Barbie of the Month: Miss Barbie

Fall is in the air; Halloween is just around the corner; and what better month to feature the scariest vintage Barbie doll Mattel ever released:  Miss Barbie from 1964.

#1060 Miss Barbie (1964)

 

Miss Barbie (Stock #1060) was the very first and last doll to have blue “sleep” eyes that open when she’s standing up or close when she is lying down.  Her head was made of hard plastic with brown molded hair like that of the Fashion Queen Barbie.  She wore an orange vinyl headband rather than blue.  She came with her own set of wigs (brunette flip, blonde pageboy and red bubble cut) and a white wig stand. 

 

She wore a pink one piece swim suit with a pink fringe swim cap that had gold glitter dots on it, and she completed the outfit with matching pink open toe heels.   Her swim suit came in three variations; pink with printed dots on the fabric, a pink suit with raised gold glitter dots, and a solid pink version without any dots. 
 

 

 

When you find this doll on the secondary market, she usually has some sort of melt marks due to a chemical reaction resulting from her wigs being left on her head too long.

Along with the doll and wigs came a lawn swing with canvas cover, palm plant, two magazines, a transistor radio, purple princess phone, tray and two drinking glasses, her (new) gold colored wire stand,  and a Barbie booklet. 

 

 

 

The swing was also sold separately in a set called “Go Together Lawn Swing & Planter” (#4011).  In the set was the swing with cover, planter, radio, and two magazines to read.  There was also a "Barbie Go-together Gift Set" (#4005) that included the swing as well as living room furniture.

 

 

1964 was the first year Mattel released Barbie with bendable legs.  She has the same body as the first issue “American Girl” dolls (1965), but with a slightly smaller neck knob, which was needed to fit her newly constructed head. There were weights in her eyes that needed additional room.  Her head is attached with a black rubber O-ring which is usually lost if her head is found without the body.  The rubber in the O-ring is often found deteriorated due to age.  Both bodies are marked with the engraved intaglio markings on their bottoms which read: ©1958/Mattel,Inc./U.S. Patented U.S. Pat. Pend Made In Japan. 

An extremely rare Miss Barbie head that can be found from time to time are unpainted and were never sold to the public.

Unfortunately Miss Barbie didn’t sell very well, even though she came in such a great set.  Kids seemed to think she had a scary face and were afraid of her!  They also didn’t like how hard the face felt.  She was only on the market for one short year, which makes her harder to acquire.

Happy Hunting!