#generation beat

[fountainpenchess]

I continually feel I am almost free enough to be a real help to you, but, my love can't flourish in my present position & if I forced it now, both you & I would lose. By God, though, every day I miss you more & More.

— neal cassady to allen ginsberg (march 14, 1947).

[my-plastic-life]

New doll diorama is up! This year marks the 20th anniversary of one of my all-time favorite Barbie lines, Generation Girls. This series depicted dolls from all over the world, each with their own distinct personalities. I still have all the ones I had as a kid, and I proudly own the entire series with the exception of the Gear (fashion packs) and some of the books. I even still have the high school! :D The high school wouldn't fit inside this diorama, so I went a different route. The third and final line of this series was called My Room, and each doll came with a box that turned into their room, and of course each doll's room matched their personality.

Chelsie wasn't included in this line because, according to the story, she'd "transferred" at that time. But she did live in New York with the other girls before that time, so I made her a bedroom inspired by the style of the others (except bigger of course)!

Chelsie is from London (every GG character came from a different part of the world) and she's a singer/songwriter who loves poetry and music. I incorporated this into her room, with music note bedding and pillows, as well as throw pillows with words on them to reflect her love of poetry. Her favorite color is purple, so I put some of that in there as well with her furniture and sheets.

Nichelle's room already had purple/lilac walls and I didn't want to use the same thing or drown the room in purple, but none of the dolls really had green so I chose a green ivory pattern wallpaper (each room had funky wallpaper with a solid color strip border at the top). Each room also had printed details like shelves, doors, furniture, etc. on the walls, so I incorporated that by printing a closet door on one wall. Since I had more room, I decided the rest of the goodies would be "real" rather than printed. Each room also had a 3D printed window about 2" high, so I made one of those too (looks a little small on the larger walls lol). I also added some poetry and music posters, and a nice elegant area rug. I think the room defines Chelsie well! :)

I used the first line of these dolls for this scene (except Blaine and Mari, who weren't introduced until the second line) because I wanted to include everyone in their original clothes, which wouldn't have been possible since Chelsie wasn't in the third line and Ana wasn't in the second.

Now that I've taken everyone down memory lane, enjoy the diorama! All the friends are hanging out in Chelsie's room, listening to her latest song and clapping/dancing, and giving support!

Left to right: Nichelle Watson (from New York), Chelsie Peterson (from London, England), Lara Morelli-Strauss (from Paris, France), Tori Burns (from Sydney, Australia), Ana Suarez (from Mexico City, Mexico), Blaine Gordon (from NYC), Barbie Roberts (from Malibu, California), and Mari Nakano (from Tokyo, Japan)

Nichelle, Chelsie, and Lara

Tori, Ana, Blaine, Barbie, and Mari

Tori, Barbie, Mari, Blaine, and Ana

Blaine and Ana (it was always implied that these two were a couple, both in the books and in some stories on the website)

Tori is sitting on the piano bench - Chelsie even has a piano in her room that doubles as a desk to write poems and songs!

Barbie

Lara

Chelsie

Nichelle and Chelsie

Nichelle

Generation Beat magazine, the official magazine of the line (I made that!)

London poster as well as musical instruments from around the world

[my-plastic-life]

TBT: Generation Girls

Starting a new thing where every Thursday (as long as I remember), I’ll post a tribute to a doll/toy series that no longer exists but were a big part of my life.

It’s Throwback Thursday!

Up first: Generation Girl Barbie and friends!

Originally released in 1999, the Generation Girl series featured six girls from all over the world who now live in various parts of New York City, met at International High School, and became best friends. In fact, this was possibly the start of Mattel’s “high school” scene that inspired Monster High, Ever After High, Super Hero High, etc.

(LEFT TO RIGHT): Barbie Roberts was an aspiring actress from Malibu, California. Ana Suarez was an athlete from Mexico City. Chelcie Peterson was a singer/songwriter from London, England. Nichelle Williams/Watson (they changed her last name for some reason after the first release) was a model from New York City. Lara Morelli-Straus was an artist from Paris, France. Tori Burns was an extreme sports buff from Sydney, Australia.

