(2006) Beach Glam Summer
BOX DATE: 2006
MANUFACTURER: Mattel
DOLLS IN LINE: Barbie; Teresa; Ken; Summer; Steven; Nikki
BODY TYPE: 2006; molded textured panties; toenail polish; bend & snap legs; over sized flat feet
HEAD MOLD: 1998 "Lara" (my dolls) or 2003 "Summer"; pierced ears
***The doll on the left is wearing 2012 Fashionistas Fashions #X2233.
The doll on the right is wearing 2002 Pretty vacation styles! #47620.
PERSONAL FUN FACT: I seriously cannot believe how long I've had my first Beach Glam Summer. I know she wasn't a childhood doll of mine, but she still feels prehistoric. That's because the doll on the left joined my collection so early on, when my doll hobby got resurrected in 2011. Colleen and I took a five year hiatus from dolls when I was a teenager. I never, ever anticipated that I'd get back into them as a nineteen year old. In fact, I thought that when the last doll had been packed up, I'd never buy another one again. And then it happened...Dad got sick with cancer and I reevaluated the kind of person I had become. I realized I no longer knew who I was. Everything I was at the time was fabricated--an attempt to conceal who I really was. And so slowly but surely I started to think about dolls. Within time I was buying collector books, and by January 2, 2011, I was purchasing dolls. It took some time to readjust to the doll world. Taking a five year break from dolls is kind of like taking a five year break from technology/electronics. So much changes in only a few years--kids that were once obsessed with dolls could care less about them, and doll companies have to redesign their dolls to capture the interest of the new generation of kids. And of course, these new eras of dolls represent/reflect what is popular at the time in culture, fashion, beauty, and what is simply relevant. There were no such things as hobbit dolls when I was a kid. There were no dolls with these massive beach feet, and Summer wasn't a friend of Barbie that was all that important. So when I met my first gal, on the right, I was shell shocked. I thought she looked bloated and ugly when we first encountered on another in the "Bratz Guy bin" that fall, of 2011. She repulsed me a bit, so at first she was going to be donated. But within a few months time, I had a change of heart. The more deeply invested I got into dolls, the more I couldn't imagine getting rid of any. Those childish notions that "dolls had feelings" started to replace my forced adult snobbery. I stopped caring so much about who was or wasn't rare or collectible, and who was or wasn't someone I grew up with. I just couldn't cast out dolls like Summer at some point. And while it took me several more years to get to a truly open minded place with doll collecting, it didn't take all that long for me to become a bit more like my twelve year old, doll obsessed self. So while Summer may have at first been spurned and rejected, within a few years, she got to wear brand new, store bought clothes, and even got handmade earrings.
Nearly six years after the fact, I found my second Beach Glam Summer doll, on the left. If the arrival of my first Summer doll had been documented on video, it would have been most obvious how much I had evolved as a doll collector and a person, if you compared it to how I reacted when I got my second doll. There were lots of newer Barbies in the "$5 Bin Bonanza" that my second Summer came from. This time around, I was identifying them left and right. I also was excited to get replacements for some of the same dolls I once got rid of in 2011/2012. Case in point, Tricky Triplets Barbie also came from "Bratz Guy bin," but unlike Summer, she got kicked out. And lo and behold, I ended up with another one in the "$5 Bin Bonanza." This time, I celebrated her, and even though she was filthy and squalid, I loved her. As for Summer, my reaction was, "Oh cool, another Beach Glam Summer! And this one has her original earrings! I hope she has her swimsuit too!" I'm really glad that the dolls I've adopted in more recent times, like my duplicated Beach Glam Summer, never have to be subjected to the scrutiny and harsh criticism that my first adult purchased dolls were exposed to. I can only hope that old Summer has forgiven me, and that new Summer knows I love her!
(2006) Beach Glam Summer
BOX DATE: 2006
MANUFACTURER: Mattel
DOLLS IN LINE: Barbie; Teresa; Ken; Summer; Steven; Nikki
BODY TYPE: 2006; molded textured panties; toenail polish; bend & snap legs; over sized flat feet
HEAD MOLD: 1998 "Lara" (my dolls) or 2003 "Summer"; pierced ears
***The doll on the left is wearing 2012 Fashionistas Fashions #X2233.
The doll on the right is wearing 2002 Pretty vacation styles! #47620.
PERSONAL FUN FACT: I seriously cannot believe how long I've had my first Beach Glam Summer. I know she wasn't a childhood doll of mine, but she still feels prehistoric. That's because the doll on the left joined my collection so early on, when my doll hobby got resurrected in 2011. Colleen and I took a five year hiatus from dolls when I was a teenager. I never, ever anticipated that I'd get back into them as a nineteen year old. In fact, I thought that when the last doll had been packed up, I'd never buy another one again. And then it happened...Dad got sick with cancer and I reevaluated the kind of person I had become. I realized I no longer knew who I was. Everything I was at the time was fabricated--an attempt to conceal who I really was. And so slowly but surely I started to think about dolls. Within time I was buying collector books, and by January 2, 2011, I was purchasing dolls. It took some time to readjust to the doll world. Taking a five year break from dolls is kind of like taking a five year break from technology/electronics. So much changes in only a few years--kids that were once obsessed with dolls could care less about them, and doll companies have to redesign their dolls to capture the interest of the new generation of kids. And of course, these new eras of dolls represent/reflect what is popular at the time in culture, fashion, beauty, and what is simply relevant. There were no such things as hobbit dolls when I was a kid. There were no dolls with these massive beach feet, and Summer wasn't a friend of Barbie that was all that important. So when I met my first gal, on the right, I was shell shocked. I thought she looked bloated and ugly when we first encountered on another in the "Bratz Guy bin" that fall, of 2011. She repulsed me a bit, so at first she was going to be donated. But within a few months time, I had a change of heart. The more deeply invested I got into dolls, the more I couldn't imagine getting rid of any. Those childish notions that "dolls had feelings" started to replace my forced adult snobbery. I stopped caring so much about who was or wasn't rare or collectible, and who was or wasn't someone I grew up with. I just couldn't cast out dolls like Summer at some point. And while it took me several more years to get to a truly open minded place with doll collecting, it didn't take all that long for me to become a bit more like my twelve year old, doll obsessed self. So while Summer may have at first been spurned and rejected, within a few years, she got to wear brand new, store bought clothes, and even got handmade earrings.
Nearly six years after the fact, I found my second Beach Glam Summer doll, on the left. If the arrival of my first Summer doll had been documented on video, it would have been most obvious how much I had evolved as a doll collector and a person, if you compared it to how I reacted when I got my second doll. There were lots of newer Barbies in the "$5 Bin Bonanza" that my second Summer came from. This time around, I was identifying them left and right. I also was excited to get replacements for some of the same dolls I once got rid of in 2011/2012. Case in point, Tricky Triplets Barbie also came from "Bratz Guy bin," but unlike Summer, she got kicked out. And lo and behold, I ended up with another one in the "$5 Bin Bonanza." This time, I celebrated her, and even though she was filthy and squalid, I loved her. As for Summer, my reaction was, "Oh cool, another Beach Glam Summer! And this one has her original earrings! I hope she has her swimsuit too!" I'm really glad that the dolls I've adopted in more recent times, like my duplicated Beach Glam Summer, never have to be subjected to the scrutiny and harsh criticism that my first adult purchased dolls were exposed to. I can only hope that old Summer has forgiven me, and that new Summer knows I love her!