The Great Gail Debate
    
A frequent question from Pippa collectors is 'how can I tell the difference between Britt and Gail?'  This page is to help you identify Gail, avoiding an expensive mistake.  
 
 
 
Britt was introduced along with 1st issue Pippa in 1972, she was available for the whole of the Pippa era until Palitoy discontinued the Pippa range in 1980.  Gail, however, was not introduced until 1977 making her harder to find and more costly to purchase.  In general terms the dolls seem similar as they both have tanned bodies and blond hair.  Lets explore the differences in more detail:
 

 
  GAIL BRITT
Hair Colour Silvery White. Creamy Blonde, shade does vary perhaps due to exposure to tobacco or sunlight?
Hair Texture Coarse, often brittle with the ends broken. Glossy and smooth to touch
Eye Colour Blue Blue
Head Number 2 (more about this below) 2
Mould colour Tanned (more about this below) Tanned
 
It is very difficult to establish Gail's identity from a photo because the camera does 'lie' and to be sure you probably need to F E E L the texture; you are looking for a coarse, brittle texture.  If the doll you are looking at has shiny, glossy hair then more than likely she is a Britt.
 
Some collectors have suggested that Gail has a particular upper head number.  For me the jury is still out on this theory, more research needs to be done on NRFB dolls to be sure.
 
Another idea is that Gail MIGHT have a darker body, again I stress that this theory really can't be proved without a significant number of NRFB dolls being examined. 
 
Please don't use head numbers or body colour to ID a Gail, you may end up severely out of pocket!
 

There are two variants of Gail's Fish skirt, it is suggested that the one on the left is 1st issue and that the other with it's slightly darker shade and bubbles is 2nd issue.  I am still looking for archival evidence to support this idea.
 

 

Fake Gail, a custom creation by Tracy Farrant.  She has Princess length hair and has been given complementary  lilac coloured eyes.  Tracy did a wonderful job of re-creating Gail's off the shoulder top and skirt, don't you think?

Meccano Gail.  This has to be the rarest Gail and the rarest Meccano doll, Lorraine is the proud owner.  Pic courtesy of LOTSADOLLY
 

 

  

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