Black Barbie!

I'm a wannabe Barbie collector but I can't afford the ridiculously expensive dolls like new Louboutin Barbie for $150.00. I just can't justify that. But I have been trying to collect some of the African-American dolls that I can afford. I have the Alvin Ailey American Theater anniversary doll

And now, I have the authentic reproduction of Black Barbie:

Note the stylin' Afro (she comes with a pick!) and the gorgeous red outfit. She also comes with a sleek white outfit and reproductions of the insert that showed all the other fashions you could buy.

I love the fact that she's 'Black' Barbie. Not Christie (even though most of the Black/African-American versions were named 'Christie'). She's still Barbie but she's Black. Just as stylish, just as sleek. But she has brown skin and an Afro. Other than that, there isn't really a whole lot of difference between her and the White Barbies but, she was groundbreaking Up until then, fashion dolls came in one variety: White. Sure the hair might be different and maybe they were younger (Skipper) or had freckles (Midge) but they were still White. The Julia doll were based on the Dihann Carroll television show, was a first. Gorgeous and well-made, a reproduction was released last summer. But, this wasn't a "Barbie". She didn't have the dream house or the car or the sparkling bathing suits. But Black Barbie could have all of that and was no relegated to being Barbie's Black friend.

Now, it's not such a big deal. There are almost always African-American versions of the 'play', non-collectable dolls as well as multi-ethnic friends. But nothing beats the first time I saw my Black Barbie when I was all of 5 or 6. Too bad she suffered the fate of most of my dolls: a bad hair cut, nakedness, and eventually getting lost in a move.