Barbie's 1980's Totally Pink House - Fall 2016 Edition

It has taken time, but I am coming around to liking the house re-issued in pink. I look forward to picking one up when time and space allows. Here are some well cared for pink houses. I think they look great, I am unsure of why so many people today feel compelled to spray paint them differently.

translucent windows

hot pink windows

dark pink window frames

hot pink windows

translucent windows

light pink window frames

light pink window frames

translucent windows

This is pretty much how the house was made and furnished in the mid 80s. 

Displayed for Your Perusal: Staging Ideas

Here is a great example of the 1982 Cottage with period dog, dolls and decor. 

Wouldn't it be awesome to come to a garage sale and see this? And then they are asking $10 each. =-) 

Everyone is always asking me where to find the furniture. As I did not still have any original DreamHouse furniture from my childhood, I had to go to the usual place, Ebay, for replacements. I bought, and bought and bought, at one time having at least 5 green desks and 5 ovens. I did this because it is difficult to see exact detail online, so this way I was able to upgrade parts to get really minty complete pieces (like the fridge) with my choice of which color ice cube trays, and which color pots/pans. Then, I sold the rest and it usually paid for what I kept. =-) 

 Cottage with period figures and furniture. Lookin' good! 

1980 DreamPool with period pretties. 

Perfectly staged center piece. 

This probably takes p a quarter of this guest bedroom, without even the Star Traveler or Cottage! 

As the house was set up in the mid to late 80s.

While this one is not the A Frame, it's so cool, I just had to include in this post, very groovy! 

I must say I am so impressed with these stager's condition and completeness of original, vintage accoutrement: 

Vintage Photos and Commercial Stills

Let's play Barbie! 

Is that a custom, double sided house with an extended elevator to the roof top party deck? 

As seen on the new Hulu Documentary about the new barbie body shapes, "Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie".

She got the Magic Mansion AND the 1978 A Frame?! That was a great birthday or Christmas. I remember seeing the Magical Mansion at Service Merchandise circa 1988, I think it was like $200 but I was more into She Ra and Jem by then. 

The Boxed Barbie DreamHouse : Fall 2016

As many of you may already know, the very first blog post here is by far the most popular. So, given that, I decided to make a follow-up post with new pictures and commentary. Here it is! 

All three structures together! This would make a wonderful Christmas morning indeed! 

I am not sure of the exact year, but I am supposing this is about 1981-1983. 

One thing I really love about the box is the comic strip panels showing all the different rooms, features and play possibilities. 

The lesser known Finishing Touches accessory packs. I was never into these, but it was cool that they made the attempt to add things to fill out this admittedly sparse house. 

This shipping carton is in GREAT shape. My original A Frame memory at ToysRUs is that they strung these up high in the ceiling far above the shelf, with no boxed houses on the lower shelves amongst the Barbie items. Maybe there was one of those ticket stub dispensers, so once paid for, a stocker would retrieve one (in a carton) from the back. Sadly, many ebay sellers ship the house in the original shipping carton, requiring the carton to be written on/tape/shipping label applied, and then go through shipping getting dirty and banged up. Mwa, mwa, mwaaaaaaa....

Even now, 30-40 years after these mammoth toys rolled off the factory conveyer belts minty new, surprising treasures pop up every once in awhile online. I always hope that the buyer does not open these extremely rare finds since its too easy to recreate the flowers as seen in previous posts. 

Vintage Italian Ads - Godere!

These were stylish looks, I am not sure why they did not make it to America. 

Classic colors. 

Great photo, I like Ken's suit. 

This American ad features the house re-imagined in shades of pink (with solid pink window frames). Notice the furnished house price is $159.99. Considering houses today are $79-$159, that was pretty pricey for back then, although obviously the quality of this house is superior structurally, the new homes are electronic and interactive. I still prefer these vintage beauties! 

The German issued furniture line. The living room came in light blue or orange, the sofa featuring similar upholstery.

Not Italian, but it is a rare ad that I do not recall seeing before. It looks circa 1983-84

One of my favorite aspects to this toy was being able to make extra cottages and what not: 

Villetta D'Barbie!