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Barbie dolls
A brief history of the Barbie doll
The very first Barbie doll was debuted in 1959 at the American International Toy Fair and has since gone on to become the world's best selling doll of all time.
Ruth Handler is officially recognised as the creator of the Barbie doll having come up with the idea for a three dimensional, adult-figured doll in the late fifties. Her inspiration is said to have come from her daughter who was always far more keen on playing with paper dolls that looked like adults rather than with baby or child dolls.
Now it just so happens that Ruth Handler was married to Elliot Handler, a co-founder of the Mattel toy company, and Ruth was able to share her idea with her husband. The idea was scoffed at by the board of Mattel who said it would be impossible to produce such a toy.
However, on a trip to Europe with her daughter, Ruth found a german doll in a shop window called Lilli. The doll was adult-bodied and three dimensional and was exactly what she had in mind. Ruth bought three of the dolls and gave one to her daughter and took two back to Mattel.
Mattel managed to acquire the rights to the Lilli doll and after a substantial transformation remodelled her as Barbara Millicent Roberts a.k.a. Barbie. Barbie was actually named after Handler's daughter who was called Barbara.
On March 9th 1959, Barbie made her debut at the New York International American Toy Fair sporting a zebra-striped swimsuit and topknot ponytail. This is considered to be Barbie's official birthday.
In the years that followed Barbie went from strength to strength and soon Barbie was available with a range of different hair colours and styles and with a huge wardrobe of fashionable clothing. In fact Barbie's clothing was designed Charlotte Johnson, a designer whose inspiration came from the fashions in Paris.
Many other famous designers have designed outfits for Barbie including Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Christian Dior, Ralph Lauren and Donatella Versace.
Barbie's occupations
Barbie has had many different jobs in her time including ballerina, doctor, dentist, teacher, army officer, firefighter, police officer, astronaut, chef, paleontologist and even United States President!
Barbie collecting
Due to her immense popularity, Barbie has become extremely collectable and many of the original vintage dolls are sold for large amounts of money. These days, it is easy for any Barbie collector to buy Barbie dolls online via auction sites such as eBay.
Key terms and phrases to look out for when buying on eBay include:
Vintage
Vintage Barbie dolls are generally considered to be those produced before 1972
Modern
Dolls produced after 1972 are considered to be modern
Collector Edition
Collector edition Barbie dolls are those that have been designed specifically for collectors and come with a certificate, special packaging and a stand.
NRFB - Never Removed From Box
The doll has never been out of the box and is still sealed.
A/O - All original
This means that the doll has not been modified or restored in any way
MIB - Mint in Box
This means that the Babrie doll is in perfect condition and is in its box. The box may not be sealed however and the doll may have been removed at some point in the past.
M/C - Mint and complete
The item is in perfect condition and is complete with all original accessories
Barbie trivia
Today the Barbie industry is worth over $1.9 billion per year
Mattel claim that 3 Barbie dolls are sold every second
Barbie was outlawed in Saudi Arabia on September 10th 2003
Mattel estimates that there are over 100,000 Barbie doll collectors purchasing an average of 20 dolls per year each
More Barbie dolls have been sold in Sweden than the country's current population
Sources
Wikipedia
DoYouRemember
Mattel
About Barbie | Buy Barbie dolls and accessories | Barbie links | Contact us