Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Barbie of the Month: Twist 'N Turn Trade-In Barbie

In 1967 the ever so popular #1162 Twist ’n Turn Trade-In Barbie was one of Mattel’s most successful Barbie Doll promotions of all time!   

#1162 Barbie
 
Barbie underwent a total make-over for this rollout.  She had a brand new head mold, her waist could twist and turn, she had long rooted eyelashes, and beautiful long uneven cut hair with a few side pieces that were pulled to the top of her head to form a tiny ponytail. She also had a softer pink skin tone to her body.
 
Here's my #1162 TNT Trade-In Barbie Doll
with her box that has the gold sticker that reads
"Special Introductory Price"


Mattel’s ad campaign was very effective, which was mostly due to the television ad that starred Maureen McCormick, who later played Marsha Brady on the Brady Bunch television show (1969-1974). In just the first month (May 1967), there were 1,250,000 dolls that were traded-in during the promotion.  All the old dolls that Mattel received were given to charity.  It makes you wonder how many number 1 and 2 ponytail dolls were in the bunch!
 

1967 Television Ad
 
 

Magazine Ad from Family Circle Magazine (1967)
 
 
To acquire this new mod Barbie doll, all you had to do was take your old Barbie doll, in any condition, to a participating toy store along with $1.50 (which was half the price of a new doll at the time).  In exchange, you would be handed the new mod Twist ‘n Turn Barbie doll in the hair color of your choice; Sun Kissed (light blonde), Summer Sand (ash blond), Chocolate Bon Bon (dark brown) or Go Go Co Co (Light Brown).  Even though these dolls had cool names for their hair colors, the boxes were marked with the actual humdrum hair color name.
 
The mark on her bottom reads: ‘©1966 Mattel, Inc./U.S. Patented/U.S. Pat Pend. Made in Japan’.  It’s important to note that some of the dolls have “Made in Japan” all on one line.
 

Here's another one of my pretty Trade-In Dolls
 
Barbie came wearing a salmon two-piece swim suit made of a vinyl type material with a one-piece swimsuit, which was white cloth netting trimmed in salmon that went over the top. She wore a matching salmon colored hair ribbon in her hair.  On her wrist was the official Barbie wrist tag.  A paper fashion booklet titled “The World of Barbie Fashions” was included as well.  She was packaged in a sealed plastic bag and she and all of the items listed came inside the official Trade-In box. The #1162 and the #1160 model dolls are identical, except for their box, and the #1162 trade-in doll did not come with the X stand that can be flipped over and used as a chair.

Notice the hair color on the end flap of the box

Today, there is some controversy around some of the rare, unusual hair colors that can be found on these dolls, such as titian, eggplant, champagne, and platinum.  Some of the dolls with these uncommon hair colors have simply changed over time from their original color which was caused by oxidization.  But I believe Mattel added some to the mix, either as a prototype, or just for fun!


 This TNT has the Platinum/Silver Hair Color
 
This was and still is one of my favorite Barbie dolls of all time.  Being one of the lucky girls who traded in one of my old dolls for the pretty new and up-to-date mod Barbie is reminiscent of my childhood, and is a very special memory for me.

Happy Hunting!


11 comments:

  1. Hello from Spain: I understand that this is your favorite Barbie. Great memories of your childhood. Happy New Year.

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  2. Hello, I recently discovered your blog. Barbie will always be special to me too, my sister and me grew up with Barbie and her friends, and I have the best memories about the moments we played with the dolls, dressing them, making stories... Looking forward to your future posts, greetings from Belgium.

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  3. Vayaaa que preciosida me encantan las antiguas so una joya yo tengo una Skipper antigua a ver si las pongolo estan pidiendo a gritos. Te invito a mi blog es variado http://cosasdecosturadecarmele.blogspot.com. Feliz Año 2014. Besosss

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  4. When my mOm and I took my bubble cut into trade the saleswoman was so impressed with her condition that she let me keep my doll and still gave me the TNT for $1.00. I am lucky to still have both.

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  5. I do not remember that I even wanted to trade my bubble cut because I had grown to love her so much. The part ido remember is seeing a sand pail full of the somewhat damaged ponytail dolls at the local hardware store for a dollar apiece. I wished I could buy one but mom did not have an extra dollar to give me at the time.

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  6. I remember my Barbie with that super-cool, long ash blonde hair! I had forgotten she was a Twist-n-Turn Barbie. Thanks for that memory!

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  7. She was my first Barbie! My grandmother bought her for me, I had a choice of a baton or Barbie and I chose Barbie:)I was about 4 years old but still remember the feel of her swimsuit, it was bright orange and felt a bit like soft plastic fabric.I loved Barbie, and had some really beautiful vintage clothes an older neighbor girl gave me too..

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  8. One of the most beautiful and iconic Barbies. I adore her and have several of them with different hair colors. I also have the reproductions. I love her that much.

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  9. I had a trade-in doll too. That Christmas I received an ash blonde (Summer Sand) and a medium brunette (Chocolate Bonbon). One my mother bought and the other was a trade-in by a nice neighbor for my cinnamon American Girl. Sigh. Naturally I wish I still had the cinnamon. (I can't afford to replace her.) But I did love the Barbies I got for Christmas of 1967, and the American girl had the long silky pageboy you couldn't style into anything else, so I had been frustrated as a 7 year old. I also puzzled over AG's markedly tan skin, because we were pale people in my family who didn't get tans. The TNTs were dolls that looked like us rather more---I was brownette with a very blonde Swedish mom and a dark-haired Welsh grandmother.

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