Monday, November 7, 2011

The Austin-Healy


The Austin-Healy was a British made sports car which was built from 1953 until 1972. There were three models built; the 100, the 3000 and the Sprite. Barbie's car was a 1962, two-seater coral colored BN7 3000 Mark II, made by the Irwin Corporation for Mattel. She looked cool driving down the road in this baby! Interestingly, it did not only come in coral with the turquoise seats, but was available with lavender and white seats, beige with white seats, and red with white seats, all of which are extremely rare. I believe the red version was not even released to the public. The original price for the "real" car in 1961-1962 was about $3,700.00 and today it sells for more than $50,000 in good condition. This lavender version of Barbie's car sold in its original box a few weeks ago for $307.00, which wasn't a bad price for such a rare color!


Rare lavender and white version.

Standard coral and turquoise version

Monday, October 17, 2011

The Twist n' Turn Barbie, so amazing!


One of my favorite Barbie’s of all time is the TNT Barbie from 1967.  She was hip back then, and still looks amazing by today standards.  I spent endless hours playing with my chocolate bon bon beauty.  Mine was the trade-in version.  You know, the one with the one piece sexy fishnet swimsuit over the orange vinyl bikini!  Lose the fishnet suit and that girl would still get looks from the boys on the beach today.  Her long uneven hair is right in style with today’s fashionistas.  It’s so great when you witness rare beauties like the girl pictured here who received a big price on the secondary market.  A few weeks ago this 1967 blonde bombshell sold for $611.00.  And why the big price tag you ask?  It’s all about her hair.  Perfect Platinum! You see it from time to time, but not always in this fine of condition with an immaculate high color face.
 

I loved her wardrobe.  She’s a little like us today; tall boots, short funky dresses, and metallic whatever!  We have to have it!  Gold and silver metallic purses, belts and shoes, as well as dresses, tops and even pants are some of the must haves.  We all know Barbie has always made a fashion statement but this girl could appear today and would still be one!


Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Pyrex & Corning Ware....who would have thought!

Who would have ever thought that back in the day these tiny little items that sold for just $1.98 each would grab big bucks today!

These are "Teen Doll" Plastic Miniatures still in their original boxes with their original price tags. 

On September 12th, the Corning Ware cookware sold for $155.00 and the Pyrex bakeware sold for $256.00. These adorable miniatures were manufactured by Banner and made for the teen fashion dolls.  I don't have any more information on them, so if you know anything else, I'd love to hear from you!  Aren't they just so cute!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Nostalgia

Looking back on my lazy summer days as a child are some of my fondest memories; swimming in our backyard pool, playing baseball with the neighbor kids, riding my bike with my small dog who would contently sit in my bike basket, taking my Barbie dolls outside for summertime play, and drinking endless glasses of ice filled lemonade that my mom would often make.

Reflecting back to days gone by reminds me that the simplest moments are some of my fondest memories.  When times are hard or stressful, it’s good to remind ourselves what has made us smile in the past. Perhaps a bit of that nostalgia could make a bad day better, by helping us see more clearly what’s actually important, to remind ourselves to make healthier decisions, and to realize certain things that seem so vital to us are not even worthy of a small argument or minor worry.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

American Girl


One of my favorites, the "Bendable Leg Barbie" was this pretty girl's original name.  But because of her hairstyle, it was eventually changed to the "American Girl".  These bendable leg dolls were made from 1965-1967.  Most have the shorter page boy haircut with blonde (several shades), red or brunette hair color.  But there are some rare versions floating around out there.  Some had longer hair, sides parts, high color faces, or unique hair colors.    Here is an example of one rare American Girl with the longer hair style with a high color face and a beautiful silver shade of hair color.  She's magnificent!  This girl sold on eBay for $909.99 on August 2nd.            

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Nice Comment & Funny Story

Here's a nice comment that Janey sent me back in July on the old Blog.  Thought I'd repost it!

From: Janey

Love your site, Marie! I enjoyed the reading about how your love for Barbie began. It is amazing to see how much they are worth now, compared to what they sold for back in the day. It truly brings back a lot of happy memories. While I didn't have Barbies as a child, my cousin Kathy did and since we were frequently together, I played with them often.

In reading the latest issue of "Reader's Digest" today, I found an amusing story you might enjoy. In the section @ Work, there were several humorous requests related by the cabin crew on Virgin Atlantic Airline. The one about Barbie was the funniest. "A woman in first class was wearing a tiny pink crop top and mint green miniskirt. She had also booked the seat next to her for her 'Barbie' doll, which was wearing the same outfit and was sitting upright with it's seat belt on. The woman then requested a cup of tea and a massage for the doll."

Monday, August 29, 2011

Old Blog Crashed!

Welcome to my new Blogging space!  My old Blog crashed and burned, so I have moved here for a fresh start!  If you were registered on the old Blog, you will need to register again to post.

I have added some of my older posts that I thought would be interesting to you.  If you are wondering what happened to my reference articles, they can be found on the web site now under the tab "reference".    www.MyVintageBarbies.com

Thank you for your support, and I look forward to blogging with you!

Marie

Plaid....You Gotta Love it!!

