PIZZAZZ
Set: Misfits
Year: 1986-7 (Both)
Sold: Worldwide
Pizzazz came with the following items:
~Zebra print dress with pink bodice (US Edition) (European Edition)
~neon green belt (US edition) (European edition)
~neon green sock (one only) (American first edition), (European First Edition) (second edition)
panties (US edition) (European Edition) (Yellow edition)
~grey guitar (first edition), (second edition)
~shoes (US First and Worldwide Second Edition), (European First Edition)
~misfit bracelets (US) (Europe)
~Cassette featuring Jem Theme, Outta My Way, Makin' Mischief
~comb
~neon yellow stand (first edition) (European Edition) (second edition)
Existing Variations:
European and US differences. Some differences between first and second edition dolls (hard to distinguish on loose dolls).
Mexican/Spanish/European versions?
Yes, both Mexican (hybrid and pure) and Spanish editions of Pizzazz exist.
Comments: This is your average First Edition Pizzazz doll. Pizzazz
is perhaps the hardest doll to identify for sure whether she is a first or
a second edition, but this one came to me as a first. She has three tones
of makeup over her eye - a dark purple, a lavender and a pale bluish, all
of which can vary in tone and shade. Her eyes are green (some Pizzazz dolls
have more bluish green eyes than others) and her lips are orange (again,
shades can vary). First edition dolls usually have white teeth. They also
usually have more narrow faces, and darker complexions. Pizzazz shares
her face mould with Raya.Pizzazz's head is stamped Hasbro 1985 and her body is marked 1985 Hasbro Inc Made in China. There are no American Pizzazz dolls made in Hong Kong. Pizzazz has normal wrists and a regularly proportioned body. Her scalp can be painted various shades of neon green and pastel chartreuse.
Comments: These are fairly distinctive first edition dolls.
Pizzazz has the slightly smaller proportions and ball wrists commonly associated
with the European edition of the doll. Though her face mould is probably
the closest likeness of all the re-made European moulds, it is indeed a
seperate mould, stamped P Hasbro Inc (P for Pizzazz!) on the back. These
dolls are also never made in China. There are two possibilities - either
they are stamped "1985 Hasbro Inc Made in Hong Kong" or they are simply
stamped "1985 Hasbro Inc" with no country of manufacture. The former
seems to be most common among Dutch boxed dolls and the latter here in the
UK, but in truth there seems no major pattern to which is which type. The
features of "no country" and "Hong Kong" Pizzazzes are pretty much the same.
Pictured doll is an English bought "No Country" Edition. This Pizzazz has
also very distinctive hair (she's commonly called the demonic Pizzazz, because
of all editions she is the scariest, though the one pictured is one of the
less psychotic looking ones!). She has very straight, almost lank hair,
and a tuft of hair at the top sticks straight up, giving her a "mullet"
style.
Comments: Just by looking at her, you can already see a difference between Second Edition and First Edition Pizzazz. This doll has a paler complexion, her hair is more stylishly rooted and her teeth are grey (yes, grey! I'd heard second editions have grey teeth and it's true! They really do!) Her make-up varies from doll to doll which makes it hard to be conclusive about Second Edition Pizzazz dolls...this is one of the few among my Misfit army that I am fairly certain about. Her head and body are stamped the same as the American First Edition above and there seems to be nothing distinct between Second Edition dolls sold in Europe and the USA. Mexican Hybrid Pizzazz also has a Second Edition Pizzazz head.
Comments: I have included this Second Edition because
she is fairly wildly different from the one above! Not only is her hair rooted
in a distinctly different way, her eyemakeup is darker and because she lacks
a fringe, her forehead seems huge! But the real reason why I am including
her has nothing to do with hair or facial niceties. This Pizzazz has her
"Made In" Stamp just above her waist joint (see picture to the right - please
note that the contrast has been adjusted on this image to try and make the
stamp show up more clearly!). This is also a feature shared by some
Jetta and Clash dolls,
both of whom are second year only characters and suggesting most strongly
that this doll two is part of that second year edition. Whether any others
share the feature is as yet unclear.
