Welcome to the Barbie Site for collectors in America, Australia and Great Britain!

Barbie  The world's most popular and best selling toy has been around since 1959.

She began as an idea in the mid 1950’s when, while visiting Switzerland, Ruth Handler purchased a German Bild Lilli. Basing the original Barbie on this doll Ruth then hired Charlotte Johnson to create Barbie's elegant wardrobe. In 1958 the patent for Barbie was obtained. Ruth and her husband Elliot named their new doll after their own daughter, Barbie. Barbie's boyfriend Ken, was named after their son. In 1959, Barbie made her way to the New York Toy Show and a star was born!!  In Australia Barbie was not sold until 1964 so the very early ponytails and bubblecuts are hard to find here but we have more side-part bubblecuts and swirl-ponytails to make up for it.

Harley Davidson Barbie     The most successful Collector's Edition Barbie released. The value of this doll skyrocketed from her original selling price of $85 to $800 in two years due to her being recalled supposedly because Mattel didn't have a proper agreement with Harley Davidson at that time. Since then a series of Harley Davidson Barbies, Kens and even a motorcycle been released.

Side-Part White Ginger Bubblecut wearing repro Solo in the Spotlight and Number 5 Vintage Ponytail Barbie wearing Midnight Blue.

Swirl Ponytail with her hair down. She is the ultra rare white ginger swirl wearing a Qantas airline hostess ensemble. Bubblecut Barbies.  The one on the left is the much rarer sidepart version, note the very clear side part weaving to the hair.
Swirl Ponytail with hair in original up style. Wearing  Fashion Avenue  "Merry Widow" lingerie. Ken, Barbie's boyfriend. These two guys are wearing Mr Astronaut and King Arthur.

Vintage Barbies have side glancing eyes as it was considered most unladylike and forward for a teenage model of the time to look directly at anyone. Her much disputed figure was never meant to correctly portray a female body, the original clothing made for her bulked at the waist so she needed a tinier waistline to actually look normal dressed in those gorgeous fashions.
I've heard of Vintage, Mod, Superstar,  Pink Box and Collectors Edition Barbies but what does it all mean? Vintage Barbies are considered to be those made from 1959 to 1966.
Mod Barbies are those made from 1967 to 1976.
Superstar Barbies are those made from 1977 to today, so called because Mattel introduced the Superstar face mould in 1977, it is the open mouthed smile still used on new dolls.
Pink Box Barbies are those made to be played with by girls, these dolls can have their clothes changed and their hair brushed, they are the lower priced Barbies and sold in toy shops, supermarkets and department stores.
Collectors Edition Barbies are designed for the over 12 collector market, they usually have extravagant clothing and accessories that are hard or impossible to remove and hairstyles that are often quite solid and unbrushable. They are sold to be displayed and not to be played with (some collectors don't take these dolls out of their boxes), sometimes as a one off but more normally as part of a series. In Australia, you can find the new release Collector's Editions at Myer city stores, Toy World and even Kmart but not all of them get sold downunder and they are expensive.
Vintage Barbie dolls were those made between 1959 and 1966 so how do you know if your Barbie  is a Vintage? This question raises the most confusion as almost all Barbie dolls have the year 1966 on their backs. 
1966 was the year the most common Barbie body was copywrited/patented, it is not an indication of when the doll was made.
The best way to tell the approximate year of actual manufacture is to look at where she was made.
Years: 1959 to 1971 1968 to 1970 1970 to 1982 1972 to 1978 1974 to 1987 1978 to 1988 1986 to 2002 1992 to 2002
Country: Japan Mexico HONG KONG Korea Taiwan PHILIPPINES CHINA INDONESIA
  *other later dolls were made in Mexico too, around 1989/1990. & MALAYSIA

  Interesting little Barbie facts according to Mattel
Barbie’s full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts.
She is from Willows, Wisconsin in the USA and went to Willows High School.
Barbie was named after the daughter of Mattel founders Ruth and Elliot Handler, their son’s name is Ken.
The first Barbie doll, the Number One Barbie, sold for $3 US.
The first Black and Hispanic Barbie dolls were introduced in 1980.
Barbie’s first career was as a teenage fashion model, she has since had other careers including astronaut, rock star, palaeontologist, presidential candidate, and Olympic ice skater.
Barbie introduced a rap group in 1990 called “Barbie, and the Beats.”
More than 105 million metres of fabric have gone into making the fashions of Barbie and her friends, making Mattel one of the largest apparel manufacturers in the world.
Placed head to toe Barbie dolls and her friends sold since 1959 would circle the earth more than seven times.
Every second three Barbie dolls are sold somewhere in the world.
This is a website of a Barbie addict designed for the world!  After collecting and filling my house with hundreds of Barbie dolls, action figures, toys, puppets, board games and just about anything else that I could play with I have decided to inflict my obsession on the rest of the world.
Seriously, my philosophy is simple..collect what you like and enjoy having around you, no matter what others may think.  Never feel you have to restrict yourself to just one kind of Barbie and if you want to take them out of the box and play then do it or buy things that are already deboxed on the secondary market, they are cheaper anyway.  Over the last 15 years I have collected anything I have found interesting, fun or intriguing.  My personal collection dates from the 1960's to the 1990's and covers everything from Vintage, Mod, Superstar and Pink Box to Collector's Editions and yes even Ken!!

Sharone