The Oriental Barbie Doll was released in 1981. She is part of the Dolls of the World Collection, and is notable for being the first Asian doll in the Barbie Brand, making her historically important. She also introduced the Oriental Face Sculpt, which later became the official face mold for Barbie's Asian friends Miko and Kira, so the sculpt is usually referred to by all three names.
Description[]
"Oriental Barbie doll is dainty and elegant in this beautiful costume reflecting the influence of the Orient. Her long, slender yellow dress is trimmed in red, and complemented by a red and golden-flowered jacket. Her lustrous black hair falls gently over her shoulders, and is pulled back to display her lovely face.
SKU #: 3262"[1]
Packaging[]
Front[]
"FOR AGES OVER 3
ORIENTAL Barbie®
Hello! Meet Barbie from Hong Kong, and learn about the Orient!
No. 3262"
Right[]
Famous international fashion doll< ORIENTAL Barbie® < Contents: 11 ½" (29.21 cm.) doll, dress, jacket, shoes, necklace, earrings, ring, doll stand, fan. Also these package cutouts: scenic poster, map of the Orient, theater tickets, Speak Chinese "book", money, passport.
Left[]
Hours of fun!
Play pieces to cut out for Oriental Barbie.
©Mattel, Inc. 1980. Hawthorne, CA 90250. MADE IN TAIWAN. Manufactured for Mattel. All Rights Reserved. ® and ™ designate U.S. trademarks of Mattel, Inc.
Back[]
ORIENTAL Barbie®
I am from Hong Kong, an island off Mainland China. It is in the Orient, or Far East, which includes countries such as Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Malaysia.
- Throughout the Orient, people shop at outdoor marketplaces where goods such as fish, vegetables, silk, and spices are openly displayed. In this part of the world, we eat rice with our meals rather than bread or potatoes. We use chopsticks for eating instead of knives and forks.
- In the Orient are many temples which are called pagodas. You will recognize them by the way the roofs turn up at the corners.
- Our harbor in Hong Kong is full of big Chinese fishing boats called junks. On land, you can travel through the streets in a rickshaw, a cart with 2 wheels pulled by a rickshaw boy. You will notice that many of the women in Hong Kong wear cheongsams (chong sahms), dresses like I am wearing.
- Chinese is a picture language. Each ideograph, or symbol, has a meaning. Below are some examples for you to try.
- Come visit the Orient. I know you will find it exotic and interesting.
Goodbye!
Mother
You
爸 Father
Love
Eat
屋 House
玩 Play
Joy
THIS IS NOT A TALKING DOLL.
SAFETY TESTED.
Conforms to PS 72-76.[2]
Trivia[]
- Being the first doll to use this sculpt, it became known as the Oriental / Miko / Kira Face Sculpt, named after her. The face was also used for a majority of Asian Barbie Brand dolls until the introduction of more Asian Face Sculpts like Lea / Kayla for example.