Cali Girl, the Beach Line Which Became More

     In 2003, Mattel released a beach line which would become one of my all time favorite lines, Cali Girl Barbie. The line continued for three years until it ended as it began, as a beach line. But what a ride it was! This line produced, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful playline dolls I'd seen. 
      The line started out like any other beach line. The dolls, which consist of Barbie, Teresa, Christie, Lea, Ken and Stephen, are dressed for the beach, though Ken and Stephen are wearing the same outfit. But these beach outfits aren't just bathing suits. Oh no! They come dressed like they are ready for a casual day, then will hit the beach later. They wear shorts, vests, shirts and even bandanas over their hair. These dolls are hip, fresh and funky! The dolls even had wrist tags with their names on them!
       There were even two sets of extra clothes put out for this line as well as a surf shop, a pool and a yellow car! It almost reminded me of the California Dream line from the 80s (more on that in another post). 
       The boxes also had wonderful pictures illustrating the dolls and their adventures, as well as a story about how they spent their day. It almost reminds me of the back of the Generation Girl boxes. 
       

Cali Girl Barbie

Cali Girl Christie

Cali Girl Teresa

     

Cali Girl Lea

Cali Girl Ken

Cali Girl Stephen

     The two sets of fashions each had one for a boy, two outfits for girls and two bathing suits, though I've seen the bathing suits sold separately as mini outfits with the woven mats. The two pictures with the fashion packs are not mine, but the dolls wearing them are mine. 

The Cali Girl group wearing their extra fashions

The girls in their bikinis

The Pool Playset

The Surf Shop - yes, I got this on clearance at Target

     The only thing I don't have is the 4x4 car from this set. I did pick up a used one, but it didn't have the stickers and was missing some pieces. This picture is not mine. 

     Thus ends the first line of Cali Girl. Next up, So-Cal Style!