Review of 11 1/2 inch Vintage Brooke Shields Doll (#8833)

I don't know if this only happens to collectors, but aging can be a funny thing.  Here you'll be an adult, and you haven't thought about your childhood in years. Heck, you may not even remember most of it.  Then one day, you'll remember a toy you really liked.  Suddenly, you feel the only way your life can go right is if you get a replica of that favorite toy.  I am always wary of these moods.  For one thing, they often require me to spend money when I don't have it.  However, they are also a signal that my past is trying to come to the forefront, and that is...promising trauma in any case.  It may be a good thing, for it is the way I resolve it...but it puts me through an emotional rollercoaster. I went through this some time ago.  I started remembering all of my favorite toys from my youth.  One of them was a Brooke Shields doll.

I wasn't really into dolls in my childhood.  It is funny because I collect them as an adult.  As I child, I didn't really know what to do with them.  I have more of an imagination now as an adult.  Of course, my dolls often got me into trouble.  I am still traumatized over the Barbie swimming pool incident.  I was playing with my Barbies outside with their Barbie swimming pool.  The problem?  I had one swimsuit and twelve Barbies.  One got to wear the swimsuit, and the others had to swim naked.  There was also a Ken doll, who also was naked.  Well...what do you expect to happen when you have a naked man and eleven naked women in a pool together?  Things are going to happen.  Of course, I was only eight, so the extent of my knowledge only had them passionately kissing...but the next door neighbor got upset and called me a pervert.

Brooke, though, was different.  I only have good memories of her.  There were two things I loved about Brooke.  One, she was a brunette.  When I was growing up, there were only blonde Barbie dolls.  No redheads, raven hair, or brunettes.  Definitely no nationalities besides Caucasian.  It was pretty boring looking at rows and rows of blonde hair.  Then, of course, I was also a brunette myself--and I didn't agree with the popular eighties motto that blondes had more fun and were therefore superior.  I was thrilled to finally have a brunette doll.  Her legs could also bend, which was another new feature--which made it easier for her to sit.

I didn't know who Brooke Shields was as a child.  I just assumed it was the doll's name.  I didn't realize the doll was modeled after a real person until much later.  My mom objected to the doll, but like most adults who didn't want to reveal the true reason for her objections, she merely complained that the doll was very "masculine" looking.  Before anyone starts hating this article and accusing my mom of being a bigot, let me say that really wasn't the reason why she disliked Brooke Shields.  She found it disturbing that Brooke Shields had started doing naked movies--and movies about being a child prostitute--when she was merely a child.  Brooke Shields represented exploitation to her, and I suppose she worried that somehow those vibes would be transmitted through the doll.

Years later, when I started looking for the doll, I didn't hold much hope in finding one.  After all, it had been more than twenty years ago that the doll had been put out.  I didn't know if Brooke Shields could really be considered a celebrity or that there would be a fan base.  Apparently she made a big splash at some point, but then she faded into oblivion.  I did find some horribly abused dolls on ebay--usually naked and often missing their legs.  I remembered that the doll had been hard to dress...but still I wondered what people did to these dolls.  Some of them looked like they had been put put into a sauna for too long.

To make things more complicated, I was looking for a specific Brooke Shields doll.  I wanted the one that I remembered having.  My doll had a blue sweater and a white leotard.  I did find plenty of Brooke Shields dolls that had the pink sweater and gray leotard--many new in box.  I guess these weren't as popular.
Finally, I found a doll--new in box!--on ecrater.  It was relatively cheap, and it even came with an extra outfit.

So, the box spouts, "Brooke Shields--the World's Most Glamorous Teenage Doll."  She was fully posable, though she didn't have the type of articulation dolls of today do.  Her head moved side to side.  Her arms go up and down, though only in the power walking way--not "flap like a birdie" way.  Her torso could twist side to side, which I don't recall being a common feature of dolls in those days.  Her legs could go up and down, back and forth only.  She couldn't spread-eagle.  The knees could bend, which was a rare thing for dolls of that period.

Another relatively rare feature--her hair was washable and could be styled.  Most 11 1/2 inch dolls that have survived from the eighties usually have awful hair.  Dolls in those days couldn't get their hair wet, and if they did--they became a head full of snarls.  When you tried to cut the snarls out...well, eventually you wound up with a bald doll.  The Barbie swimming pool did other damage besides to my reputation.  It was responsible for my dolls' hair becoming a mess.

PRODUCT DETAILS

Production Date:  1982
Made by:  LJN Toys
Company:  B.C.S. & Co., Inc.
Recommended Age:  4+
Model:  8833
Made in Hong Kong
Package Includes:  an 11 1/2 inch doll in a blue sweater, white leotards, light blue boots, a doll stand, a star-shaped ring, doll brush, and an autographed photo of Brooke Shields.

I didn't notice the boots and doll stand right away.  They were hidden in the back of the box.  I don't remember my original doll having them, and I can only suppose they were so cleverly hidden that they were often thrown out.  The doll stand works quite well, short as it is.

