Fleur facemolds of the 80s

Boxed Fleur dolls are very hart to find. Most dolls that are found in the wild are used and played with and don't have their original outfit anymore. So the biggest challenge for collectors, besides restoration, is to identify the doll correctly. But this is not as easy as it sounds. The dolls are not marked with their year of production and most of them have very similar hairstyles and painted facial features. But there are some characteristics, that help to identify the dolls or at least to narrow them down to a few. One of these characteristics is the headmold. Otto Simon used a variety of headmolds for Fleur throughout the years. In this blog post I show you an overview about the facemolds used for Fleur doll in the 80s.

The following describtions are based on my own observations and are not official. I named the facemolds after the most recognizable doll with this mold, not the first doll that was produced with this mold.

Ballerina facemold

The Ballerina Facemold was the first facemold used in the 80s. It is the slimmest facemold of them all with pointy chin and the smalles head. The back of the head is flat. The eyes are small and azure blue with long lashes. These dolls often have small lips in red or orange color. The blush is subtle and placed at the botttom of the cheeks.

This facemold was used for dolls produced during 1980 to 1984. The first doll with this facemold was Rainy Day.

Bighead facemold

This facemold is still a mystery, but since I have already found a few dolls with this mold, it's getting a bit clearer. Obviously this facemold was used to early Fleurdolls that were reiisued as second or third edition. The year of it's release it unknown. The head is very big, bigger than the very late Fleur dolls heads. The vinyl is very soft and can be squeezed together. The eyes are oval and azure blue. Lashes are long. The lips are very small and red.

Probably no first edition Fleur was released with this facemold.

Aerobic facemold

The second facemold used for Fleur dolls in the 80s was the Aerobic Facemold, first introduced in 1982 probably with Shopping Fleur. The faceshape is wider than the Ballerina mold especially around the chin area, the face is kinda flat and the back of the head is flat too. The eyes are small and round or oval. The eyecolor can be azure blue, like the early Fleur dolls, or navy blue like the later Fleur dolls, depending of the year of manufactruring. The eyecolor was changed probably in 1984. The lashes are long or short . This mold was released with big or small red lips. The blush is usually placed at the bottom of the cheeks. This facemold was used for dolls produced between 1982 and 1984.

Tennisstar facemold

In 1985 Otto Simon introduced a new facemold. The faceshape is alltogether rounder than Aerobic especially around the cheek area. The back of the head is round. The eyes are small and usually round in a navy blue eyecolor. Lashes of these dolls are mostly short, the material is thicker and more black than on the earlier Fleurs. The lips are red and can be big or small. Eyeshadow is subtle or completely missing. The blush is placed more at the sides in the middle of the cheeks. This mold was used for most dolls produced in 1985 and early 1986.

Colour Star facemold

Colourstar is not really a new mold. It's more the paintjob and vinyl that changed. So the shape of the face is exactly like Tennisstar, but the eyes are bigger and more oval, navy blue, the eyeshadow is usually stronger, the lashes significantly longer and thicker. The lips are big and red. The blush is placed on the sides in the middle of the cheeks.

This mold was used for dolls from end of 1985 to 1986.

Sunshine facemold

In 1987 the facemold was changed again to the Sunshine Facemold. The faceshape is wider than Colour Star, it is the widest faceshape of all. The eyes are a bit bigger and more oval in navy blue. The lashes are long and dramatic. The eyeshadow is subtle or completely missing. The lips are big and red. Blush is usually placed at the sides in the middle of the cheeks. This facemold was used for dolls produced in 1987.

Fleur Logo facemold

The Fleur Logo Facemold was used for a variety of dolls throughout the years from 1984 to 1987. The special thing about this mold is the raised Fleur Logo at the back of their heads. The eyes are droplike shaped in azure blue color.

The lashes are usually long, no eyeshadow. The lips are of a peach or orange color.

New Look facemold

In 1988 the appearance of Fleur changed drastically. The faceshape is a bit slimmer than Sunshine, she got painted on lashes and looks to the left side (as opposed to all earlier Fleurs that looked to the right) with heavy blue eyeshadow.

Shortly after the release of the New Look Fleur production of Fleur stopped completely.

This overview seems like identification of the Fleur dolls might be very easy...which of course isn't, because Fleur is a mysterious doll and doesn't want to be easy....

Sometimes I stare at a head and just can't figure out which mold it is. The differences are very subtle. Sometimes dolls with the earlier molds have larger painted eyes, bigger than the they supposed to be, but some factory worker became more creative and there you have your mystery, hart to identify doll! And to make it more complicated, some earlier dolls were rereleased with another mold and sold a year or more later. That's why two Fleurs with the same name and outfit can look totally differing. I told you, Fleur is a full of secrets!