Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Remember this Barbie Knock Off?


Does anyone remember the Starr line of dolls from Mattel? They came out in about 1979 or 80 and were completely separate from Barbie, even though they were made by the same company. My grandparents had these dolls for my sister and I to play with at their house. I felt vaguely disappointed because there was too much red and yellow and not enough pink and purple in their clothes and packaging. They were also too skinny and didn't have boobs or any fancy gowns. But oh well, they were supposed to be teenagers. One of the little girls who lived next door to my grandmother used to come over to play, and she called Starr "Starr's Popular" as in "Starrs Popular is going to the dance...", she clearly was repeating a commercial she heard.
 Shaun was Starr's popular boyfriend. He was very bendy and super jointed from what I recall- not as stiff as ken. For some reason, it was with these particular dolls that I started getting pervy and making them kiss and stuff. All of these dolls had bending wrists, shoulders, knees, elbows, etc, and it annoyed me because they always collapsed...but it was great for when I was trying to have them make out, of course...

 Tracy was supposed to be the "zany" friend, as per the box. I thought she was the "pretty" friend!
 Starr's friend Kelley was the brain...As if these chicks would've really been friends in high school!

 Here is the brain in short shorts...damn...maybe they WOULD have hung out together in high school...

 They had outfits you could buy, just like Barbies...
 Here are some great close ups courtesy of kostis 1667http://www.flickr.com/photos/18205259@N07/ Most of these pics are from his/her photostream, FYI

Each of the dolls came with some paper school books and also some "teen" accessories, like a milkshake, a phone, a football, a hamburger or a guitar. I think one of them even came with a banjo, if I recall correctly.

Starr had a little purse, too; here it is:

Ok, now, this is something I really loved, below: the pamphlet that came with the dolls. It was an instruction guide as to how to play "teenager" and I thought it was really effective. They had it designed as a little yearbook with pictures of their activities and dances....it was, of course, just a little advertisement for the outfits you could purchase separately, but, that was all right with me.




 Nice!


And of course, she had to have a car- I didnt even know this existed. Cool!