Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Halloween With Barbie

It’s the night of ghosts, goblins, and other little creatures that come knocking on your door, with the expectations of tasty treats being dropped into their plastic pumpkin buckets.
 
1967 Barbie dressed in a modern
day costume and vintage mask
 
 
Barbie also enjoyed Halloween back in the day.  She dressed up in her first official Halloween costume that was introduced in 1963, and was simply called “Masquerade”. Ken and Skipper had the same attire with the exact same name too, but Skipper's wasn’t available until 1964.
 
Barbie and Ken dressed in Masquerade
  
Other Halloween Worthy costumes on the marketplace in 1964 was Cinderella and Poor Cinderella, Guinevere, Arabian Nights, and Red Riding Hood and the Wolf.  Ken had his options too; The Prince, King Arthur, and Arabian Nights.
 


Barbie dressed in Cinderella (1964)

In the past seventeen years many Halloween dolls have popped up in stores for children of all ages.  Most of these dolls came in pink label boxes, and are not considered highly collectible.  The very first Halloween Barbie was the 1996 Happy Halloween Barbie and Kelly Gift Set, which was a Target exclusive.  Target continues to release new dolls year after year.  Other stores, such as Sears and select grocery stores, also had Halloween dolls available on their shelves.  I find these costumes to be so much fun to dress our vintage dolls in!


1996 Happy Halloween Barbie & Kelly Gift Set
 

1998 Halloween Fun Barbie and
Kelly Gift Set (Target Exclusive)
 

The newly released pink label doll, “Wizard of Oz Wicked Witch of the West”, is another doll that would certainly fit the bill for Halloween.  There have been several versions of this doll over the years.
 

 

The only three gold label “collector” dolls released specifically for Halloween were all designed by Bill Greening, who is one of the major creators for Barbie.  The first was the 2011 Halloween Haunt Barbie (a Barbie Fan Club Exclusive) from the Holiday Hostess Collection.  Ghost Barbie Doll (2012) and Vampire Barbie Doll (2013), both from the Haunted Beauty Series as well as part of the fantasy series, were offered only as a Direct Exclusive, and not available in stores.  Today these three dolls are the most sought after of all the Halloween Barbie Dolls on the market.

 
Haunted Beauty Vampire Barbie (2013)

 
Haunted Beauty Vampire Barbie (2013) 


2011 Halloween Haunt Barbie & 2012 Ghost Barbie
 
 
If you browse through the many dolls that have been available over the years, you will doubtlessly find some others that will fit the bill which are not considered official Halloween dolls.  Remember, imagination is what Barbie is all about!
Have a safe and Happy Halloween!
 

3 comments:

  1. Hello from Spain: Happy Halloween. I like these Barbies dedicated to Halloween. In my country are not for sale in stores. Halloween is not a very famous festival in my country. Keep in touch

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Marta! I didn't realize that you can't even buy them in the stores there. Thanks for sharing the information!

      Delete
  2. Marie, It is a lovely report, with very interesting pictures and information.I did really like it very much. See you soon.

    ReplyDelete

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