In the year 1965, one year after the first Barbie was introduced to the German market, the German toymaker Plasty from Neulußheim, which was already in the toy making business since the late 40s, introduced their first German fashion doll called Petra at the toy fair in Nürnberg . It was exactly 10 years after the introduction of the Bild Lilli doll at this exact same toy fair. But Lilli disappeared in 1964, so Petra and Lilli never met!(Click here for more fashion doll history)
In the beginning Plasty obviously didn't have a clear concept about Petra, all they planned was that she was supposed to be a cheap alternative to Barbie.
Mattel, who themself created their Barbie in the likeness of Bild Lilli, and faced yearlong ligitations before they were able to buy the rights for the Lilli doll, weren't pleased with Plasty's attempt to conquer the German doll market and filed a lawsuit against Plasty for patent infringement. It's a bit ironical, isn't it? Anyway, Mattel lost, because Petra didn't use the same molds as Barbie. In fact, Petra's face was obviously created in the likeness of Bild Lilli and not Barbie.
In the beginning, Plasty didn't design or create Petra themself. They bought cheap clone heads and bodies from Hong Kong factories, shipped them to Germany and put them in Petra boxes. I am not sure, if they did root the hair of the dolls themself though. Petra has a very special hair fiber, which isn't found often on other clone dolls, which makes her truly stand out.
Plasty also released a bunch of outfits made for Petra, which were of a surprisingly good quality. Some web sources believe, that Plasty designed the early fashions themself, but they are mistaken. Most of Petra's early fashions can be also found in the USA released for dolls like Wendy, Babs and other clone dolls. The fashions were also bought from Hong Kong wholesellers, but they are usually untagged.
Petra doll was a huge success in Germany and a serious competitor to Barbie, especially because of her much lower price tag. Petra dolls were made until the late 90s...although Plasty was sold, rebought and sold again, but it was always Petra. This article is about Petra dolls from the 60s.
The first Petra in 1965
The beginning of Petra is a bit chaotic. Several different looking dolls released in the first year are claimed to be real Petras, which is absolutely possible. As I said, Plasty bought the dolls from Hong Kong factories and they most likely were testing out, which of the dolls were the most popular one, and continued with her.
"Petra die Modepuppe"
The first Petra doll was sold in a slim cardboard box with no window with a cute picture of a white haired Petra in underwear at the front. On the box is written "Petra die
Modepuppe
" which means "Petra the fashion doll". She was wearing a blue bathing suit and light blue pumps made of hard plastic of a very bad quality. In the box was also a blue stand for the doll and a small booklet with illustrations of the fashions, that were sold separately. The doll stand has holes, where the heel of the pumps can be clicked, and the doll is supposed to be standing wearing the shoes. In my opinion that stand is completely useless as Petra cannot stand in that thing properly.
The first Petra doll, as well as nearly all clone dolls, was produced in Hong Kong, but she has no Hong Kong markings, which helps to differentiate her from other Hong Kong clones that look similar or identical.
The first Petra body is cheaply made of hollow hart plastic, everything, also her arms and legs, are made of the same plastic except the head. Her body is made in similar proportions as Barbie or Lilli, her limbs are attached by nubs, her head is on a small neck knob and can only be moved side wards. Her legs are attached in a V-shape, so she spreads her feet, when sitting (as apposed to Lilli and Barbie, whose legs align). Her legs and arms are straight and cannot bend. She has small feet with rectangular toes and no little bumb that is often associated with early Petra dolls. She has no bellybutton and no markings. (Lilli and Barbie also have no belly buttons, I wonder why that is....)
Typically, her hands are pretty sculpted with a little space between her little finger and the rest. She has no nail polish.
Her head is very slim and long, it nearly looks like squished at the sides. This head mold was used also by several other clone doll brands, the most known are
Davtex and Camay. Typical for Petra is a fine molded line below her lower hairline, but I can't tell for sure if other clones don't have it too. Her head is made of soft vinyl and her hair is rooted.
Her face paint is clearly inspired by
Bild Lilli, she has the same black side glancing eyes with a white round dot, thin black brows and small red lips. She has typically no blush. Petra's lips are always red, if not faded, this makes it easy to distinguish her from other dolls with this face mold.
