This week I have not very much to tell. The crazy Barbie collector is on vacation. The Santa Claus Ken I wrote about last week has arrived at my apartment in the meantime. Pic gonna follow in January when I’m back home. It’s my goal to enjoy the holiday at my parent’s. We see each other very seldom.
I had no adventures on my trip by train. Within 10 hours I arrived at the city where I was born once. New posts come in the new year 2020 and I hope you have a quiet Christmas without accidents and some time for yourself.
In this week I’d like to blog about books, or better books you should have in your collection. I’m sitting in the middle in a heap of books while writing. I can tell you from my long term collecting experience that it’s a big advantage to have some books as reference. I have not only one book but almost a shelf of Barbie doll books. The topics are very different.
There are Barbie doll books for identification, books about Barbie history, books about Japanese Barbie and their clothes, Barbie books similar to catalogs, Barbie books about clothes, books about her accessoires and books in Japanese (no joke) about Barbie. Okay, I also have two German editions but do they count? They were some of the first books I found about Barbie doll as a collector. In times before amazon.com was known worldwide it was not so easy to get every book you wanted ( especially if they were written in English). Of course you could try to get them with the help of local book stores but hey, it was not as easy as you might think. I think I got my very first Barbie book in 1998 and it was a coincidence that I found it.
The possibility to talk to other collectors, who had books, was very helpful. That’s how I found out that there were books similar to catalogs. It was certainly helpful knowledge. I can recommend you lots of books but I think it’s useful to put them in categories.
Barbie books for id
In this paragraph I’d like to introduce you to some of my favorite Barbie doll books. Books for identification (often similar to catalogs):
The Ultimate Barbie doll book by Marcie Melillo
The collectors encyclopedia of Barbie dolls and collectibles by Sibyl DeWein and Joan Ashabraner (first published in 1977, I have the 1992 updated version)
Skipper: Barbie doll’s little sister by Trina Cottingham and Scott Arend ( for Skipper, her early fashions, Tutti and Todd and their fashions)
Barbie doll photo album from 1959 until 2009: identifications and values by Michael Augustyniak
Barbie doll around the world 1964 – 2007: identifications and values by Michael Augustyniak ( incomplete but nice)
Collector’s Encyclopedia of Barbie doll by Michael Augustyniak ( about collector Barbie dolls)
Collector’s Encyclopedia of Barbie dolls exclusives 1972 -2004 by Michael Augustyniak
Collectibly yours Barbie doll by Margo Rana
Identifying Barbie dolls by Janine Fennick
The wonder of Barbie dolls and accessoires 1976 – 1986 by Paris and Susan Manos
The world of Barbie dolls – an illustrated value guide by Paris and Susan Manos
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The Ultimate Barbie doll book by Marcie Melillo #barbieid #barbieidentification #barbievintage #barbiemod #barbiesuperstarera #skipperbarbie #barbieskipper #barbiebook #bookbarbie #barbiebookshelf #busybfromgermany
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ollector’s Encyclopedia of Barbie dolls exclusives 1972 -2004 by Michael Augustyniak #barbiecatalog #barbiecatalogue #barbiebook #bookbarbie #barbiedoll #barbiebookshelf #busybfromgermany
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In which books you can find fashions and accessoires
In this second paragraph I’d like to give you some titles about Barbie fashion and accessoires
Barbie doll fashion Vol. I, II and III ( from 1959 until 1979) including all fashions
Barbie in Japan by Keiko Kimura Shibano (special made fashions for the Japanese market, written in English)
Japan Barbie Yasuhiro Sekiguchi Collection (written in Japanese)
It’s all about the accessoires by Hillary Shilkitus James
The Complete & Unauthorized Guide to Vintage Barbie(r) Dolls – 3 Edition by Hillary Shilkitus James
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Barbie fashions Vol III by Sarah Sink Eames #barbiefashion #barbiebook #bookbarbie #collectorbook #barbiebookshelf #busybfromgermany
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Japanese Barbie books written in Japanese
In the third paragraph I’d like to give you some names of my Japanese Barbie books. I can’t tell you if they are the only ones in Japan but they sounded interesting to me any my thirst to get to know new things.
(Babi to watashi ? kisegae doresu o tsukuri tsudzuketa hansei-ki) by Fumiko Miyatsuka
( Babi kara hajimatta) by Yukiko Kanno
Twist Barbie (yomiuri kara-mukkusiri-zu) by Mineo Takami
The Japanese books are not so easy to get. The book by Fumiko Miyatsuka is currently available through amazon.jp. You need a credit card to buy the book but the shipment is very fast. I think my copy arrived within a week or less. The other books were a bit harder to get. You need a Japanese address to buy the other books over the marketplace. There are special forwarders who are specialized in shipping goods abroad. I used tenso.com for my orders and the books arrived at my house within two months. I used the cheapest shipping method because I have to pay taxes for the shipping costs too. I know it makes no sense but it is this way in Germany.
