TUTORIAL: How I Restored a ''Trake''

What is a "trake?"
When the neck joint breaks in Mattel's Barbie, an inner pin (in the neck) usually pulls out leaving a hole in the throat that looks like a tracheotomy. The appearance of the neck usually remains intact except for cracks. A trake is a figure in this condition. It is necessary to fix this problem when a suitable replacement is not easily available, such as Mattel's discontinued articulated body. To reduce the chances of breaking the neck joint, in the first place, see my article, "Saving Barbie's Neck..."

TUTORIAL: Saving Barbie's Neck (during head removal)

Tools needed: One pair of needle-nose pliers.
[Caution: try at your own risk; no method is 100% foolproof.]

Many trakes occur when a head removal [on Barbie] is attempted without careful planning.

Underneath Barbie's head there are two fixtures that must be dealt with: the stop and the grapnel.

Pink-Aisle Wishlist...

This young lady is said to be a new Barbie sculpt in 2015.

Her date stamp is ©2014 .

Update: I have acquired one, and promptly rebodied her.

This sculpt has been dubbed the "Kim" sculpt by collectors.

Music to Watch Girls By...

You Have a Date!

©2011 by Jack T. Chick LLC
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Barbie-based ''Janes''

In 1995, Mattel created the "Flying Hero" series in order to compete with the Power Rangers, a popular children's television show. This poly-ethnic quartette included Barbie, Teresa, Kira and Christie as fantasy heroines more than action adventuresses [a.k.a. Janes]. But they had just enough articulation (and flat feet) to be recruited into the ranks of the latter. To sextilianists, this was especially good news. Not only could these four heroines be added to their collection, these bodies accommodated most of Mattel's and Disney's lines of head sculpts. And, these bodies could wear all of Barbie's active wear, casual wear and formal wear.