The second line launched with two new friends, Mari Nakano from Tokyo, Japan and Blaine Gordon from New York. Mari loved karaoke and video games, while Blaine was big into the music scene. The series was renamed to Generation Beat (at least with the included magazine with each doll) since Blaine isn’t a girl. :p The second series also came with body glitter for you, because that was all the rage back then. Even Barbie had body glitter on her neck, top of her chest, and her eyeshadow.

Oh, and no need to worry, Ken-lovers - Blaine, in the books, was smitten with Ana, not Barbie. So he didn’t replace Ken (who wasn’t even in this series). ;)

The third and final series featured all the dolls (with the exception of Chelsie, for some reason) in their bedrooms, all customized to their own personal tastes. Their boxes were their rooms, so you didn’t even have to throw it out. It doubled as a play set!

This series also had its own book line with 12 books (I think I’m missing two), the covers depicting real-life girls closely resembling the dolls.

We also got the International High play set (which I still proudly own):

The high school came with two slide-out walls, eight working lockers, furniture for the lounge and cafeteria, and it even folded down in the front to create a dance floor with working microphone and disco ball (and the messy sequins that got everywhere).

And of course, in that era, Barbie had to have PC games. Generation Girls brought us Gotta Groove, a dancing game in which you, the player, created cool dance moves for a big show. You got to use two of the six characters (except Lara, since she designed the sets), and new moves unlocked as you won trophies.

As a bonus, the songs in the game would play on your computer, and you could even rip the songs from the CD and save them as mp3 files to burn to another CD, or put on your (later released) iPod.

There was also a board game where you played with a friend and saw how well you knew each other b y holding up two plastic discs with the Generation Girl flower logo, and if you picked the same answer, the discs would light up and play music. I’m sure my dad loved playing that when I was a kid...

Not all dolls were available in all series for some reason. Ana didn’t come in series two (Dance Party), and Chelsie didn’t get her own bedroom in the third line (My Room). And she also only came as part of the Dance Party series as a special edition, and she came with different instruments from around the world.

There were also fashion packs released for these dolls, though I only owned one of those for some reason. I never changed their clothes, except maybe once for that one extra outfit I had.

The very first release of the first series caused a lot of controversy. Barbie had a tattoo on her ankle, Chelsie came with a pierced nose, and Tori had three earring studs in one ear. This angered parents, so Mattel re-released the line without the tattoo and multiple piercings. But I was lucky enough to get the first editions before they were pulled from the shelves.

The series ended when the dolls were messaging each other on the official website, and each one was going on a “grand adventure” to other parts of the world to help others. And that was the end of them. I was so sad.

This was one of my all-time favorite doll series. I had (okay, so I still have them, dressed and complete, except the first Nichelle and My Room Blaine, though I could never find the latter in stores, only on eBay for a ridiculously high price) all of the dolls, and I loved how they were all from different parts of the world. Back then, my favorite was Lara, because I thought she was so pretty. She was the first doll I got from every series.

Now, almost 20 years later, my dolls are still in mint, like-new condition (except My Room Tori’s legs are sticky, which is a common problem with many Barbie dolls with the old rubber legs), and Ana’s first sports jacket is kind of unraveled at the wrist and her hair rubber bands have disintegrated, but otherwise, they look like they did when I first bought them. I just can’t bring myself to part with them yet.

Hope you all enjoyed this stroll down Memory Lane with me. More posts like this are forthcoming for more Thursdays! These aren’t my photos, as my dolls are all buried (safely), but perhaps someday, I will dig them all out for some great pictures. :D

[fountainpenchess]

 I remain your other self.

— neal cassady to allen ginsberg (march 14, 1947).

[fountainpenchess]

Of course, Neal Cassady was no Proust—he was a loquacious fool with a madness for living. Yet his exploits continue to fascinate, and words are the reason.

— scott staton, neal cassady: american muse, holy fool (december 12, 2012).

[be-my-head-hold-your-head-blog]

Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac   “Jack Kerouac” -  March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969

[menteinsomnio]

Es el sonido que emiten las cabezas de los negros cuando son apaleados por la policía en la manifestaciones

Charlie Parker 

Concepto de Be-bop Jazz Beat 

[otrapersonaolvidada]