My cousin just recently posted this great picture from 1971 of her husband and herself on Facebook in honor of their wedding anniversary. As soon as I saw their picture, it made me instantly think of some of the wonderful “mod” outfits from the late 60’s and early 70’s.  Plaid was so popular! “Mad About Plaid", "All About Plaid", and Perfectly Plaid" to name a few. I love how Barbie has kept up with the times when it comes to her fashion.  And this is just another reason why I love Barbie so much!

Silkstones

Have you checked out the Silkstone Barbie Dolls? They have been around since 2000 and are absolutely beautiful dolls! They are made of superior vinyl which makes them almost feel like a porcelain doll. And they come with amazing high quality clothing just like what the early vintage Barbie’s had.
The newest release is the beautiful Grace Kelly, The Bride Doll.  This celebrity doll sells for $175.00 and was available for purchase on 08/11/2011. 
Silkstones may not be part of the vintage era, but I had to own at least one of these amazing dolls in my collection!
(Originally posted on 8/19/2011)

Farrah Fawcett Doll

It was 1976. The year when the average income was $16,000, gas was .59 cents a gallon, Apple Computer Company was formed, IBM introduced the very first laser printer, the $2.00 bill was introduced in honor of our country’s 200th birthday, and the best-selling pin-up poster of all time was released!

On November 16th, 2011, at 9:00 in the morning, the one of a kind Farrah Fawcett Prototype doll sold for $1,500.00.  It had only been available for 20 minutes!   This beauty was listed on the last page of a Barbie Blonde Collection catalog. 

7 months later, the Farrah Fawcett Doll was released by Mattel on June 16, 2011.  She sold for $34.95. 

Famous Poster from 1976


(Originally posted on 7/25/2011)


Japanese Side Part American Girl

Mattel started manufacturing Barbie in Japan in1959 through the Kokusai Boeki Kaisha Co.  But it wasn’t until 1961 when they released dolls and clothing in Japan.  The dolls did not sell well, so Mattel released exclusive Japanese versions of their dolls (Barbie, Midge, Skipper and Francie) as well as their clothing ensembles.  All of Barbie’s clothes were made in Japan and shipped to the United States, but there were some outfits that were made exclusive for Japan and never shipped out.  These items are very rare.
Pictured is the magnificence standard “pink skin” Japanese Side-Part American Girl.  She was made solely for the Japanese market in 1965 and sold only in Japan. She came standard on the “pink tone” Barbie/Midge straight-leg body (rather than the bendable leg body that the traditional American Girl Barbie dolls have).  But sometimes she can be found on the bend-leg body too.  Her hair is parted on the side with a turquoise ribbon headband.  These beauties came with blonde, ash blond or brunette hair color.  They came dressed in a turquoise and multi-striped swim suit, open toe heels and a wire stand.  Interestingly, sometimes she had painted finger nails and other times she didn’t! 
There were also Japanese “dressed dolls” available, that came in Japanese versions of Barbie’s ensembles, and these dolls (and boxes) are extremely rare.  These dolls are very hard to find and will command a huge price on the secondary market.
This standard girl sold today for $1901.00.
(Originally posted 07/13/2011)

Factory Sunset Malibu and German Malibu Heads

Usually you’ll see mint doll heads being sold individually, but this is the first time I’ve seen this many sold at once! These doll heads are Sunset Malibu (with the glasses on) and German Malibu. Both are from the early 1970’s. 
These sold for $501.50 on 7/3/11.   It was actually a pretty good buy!  (Originally posted on 7/12/2011)

Black Francie

In 1967 the very rare black version of Francie was introduced with brown hair that oxidized to a reddish color hair over time. The 2nd version which is shown here came with darker brown hair that never oxidized over time. These dolls were not popular because their facial features were the same as the white Francie.
This lovely girl sold for $861.99 on 7/5/2011.   (Originally posted 07/06/2011)

Stacey head on a talking Barbie Body

I thought this was interesting. Here you have a beautiful talking Stacey head attached to a talking Barbie Body. When production was moved from Japan to Mexico for the talking Barbie dolls, the language barrier caused the workers to use Stacey heads for the talking Barbie dolls.  There were not very many of these produced because the error was caught pretty quickly.  (Originally posted 6/29/2011)

Re-Issue Skipper

Here is a beautiful Mint 1970 Reissue Skipper doll that sold today for $433.88. Notice the graphics on the box. You’ll see Mod Barbie Dolls on this new box. She also has pinker skin this year. She has the same stock number #950 as the original doll and the same marking. (Originally posted 06/26/2011)

Skipper's Holiday party Set

This is Skipper’s Holiday Party Set. It sold for $960.00 today on eBay. This set looked very similar to #1021 Party Time from 1965, except this set includes the bend leg Skipper doll rather than the straight leg Skipper. Along with the bendable Skipper doll, it also included #1906 Dress Coat and #1902 Silk n Fancy Dress. (Originally posted 06/23/2011)

Japanese Molded Head Midge


 
Here is an interesting doll that sold today. This is a Japanese Molded Head Midge doll. She was made for the Japanese market but wasn’t around very long because the Japanese children didn’t bond well with her. I guess their mom’s didn’t like her curvy body either! She is on a Barbie/Midge body. (Originally posted 6/16/2011)

Interesting Stuff!



Winning Bid: $2885.00 German Bild Lilli Doll. This Beauty is the doll Ruth Handler, the creator of the Barbie Doll, used to describe to Mattel the kind of doll she wanted to make.  (Originally posted 5/29/2011)