Kinds of Barbie Dolls
2009 marks Barbie's 50th anniversary in the American toy marketplace. Beginning in 1959 with the Ponytail Barbie dressed in a swimsuit and evolving from there, Barbie fans now can buy Barbie dolls of every nationality and representing every walk of life.
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Vintage
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Vintage Barbies include the #1 Ponytail and #2 Ponytail dolls as the earliest available. These dolls came in a small box with a stand, wearing the zebra striped swimsuit and high-heeled open-toe shoes. They had a small plastic comb, sunglasses, and earrings. #1 Ponytails had holes in their feet and shoes where the metal stand prongs fit. The #2 Ponytails had a wire stand that supported them under their arms, and no foot holes. Barbie has always worn her signature heavy eye makeup, and the earliest Barbies also wore very red lipstick.
Bubblecut Barbies were the second kind made, from 1961 to 1966. Her "modern" haircut and additional accessories ushered in the marketing of the dolls to a younger audience. Bubblecuts had five different hair colors and a variety of lipstick colors. More and more clothing outfits and accessories became available, and the demand for the dolls and accessories grew dramatically.
Modern
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Modern Barbies are sold worldwide, with many models specifically designed to meet particular markets, such as Hindi and Muslim Barbies. Barbie had an official NASCAR outfit for the organization's 40th anniversary, and a rose variety has even been named for her. Barbie graduated from her Friday night date and babysitting roles and moved on to fill many roles including a nurse, doctor, teacher, pioneer, an astronaut, a veterinarian, and she has several business suit versions.
Famous fashion designers create new wardrobes for Barbie. Jonathan Adler is the designer in 2009, and not only has he done clothes and accessories for Barbie, he has designed Barbie-style home décor items so Barbie girls of any age can fill their full-sized dream house.
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Theme
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Many Barbie dolls are themed. They follow popular cultural trends--for example movie Barbies have been designed to represent favorite characters like Disney's Snow White, Belle, Ariel and Pocahontas. A holiday Barbie is released annually at Christmas, and other holidays have been included in the holiday collections. Theme Barbies cover a wide range of cultural topics and lend value for play as well as collecting.
Children's Play
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Barbie for the younger set has even been the featured toy in McDonald's Happy Meals. These were small, molded versions of Barbie. Children's play Barbies often include accessories like a dog that walks or push-button sounds and other bits of technology.
Porcelain Collector
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Barbie collectors are happy finding the vintage and variety Barbies that were sold as playthings or as part of vignettes. Another line of porcelain Barbies is just for the collector market. Some of these began as replicas of early popular vinyl dolls, and the porcelain line has grown to include special editions.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Barbie, morguefile.com, sideshowmom
