TNT Skipper #1105 1968 - 1971

In 1968 Skipper got rooted eyelashes. She also got a TNT waist. Her swimsuit was new and came in three versions with stripes. She wore a turquoise headband (almost impossible to find). She was produced in the pink skin tone and had blush. Some dolls were "high color" dolls.

 

The hair colors were ash blonde, pale blonde, brunette and titian. Dolls with blonde hair colors (especially pale blonde) are harder to find than brunette or titian dolls.

 

The new box contained a clear plastic X-stand, a white brush and a white comb as well as a black eyelash comb (almost impossible to find) and a booklet.

 

Markings: 

© 1967 Mattel, Inc. U.S. Pat'd. U.S. Pats. Pend. Made in Japan

© 1967 Mattel, Inc. U.S. Pat'd. U.S. Pats. Pend. Made in Taiwan

 

(The first dolls were produced in Japan, the later ones in Taiwan).

 

This doll was probably sold in 1968 - for one year only.

 

A blonde doll in a very good condition sold for 375 US $ on eb.. in spring 2019.

A brunette doll in a very good condition sold for 375 US $ on eb.. in spring 2019.

 

In Australia, dressed TNT Skippers (wearing fashions from 1968, for example: Real Sporty #1961 (with the hat!) or Quick Changes #1962 - please take a look at the mod fashions page) were found in white cardboard boxes with cardboard lids. The dolls came with their stands. Supposedly, these dressed box dolls were handed out to retailers for their display. 

 

The #1105 Skipper doll was part of the Sears exclusive "Perfectly Pretty" gift set. For more information on this set please press the following button: 

Below you can see a headband which is promoted by a US seller (known to many collectors for "shady" auctions) as original, but which isn't. Unfortunately, if you search the web for "mint TNT Skipper dolls", you are presented with lots of dolls wearing fake headbands like the one shown below.  You can see an original headband above - pictured with the nrfb doll. Brush and comb are original:

TNT Skipper and swimsuit variations:

1968 catalogue pic from Denmark:

Four  TNT Skipper dolls. The doll at the far left is wearing a hard to find version of the swimsuit. The titian Skipper shows a hard to find OSS variation with large pink stripes, whereas  the two Skippers to the right are dressed in the regular version:

An ash blonde TNT Skipper - very good condition - sold for 340 US $ on eb.. (2020).

A blonde TNT Skipper - very good condition - sold for 285 US $ on eb.. (2020).

A titian TNT Skipper -  medium/good condition with earring holes and swingy arms - sold for 250 US $ on eb.. (2020).


Sausage Curl Skipper

In 1969 a version of the TNT Skipper with sausage curls was sold. 

 

The boxes were marked "Gold Blonde" and "Java Brown". There were no redheads. 

 

Sausage Curl Skippers came with the same accessories like the TNT Skipper with straight hair from 1968, but were dressed in a new checkered swimsuit. 

 

Most of them have very lovely faces, but you can also find some Sausage Curl Skippers which seem to have a smaller, harder head, oily skin and a "strange glance".

 

Doll markings: © 1967 Mattel, Inc. U.S. Pat'd. U.S. Pats. Pend. Made in Taiwan

 

A blonde Sausage Curl Skipper NRFB (never removed from box) sold for 425 US $ on eb.. in January 2019.

A blonde Sausage Curl Skipper - good condition - sold for 180 US $ in 2020.

A brunette Sausage Curl Skipper head - no body, very good condition - sold for 125 US $ on eb.. (2020).

 

This doll was also part of the Sears Exclusive "Skipper Bright 'n Breezy" gift set from the same year. For more information on this set please press this button:

Skipper came with a transparent stand pictured above, as well as a booklet (here you can see the English and the German version), a white brush and comb and a black eyelash comb (not pictured).


In 1970 and 1971 the TNT Sausage Curl Skipper doll was sold in a new box and was dressed in a new swimsuit. She had the same hair colors like the dolls from 1969 (Gold Blonde an Java Brown) and she came with the same accessories. 

 

Please note: In Germany, I recently (June 11th, 2018) found a very unusual Sausage Curl Skipper with pale blonde/platinum hair - all original, from the first owner (for pictures of this doll, please follow the link below). My first though was that she could be a production sample doll. But it's also possible Mattel ran out of gold blonde hair for a while and used left over hair from other dolls. The doll I found is the first one with that hair color I've ever seen, so these pale blonde/platinum girls must be very, very rare. I don't know if they were sold in the "Gold Blonde" boxes or if there were boxes stating their own hair color. 

 

Update: June 16th, 2018. What a coincidence! I just spotted an online auction of several of these pale blonde/platinum Sausage Curl Skippers. They are advertised as "platinum sample dolls". The sellers told me they got them 25 years ago from someone who worked at Mattel and had a huge collection of sample display dolls. They refer to the Barbie booklets, which only show platinum Sausage Curl dolls.

 

You can see an example-page by following the link below/clicking on the button.

 

Markings: 

© 1967 Mattel, Inc. U.S. Pat'd. U.S. Pats.

Pend. Made in Taiwan

Both sides of the box and the back side of the box:

Box bottom: