Barbie Loves Elvis (1996)

November 19, 2023.

I had no plans about writing about Barbie Loves Elvis, and that is because it was a lucky find at a thrift store. Though I am not a huge Barbie fan (nothing at all against Barbara, just not my thing), something about her and her friend Elvis were magnetising. The cracking, yellowing box contained 60s-style Barbie doll (a 90s reproduction of the retro style) packed in with a doll representation of the musical artist, Elvis Presley. Many questions popped into my head when I saw this, mostly, "Why did they make this?" The box was quite damaged, but I was surprised to see these dolls complete in the box at the thrift store, and in pretty great condition. Maybe they once belonged to someone's collection.

Elvis' guitar was loose in the box, flapping around as I carried the set home. The box has some luminous gold text declaring the name of the set to be "Barbie Loves Elvis." As an added accessory, there is an insert of a black and white photograph of real-life Elvis in the box. Along with the two dolls and their accessories, the box included a saddle stand for Barbie and a claw-style stand for Elvis.

They were a little sticky coming out of the box, but they had clearly never been opened. The package was held together by yellowing tape, crusty and having lost any tackiness. Barbie's hair was gluey and neeed a wash. The stickiness, whatever it was, held on tightly to the brittle, cracking elastic bands that once held her hair style together. Yellow bands also secured her shoes, but they were easily picked off. Elvis was in pretty good condition, aside from one rubber band flaking off his jacket, taking a small patch of gold off with it.

Barbie is very cute. She has blonde hair in a long ponytail and rolled bangs. She wears pearl earrings, a string of pearls around her neck, and a pearl ring on her hand. She has a bright pink scarf around her neck, and she sports a light pink sweater. The real standout piece of her outfit is a black velvet skirt that ends a bit above her ankles. In minty green and pink text, her skirt reads "Barbie (heart) Elvis," surrounded by illustrated music notes. A pair of shoes and guitar serve as endcaps on either side of a wiggly bar of music, lines and spaces populated by mint and pink music notes. A emblem showing an image of Elvis playing his guitar in front of a vinyl record stands in the middle of the design. Some colorful sequins dot the rest of the skirt, and the shape of the skirt is made full by a pink crinoline underneath.

Elvis himself is alright, and is mostly remarkable for being Elvis. Not every celebrity doll captures its namesake's likeness as well as this Elvis doll does. He wears a gold suit jacket with silver lapels. He has a black silky shirt with a popped collar underneath his jacket, and mtching black pants and shoes. He has a microphone and guitar.

The set came packed with a survey, two-year warranty card (expired by now), and a certificate of authenticity, in case one was worried that they received a counterfeit Elvis.