Dramatic Living Skipper Very Best Velvet Set

In 1970 and 1971 Sears sold a "Dramatic Living Skipper Very Best Velvet Set" #1586.

The doll included was dressed in the same swimsuit like the #1147 Living Skipper and the 1970 #1117 Dramatic New Living Skipper and came with a velvet orange dress and coat, yellow pantyhose and yellow flats.

Even many long term collectors aren't aware that the Sears Exclusive Very Best Velvet Set was made in Japan and included a very rare Living Skipper made in Japan. This doll is probably as rare (or even rarer) than the Japanese SL Skippers. Some people believe a pale blonde Taiwan Living Skipper came with this set, which is wrong. You can see more pictures of the correct doll and markings on the "GIFT SETS" page.

The Sears Exclusive Living Skipper had pale blonde hair (lighter than the regular blonde hair of the Taiwan Living Skipper dolls, and made of another fiber) and she was produced in Japan.

Skipper's head was softer than the ones of the Living Skipper dolls made in Taiwan and looks similar to the the TNT Skipper’s heads. There are Japanese Living Skipper dolls with medium brown and with dark brown eyebrows. Dark brown eyebrows are more common.

Her markings differ from the markings of the other Living and Dramatic New Living Skipper dolls: © 1969 MATTEL INC JAPAN U.S. & FOR. PATD OTHER PATS. PEND. PATD IN CANADA 1967

Note: Living Skipper dolls have a neck knob attached to the neck of their body - there's no knob at the head. The inner rim of their heads is different from the ones of the earlier Skipper heads:;