I was seven years old when this doll was put out. It was a time before warnings about choking hazards.  I'm quite certain that if this doll had been released now, the age recommendation would be higher...and of course there would be the warnings.  Things were different when I was growing up.  If you complained about your kid shoving something up their nose or choking on it, the company would feel no responsibility and say, "We're sorry...that your kid is a moron.  By chance, are you and your husband siblings?"

I couldn't find a UPC on the package.  UPCs did exist in those days, but maybe they weren't on everything.  However, outsourcing definitely existed, as this doll was made in Hong Kong.  The autographed photo, which I must have thrown out, resembled the picture on the front of the box.  The photo was a copy--so it wasn't like Brooke Shields signed it personally.

On the back of the box, it says:  The most photographed...voted the best dressed...model, t.v., and movie star.  Brooke Shields, a multi-talented, beautiful young lady who's captured the hearts and dreams of the young world.  She's now a dazzling 11 1/2" tall, fully posable real living fashion doll.  Brooke's long wavy "sun high-lighted" hair can be shampooed and styled for any occasion.  Her adoring fans can see Brooke dressed in a two-tone bulky cowl-neck sweater, and her slim legs covered in ribbed tights and white cowboy boots.  A special personalized gift from Brooke to you is also included--a star-shaped adjustable ring and an autographed photograph of Brooke Shields.  Complete with stand and hair brush, Brooke's a natural beauty who will win over any little girl's heart.

They definitely knew how to schmooze in the 80's.  The prejudice of the preference of blondes is noticeable.  Do you guys see "sun high-lighted hair"?  I don't.  The description wasn't accurate to the accessories either.  The boots are blue (they are white with the doll that comes in the pink sweater and gray leotard).  I don't think the ring is really that adjustable either.

I loved the blue sweater, which was very soft to the touch.  I also liked the leotards.  The eighties, I think, started to promote the idea of comfortable clothing that was fashionable enough that you could run errands in it.  The eighties still retained a bunch of women too that seemed to insist on wearing sweaters no matter what the weather was.

I didn't undress Brooke often.  Barbie dolls in those days were difficult to dress due to their limited mobility.  Brooke was particularly difficult because she had a large, triangular torso.  It is hard to dress a doll when it has the shoulders of a quarterback.  I'm not really surprised that the legs came off as easily as they did.  You can't spread them too far, and it would be easy to pop them if you were trying to put her pants on.  Brooke is more narrow in the hips and waist than most Barbie dolls made these days.  While she can wear modern Barbie clothes, most cannot wear her fashions.

Like most fashion dolls, Brooke came with extra outfits that were sold separately.  Alas, like with Barbie, parents were not always good about buying the additional clothing--which was odd, since the primary appeal to little girls was dressing and undressing the dolls (providing that they could without snapping off a leg...come to think of it, maybe there was a reason why parents never bought the other outfits :/).  I remember trading outfits with my little friends for my Barbie.  For Brooke Shields, McCalls put out a sewing pattern (8727) in 1983.  It cost $4.25 in those days.

However, there were apparently sixteen outfits you could collect that were put out by the same company that made the doll.  These outfits represented eighties culture:  cheerleading, gym outfit, fur coat (in the days where you didn't hear about PETA and everyone desired to own one), disco outfit, and rollerskating outfit.  I just noticed that the outfit box recommends putting baby powder on the doll's legs before putting pants on.  The dolls were to be dressed feet first.  Supposedly, the Barbie dolls of the 1980's could wear Brooke Shield's fashions.  I guess just like Americans, dolls have gotten bigger waistlines.  I don't know where it was made, since the package tore that information off.

My doll came with an additional riding habit outfit that was sold separately (but that the seller included in a bundle).  The riding habit came with a black plastic riding hat, a maroon jacket that had a gold ribbon sticker on it, yellow sleeveless shirt, tan riding pants, black boots, and a riding crop.  I've misplaced the riding crop.  Perhaps Brooke got too kinky with it.  The boots haven't fit well since I let my Bariss Offee figure wear them.  I had taken off Bariss' shoes--destroying them in the process because I didn't realize they were glued on...and then I found out she didn't have feet.  She only had pegs.  So I let her wear Brooke's riding boots, but now they don't seem to fit Brooke.

PRODUCT DETAILS:
Production date:  1982
Put out by:  LJN Toys
Company:  B.C.S. & Co. Inc.
No.:  8871
UPC:  023582088716
Age recommendation:  4+
Package includes:  black plastic riding helmet, riding crop, maroon jacket, yellow sleeveless top, tan pants, and black riding boots

I was very happy to get the doll.  I don't know, but it seemed to calm the troubled inner child a bit.  It is a very nice doll, though I don't know if it could be compared to the quality of the dolls of today.  Still, it has its nostalgic value.  Brooke Shields belongs to the time when rollerskating was king, Atari was the gaming console to have, people bought vinyl records, and when Michael Jackson was the coolest thing to ever hit music (and before the allegations and creepy changes that disturbed everyone later).