As mentioned above, the hair fiber is very soft nearly like mohair and always curly. It isn't very sustainable, so Petra's hair is often frizzed when found. It doesn't stand heat very well, so the boil perm method will ruin the hair.
She was available in the hair colors white, yellow blonde, strawberry blonde, reddish (brown), and dark brown.
She came with the following hairstyles: Bubblecut with sidepart, Bubblecut with middlepart and fringe, shoulderlong
curls and fringe and a curly ponytail with fringe. The fringe always has a wave and is never completely straight (as opposed to some clones). See Petra 66 for photos of the hairstyles.
Lookalikes
Several clonebrands used this head mold for their dolls. One of the closest looking dolls were dolls sold by Davtex, a canadian toy brand. These dolls were called Denise or Michelle. They can be often found on different bodies with a swiftling waist and rubber bending legs. Davtex dolls come with a bigger variety of hairstyles as well, their lipstsick could also vary from pink to red and orange. They are marked with "Davtex" on their back.
Another clone brand found in Europe is Camay which sold very similar dolls to Petra. These dolls would often have pinkish or nude lips and the hair fiber is different. They are marked with "Camay" at the back. Caroline by Ahlens, a swedish toy brand, also used the exact same facemold.
Also Peggy Anne sold in USA used this head mold for some of their dolls.
Other clone dolls sold in clear bags under various names marked with "Hong Kong" or "Made in Hong Kong" can be found all over the world.
Petra marked 999
Several trustworthy sources write, that some of the first Petra dolls were marked 999 at the back. Not only Petra dolls have this markings, but also other clone dolls found in the USA.
The amazing Petra blog of Polly Plasty (click here to extern link) has a recent post about this special Petra doll. In the french book of Kathy Moreau is a picture of this Petra doll in box. She had a special cardboard box and according to the book she was only sold in France and the Netherlands.
The Petra booklet released in 1967 also shows this doll. Maybe this doll was released later, as Moreaus book claims it was at the end of the 60s.
The facemold is a soft doll head with Lilli-like painted eyes and orange or red lips. This facemold was used for several other clone dolls. Her hair is made of a mohair like fiber comparable to the first Petra and is typically curly.
Her body has similar proportions to the no bellybutton Petra, her legs don't align when she is sitting as well. However, this doll has a bellybutton and is a little bit taller. Her body is made of hollow hart plastic, except her head, which is made of soft vinyl. Her head is attached on a small neck knob and can only move side wards. Her arms and legs are straight and not bendable. Her feet are more sculpted and bigger that the other first Petra and she also has no bump.
There is nothing really special about this doll or body, she is a generic clone doll and very similar to other cheap dolls from that era. Her butt is marked 0.999 or 999.
Lookalikes
This face mold is most known for beeing used by Playmates. The Playmates dolls were marked at the back of their torso with "Playmates" and "Hong Kong". They had usually a sidepart bubble cut hairstyle. The face paint looks exactly like Petra.
The second Petra in 1966
"Petra von Plasty die Modepuppe"
In 1966 Petra surprisingly and without any announcement got a new head mold and body.
This Petra was sold in the exact same box as the first edition Petra with the same blue doll stand and a pair of heels. Also included was a booklet with illustrations of fashions. The booklet often showed fashions of a certain year and can be a hint to the year of production of the doll.
She was sold wearing a blue or a red bathing suit. This version of Petra must have been sold at least until 1969, because some mint dolls had the 69 fashion booklet inside. Some of these dolls were wearing a tag around their wrist, some have not.
There were no special announcements made to introduce this new Petra. She simply appeared.
Some Petras of this kind were also sold in a Box with a cellophane window at the front. The year they were sold is unknown.
This doll also had a straight waist and straight arms and legs. The body was made of the same hard hollow plastic as the first edition except her arms. Her arms were made of a hart rubber or vinyl. The shape was the same with the little space between the little fingers and the rest. This body had a bigger, round neck knob and the head could be turned in any direction. The proportions of the body were similar to the first edition, although the body was a little bit smaller than the first edition. This body had a bellybutton. The legs were also hart hollow plastic and straight, attached exactly like the first edition. The feet were smaller, the toes rounder and they had a small round little bump, which is often referred by collectors as the Petra-bump. The body had no markings. There are varieties of the size of this body probably due to lack of quality control.
