BOX DATE: 1991
MANUFACTURER: Mattel
DOLLS IN LINE: Skipper; Courtney; Kevin
BODY TYPE: 1987; articulated waist; half bent arms; bend & snap legs; flat feet
HEAD MOLD: 1987 "Teen Sweetheart"
PERSONAL FUN FACT written by my sister: The quest is over at last I am victorious! I have been seeking this beauty for over two decades! It is a long quest, fraught with setbacks, but the time has finally come for Pet Pals Courtney to be written about on our photostream because...SHE IS FINALLY PART OF MY COLLECTION.
The journey began shortly after my mother passed away. It was autumn of my freshman year, 2002. I'd gotten into Skipper and coveted both the new dolls in stores and the older ones, this style doll, that I felt nostalgic for. At the time, I only had two Skippers--one was a Teen Time Courtney I'd had since I was about six, but had no idea was Courtney (not having internet access or collector books at the time), the other was a redheaded Rio de Janeiro Skipper who I named Courtney. I knew Skipper had a friend named Courtney because, a few years prior, Shelly had a Totally Yo Yo Courtney (who she'd gotten rid of early on). At the time, I conceived Courtney as a redhead, Skipper as a blonde, and knew Skipper had an African American friend named Nikki (because I saw them in stores--Totally Yo Yo Nikki is another dream doll of mine). I was at a flea market we used to go to and I saw an early 90s Skipper with dark skin, dark crimped hair, and beautiful eyes lined with magenta. I didn't buy her the first time I saw her, because twenty dollars seemed like a small fortune to 15 year old me, but I did get her after a few weeks. Because she didn't fit my mental image of Nikki (who I pictured having the newer look of the girls still in the store) or Skipper, who I saw as a blonde, I had to give her her own name. I named her Robin and her story is told in another place (many places, actually, I talk about Robin a lot!), but it is because of Robin, who is a Pet Pals Skipper, that I found out about this line and about COURTNEY. I think that is probably how I found out Courtney was a brunette in her earlier years--because of the back of Robin's box. It is probably then that I realized my Daphne might actually be a Courtney. From then on, this doll was ICONIC. Like famous. I remember ogling her on the Kati's Dolls website. Sometime in my teen years, probably circa 2004, I actually got pieces that I knew had to go to this doll--some might even be the ones my doll is wearing here! I didn't have a collector's book and we still didn't have the internet at home, but I knew what these pieces had to go to. I even got the ball for her pet to play with! But, sadly, Courtney wasn't there. By the time we got our Ultimate Barbie Book in 2011, I wasn't surprised to discover that these clothes did go to Courtney. But I really wanted Courtney! I went on ebay many times over the years in hopes of finding one for the right price. I'm sure it can be done. I think I just never looked at the right time. Plus, by the time I had a little disposable income, I was investing a lot of it in the 18 inch fashion doll (go big or go home!). But I never forgot about Courtney. More than once, we'd be headed to the flea market and Shelly would say, "What do you hope to find today?" and I'd say, "Pet Pals Courtney" and she'd joke that that was really specific. Less than a week before my Courtney dreams came into fruition, we'd retaken all the Skipper photos for Flickr and I said, for the zillionth time, how much I wanted Courtney as I laid out the nicest clothing articles (by then I had duplicated clothing items, but still no doll) for the outfit photo. I didn't know how close I was to my dream coming true, but I hoped! And Shelly thought, "I feel like Colleen is going to have Courtney really soon."
The last Sunday in June 2024, we were out at the flea market. We were on that last stretch, when it's almost time to go back the way we came. Shelly had said, "I don't think we're going to find anything today." At the end of the aisle, we spotted a basket of dolls on the ground--90s by the look of them. Shelly is quicker than me. By the time I noticed the dolls, she'd already seen a Barbie wearing Courtney's outfit and, by the time I spotted the familiar spotted dress, Shelly had spotted the brown crimps. I was making the intuitive leap that my dream doll MIGHT be in that basket, when Shelly already had her in hand. I said, "Shelly, there's a Pet Pals Courtney outfit!" and she said, "I know! She's right here. Courtney's here!" The lady wanted five dollars for each doll. In today's economy when you can't get anything for less than three dollars, that doesn't seem bad for a doll you've wanted a million years. Back in 2002, shortly after I got Robin, I paid the same--five dollars each--for Vanessa (Cool Crimp Courtney), Margie (Hawaiian Fun Skipper), and Lydia (Babysitter Skipper). At the time, I thought that was forking over big bucks--which, believe me, I still think I got the better deal on Courtney. The flea market I got the other girls from was squalid, as were the girls. Lydia had frizz that looked scary and Margie was half bald. Courtney was an easy clean up and Shelly reckons that back when I was in my early teens, before doll hygiene became vital, I probably wouldn't have given her a bath, just brushed her hair out a bit and started playing. The disturbing thing is, Shelly is right. I shudder to think of it, but I may have did exactly that with the unkempt ladies I rescued in 2002 (don't worry, their hygiene standards have been met nowadays).
Pet Pals Courtney may not be a childhood doll. But she is a HUGE part of my childhood. I feel like getting her is similar to how I felt when, as an adult, I got Teen Time Skipper (to go with my four Teen Time Courtneys). At first, it was too good to be true. I couldn't stop staring. But now? Teen Time Skipper, who I named Avery, is part of the family. I feel like she's one of my childhood dolls any time I look at her. Because, in a way, Teen Time Skipper and Pet Pals Courtney were so much part of my teenage years, their faces so very familiar, that it's like meeting someone I've known for years! Courtney fits right in--I've just been waiting for her to finally come home!
