How Do I Clean A Vintage Barbie Doll’s Green Ear?

If you collect vintage Barbies with an eye towards getting them back in perfect pristine condition, there is a very good chance that you have run into the condition known as “green ear.”

Green ear describes a discoloration on the ears of Barbie's that have worn metal earrings at some time in the past, staining the plastic and creating an unpleasant looking color. If you are concerned about green ear, it is important to realize that there are methods for removing it safely.

One commonly accepted way to remove green ear is to use a product known as Remove-Zit, though this product should not be used on the mod era dolls as it will bleach the skin to white. To use Remove-Zit, you will be applying a thin coat of it to the area affected with a wooden stick. [Continue Reading]

What Should I Look For When Buying Vintage Barbie Dolls?

The very first Barbie doll was dressed in a striped black and white bathing suit and sported a ponytail. The later versions of Barbie dolls wore varieties of fashion such as mod in the 60's and so forth.

The designers of Barbie's body had also made modifications to her such as giving her a waist that can be twisted, a wider smile and brighter eyes, to name a few.

Vintage Barbie dolls are dolls that were produced before 1972. Before purchasing a vintage Barbie, one should check the exact year that the Barbie doll was made.

The copyright date is another feature that should also be inspected, as the further back the years go, the more valuable the Barbie doll is. One example of a vintage Barbie dolls that are high in value are the ones marked with "1958" or "Japan" on the rear end or on the bottom of one of the feet. [Continue Reading]

Where Can I Buy Vintage Barbie Dolls?

Those that are avid collectors of the original Barbie dolls, the ones no longer made, appreciate a good find and are willing to pay for a doll in excellent condition. Because these dolls are so popular, they are hard to find. It's not impossible to find a vintage Barbie doll if you know some of the places that often sell them.

The Internet

Check on the Internet to find a vintage Barbie quickly. If you simply type in "vintage Barbie dolls" in Google, plenty of listings pop up. Most of these sites also carry the original clothing for Barbie.

Because the vintage dolls are from the 60's and 70's, a time when collectible toys and dolls had not peaked, most of the Barbie's purchased found their way to the arms of a little girl and used for their intended purpose, toys. [Continue Reading]

What Is The History Behind Barbie Dolls?

A doll that has adorned the shelves of every little girl all over the world has got to be the Barbie. Produced by Mattel Inc, these dolls are a major source of revenue for the company.

An American business woman, Ruth Handler (1916-2002), is said to be the creator of Barbie and the design of the doll was inspired from a German doll called Bild Lilli.

The idea of an adult bodied doll came to Ruth Handler as she watched her daughter Barbara play with paper dolls and often giving some of them adult roles. At the time, children's toys were replicas of infants.

Realizing that there could be a gap in the market, Ruth suggested the idea to her husband Elliot, co-founder of the Mattel toy company. But he, as well as the other director of Mattel did not show much enthusiasm with the idea.

In 1956, during a trip to Europe with her children, Barbara and Kenneth, Ruth found a German doll called Bild Lilli, which was exactly the kind of doll she had in mind. She purchased three of them, gave one to her daughter and took the other two back to Mattel. This German doll was based on a popular character that appeared in a comic strip drawn by Reinhard Beuthin for the newspaper Die Bild-Zeitung. [Continue Reading]