1981 Oriental Barbie
Oriental, also known as the Miko and Kira face, is a face sculpt first patented in 1980 and introduced with the Oriental Barbie Doll in 1981.
Overview[]
The face sculpt is historical for being the first official Asian face sculpt in the Barbie line, and debuted the historically important Oriental Barbie in Dolls of the World, the first Asian Barbie doll. The sculpt also became the official face for the characters Miko and Kira, introduced in the 80's as Barbie's Asian friends. As a result, this face sculpt is referred to interchangeably with all three names. Despite originating in the collector line, the face quickly made its transition into the playline dolls. The sculpt also saw frequent use throughout the 80's and 90's as the standard face for Barbie's Asian friends, for Asian collector dolls in the Barbie line, and for Asian counterparts of Barbie. The face last saw use in 2001 with Picture Pockets Kira and Surf City Kira before it was retired and replaced with the Lea / Kayla (Face Sculpt ©2000) in the 2000's and onwards as the standard face for Asian Barbie dolls. The sculpt would later be reintroduced by Carlyle Nuera in 2015 with the Mutya Barbie Doll in the Global Glamour Collection, as it was a childhood favorite face sculpt of his. Ever since, the face has once again seen frequent use after being reintroduced, in both playline and collector dolls.