Barbie Doll Collectors: What to Look for When Collecting Vintage Barbies

When Barbie was introduced by Mattel in the year 1959, I and my cousin was too old for dolls. But then again in 1995, at the age of around 40 or so, we went to auctions that said they included the No. 3 Barbie and she came with clothes and a nice case. So my cousin and I decided to pursue this a little further. The outfits were so beautiful, miniature copies of the 60's fashion that made my cousin and I very hooked. We pulled our resources and started collecting vintage Barbie's, a hobby we knew would just about go out of this world.

Lets start checking out flea markets, and antique malls, for the vintage Barbie items. It is so easy to get ripped off if you so not know what to look for:

· The date on the Barbie doll refers only to the year Mattel copyrighted the body style, not the year the Barbie doll was actually made. Early Barbie's, like the bubble cuts, and the ponytails, American Girls and the Twist N Turns, are all marked 1958 and have "Japan" on the rear end or on the bottom of one of the feet. The newer dolls, which have little or no value for collectors, are dated 1966 and are made in other countries.

· The No. 1 Barbie's are rare because they were the only dolls whose feet have metal tubes in them that fit a pronged stand. Other Barbie's have holes in the feet, but there isn't any tube.

· The condition is everything to collectors of vintage Barbie's. Other things, neck splits, hair that has been cut, or missing the plugs, or the lips whose color has began to fade or rubbed off, and the ears and faces that have turned green because of a chemical reaction between plastic and those metal earrings that the Barbie's come with. Check and make sure all the fingers and the toes are there, and that they have an even color, no marks, no stains, or scratches or gouges.