PARTY DRESS BARBIE ® DOLL. Fashion Model Collection - Barbie Collector. TOP GLAMOUR MATTEL TOY.
- 7 лет назад
Launched at the American Toy Fair in 1959, Barbie was the first teenage doll ever produced for children and quickly became one of the all-time best selling and most widely collected toys. Heavily promoted on TV, over a billion of the dolls have been sold. Collectors prize early numbered Barbie dolls from 1959 and the 1960s, as well as a wide range of rarities and special editions, such as Barbie dolls with bendable legs or red hair.\r
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The toy was the vision of Ruth Handler, whose husband, Elliot, was the el in Mattel and whose daughter, Barbara, gave the doll its name. The inspiration for Barbies facial features and impossible hourglass figure was Bild Lilli, a doll Handler picked up in 1956 while vacationing in Europe.\r
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Bild Lilli, which is a collectible in its own right, had pouty lips, reminiscent of the lips found on bisque and porcelain dolls in Europe. Mattel metallurgist Kohei Suzuki gave Barbie more natural-looking lips, although her eyes and nose were kept almost identical to those of her forebear.\r
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The other critical difference between Bild Lilli and Barbie was the concept of accessories. Beyond Barbies standard black-and-white zebra-striped swimsuit, little girls in the United States could choose 22 other ensembles, ranging from a collarless Chanel-style jacket with matching sheath skirt to a satin-and-tulle bridal gown. Clothing designer Charlotte Johnson was hired away from her teaching post at Chouinard Art School in Los Angeles to complete this critical task.\r
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Most of the outfits offered in 1959 were still available in 1960, making the three that were discontinued (Easter Parade, Gay Parisienne, and Roman Holiday) extremely collectible. Of the six new outfits added in 1960, Friday Night Date was one of the best, thanks to its charming blue corduroy jumper with felt appliqués, pair of soda glasses with cotton standing in for ual fizz, and a black serving tray bearing the Barbie logo.\r
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1961 introduced the world to Ken, Barbies boyfriend named after Barbara Handlers brother. In addition to Barbies with ponytails, dolls with bubble-cut dos were also offered. Barbies ever-increasing line of outfits suggested that this woman did more than go to fancy parties and beach barbecues — she was an American Airlines stewardess, a nurse, and even a professional ballerina.\r
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Barbies best friend Midge was added in 1963. Though Midges facial features were different from Barbies, her body style was the same so that accessories could be mixed and matched between the two dolls. The following year Midge got her own boyfriend, Alan, and Barbie was given a kid sister, Skipper. Mattel even sold a pet poodle, which itself could be dressed in a variety of fun getups.\r
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During the middle of the 1960s, dolls in the Barbie line gained bendable limbs so they could be posed, but the major facelift came in 1967. Rooted eyelashes replaced the dolls plastic ones, and Twist N Turn Barbies were offered for just $1.50 plus the trade-in of an old doll, which is why many of the original vintage dolls are so hard to find and expensive. 1967 was also the year that Barbie and her increasing number of friends went mod. The Bermuda Holidays outfits predate Goldie Hawns costumes on Laugh-In.\r
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1967 is important to Barbie collectors for two other reasons: It was the year an African-American doll, Francie, joined Barbie and her friends, and it was the last year the doll was manufured in Japan. From 1968 onwards, Barbie dolls were produced in Mexico, Taiwan, and Korea.
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The toy was the vision of Ruth Handler, whose husband, Elliot, was the el in Mattel and whose daughter, Barbara, gave the doll its name. The inspiration for Barbies facial features and impossible hourglass figure was Bild Lilli, a doll Handler picked up in 1956 while vacationing in Europe.\r
\r
Bild Lilli, which is a collectible in its own right, had pouty lips, reminiscent of the lips found on bisque and porcelain dolls in Europe. Mattel metallurgist Kohei Suzuki gave Barbie more natural-looking lips, although her eyes and nose were kept almost identical to those of her forebear.\r
\r
\r
The other critical difference between Bild Lilli and Barbie was the concept of accessories. Beyond Barbies standard black-and-white zebra-striped swimsuit, little girls in the United States could choose 22 other ensembles, ranging from a collarless Chanel-style jacket with matching sheath skirt to a satin-and-tulle bridal gown. Clothing designer Charlotte Johnson was hired away from her teaching post at Chouinard Art School in Los Angeles to complete this critical task.\r
\r
Most of the outfits offered in 1959 were still available in 1960, making the three that were discontinued (Easter Parade, Gay Parisienne, and Roman Holiday) extremely collectible. Of the six new outfits added in 1960, Friday Night Date was one of the best, thanks to its charming blue corduroy jumper with felt appliqués, pair of soda glasses with cotton standing in for ual fizz, and a black serving tray bearing the Barbie logo.\r
\r
1961 introduced the world to Ken, Barbies boyfriend named after Barbara Handlers brother. In addition to Barbies with ponytails, dolls with bubble-cut dos were also offered. Barbies ever-increasing line of outfits suggested that this woman did more than go to fancy parties and beach barbecues — she was an American Airlines stewardess, a nurse, and even a professional ballerina.\r
\r
Barbies best friend Midge was added in 1963. Though Midges facial features were different from Barbies, her body style was the same so that accessories could be mixed and matched between the two dolls. The following year Midge got her own boyfriend, Alan, and Barbie was given a kid sister, Skipper. Mattel even sold a pet poodle, which itself could be dressed in a variety of fun getups.\r
\r
During the middle of the 1960s, dolls in the Barbie line gained bendable limbs so they could be posed, but the major facelift came in 1967. Rooted eyelashes replaced the dolls plastic ones, and Twist N Turn Barbies were offered for just $1.50 plus the trade-in of an old doll, which is why many of the original vintage dolls are so hard to find and expensive. 1967 was also the year that Barbie and her increasing number of friends went mod. The Bermuda Holidays outfits predate Goldie Hawns costumes on Laugh-In.\r
\r
1967 is important to Barbie collectors for two other reasons: It was the year an African-American doll, Francie, joined Barbie and her friends, and it was the last year the doll was manufured in Japan. From 1968 onwards, Barbie dolls were produced in Mexico, Taiwan, and Korea.