Tuesday had a unique gimmick though: you could rotate her scalp transforming her from a sun-streaked blonde with short bangs to an exotic brunette - all with a quick twist of the top of her head. Hair play with dolls was very popular in the 70s. When you look closely at my photo, you'll see a line on the top of her head. That's the part you twist and she flips her hair colors. My Tuesday Taylor (see photo) got a hair cut at some point in her life but I think it's cute! The brunette side is still long.

Ideal also produced an African-American counterpart, named Taylor Jones, with black and bright auburn hair. She's valued higher than the white doll. Ms. Jones reminds me of one of my favorite Barbie dolls in my collection, 1974 Malibu Christie.

The second iteration of Tuesday is 1977's posable Suntan Tuesday Taylor.  She still had the color-changing hair but her new gimmick is she tans. When you place little doodle stickers on her body and put her in the sunshine, cute tattoos show up when you remove the stickers - fun! The tan does go away after indoors for a while. Malibu Barbie has been known to say, however, 'A plastic tan never fades.' That line cracks me up every time! Suntan Tuesday is highly sought after with her vertical, oval-shaped sunglasses. A European version also had the same sunnies but came with a shorter, Marlo Thomas flip hairstyle (like Barbie's "Marlo Flip" Twist 'n Turn doll!)

The third model of Tuesday was 1978 Beauty Queen Tuesday Taylor (see photo.) She does not have posable arms, wrists and legs like the first two Tuesday dolls. She only has blonde hair without the rotating scalp. Unfortunately, there was not a black version of this doll. LAME.

The last and final edition is 1978's curly-haired Super Model Tuesday Taylor with her Fashion Stepper. A walking mechanism allowed her to walk like the Walk Lively Barbie dolls of the 70's. Like the Beauty Queen doll, she does not have rooted eyelashes or the rotating scalp and only comes in blonde. Her arms, legs and wrists are bendable unlike the Beauty Queen. Super Model Tuesday Taylor came in an African-American version but, this time, her name wasn't Taylor Jones. It stayed Tuesday Taylor. AGAIN LAME. 

Ideal designers expanded Tuesday's world with a convertible penthouse apartment that you can change from day to night with the backdrop (more chic than Barbie's Country Living home!), a two-level Summer/Winter Vacation Home (perhaps in Malibu?), a Skipper-like little sister, 9" Dodi, and a 12" tall yoked-out boyfriend, Eric. He has a pea-size head compared to his body, sooooo funny! Dodi and Eric didn't have any of their own fashions in addition to what they came dressed in. 

Now, Tiffany Taylor! In 1974, Ideal's Crissy doll was a bit dated and phased out. Ideal wanted to jump on the "dolls that do stuff" trend so created an equally large doll, Tiffany Taylor, from 1974 - 1976. At 19" Tiffany is much larger than Tuesday. Tiffany was the same size as Crissy doll but they are not part of the same family. Tiffany has rooted hair and lashes, blue eyes, non-bendable arms and legs and was a competitor of Super Barbie of the same size. Tiffany's eyes are half-closed giving her a 70s "stoned" look (lol!) and her eye makeup is much heavier than Tuesday's. Tiffany also came in a black model. Initially, Tiffany was a great idea but since Barbie was the Queen Bee, Ideal reused Tiffany's gimmicks on a smaller doll, more like Barbie's size. That's how Tuesday was born! 


Source: Collectible Doll Fashions: 1970, Carmen Varricchio (2003)

​One of Skipper's friends from the early 70's is Dramatic New Living Fluff #1143. I'm so excited to add her to my collection. Fluff dolls are very hard to find!

Dramatic New Living Fluff was introduced in 1971 and was the first friend of Skipper's since Skooter and Ricky "retired" in 1967. Skipper followed big sis Barbie everywhere which was a bit annoying, lol! Dramatic New Living Skipper and Living Fluff are only available as blondes. Fluff styles her hair in two pigtails held in place with orange hair bows, and she has bangs with cute pin curls on the sides.  She dons a colorful yellow, orange and green striped one-piece jumper with a bright orange vinyl skirt that has two yellow buttons and attached shorts. She has pretty brown eyes with rooted eyelashes.

Fluff had a new face mold, which she shares with 1972 Pose 'n Play Tiff. Fluff came with a yellow skateboard showing off her athletic skills and prowess! Her body is identical to Dramatic New Living Skipper and has the same body markings. 

In 1971, a Sears exclusive "Living Fluff Sunshine Special" gift set #1249 debuted. It came with a Living Fluff doll (with what appears to be lighter blonde hair) with the same markings as the original Living Fluff. She wore her original playsuit but also came with a cool five-piece fashion ensemble with Skipper labels. The wardrobe included red velvet pants with yellow and blue rickrack, a knee-length ruffled skirt with a matching red head scarf, a gold velvet vest with red trim, coordinating opaque gold tights and a white peasant blouse with yellow, red and blue rickrack. The set also includes flat gold shoes and her infamous skateboard. This set is VERY hard to find. 

