Spectra - JCPenney Christmas Catalog - 1987

 

    Two girly entries in a row! Here's a long-forgotten doll line from Mattel. As with Barbie, the line was named after the lead doll, Spectra, and included all of her tagalong friends. The thing about Spectra and her friends was that they were metallic. I'm not sure why, but in the late 80's we were enthralled by anything metallic, iridescent, holographic, or any combination thereof. Unfortunately, Spectra kind of missed the mark. You can see that they tried to play up the femininity of the dolls by putting them in the laciest, frilliest clothes they could find, but they couldn't change the fact that they had the very un-feminine characteristic of (supposedly) metal bodies. A toy with a human head and metal body can only function as a crime fighter or superhero. You can't turn it into a fashion doll. Maybe they're the hottest chicks on planet Shimmeron, but we earth girls weren't buying it (or asking for it on Santa's knee.) The creepiest thing for me is the bed. If you read the description, the "Spectra Buffamatic" actually has a mattress that rotates under your doll to buff her up, shiny as a new car. It's just so wrong...