Skipper was launched by Mattel in 1964 as Barbie’s kid sister. Ten years later, Mattel decided that it was about time Skipper hit puberty like the rest of us. That is, if anyone else experienced puberty by rotating their left arm and voila: boobs! In 1975, ‘Growing up Skipper’ led to controversy in the media for their unintentionally perverted new doll. With just a flick of the wrist, girls would see their Skipper doll grow an inch taller on her stomach and develop breasts that popped out from her concave rubber chest. To reverse back to an A cup, you just had to turn the arm backwards again. Because puberty doesn’t have to be complicated!
Oh what I would have done to see a ‘Growing up Ken’ doll.
Here’s a handy demo of how Growing up Skipper worked:
Skipper even had a friend!
I found this vintage Growing up Skipper Model on EBay going for $170.
With all the controversy, you would think Mattel would never release something so embarrassingly bad again. But hey! It’s the 21st century and toy companies can do whatever the hell they want! Meet Growing up Glam Doll by Mattel, she’s like Skipper just sluttier! She grows vertically and her chest size doubles with a flick of a switch on her back.
Also who could forget ‘Pregnant Barbie’ from 2002, complete with a removable child in her stomach! (The doll was pulled from shelves later that year).