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( Babi kara hajimatta) by Yukiko Kanno #barbiejapan #japanesebook #japanesebarbie #barbiehistory #barbiebook #foreignbarbiebook #bookbarbie #barbiebookshelf #busybfromgermany
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My list of books written from employees, the founder itself and the history of Mattel
In the fourth paragraph I’ll give you some names of books from employees of Mattel, the company history itself and the founder. Let’s start with the founder. Again I’ll give you a list.
Dream Doll – The Ruth Handler story written by Ruth Handler and Jaqueline Shannon
The story of Barbie by Kitturah B. Westenhouser
Barbie her life & times by Billyboy
Dressing Barbie by Carol Spencer
Forever Barbie by M.G. Lord
Barbie (R) Talks by Gwen Florea
Barbie – A visual guide to the ultimate fashion doll by Mattel
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Barbie her life & times by Billyboy #barbie80s #80sbarbie #barbiecollecting #billyboy #barbiebook #barbiebook #busybfromgermany
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Books missing in my collection
There are some books I don’t have like
Barbie and Her Mod, Mod, Mod, Mod, World of Fashion by Joe Blitman
Francie and Her Mod, Mod, Mod World of Fashion by Joe Blitman
Barbie Forever ( not available in Germany yet, but I preordered my copy)
Of course I can’t tell you if these books are useful or not since I don’t have them in my collection.
That’s my whole book collection at the moment. I hope that my lists are helpful to some of you. I put photos of all my books in my instagram account.
Why I recommend buying Barbie books
Now I’ve given you the list with all the Barbie books I have in my personal bookshelf. I think it’s important to own books about Barbie dolls. You can make yourself independent from other collectors. I love to read in books and especially in Barbie books. You can learn a lot from them. That’s also one of my focus points. I like to learn things from books. You can use them as encyclopedia. One can help other collectors with knowledge. I know there are lots of collectors who start to collect and then immediately stop again. Forget this group. If you’re really interested in the topic buy books. They are helpful. They are fun. Go, buy and learn.
Last week I told you that I bought my first Barbie doll from Mexico. She has arrived in the meantime. Here’s Animal Lovin Barbie from Mexico. I assume she was there also produced in the late 1980s so that we can say that she’s approx. 30 years old. Their heads tend to become very pale. A part of the makeup is also pale. I don’t know why it happens but I have seen it on many of the Mexican Barbie dolls. It also seems to be like a disease.
The next weeks are going to be very busy for me. I don’t if I find the time to do a Tuesday video for Busy B. I think it should not be a problem to do a Friday video but I don’t know if there is much more time. I’ve really some work to do in April and May. I’m currently reorientiating professionally and won’t be at home much for the next six or seven weeks. Of course that doesn’t mean that I stop collecting Barbie dolls. It’s just that I have less time in the next weeks for hobby stuff like youtube.
I recently learned that there was a video made by Mattel for the 35th Anniversary of Mattel. It’s very much skripted reality but it’s still nice and seems almost a bit historic. The reason I post this is because it’s funny. When you were a child like me back then you’ll remember lots of the dolls shown in this stage show. They made Barbie came to live for her 35th birthday and invented a stage show with the regular playline outfits and Barbie dolls from around. I’ve not known that a there was such a show. I’ve not known that they recorded the whole show for being able on VHS. A lot of the spirit from the mid 90s is here frozen in time. That’s what I like although it’s pure advertising.
Last week I posted a video about the first sculptor of Barbie doll, this week I have another great video. This time it’s about the first clothing designer of Barbie Charlotte Johnson. The video lasts one hour but it is very interesting.
Some time ago another collector posted this video which I forgot in the meantime but I think it’s worth to post it. No words needed. I hope you like it. Most of the people working behind the scenes are not known to collectors.
You maybe know the say “unexpectedly comes often” and so it was with this outfit. Last week I saw it and bought it. I had seen it in a video before and liked it. It was not a long time ago. My outfit is not complete here. It’s just a part of the whole outfit. The handbag, the jacket and the shoes are still missing but I like the hoodie and the pants. I was surprised how the hoodie was cut. The idea with the little zipper is just great. In general I think I have told you about the quality of early Barbie doll fashion. It’s very good in comparison to what is sold nowadays in toy stores.
Is it warm enough for a Winter Holiday?Or is Barbie freezing in these pants?Anyway, let’s hope the best.
Have you asked yourself how to do a perfect crest after a reroot? Well, here’s my method in pics.
Start at the back of the head It’s easier to start here.Continue ….The more streaks the more difficult is the task.Use clips as little helpers.
The head you see here is the Peruvian version of the Tropical Barbie from 1985. I got her bold but I wanted her to look great again. So I rerooted her.
The complete result will follow as a video on my youtube channel Busy B from Germany. I hope you’ll watch it.