Comments: Zebra print dress with pink lame edging. The US dress has white stitching attaching the zebra print to the lame and stretchy pink bodice, which makes it easy to confuse with the Mexican Pizzazz Dress. However the print is closer together and the dress better fitting than the Mexican one. Also the lame is darker and more metallic. Common to both first and second edition dolls. The stretchy bodice is made of the same fabric as Stormer's American top. The patterning can change due to the nature of the fabric from dress to dress, however American dresses appear to have largely horizantal patterns on the tabard and vertical ones on the skirt.
Comments: The European dress is a significant variation from the American issue because, although it's basic style is the same, the parts are held together by black stitching, and not white. The bodice is also made of the same fabric as Stormer's European top. The patterning is bigger spaced than on the American dress and the tabard has a more diagonal pattern, as opposed to strictly horizantal.
Comments: The picture shows it as more yellowish than it is - it is the same green as the European belt, but far less "curly" in that it is simply a length of stretchy neon green fabric cut with two ties at each end.
Comments: Like the American belt, although often the European belt is "curled" so that the two ties fall in almost ringlets!
Comments: Your average Pizzazz panties - fabric runs horizantally and is neatly hemmed at each edge. The pattern of the fabric is that the horizantal lines are close together.
Comments: The horizantal lines are more prominent in the European style panties and the colour is slightly more vibrant in some cases. Hemmed just as neatly as the American version.
Comments: I call these mystery panties, but I came about them with some European Jem stuff and I believe them to be a variation on European Pizzazz;s underwear, since it was her wearing them! They are yellow rather than green. Pizzazz's Mexican underwear is also yellow, but these differ because of the way the material is neatly hemmed with small stitches along the top and sides (Mexican stitching is clumsier) and also the fact that the fabric runs horizantally (Mexican fabric runs vertically).
Comments: Grey with a silver metallic sticker featuring the strings and other patterns. Fitted with a gold strap. The sticker quite often can get damaged at the edges causing bits to peel off and break.
Comments: Glittery translucent guitar with the same decal printed on as on the original edition's sticker. Grey as opposed to blue, which is the colour of the Mexican Pizzazz guitar.
Comments: Grey shoes with a hint of purplish sheen about them. Straight cuts. The same I believe with first Edition (America) and Second Edition (Worldwide).
Comments: More purplish grey than the American editions and a touch wider made, with a number or letter often stamped into the plastic on the inside. Also straight cuts - definitely intended to mimic the ones from America.
Comments: Gold gilted bracelets with spiky outside - each doll was sold with two.
Comments: Another fallacy of Jem identification is that all silver Misfit Bracelets must be faded. This is not the case. European Misfit dolls were often (but not always!) sold with faintly gold or even silver Misfit bracelets (Some were also sold with coppery-gold. I have observed both mib). These have also been linked with Jetta, but this is another mistake since Jetta never had Misfit bracelets (though they do look good on her, I must say!). Please note that bracelets can indeed fade from gold, but that some are meant to be silver!!
Comments: Same for both first and Second Edition dolls. Features "Jem Theme", "Outta My Way", "Makin' Mischief". Side B features instrumentals with the vocal line played by an instrument. Mexican Pizzazz's tape also features these songs but in Spanish.
Comments: Neon yellow and fairly transparent, with matching grip. Same as all first year Misfit stands - no difference between American or European editions.
Comments: I noticed this just recently, that there is a third type of stand for the Misfits that does not belong to a Spanish or Mexican variation. These stands are completely seethrough yellow as opposed to lightly cloudy like the first edition and very cloudy like the second. These stands came with European ball wristed Roxy, Stormer and Pizzazz.
Comments: Same as the first year doll but cloudier.
Comments: Same come as was sold with Stormer and Jetta - decided lack of imagination! Same, I believe, between first and second editions.
Comments: The first edition boxes for America and Europe are pretty identical in style. The one shown is Dutch, but the design is the same in America, with the side flap featuring Pizzazz, and the Jem logo along the front, with a purplish colour along the bottom indicating that this is a Misfit box. Boxes in English say Jem! then Truly Outrageous. Italian and Dutch boxes also say Truly Outrageous, whilst French ones add "Vraiment Extravagante!" instead (Canadian has both languages, whilst Belgian have Flemish and French but still say "Truly Outrageous! Vraiment Extravagante!".
Spanish Pizzazz's box reads "Verdaderamente Fantastica!" and has a different style of box opening (flap instead of tabs). Mexican Pizzazz's box reads "Es Fabulosa!" though maintains the same style of box as most editions.
NOT
AVAILABLE