I don’t recall ever having a Barbie doll. All of the dolls I remember were the big baby types, with thick legs and big feet and heads.
Not the thin buxomy dolls that Mattel made into the popular Barbie, with her fashionable clothes and her boyfriend Ken. I suppose I knew about Barbie but she never penetrated my world.
But she did for a lot of little girls who grew up to be women. And she still does because Barbie is “collected” – and also summarily tossed in the trash heap. I’m always coming across bedraggled Barbies and Kens with matted hair and missing clothes lying in boxes with other dolls from someone’s childhood.
In a box lot a month or so ago, I found two Twist n Turn Barbies (or TNT, as they are called) from 1966 made in Taiwan. I learned that the date is the copyright date of the body and not necessarily the manufacturing date of the actual doll. So, the cute little white party dress on one of them is probably more valuable than the doll itelf.
At another auction, I also got a 1977 book “The Collectors Encyclopedia of Barbie Dolls and Collectibles” in another lot.
At auction more recently, about 50 Barbies from the 1990s and 2000s were lined up on a metal rack against the wall of one of my favorite auction houses. I assumed that they either were someone’s collection or they came from a store that was getting rid of excess merchandise.
They were Asian, African American, white, Cinderella, Rapunzel. Easter. Holiday. Glinda from the “Wizard of Oz.” Sleeping Beauty. Dance ‘Til Dawn. Birthday. My Fair Lady. All wearing beautiful gowns and other clothes.
There was even a Spiegel Barbie (limited edition, sold by the department store in the 1990s, selling for up to $125 on one site online). On one of the auction tables – away from the “collection” – was a Barbie with a Rite Aid pharmacy price sticker.
According to the Barbie encyclopedia by Sibyl DeWein and Joan Ashabraner, doll collecting is one of the most popular hobbies and Barbie collectors are the most prolific.
Barbie was created by Mattel cofounder Ruth Handler who in the mid-1950s noticed that her daughter Barbara preferred playing with teenage paper dolls with clothes and accessories. She mentioned the idea for a real doll to her husband, another cofounder, but he wasn’t too interested.
During a trip to Europe, she came upon a doll called Bild Lilli, which was exactly what she had in mind for her new teenage fashion doll. She bought a few of the dolls (which started out in Germany as a comic strip and were meant for adults rather than children), gave one to her daugther and took the others to Mattel, whose designers fashioned a new doll for her. Here are photos of the two dolls.
Barbie debuted in March 1959 at the New York Toy Show, but was basically ignored by the male buyers, according to the book. The 11 ½” tall shapely Barbie was not an instant hit. In fact, according to the book, sales started off slow, but by 1960 the doll, which was manufactured in Japan, was selling well. Ken (named after Handler’s son Kenneth) arrived that same year.
The first Barbie was “flesh-toned vinyl plastic,” according to the book, and had a slightly “Oriental” look. My “flesh-tone” would arrive later in Christie in 1968.
Barbie’s head, arms and legs were moveable. She wore a black and white striped bathing suit, sunglasses, high heels and gold hoop earrings. She came in blonde or brunette (blondes outnumbered the brunettes) with a ponytail and bangs. Her eyes had white – and not blue – irises.
Today, these dolls, obviously, are scarce and prized by collectors.
In 2009, she celebrated her 50th birthday and looks as young as the day she came off the assembly line. Through those years, the girl has seen her share of controversies, including complaints about her impossible shape and Mattel’s notion of beauty as defined by her appearance. She’s been ridiculed, mocked and beaten up. But she has maintained her staying power.
She is one of the most recognizable dolls in the world. She and her friends made Mattel one of the largest toy countries across the globe.
There are tons of Barbie sites on the web – collectors, buyers, bloggers and anyone with any type of interest in the doll.
At the recent auction, only about two or three people – all women – bidded on the dolls. One was a vendor who was buying for re-sale.
The dolls sold for $3 to $17 each. They apparently had cost considerably more, according to the price tags on the boxes and on retail websites. The Classique Barbie had a price tag of $59.99. It sold for $7.
The Speigel doll – along with a French and Asian doll – sold for $17 each. A 40th anniversary doll sold for $13. Glinda sold for $10 (she was selling for up to $64 on the web) and Rapunzel for $8 (up to $50 on the web). My Fair Lady sold for $7 (up to $65 on the web).
