Earlier this year, I did a campaign with Barbie because I love Barbie. There’s often a bit of contention around the doll, personally, my stance aligns with what my Occupational Therapist friend Nicole wrote in this post about the importance of play and allowing kids the freedom to gravitate to toys that engage them (within reason). When I was a girl, I would spend hours creating elaborate games with the dolls and I’ve noticed the same with two of my daughters: Barbie is a catalyst to many hours of creative and imaginative play.
When I was researching for the article I was writing, I recalled being about eleven, and adoring a Barbie I saw on the shelf of the toy section. She had freckles and brown hair, and I had never seen a Barbie with that combination before. I never received that doll for my birthday (for whatever reason), but I never forgot her.
I decided on a whim to see if I could find the Barbie child-me longed for. It was such a fun quest! I hunted down a list of Barbie’s from the 1980’s and googled them one by one to see if I recognised The One. I found her: Midge All Stars Barbie – Softball from 1990. I used to play softball and everything! After researching, I then set out to see if I could find one for sale somewhere on the web. I ended up going through Amazon and finding a doll for sale (in its original box) from the U.S.
She arrived in the mail and my daughters were so excited about it. They loved her too, and enjoyed looking at the differences between the current dolls in their collection. It was a worthwhile quest and this sort of thing could be done with any sort of toy. With the powers of the internet, it’s quite easy to track down toys from yesteryear and it’s a fun way to share your own childhood with your kids.
Midge came with a softball uniform and a dress (that turns into a bag)
Dress turns into a sport bag
Look at all that 80’s hair in its glory
Big purple earrings. So practical #not
Stirup pants! I had a pair of them myself.
I played softball when I was a girl and this would explain part of the attraction to this doll.
Drink can.
A current Barbie in the collection.
One of my daughters enjoys doing stop motion videos and this is one she did with the doll.
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