Let’s celebrate 22 years of Barbie collecting!

Sometimes the time goes by really fast. That’s how it feels when I look back. I really started 22 years ago with Collecting Collector Barbie as she was called in the last 10 years. When I started in late 1996 the whole collector thing was known as Barbie Collectibles. I still have some advertising and catalouges from back then. All of them were made very high-quality. I guess the input to produce the whole thing was very expensive and very time consuming back then. Not to forget to mention that it was a very expensive hobby since single dolls were very expensive and at first I had to convince my parents to drive with me to special toy stores where they were sold. You were never sure what to find. It was not like ordering online. It was still unknown to most people. I got my first book online ordered in 2003. Man, that was a thing… and the delivery time for English books to Germany was 4 weeks from amazon.

Busy B.s Barbie doll collection turns 22
My collection is not under age anymore

In the last decades I got to know many Barbie collectors. Some collected only for a short while. Other are long time collectors like me. What we all have in common is a topic to talk about. Although it became easier to order the dolls online you often still need the help of other collectors because there’s always you want and can’t buy immediately.

Birthdays

Today Barbie celebrates her 58th Anniversary. She was presented first on the New York Toy Show in March 1959. Since then she had a lot of friends, a lot of cars, a lot of houses and lots of pets as well as horses. She gave us courage as kids to try out new things like being a female astronaut. She always was the fashion icon of the time. To me Barbie always had the significance of being something very positive. She had something mysterious that was also interesting. I got my first Barbie doll from one of my grandmothers. I got a Crystal Barbie (1983) and I still have her in my collection. I think this was one of the first milestones in my interest in Barbie. My wish to the birthday girl is that she may be produced for further 58 years. I think she’ll have the right dress for the party in her closet.

I would like to mention that Ken also celebrates his birthday this week. He’s only two years younger than Barbie and was introduced in 1961 as Ken (Kenneth). Ken was created as the boyfriend of Barbie and also introduced on the New York Toy Show in 1961.