Asian Pacific Barbie Page

The first Barbie to be released with ethnic features was the 197 Hawaiian Barbie. She had a olive skin tone, dark hair and her eyes were painted to appear oriental and the "Steffie" head mold she wore a "grass skirt", typical of the costume of Hawaii's Hula Dancers.  Steffie is a discontinued friend of Barbie, but Mattel still uses the head mold for other dolls; some collectors consider it one of the prettier head molds used.  In 1981 Mattel issued the Oriental (Hong Kong) Barbie in the popular International Series.  She was dressed in a Cheongsam dress and is the first doll to use the new oriental head mold.  Mattel released another Hawaiian Barbie in 1983, she used the "Steffie" Head mold and wore a bikini top and a wrap-around beach skirt.  This is the last time Mattel used the Steffie head mold for the oriental dolls until 1996.  In 1985 a second oriental doll was released representing the country of Japan.   Japanese Barbie wore a red kimono and her hair styled like a Geisha girl.  Mattel released a second Japanese Barbie in 1996, she wore a pink kimono and her and her hair style is long.  In 1988 Barbie received her first Oriental friend "Beach Fun Miko" and Barbie was also released a Korean Barbie wearing a traditional South Korean dress for the International Series and it is one of my favorite Barbies. Mattel released a UNICEF Barbie in 1989 and in 1990 Summit.  UNICEF wears a blue gown and Summit a white gown. Mattel released the Malaysia Barbie in 1991. She wore a purple and gold Songket and is the first doll made in the country that she represented.  She is quite lovely.  Mattel also released a little know doll for Singapore Airlines in 1991. Singapore Girl as she is called comes in two variations, one with dark and the other with pale face paint; both wore the Singapore Airlines' stewardess uniform.  In 1991 Mattel released Filipina Barbie in the Philippines.  She came in several different hand beaded dresses that reflect the culture of their country.  Each doll edition had a different ethnic appearance, one for each of the ethnic groups of the Philippines. To my knowledge, there were six different dolls released and only 500 of each doll were made.  In 1993 a second Filipina Barbie series with different hand beaded dresses was released.  This edition was limited to 1000 dolls for each of the nine dolls in the series.  1995 Filipina was released wearing authentic tribal outfits from the different ethnic groups.  There were seven dolls issued in this series.  In 1993 Mattel released Chinese Barbie in a two piece cherry blossom dress with long black hair.  In 1995 Barbie returned in the "grass skirt" costume as Polynesian Barbie of the Dolls of the World Series.  Mattel did something totally superb by releasing Oshogatsu (Japanese for New Year) Barbie, she had long dark hair and wore a red plum blossom kimono.  Red is the color of good luck in the orient and plum blossoms bloom during the New Year season in Japan.  Mattel returned to the "Steffie" head mold for this doll (maybe because this head mold was so popular among the collectors ).  In 1997 Mattel released three oriental dolls that were very different from one another.  First the second Happy New Year Barbie was released, using again the "Steffie" head mold, but this time her hair style was short and she wore a pink cherry blossom kimono.  The second doll for 1997 was Chinese Empress Barbie, wearing the traditional costume typical of Dowager Empress Tz's-hsi's wardrobe, she ruled China from 1861-1908.  The third doll for 1997 was Sapphire Splendor, designed by Bob Mackie for the Gem Collection, she is the only Asian doll in the popular Mackie Designer Series.  Although Asian Pink Box Barbies are not as plentiful as the African American or Hispanic dolls that were released in the last decade, they are according to many collectors, quality collectable pieces.  The four Asian pink box dolls I have found are in the My First Barbie Series, they are My First Barbie 1994, My First Princess 1995, My First Tea Party 1996, and My First Jewelry Fun 1997. The Bob Mackie Designer Barbie for 1998 is called Fantasy Goddess of Asia Barbie. Photos show her holding a fan, she wears a golden gown with fan attached to the back of the dress, the dresses fan has a dragon's picture on it. Her hair is styled in a braid pulled to the top of her head, she is a lovely doll. Spiegel has an 1998 exclusive Barbie called Golden Qi-Pao Barbie, she was designed to commemorate the first anniversary of the Britsh handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese. Qi-Pao Barbie is dressed in a traditional long dress of gold lace, accented in rhinestones and golden rosettes, and matching gold shoes. She is wearing "jade" jewerlry. Her dark hair is styled in a chignon.

Bob Mackie's Asian Goddess 1998

Spiegel 1998 Qi-Pao Barbie

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Barbie In Paris is owned and created by Babz/1997. Last update October 1999.  Copyright© 1997, All rights reserved. Barbie® is a registered trademark of Mattel Inc.  I am not affiliated with Mattel. All other trademarks are copyright of their respective owners. All views expressed in this page are solely my own and are not intended to reflect upon Mattel Inc or any of their affiliates.