nuclear family” set that @BarBBro described. Are you listening, Mattel?  🥹

I would LOVE for Mattel to do that as well. I'm still looking for one for you, but I haven't seen one on Ebay since that example I sent you in December. 

[Trent]

12 minutes ago, ABSOLUTEMEISTER said:

I would LOVE for Mattel to do that as well. I'm still looking for one for you, but I haven't seen one on Ebay since that example I sent you in December. 

And thank you so much for continuing that search, @ABSOLUTEMEISTER! I really appreciate it!  👏🏾. 😊

[lubo]

Interesting idea, but wouldn´t it be controversal like with Black Francie? She was made with face of white Francie and she was controversal because of that. That´s why they didn´t make black Skipper in 60´s, there was prototype of her,

[BMR_Collector]

The latest vintage-sculpt collectible doll Mattel offered was the 2023 12 Days of Christmas Barbie doll. It is available in the shop, despite being $10 less than her predecessor. I wish Mattel had distributed her through their major retail partners (Amazon, Target, and Walmart).  Because Black vintage-sculpt are historically slow movers, I doubt that Mattel will ever produce Black versions of vintage Barbie, Ken, Midge, Alan, Skipper, and Skooter.  The main reason that the Mattel 75th Anniversary Vintage Barbie was produced was to satisfy orders from those who would spend $500 and more to attend the National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention. If that doll were to have been released on the general market, it would have moved as slowly as most other vintage-sculpt Black Collectible Barbies in the $50 and over price point. 

As a collector of vintage-sculpt Black Barbie dolls, I would love for Mattel to a Black version of that group. But I know that these dolls would languish in the shop for months, despite some interest shown in this thread. With a few exceptions, collectible Ken dolls are not best sellers. If they were, Mattel would produce more of them. Black collectible Barbie dolls move slightly faster than collectible Kens. If Black collectible vintage-sculpt dolls moved as quickly as their White counterparts, Mattel would offer more of the Black collectible dolls every year. 

 

[mell]

I think that one of the 2024 Mattel gift Barbie Dolls at one of the non-US Barbie/Doll conventions/festivals is an African-American Barbie with the 1959 face sculpt wearing a blue dress for Barbie's 65th ("Sapphire") anniversary. I think that several forum members posted pics of these dolls on one of the other threads on the Mattel Creations Barbie forums.

[RouenSims]

I would buy a black Ken and Allan so quickly my wallet would get whiplash.

[BMR_Collector]

2 minutes ago, mell said:

I think that one of the 2024 Mattel gift Barbie Dolls at one of the non-US Barbie/Doll conventions/festivals is an African-American Barbie with the 1959 face sculpt wearing a blue dress for Barbie's 65th ("Sapphire") anniversary. I think that several forum members posted pics of these dolls on one of the other threads on the Mattel Creations Barbie forums.

Notice that she was produced as souvenirs for conventioneers in Europe and Japan. If we are lucky, she may be the souvenir doll for the 2024 National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention in Palm Desert. However, I am skeptical. In the last two or three years, Barbie conventions in Europe and Japan have featured vintage-sculpt souvenir dolls. NBDCC has featured modern sculpts.