The new head that she also sneakily got, was rounder, probably to fit on the bigger neck knob and is, in my humble opinion, a lot prettier. It wasn't as long and squeeshed anymore. It is made of soft vinyl with rooted hair. These heads often tend to pale.
Her facepaint was still inspired by Bild Lilli with black side glancing eyes with a white dot, thin black eyebrows and small red lips. She looks a bit pouty. She didn't have any eyeshadow or blush. The shape of the eyes could vary, some dolls have smaller eyes, some bigger with stronger eyeliner. I suppose that dolls with rounder eyes were produced later, as they are often found on twist waist bodies (more later).
This edition of Petra was made with a variety of hair colors and hair styles: white, yellow blonde, strawberry blonde, reddish brown and dark brown.
The hair had the same fiber and quality as the first Petra and was typically curly, the fringe was wavy and it was available in the same hairstyles as the first Petra: Bubblecut with sidepart, Bubblecut with centerpart and fringe, shoulderlong curls with fringe and ponytail with fringe. The hair was always curly and fully rooted besides the ponytail, which was rooted around the perimeter.
Lookalikes
This cute facemold is not exclusive to Petra as well. There are many clone dolls with this same face mold. Again, Davtex released dolls with the exact same facemold but with a more shiny hairfiber. There were also Aline by Nancy Ann Story Book, Miss Mary made in Hong Kong or Marion by Eurasia, but also other cheap baggy clone dolls. Petra can be distinguished from all these clone dolls by a lack of markings , the little bump on her feet and her special curly hair in soft fiber.
Other clone dolls, especially the cheap ones, like for example Miss Mary, have very sparely rooted hair in low quality.
Mysterious Petra with Tressy face
The Petra cataloque of 1966, with pictures of the fashions that were sold for Petra this same year, shows a doll with an unusual headmold. It is not the typical Petra face with Lilli-like painting. It is a face that resembles more Tressy, an american doll introduced in 1964, which was cloned very often by various brands.
This unusual Petra was sold in a clear rectangular box with a paperboard at the back. She has the straight waist 1966 body wearing a red bathing suit and red pumps. There is also a 66 dollstand included in the box.
This doll was found with a sidepart bubble cut hairstyle and with a ponytail and fringe. It is not known, if this doll was truly released in 1966 or later, but there is no doubt, that the doll on the cataloque has the same facemold.
Later, when Platsy was partly sold to Airfix in 1975, Plasty-Airfix reused this facemold and released new Petra dolls with it. However the quality declined, the materials used were cheaper and the facepaint sloppier.
The Airfix Petra's have usually blue eyeliner and not yellow, like the early vintage Petra with this facemold. Also the later dolls are marked with "Airfix" at the back, while this Petra has no markings at all, like the 1966 Petra.
Some collectors believe, that this Petra variant was an export product and only available outside of Germany. There is no proof for this claim though.
Lookalikes
As mentioned above, Plasty-Airfix and later Airfix alone released Petra dolls with a very similar face mold in the middle 70s. They usually have blue eyeliner and a more dark complexion.
Many clone dolls in the 70s made by different brands and sold under various names used also a similar face mold. They are marked Honk Kong at the back. The quality is not the best on these dolls and their heads are smaller than Petra's.
The new Petra 67
"Petra die Vollbewegliche"
In 1967 Plasty announced a new, posable Petra doll called "Petra die Vollbewegliche" which means "Petra the fully posable".
She got a whole new posable body with bending knees and swifting waist. She was sold in the same box as the previous version with an added red sticker with the text "Petra, die Vollbewegliche". She was wearing a short dress in blue, red or yellow with matching pumps.
A dollstand (not pictured), which is similar to the modern Kaiser dollstands and holds the doll at the waist, was included in the box and also a booklet with Petra's fashions. This version of Petra was sold at least untill 1969, because some mint dolls were found with booklets of the year 69.
The new body was a little bigger than the straight waist body and more heavy. Petra got a new twisting waist and new bending legs made of thick rubber with wires inside. The rubber was soft and the legs could bend easily. However they didn't look quite natural when bended. Her feet were still small with a little bump and the early Petra pumps would still fit. The arms were the same like on the straight waist body. Her head was on the same big round neck knob and was movable in any direction.
