Miss World Fleur 1983

For every doll collector there is this one grail doll, the one that every collector is searching for, the one that is the hardest to find, nearly impossible to get.... for the Fleur doll collector this would be : Miss World!

She is the rarest Fleur doll made...or at least we believe so. 

In 1983  a new doll was released by Otto Simon exclusively avalailable in the dutch toy store Speelboom. She wasn't available in any other toy shop and was never sold outside of the Netherlands.

I am incredibly lucky to have found this rare doll with her box, so I can make this review for you!

I wouldn't own this doll without the help of the amazing owner of the Fleur page www.fleurdolls.com, so thank you again so so much my dear friend!!! 

There already is a detailed blog post about Miss World made by Fleurdolls, you can find it here with some amazing photos of a gorgeous NRFB brunette Miss World.  So why another review you ask? Because I think that such a rare doll can't be discussed and shown enough! Don't you agree?

As typical for the dolls released in 1983, Miss World was sold in a big, dark green box, the same size as My Fair lady, Secretary and Wedding Fleur from the same period.

The front of the box shows a promo picture of a ginger Miss World Fleur. The clear window is quite big, so the whole beautiful doll is visible. The back of the box shows only one doll, Secretary Fleur from 1983.  Funny thing is, that the back of the box of Secretary Fleur shows only the promo picture of Miss World. These two dolls are clearly related! Their boxes are also almost identical with the same placement of the promotional photo, the same shape of the cellophane window with identical yellow and brown framing.

The inner carboard of the box is yellow and the doll is secured to the cardboard with two twist wires, one around her neck and the second around her ancles.  

The probably first edition of Miss World Fleur has the small Ballerina headmold, that is the slimmest and smallest of the 80s facemolds (see here all 80s facemolds) with a flat back of the head. Her head is made with vinyl that is a bit translucent and tends to darken and become greasy. Her head is hart, but not hart as stone.

Her eyebrows tend to be paling. She has small, azure blue eyes with very long, very straight lashes and subtle eyeshadow. She has small red lips and a slight blush at the bottom part of the cheeks.

Miss World Fleur has short, curly hair that is sparely rooted with a center parting. Her hair is secured at the back with a wide ribbon in the colour of her hair (brunette has a dark brown rubber, the blonde has a yellow rubber) and styled into Fleur's signature flip. She was made with blonde and brunette hair. Allthough I haven't seen a redhead Miss World in person yet, I believe that she was made with all three standart haircolours like most 80s Fleur dolls, especially because her promotional picture shows a ginger. 

Miss World Fleur is on the normal Ballerina body with bendable arms, knees and ancles and ball jointed waist and legs (see here all Fleur doll bodies).

Beeing such a rare doll it seems strange that there would be more than one edition of Miss World Fleur, but yet here we are.

The (probably) second edition was made with the Aerobic facemold, which is wider than the small Ballerina head. The vinyl is of a more peachy colour, totally opaque and doesn't tend to darken. Her eyes are more oval in an azure blue colour with lashes that are more curled upwards. Her blush is stronger and her lips are a tiny bit bigger than the first edition, but can also vary in size. Her brows don't seem to pale. She has very subtle to non eyeshadow.

This version of Miss World Fleur also has the Ballerina body like the first edition.

It seems that there are no obvious differences in the outfit between the two editions, besides one small detail that is mentioned below . There are slight differences in the colours, which might be due to light exposure and simply aging.

Miss World is wearing a beautiful yellow neckholder ball gown made of satin that closes at the back with two snaps, one at the waist, one at the neck. The skirt part is overlaid with with three tulle ruffles with golden and red trimmings that are parted at the front. My friend Barbara noticed, that the trimming is made of the same ribbon as the belt of outfit #1259. Otto Simon didn't waste anything!

The satin part of the gown is the exact same pattern as the satin underdress of Wedding Fleur's gorgeous bridal gown.  Also the netting of the tulle is the eaxt same as Wedding Fleur 1. edition (second edition had a smaller netting with stiffer fabric).

Around her shoulders a floorlong dark brown cape completes the outfit. It is made of satin and trimmed with golden thread in a zig-zag pattern at the wide collar part. The zig-zag with the same golden thread was aso used on the bag of outfit #1269, as my friend Angela noticed.

The cape is tied with two long dark brown ribbons at the front. The ribbons can vary in length and colour.

 Miss World is a true beauty queen, so she is wearing a golden crown on her head which is shaped like a tiara. The same crown was used for a french clone doll in 1987 by the way.... if you want to know which one, read this blog post!

In her ears, oddly placed in the middle of the ear and not in the lobe, Miss World is wearing earrings. She is the only Fleur doll ever made with earrings. They are made of a golden wired loop with a hanging element: a longitudinal bead.  The earrings cannot be removed easily, probably because the wire is looped inside as well. The beads can be yellow or green. The green could vary in boldness, however this could also be due to aging. So far we have only seen the first edition Miss World with yellow earrings and the second edition with green earrings. Since we haven't seen many of these dolls alltogether, this can also be coincidental. On the promotional picture Miss World Fleur wears green earrings.

In her hands Miss World is holding a long golden scepter. It is the exact same stick, that already has been used for Parade Fleur in 1981 as baton. Interestingly very similar batons/scepters can be found with cheap schottish souvenirs dolls, in case your doll needs a replacement, because they are very fragile and break easily.

The scepter is attached to Miss World's right wrist with a golden thread (my doll didn't have it anymore, so I replaced it with a yellow thread).

Miss World is the only Fleur doll ever made with earrings. So she can be easily identified by the hart to remove earrings or holes in her ears (in the centre).

There are dolls, which are very similar to Miss World regarding hairlength and facemold as well as facepaint and the only way to tell them apart, are the missing earrings.

Secretary Fleur:

Exactly the same doll as 1. edition Miss World. 

Sunny Day 1. edition:

Very similar doll to 1. edition Miss World, but Sunny Day Fleur has glue residue on her head.

Shopping Fleur 1. edition:

Very similar doll to 1. edition Miss World, but Sunny Day Fleur has glue residue on her head.

Ballerina Fleur:

Very similar doll to 1. edition Miss World, might have a bit longer hair.

Popstar first edition:

Very similar doll, vinyl not as transparent.

Shopping Fleur 2. edition:

Very similar doll to 2. edition Miss World, but Shopping Fleur has glue residue on her head.

Popstar Second edition:

Very similar doll to Miss World 2. edition.

Sunny Day Fleur 2. edition:

Similar doll, hair is more curly. Glue residue on her head.