The Longest Hair Ever!

There's a common story heard from adult male doll collectors like myself. It's about the doll that got away. As a young boy, I had to admire Barbie doll from a safe distance because of social norms that dictated what kind of toys were appropriate for a boy. Barbie was considered inappropriate, of course. I only got to play with Barbie when I was at a friend's house, or when my younger cousin wasn't playing with hers. 
During that time, I was also going through a huge mermaid phase. I was so into mermaids; from Disney's Ariel to the darker mermaids of lore. Many of my drawings and sketches had mermaids as a subject, from when I was about 6 years old until I was 10 or so. So when Jewel Hair Mermaid Barbie was released in 1995--I was 10 years old--this doll was the fulfillment of my childhood fantasies. I was captivated. She was a mermaid who could become human when you removed her "tail", and she had "the longest hair ever"! It even said so on the box. Every time I saw the commercial on TV, I pined for her.

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20 years later, I'm an adult male who is an avid Barbie® doll collector. Years into collecting dolls made for adult collectors--dolls with incredible fashions and accessories, dolls with sophisticated looks and fabulous face paint--I still wanted Jewel Hair Mermaid Barbie®. Maybe it's her long, long hair. For an 11.5-inch doll, approximately 16 inches of hair is quite long. In fact, I'm not surprised to hear that many kids (and a few adults) would get the hair tangled so easily. I decided to look for her online, and through the miracle of Amazon.com, I can now enjoy my very own Jewel Hair Mermaid Barbie®.
I got a NRFB Jewel Hair Mermaid Barbie® in nearly perfect condition, and savored the act of liberating her from that pink box. Her face paint and Superstar face mold are typical of the era. This is the Barbie® face that I fell in love with. To me, as a child, this was THE Barbie® face. Though I now prefer other face sculpts (Mbili, Goddess, and Steffie, to name a few) and I enjoy having a variety of sculpts in my collection, the Superstar mold was the ubiquitous face of Barbie® in my formative years, so it has a special place in my heart. 
Her fashion is in great condition. It does look very "play line", understandably, since the golden top and skirt with shimmery holographic print was made to appeal to children. The closures are made with velcro, which is anathema to many collectors due to the serious damage it can inflict on some fabrics. I love that the end of the tail is removable, revealing what appears to be just a long, tight skirt, which she wears with golden heels. The doll also came with shimmering holographic stars, which could be attached to the hair with velcro. I'm ditching the stars (they look juvenile), but the rest is a keeper. Though she's not the jewel of my collection, Jewel Hair Mermaid Barbie® is a dream come true. If only my 10-year-old self could see me now.