There was a marking on the back of the torso which sais "ORIGNAL Petra". These Petras are the first to be marked which indicates that Plasty was trying to build up a real brand with Petra. These bodies are of better quality than the early Petras and were also quite unique. Clones with similar shaped bodies, which of course exists, are mostly made of hollow hart plastic and don't have bending legs.
The headmold was still the same as the 66 Petra. However, the later Petras had a bolder makeup and slightly bigger eyes and lips. They still had no blush ad no eyeshadow.
These heads also tend to pale.
Lookalikes
Davtex released the exact same dolls on the same body but marked with Davtex at the back. They might have bought the body from the same factory as Plasty. The hair of the Davtex dolls is more shiny.
Peggy Anne dolls sold in USA, which had typically a very straight fringe, were made with the same facemold and a very similar body.
Other cheaper clone dolls made in Hong Kong are marked with Hong Kog like Miss Mary or Susie can also be foud with this facemold and a swiftle waist body.
Petra of 69
"Petra die Vollkommene"
In 1969 Plasty released a new Petra doll, which they called "Petra die Volkommene", which means "Petra, the perfect one". In the advert they announce her to be prettier and with a more posable body but available for even less money.
Petra was also repacked into a new cardboard box.
She was wearing variations of short dresses and a panty. She got new pumps, which were flater and wider at the front than the early ones.
A booklet with fashions designed in the same year was included. The 69 Petra didn't have a dollstand anymore.
Petra in deed got a new body, although the 67 body was already posable. Her new body was similar heavy made of the same material. But her shoulders and hips were wider while her waist turned smaller, which gives her very unrealistic proportions. Her head was still on a big neck know and could move in any direction. Her waist was twisting and she had bendable knees. The rubber on her legs is stiffer than on the 67 body, so her knees couldn't bend in a big angle anymore.
While her arms remained the same, her feet have a new shape with wider and bigger toes, so her old shoes wouldn't fit her anymore. They also have no little bump anymore. She is marked with ORIGINAL Petra on the back of her torso, but the font is much bigger than on the 67 body.
Petra die Volkommene got a new face mold which was described by Plasty as "more pretty". I guess beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, as for me, this is for sure not a prettier face mold than 67 Petra.
It is alltogether flater and the face is shaped like a trangle. The eyes were still inspired by Bild Lilli dolls and the lips were small and red. She had no blush or eyeshadow.
This Petra had the same hairfiber as the older Petras, but was available with more hairstyles and colours. She was even made with a mullet. This headmold was used untill the mid 70s, simultaneously to Petra Jewel and Star and other Petra variants. This headmold can also be found on the 66 straight legs body.
Lookalikes
The 69 Petra facemold is very typical for Petra and not many other dolls can be found with this facemold. I can imagine, that this facemold was produced exclusively for Plasty, but the factory sold some of these heads also to other brands unlicensed or that this head was cloned by other factories. Miss Mary is one of these dolls or Tina by Polly Gaz.
Fun Facts
- A fashion queen Petra was also released in 1965 inspired by Fashion Queen Barbie. She was very succesfull and still can be found very often. She was also sold as a head only.
- Petra was not alone. Like Barbie Plasty released several dolls to accompany her, there was her little sister Peggy and Fred....who was not her boyfriend though, but her big brother. Petra didn't have a boyfriend.
- Plasty released also a couple of other dolls in the 60s outside the Petra world: Hippie, Miss Bunny, Lea. These dolls were stand alone dolls.
- In 1976 Plasty released "Britta die Braut", a bride doll that was the 69 Petra head on a straight waist 66 body in a bridal gown. There were 6 Britta dolls made which are now very collectible. My personal theory is, that since Petra didn't have a boyfriend but a big brother, a line of bridal Petra dolls would be strange. So they made Britta instead, who could of course, now be married to Fred.
- Some blogs refer to Petra as "Petra von Plasty" as if she would be noble which is quite funny. Actually "von" means just "by", in order that she was "made by Plasty". But I like the idea that Petra is some kind of old German nobelty, so I used that in my title as well!
Sources of research: Petraplasty.blogspot.com., thebolddoll.com, dollreference.com, Silke Knaak "Deutsche Modepuppen der 50er und 60er", Karin Schrey "Pertra von Plasty, Geschichte eines Unternehmens", Dollvalley.de, Marthasfashiondolls.com, kiganlh.de/geschichte/, Worthpoint.com, Pinterest.com.
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