Skipper added a few other friends in the 70's; 1972 Pose 'n Play Tiff #1199 and 1976 Growing Up Ginger #9222.. 

According to Hillary James, author of The Complete and Unauthorized Guide to Vintage Barbie Dolls (2nd edition,) a Dramatic New Living Fluff doll never removed from the box (NRFB) is worth around $275 - $350, mint with no box can garner $75 - $125, and. the average doll, in the range of $50 to $75.
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​Hi dolls! The newest addition to my Mod Barbie collection is Busy Barbie (#3311) who debuted in 1972; the year maxi dresses, mini skirts, knee socks and patterns happened in a big way!

Her "busy" hands can hold a number of accessories including a phone, record player, color TV, travel case and a soda set of a brown tray with two glasses. Her hands can bend and turn at the wrist, and also grasp and carry. 

While the innovations on this doll were designed to make Barbie more active and powerful, with her gripping hands, she ultimately didn't last long. Production costs were prohibitive, and the doll's joints a bit too fragile to survive a lot of play. Personally, I'm not a fan of the mechanical-looking hands.

Busy Barbie has bendable legs and elbows, a twist-n-turn waist, and painted lashes. She's wearing a blue denim halter top with attached white panties, a patchwork gingham long skirt with a ruffle on the hem, white pilgrim shoes and has a pretty brass barrette in her hair.

Seven Busy Barbie dolls with the holdin' hands feature were released in 1972. There are three talking versions; Talking Busy Barbie #1195, Talking Busy Ken #1196 and Talking Busy Steffie #1186. The four who couldn't talk are Busy Barbie #3311, Busy Ken #3314, Busy Steffie #3312, and Busy Francie #3313. A European Busy Francie was released at the same time, German Busy Francie.

Talking Busy Barbie has short blonde hair and real lashes, not painted lashes like #3311. She wore blue satin hot pants, a red tricot top with a chartreuse belt and knee boots. Talking Busy Steffie said things like, "I dig having my own TV," "The new fashions are wild" and "That music is groovy."  

According to Hillary James, author of The Complete and Unauthorized Guide to Vintage Barbie Dolls (2nd edition,) a Busy Barbie never removed from the box (NRFB) is worth around $475 - $550, mint with no box can garner $275 - $350, and. the average doll, in the range of $175 to $275.

​The latest edition to my Barbie collection! Dressed in a tricot tangerine one-piece swimsuit, the 1977 "Barbie and Her Super Fashion Fireworks" gift set #9805, was a Kresge (Kmart) exclusive. Each pack had four colorful outfits, and with three fashion packs produced, added up to twelve cute outfits. One set included fashions #9552, 9559, 9560 and 9561; a. second set had #9550, 9553, 9556 and 9558., and the third set included #9551, 9554, 9555 and 9557. In 1976, they were called Sweet 16 fashions. 

​She was included in another gift set in 1977, "Barbie doll Plus 3," #9953. Barbie came with three Best Buy fashions, #s 9153, 9160 and 9161.. This was an exclusive set sold at the dime store, Ben Franklin. Who remembers Ben Franklin?! It was the BEST place to score all types of candy!

I'm so excited about the newest Barbie in my collection! I was having a not-so-great week, coming down with pneumonia. To cheer myself up, I looked at Barbies for sale on eBay lol! I came across a beautiful doll that the seller didn't know the name of. I was lucky this Barbie came across my search! I thought she was a perfect Yellowstone Kelley Barbie so I felt I scored, purchasing her for $150. When she arrived, I realized it wasn't Kelley. I blame it on my pneumonia brain, haha! ​

I did some research and discovered that she is a #8587 TNT European Barbie - wow! She was also sold in Canada but the red-haired version was only sold in Europe. I have the red-haired European Barbie (Italy); she looks like a hybrid of Yellowstone Kelley and Malibu Barbie. 

She has the Stacey head mold, wears a one-piece turquoise swimsuit (the same maillot 1971 Malibu Barbie wears), and bending legs. She was produced in several versions from 1971 - 1976, like this this doll. In 1974, she wore a yellow swimsuit. According to Stefanie Deutsch's book, "Barbie, the First 30 Years," the Barbie I purchased is worth $150 - but this value was given in 2003. I'm hoping she's worth more now! She came in blonde and red hair, the latter being hard-to-find.
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My doll came dressed in 1975's "A Busy Girl’s Ready-Set-Go Clothes! #7242." According to Mattel, Barbie® doll's bright crayon color mixers included striped tricot halter, long scarf, and knee socks. These pieces accented the woven yellow skirt and jacket with red stitching. The skirt had a yoke at the waist, and the jacket had pocket flaps placed vertically along stitch lines. The bottom was banded. Red woven knickers with an elasticized waist and yellow chunky shoes completed the look.

She KINDA looks like Yellowstone Kelley, right?!