Ī prototype is a unique doll sculptured of carved plaster and covered with wax. Prototype and Sample dolls, Salesman Sample dolls. Test Market Skipper dolls weigh less than regular Skipper dolls.įollowing you can find pictures and some additional information about Test Market dolls as well as info about Test Market Skipper’s heads don't have markings on the inner rim (the other Skipper dolls do, please go to the chapter “Head Markings” for further information).

Their hair of the TM dolls is made of a different fiber and looks more natural than the hair Some production issue dolls even have three or four rows of rooted bangs. There are some regular Skipper dolls with two rows of bangs also. They have two rows of bangs – instead of one like most Skipper dolls - but Test Market Skippers were found with shorter bangs as well as with bangs the same lenght like the ones of the regular dolls. On the inner part of their thighs (one or two digits and one or two letters). Additionally, one or (most of the times) two legs have markings

Their feet have a slight incline and the JAPAN marking on the right foot is written from toe to heel.

Their legs are made of a different material (rougher and not as shiny, supposedly resin) and have a wider stance.

The legs of the Test Market Skippers are 0.2 inches shorter than the rest of their body and the body/legs of the regular Skipper dolls.

What differentiates the “Test Market Skippers” from the regular Skipper dolls? Maybe the girls interviewed found the very first issue too plump, and found that their legs were too short and looked chubby due to the wide

Skipper dolls as well before mass producing them. And that Mattel, the creators of Barbie, wanted their advice on future plans for Barbie, because the members of the Fan Club were the people Mattel wantedĪlmost certainly Mattel did some market research on In the letter enclosed it says that some members of the Barbie Fan Club had been selected to become The letter of the Barbie Advisory Panel included a questionnaire of several pagesĪsking the little girls questions like how many Barbie dolls they owned, whether they would like a a boyfriend doll for Barbie and what they thought of Barbie’s hair. In 1959 for example, the company published a newspaper for members of the Barbie Fan Club to join theīarbie Advisory Panel. Mattel was interested in finding out more about what little girls liked about their dolls and how they expected them to Prototype doll with the same leg mold and no marking on the feet. In the “Miller’s” Magazine (October/November 1994) there's an article in which author states that she had seen a photograph of a Skipper In the meantime, I talked toĪnother original owner of a Test Market doll who also thinks she got her doll in 1963. I couldn't find any proof for this though. German lady who showed me her Test Market doll and told me that her father got her from the New York Toy Fair in 1963. But some of them definitely were also sold in stores to the public - in the same box and with the same accessories like the regular issue. For a long time it was assumed, that they were handed out to Mattel employees only, prior to mass Without much doubt though these dolls were the first Skipper dolls ever produced in These dolls are much rarer than the later Skipper dolls, but not as rare as they would be if they indeed were sample dolls,Īnd for sure they aren't prototypes. Doll markings: Skipper © 1963 Mattel, Inc. A very small number was sold as 'Dressed Dolls' (pls. They came in the regular boxes and had the basic ' Prototypes' I call them “ Test-market” dolls, because they definitely were neither Sample dolls nor Prototypes. These Skippers are often being referred to as “ Sample dolls” or During the last decades some SL Skippers were found which differ from the SL dolls sold in 19.

Unclothing growing up skipper