This was the beginning of the Barbie doll phenomenon which is one of the great success stories of the toy manufacturing business. Before Barbie most children's dolls were child dolls or babies not adult figures. Barbie changed this completely.

In 1945 Elliot and Ruth Handler began a partnership with Harold Mattson. The company name Mattel is a combination of the two names Mattson and Elliot. Elliot started making doll house furniture from scraps of wood left over from his picture frame business. He started the Handler doll furniture business from this idea.

Around this time Ruth noticed that her daughter Barbara and her friends liked to play with adult paper dolls and not child or baby dolls. The little girls preferred a doll they could look up to as a role model for growing up. Ruth got the idea that there could be big profit possibilities in making adult dolls. She talked over the idea with her husband but he decided that to start making the dolls would be very expensive.

Right after this Ruth went to Germany and purchased an adult doll called Lilli. This adult female doll was based on the heroine of a German comic. On her return to the USA she started redesigning the doll and worked with a doll clothes designer. Soon the Barbie doll came to be and was named after her little daughter Barbara.

Mattell patented the Barbie doll in 1958 and introduced it to the public in 1959. She very soon became one of the best known and most loved toys ever made. Barbies were sold all over the world in more than 150 countries.

Barbie soon became a very collectible doll and was eagerly sought after by adult collectors. Between 1959 and 1972 Barbie had seven distinct changes in her looks and design. All Barbies made up to 1972 are seen as vintage collectible dolls by their fans and are much sought after.

A 1959 Barbie in mint condition can be worth up to $8000 but you will frequently see them offered for a lot less. Later editions fetch lower prices of course.

You can usually purchase dolls made in the 1969 to 1972 period for just a few dollars. However you may still find some of the early dolls,even the rare 1959 edition,in such places as garage sales and flea markets. About 300,000 of the 1959 doll were made and many are still out there awaiting discovery

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There are many different toys that children love to play with. For girls the number one play item is that of dolls and in particular Barbie dolls. While girls love to play with these many different Barbie dolls there are many different people who have other reasons for buying Barbie dolls. The dolls which they buy are the Barbie collector dolls.

These dolls are ones that have been manufactured at one time or another for purposes that are different from the rest of the Barbie dolls. You will find many different examples of Barbie collector dolls. These are for examples dolls like the Holiday Barbie dolls.

When you first look at these dolls you will see nothing too different from the other Barbie dolls that are for sale. Before you assume that these dolls are not ones that collectors will eagerly buy you need more facts. Among the items that you will find is that only a limited amount of these Holiday Barbie dolls are manufactured each year.

These Barbie collector dolls are also different in the fact that they are sold only at the end of each year. To help these limited edition dolls even more valuable to collectors the designers of the clothes which these dolls are dressed in are people like Bob Mackie, Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta and other famous fashion designers.

Another range of Barbie collector dolls that you can find is that of the Silkstone Barbies. These dolls are based on a lifestyle of glamour and elegance that was found in the heydays of the US. In this range of Barbie collector dolls you will notice that the dolls have clothes which are very reminiscent of those which were found in the 40s to 60s time period.

These dolls also have the slanted, elongated eyes and hairstyles which were ones worn by all of the fashionable women. The careers which these collectors Barbie dolls had were ones like secretaries, air hostess, fashion models, actresses, and hostess of women’s clubs. While some girls would have loved to look at these Barbie dolls, it is the collectors of Barbie dolls who will look at these dolls in order to add them to their collections.

Now these are not the only Barbie collector dolls that can be found for collectors. There are hand made porcelain Barbie dolls. These dolls are made so that they look like replicas of dolls from periods of time that collectors like to buy. These Barbie dolls and many others are all available for you to choose from.

When you are looking to add these Barbie collector dolls to your collection there is only one item to keep in mind. You need to hurry as there is only a limited amount of Barbie collector dolls available.