List of Barbie dolls sold between 1959 and 1999. And other comments and complaints, some about dolls, some about anything else.
These are the items I've listed recently on etsy:
bug costume jewelry pins
2 pairs Joan Rivers clip earrings
49 Catholic prayer cards, 1930s to present
2 Mattel Flying Wendy dolls, 1990s, NRFB
Skipper items, 1970 to 1974
https://www.etsy.com/listing/539685639/1970-1974-skipper-case-and-clothes?ref=listings_manager_table
Skipper dolls and items, 1975 to 1979
Barbie at the Dream Cottage is an unusual paper doll set sold in England. I bought it from a fellow etsy seller in the US, although I don't know how the book came to America.
This book is a combination paper doll set/coloring book/storybook. It was published in 1986 by World International Publishing Ltd. and printed in Germany. The text has British English, such as the word "colour." Note the 75p price tag (75 pence).
Included are a generic SuperStar paper doll, Barbie's cat Fluff, clothes to punch out, pages to color, and some text accompanying the coloring pages. On the cover are Barbie, Ken in his outfit 5823 Cool Captain, and the Dream Cottage. Both the house and Ken's outfit were originally sold in 1983. The clothes are generic and look more like late 1970s outfits.
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| Barbie at the Dream Cottage has a beautiful front cover! |
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| The paper doll stand is different from what Western/Whitman/Golden sells for its paper dolls. The British stand holds up Barbie from the back. |
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| I never realized until I looked at this drawing that the balcony on top of the Dream Cottage looks like a widow's walk! |
I spent 2 1/2 days in Springfield, Ohio, which is known for its antique malls. Here is a list of what I bought from three different locations. I didn't even finish looking at the third place because I'd already picked up enough!
1. Italian Barbie
2. Two versions of Mattel's Wendy from Peter Pan
3. Barbie's 1967 1690 Studio Tour
4. Barbie's bandana to 1972 3351 Good Sports
5. Tammy and Pepper storybook
6. A 1978 small Battlestar Galactica ship still in the packaging
7. Two Man from UNCLE books that I will resell on etsy.
8. A bunch of Scholastic paperbacks.
9. The Borrowers Afloat
10. One each of 1970s McCall's and Simplicity's fashion doll patterns
If you go to Springfield, here is how to get to the antique malls. Their website directions are not the best, so I am telling you differently.
Springfield Antique Centers
There are two large warehouses next to each other, but both have the address of 1735 Titus Road. Take Interstate 70 to exit 59, which is US Hwy. 41, and then go south on 41 for just a block. On the right is a truck driver training school. On the left is the first antique warehouse. To get to the second one, continue on up the hill and then turn left. www.springfieldantique.com
The buildings don't have much in the way of Barbie dolls, although there were a number of those (un)collectible contemporary porcelain dolls. I saw many, many cookbooks.
Heart of Ohio Antique Center
This is just one building at 4785 E. National Road/US Hwy. 40. This is exit 62 off of Interstate 70. Go about two blocks north. This is where I bought most of my purchases. Don't worry, I didn't buy all the Barbie stuff! The coolest item I saw which I didn't buy was Ideal's Old Fashioned Girl Jody and her Victorian Parlor. I had never seen one before. https://heartofohioantiques.com/
If you are looking for Disney items, this place will be heaven for you. I don't know if all the Disney merchandise booths there belong to one seller or many, but there are thousands of items for sale.
Also, if you put the three warehouses together, you will see more 20th century glassware than your mind can imagine. It just went on and on!
I can see the Blue Jay water tower from my bedroom window, 8 miles as the crow flies. I know it looks closer because I used a zoom lens on the camera.
I HAD to buy this Hallmark Snoopy birthday card. The little envelope he is mailing is real and is 1/6 scale and my Barbies wanted it.
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| Who will be getting a birthday card from Snoopy? Olaf? Belle? Someone else? |
Magic Change Hair was sold in the mid-1990s in a large package that held what was basically a baseball cap.
I bought one of these hair sets cheap at an antique store. I was disappointed when I opened it. The hair started to disintegrate immediately. I was left with a million tiny pieces of plastic hair that stuck to everything and yet were impossible to pick up.
So now all I have left is the cap. I am glad I did not purchase one of these at full price when they were first sold.
There were two sets of Magic Change Hair. The first set had a box date of 1993 and was sold in 1994. All six hairpieces had a stock number of 68090, and they were:
Baseball Fan--orange cap and orange curls
Creative Artist--red beret, slightly wavy bleached blonde hair
Crimp N Curl--purple knit cap, wavy bleached blonde hair
Curly Haired Beauty--yellow helmet, frizzy bleached blonde hair
Hip Hop Dancer--dark pink fedora, dark brown waves
Pretty Cowgirl--blue cowboy hat, slightly wavy dark blonde hair
The second sets were sold in 1995 (box date 1994) and 1996 (box date 1995) with slightly different packaging each time. The additional wording was "Double Hair Fun." The caps were changed to visors and were open at the top so that the doll's own hair could be pulled through. Stock number was 68311. There were three hairpieces:
Orange bandana print with yellow bill, light brown crimped hair
Pink print, pirate hat style, bleached blonde braids
Red bandana print with yellow bill, slightly wavy black hair
At first I thought the bandana prints were the same as the prints used on the Benetton and All-American doll scarves in 1991, but closer examination reveals that the fabrics are different patterns.
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| Magic Change Hair is the only packaging I have seen that includes Skipper and Stacie wearing the hair. |
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| Avon Winter Velvet Barbie in a Great Weekend dress (both from 1996) (love the pink jelly sandals!) in the Magic Hair orange bandana set. |
In 1989, Mattel sold Style Magic Barbie, Christie, Whitney and Skipper. Skipper was sold only in Canada and I assume Europe. The Style Magic dolls had the ultimate 1980s big hair, which was called Wondra Curl. Wondra Curl is different from Quick Curl in that there were no wires in the hair. However, while Quick Curl hair worked, I don't see any difference in Wondra Curl after you play with it.
Also sold were Style Magic Hair Charms. There were extra attachable tresses for the dolls, and they could also be attached to a larger barrette meant for a human girl. Meanwhile, what came with the dolls were a large comb with holes in it, and an authentic looking curling iron. While the comb goes through the hair, attempting to leave the comb in the hair and attach things to do does not work. Nor does the curling iron--it doesn't make a different set of curls. The Hair Charms switches work fine on the dolls, but again, the larger barrette looks stupid and is way too big in scale for Barbie and friends.
What's really weird is that the Hair Charms sets shown in the 1989 booklet do not correspond with what was actually sold in the packaging. As you can see in the booklet page I added, the pieces pictured are mix-and-match to what was in the stores.
I own only one of the Hair Charms lengths, a pale blonde braid on a pink and black triangle. It works well on my Skipper. Pulling her wild bi-color hair back from her face and wrapping the braid around it made for a much prettier doll. I am assuming that, with her puffy clothes, she is supposed to be either a ballerina in a tutu or a fairy in a fluttery dress.
I purchased the doll at a doll show from Paul David, as she was not available in stores in the US. The photo of her with her box is what I shot when I bought the doll, 32 years ago!
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| Style Magic Skipper is very "fluffy" looking! |
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| The switches that came with the Style Magic Hair Charms were well-made. |
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| Pulling the hair back from her face makes Style Magic Skipper much more attractive. |
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| No, it's not your imagination. Skipper's hair has a peach tint to it. |
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| The pieces pictured in the 1989 clothing booklet were rearranged when they were placed in their packaging to be sold. |
