The original Barbie was launched in March 1959
Barbie is a best-selling fashion doll that is produced by Mattel, Inc. She made her debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959. The doll was created by an American businesswoman, Ruth Handler (1916-2002) who named the doll after her daughter, Barbara. The Barbie Ken doll was named after Ruth Handler’s son.
Barbie’s design was inspired from a German doll called Bild Lilli. The first Barbie dolls wore a black and white zebra striped swimsuit and signature topknot ponytail, and they were only available as a blond or brunette. This Barbie was manufactured in Japan, with her clothes hand-stitched by Japanese homeworkers. Mattel sold around 350,000 Barbie dolls during that first year of production. Barbie collector dolls have come a long way since that first Barbie doll creation nearly fifty years ago.
Barbie collector dolls are very popular among collectors. Mattel estimates that there are well over 100,000 avid collectors with the majority of these being women at an average age of 40; purchasing more than twenty dolls each year, almost half of them spend upward of $1000 a year.
The earlier Vintage Barbie dolls are the most valuable at auction. The original Barbie was sold for $3,000 in 1959, and in October, 2004, a 1959 mint boxed sold on eBay for $3,552.50 On September 26, 2006, at an auction in London, a Barbie Doll went for $17,000 U.S. dollars setting a world record.
Mattel now offers a wide range of Barbie collector dolls aimed specifically at collectors. Barbie Collector Dolls are available in a wide range of characters and with collector’s edition dolls depicting Barbie dolls with a wide range of different ethnic identities.
In 2004 Mattel introduced the Color Tier system for its collector’s edition Barbie dolls, ranging through pink, silver, gold and platinum depending on how many of the dolls are produced.
