Make money collecting Barbie dolls

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What a doll!

In honour of International Barbie Day on March 9 we are here to round up how to make money collecting Barbie dolls. At 60 years old and untouched by Botox, Barbie’s pulling power remains defiantly undiminished. She is one of the biggest selling toys in history, with over a billion dolls sold across six decades. A Barbie was bought every three seconds in 2014, and her popularity hasn’t waned since.

The bombshell first burst, fully formed, onto the toy scene in 1959 and now, standing at just under 12 inches tall, she heads a business worth over two billion dollars a year. Individual dolls can be worth thousands of pounds – some even into the hundreds of thousands.

This is all well and good, but how can you take advantage of the lucrative market in Barbies? We’ll think about that in this article.

 

Barbie Collector Edition dolls each year. They range from dolls dressed by top designers, to TV editions (Barbie and Ken as The X Files’ Mulder and Scully, for example). Designed for display rather than play, some of these will gain in value over the years.

The question is, which Barbies will gain value?

The trick for collectors is to predict the ones that will become collectible in the future. This is a hard thing to do without a crystal ball, but, as a rule of thumb, go for the models that are most prized by today’s little girls. They are the ones who will pay over the odds in 20 or 30 years’ time for the dolls they couldn’t get their hands on as children.

If in flawless condition, Vintage Barbies (which often have bendy legs and red hair) fetch astonishing prices, particularly in the States. First rolling off the production line in 1959 and being produced until the late 1960s and selling for $3 (£1.50), a Barbie from this period could sell for £25,000. Even on internet auction sites, many models and even accessories (as long as they’re in very good condition) are changing hands for upwards of £1,000. An original black and white swim-suited 1959 boxed Barbie in mint condition can now fetch around £8,000.

• Look for holes in the feet to see if it is one of the earliest models.
• Complete sets of outfits and accessories are collectible too. You can spend around £45 on a pair of tiny vintage Barbie sunspecs. And one website rather chillingly offers Barbie “body parts,” although keep in mind that restoration may get the doll to look better, it will likely ruin its value to a collector.
• Barbie Collectibles cost between £50 and over £100.Whatever you decide to stick with – 70s Barbies, Barbie footwear or ethnic Barbies – the important thing is to enjoy the dolls. Otherwise there’s no point.

 

auctions and car boot sales. Even the odd charity shop may sell Barbies, but in this case they are unlikely to be highly valuable.

Places like Christie’s, South Kensington, will also value Barbie items from photographs if you discover a collection in the attic. Christie’s only sells lots of £250 and above, but that can mean you get better value than you would if you bought the items individually online.

Don’t forget to do a search on eBay for old collectibles and check out the latest bargains at Amazon – you could start a collection of today’s Barbies to hand down to your children’s children.

Crack the lingo:

• MIN (Mint In Box)
• MNB (Mint No Box)
• MIP (Mint In Package)
• NRFB (Never Removed from Box)
• HTF (Hard To Find)
• A/O (All Original)
• OSS (Original Swimsuit)
• C1 – C10 – The grading system for Barbies, with C10 being the best possible quality (NRFB)
• Customized Dolls – Dolls created for a specific purpose
• Mint & Complete – Barbies that are in the ideal condition, with all their accessories present

Types of Barbie:

• #1 Ponytail – Original Barbie from 1959, with holes in the feet
• #2 Ponytail – Original Barbie from 1959, without holes in the feet
• #3 Ponytail – From 1960
• #4 Ponytail – From 1961
• Twist ‘N Turn waist – Common feature of Barbies from the mid-1960s onwards
• Vintage Barbie – All Barbies created before 1972
• Modern Barbie – All Barbies created from 1972 onwards

Top dollar: 1965 ‘Midnight Blue’ Barbie (£9,000 in September 2006)

Don’t bother: 2000 Birthday wishes Barbie (£9.99 in March 2012)