1975 The Outfits

All outfits were produced in Korea, and there were some great ones this year, including two Gold Medal outfits. None of these Best Buy Fashions originally came with shoes. Curiously, Best Buy Fashions #7228 doesn’t seem to exist.

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BEST BUY FASHIONS

BEST BUY FASHIONS #7224

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BEST BUY FASHIONS #7225

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BEST BUY FASHIONS #7226

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BEST BUY FASHIONS #7227

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BEST BUY FASHIONS #7229

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SEARS STORE EXCLUSIVE BEST BUY FASHIONS

Like all Best Buy Fashions sold between 1973-1975, these are dated 1972 on the packaging, so, without any printed reference such as a Sears store guide, I’m relying on the received wisdom of other collectors that these outfits are indeed Sears exclusives from this year.

BEST BUY FASHIONS #9001

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BEST BUY FASHIONS #9002

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BEST BUY FASHIONS #9003

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BEST BUY FASHIONS #9004

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GOLD MEDAL FASHIONS

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GET-UPS ‘N GO / FASHION ORIGINALS

GET-UPS ‘N GO Cooly clad for business days! / FASHION ORIGINALS #7246

Despite this jacket being shown with two buttons in the illustration on the packaging, it was more commonly available with just a single button.

The European version originally came as a Fashion Originals in the yellow box. The version in the pink box, with the new-look logo and squarer window, is from 1976.

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GOLD MEDAL GET-UPS ‘N GO A hockey champ’s U.S. Olympic gear! / FASHION ORIGINALS #7247

Mattel Canada released the set below right which includes both Gold Medal outfits. Note though that the gold medallion is the Canadian variation, which also came with the Canadian version of Gold Medal Skier Ken. The regular gold medallion is shown below left.

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REVERSE OF FASHION ORIGINALS PACKAGING

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SEARS EXCLUSIVES / FASHION ORIGINALS

These three Fashion Originals were released in Canada and Europe, and consisted of the Ken outfit shown plus a matching outfit for Barbie. Domestically these sets were only available as Sears exclusives, and came in plain brown stamped boxes.

FASHION ORIGINALS #9046

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FASHION ORIGINALS #9047

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FASHION ORIGINALS #9048

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SEARS EXCLUSIVE SET #9052

Best Buy Fashions #7224 and #7225 were also available, together with a pair of extra trousers, as an exclusive Sears set. They look white on the picture in the Sears catalogue (see further below), but the extra trousers were these light khaki/beige ones shown here. The set came packaged in a plain card box stamped with the Mattel code #9052.

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BOOKLETS & CATALOGUES

I haven’t yet discovered any US Barbie booklet for 1975, but booklets were still produced in Europe. Typically they feature both new and older fashions. Note that in Europe all outfits were still given names.

Sears and Montgomery Ward still offered genuine Mattel clothing for sale. The other mail order catalogues now mostly sold cheaper-brand ‘clone’ clothing. Even Montgomery Ward mixes genuine Mattel outfits with clone clothing.