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Barbie/vintage barbie dolls worth

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Question
I have a brunette with a pony tail that I purchased at an auction several years back.  No clothes.  She has 127 on her left rear end cheek and on the right rear end cheek she has Barbie then pats pending then a copyright mark with roman numerals MC something that ends in VIII, then I think it says By Mattel Inc  She has pearl earrings.  The red on her fingernails and toenails is great.  Bright red lips and the other weird thing is she has red in her nostrils.  She is in great condition just a good cleaning would help out but I don't want to mess up the makeup or anything else.  Do you think she might be worth something?  I know it is hard to tell without seeing her but a general ball park would be nice.

Answer
Hi there Jan and thanks for writing!  I think you might have a little treasure there in your brunette ponytail Barbie, depending on which number your doll is...Mattel produced numbers 1 through 6 editions of true vintage ponytail Barbies.  Does she have curved eyebrows or severely arched eyebrows?  Does she have blue colored eye liner and/or blue irises?  Do her knees bend or are they hard and straight?  Since I can't actually see your Barbie I am going to give you the web address of a vintage ponytail Barbie identifying guide which may help you out a great deal.  It is

http://www.alldolledup.ca/vintage-id.htm

If you can't get to that web site, please let me know and I'll keep researching, but I think you may have a #3 or #4 brunette ponytail Barbie which was produced in the early to mid-sixties by Mattel.  And yes, it's a bit strange but these early dolls should have the two red nostril dots.


Once you look at the pictures and details on the web address above, let me know which number you think your doll is and then I can try to go from there in finding out a current value for her.  Also, you are correct in regard to cleaning her up.  Don't do that just yet.  Hard-core Barbie collectors usually want the doll to be "as-is" and do the clean up on their own.

Many Thanks and Blessings,
Julie

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Julie B.

Expertise

If your question has anything to do with Barbie dolls, I can usually find an accurate answer for you, as long as you are asking about the "real" Barbies...not the "Bratz" line that Mattel put out. I do extensive research regarding both vintage and contemporary Barbie dolls, as well as rare, ultra-limited, platinum series, gold series, silver series, "pink-box" series Barbies, considered either collectible at this time or not. Just about anything Barbie doll related, I can probably assist you with, such as their current re-sale value, how to tell truly vintage Barbies from more recently produced Barbies, etc.

Experience

Extensive research, resources to include books I own, on-line resources, personal friends who have been long-time, "hard-core" Barbie doll collectors and researchers like myself, as well as any other means I need to take to find the answers needed regarding Barbie dolls.

Education/Credentials
Extensive research regarding Barbie dolls over the past several years.

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