13 insane (but true) things about Barbies from 1966

As a collector you often learn this:

  • a person without any knowledge about Barbie dolls offer you a Barbie from 1966
  • inside your brain ( as a collector) “Great, another fool” pops up
  • Why?
  • Well, the 1966 mark on the back does not describe anything but the year of the patenting
  • The patent was used for more than 40 years and
  • there are very much Barbie dolls with the 1966 on their butt or backIMG 4862
  • how can you see if it’s really an old doll or just one from the year 2000 or later?
  • Early Barbie dolls have the mark on their butt

  • Later ones from the 1970s until 2000 have them on their lower back
  • Another important hint is the form of the face
  • Early dolls have this faceIMG 4854(this one is from 1964)
  • the dolls have painted fingernails and toenails (sometimes the colour has changed to a light peachy tone)
  • the colour has changed like the one you see in the pic with my 1964 Barbie
  • the you can twist and turn the waist but early ones are at an angle (I’m going to show this in a later article)
  • they have real eyelashes

Twist n Turn Barbie

Finally I found my very first TNT Barbie.  I don’t know the exact hair color but it doesn’t matter so much to me. It’s just good to have one. I have been looking for one for several months or years… I have forgotten it. Anyway, here she is…

Tnt2

Tnt

She’s the one from 1966 with the marking that you may have seen something like Pat. Pend. then (C) 1966.  She has real eye lashes but I have to replace them later since they are not perfect anymore. She’s the first one with bendable legs with joints and a hip joint.  She was produced in Japan ( typically for early TnT Barbie dolls). Later versions were produced in Taiwan and Korea. I did a short video to show her with all her beauty. Here’s the link to my Twist n Turn Barbie video.