Barbie My Favorite Time Capsule 1962 Brunette Bubble Cut Doll

1962 Brunette Bubblecut Barbie Doll is a wonderful doll, but she’s not a perfect reproduction of the original. This doesn’t detract from the doll’s quality and visual appeal, though. I have deboxed the doll, and I own genuine vintage versions of the doll, so I am evaluating this doll from the standpoint of accuracy, visual appeal, and overall quality of a deboxed display doll.

My main critique about the doll concerns the doll’s hair. It is much too silky and shiny to be a good match to the original. The dolls from 1962 had a very coarse, dull-sheened hair fiber, that holds it’s style extremely well. Those 1962 hairstyles are often found perfectly intact 45 years later, even dolls that have been played with. Mattel should research and duplicate that hair fiber for these repro dolls. Not only would it be a good match to the originals, but the dolls would require far less ‘setting lotion’ or whatever glue Mattel uses to sculpt the hairstyles for these repro dolls.

The facial screening is great, but it’s more similar to a 1966 doll than a 1962 doll. The shape of the lips, the color of the lips and eye shadow, is more similar to a ‘high-color’ Color Magic Barbie doll or 1966 Barbie with Lifelike Bendable Legs. This doll should have pink or coral lips, as red lips were less common in 1962 than they were in other years. That said, it’s still a very visually pleasing face paint pattern.

The fashion reproduction of Enchanted Evening is superior to the previous reproductions of the fashion, and it looks very good and fits well on the doll. The fashion alone is worth the price, as it is of very high quality.

Overall, a great doll, and the reproduction booklet is a great bonus. Worth the price, for sure.
Rating: 5 / 5

Issued to celebrate Barbie’s 50th anniversary, this is a reproduction of the 1962 brunette ‘bubblecut’ doll, with a bonus era-appropriate fashion also included in the package.

Dressed in her standard jersey-cut red swimsuit, the brunette bubblecut doll also wears pearl stud earrings and red open-toed mules. The bubblecut hairstyle was introduced in 1962, proving to be very popular at the time–partially inspired by the look and glamour of Jackie Kennedy. Collectors of vintage Barbie also particularly love the bubblecut dolls; the rare “sidepart bubblecut” being a highly sought-after variation which was only produced for a short time. In addition, a spectacular “bubble-on-bubble” hairstyle was created as one of the wigs for the Fashion Queen Barbie doll.

My only quibble with this reissue lies in the quality of the hair. Original bubblecuts (and earlier repros like “Silken Flame” and “Career Girl”) were much more realistic. The hair on this current repro is far too bouffant; Barbie looks like she’s overdosed on hairspray!

Also included in this package is a reproduction of “Enchanted Evening”, one of Barbie’s most desirable and popular gowns of the era. A delicate, strapless gown made of frosted pink satin, with a white faux fur stole. Long white gloves, triple-strand pearl necklace, pearl stud earrings and sparkly open-toed pumps complete this elegant gown.

This is a classic doll reproduction; perfect for the Barbie collector in your family.
Rating: 5 / 5

This doll was purchased for my collection. I already have a platinum blond version of the doll so this one only adds to it.
Rating: 5 / 5

Just received my Amazon order. I simply don’t understand why Mattel has to use an industrial strength plastic staple to attach the doll’s head to the box. It can’t ever be completely removed, and I simply don’t see why Barbie’s head needs to be attached to a box at all. Is it going to run away?

The face paint is lovely, but is there any earthly reason why her short hair must be shellacked within an inch of its life? Honestly!

The fake fur stole is narrower and more sparse this time around, compared to the last repro. You need to be incredibly nimble to fasten the necklace. (still haven’t managed it!) The biggest disappointment are the sparkly shoes. A few years back, the first time this outfit was reproduced, the shoes were the neatest part: The glitter was actually inside the plastic, part of the shoe material, itself. So cool! Here, they just dipped the top of the shoes in gluey sparkles. It looks totally cheesey and cheap.

A real letdown.
Rating: 4 / 5

As a Barbie Collector, I want the box to be in perfect condition but it was not. I was disappointed. Another Barbie I ordered was not like that at all, she was perfect. So, I guess this time was just a fluke.
Rating: 2 / 5