In this article we’re going to cover what is arguably the most famous collectible doll in all of history, Barbie.

If you were a little girl growing up in the early 60s you had a Barbie Doll. The Barbie Doll was first invented by a lady named Ruth Handler, who was actually a cofounder of the popular toy company Mattel. Ruth’s daughter was named Barbara and yes, that is where she got the name for the Barbie Doll. Barbie was first shown to the world at the American Toy Fair in New York City. The doll was made for the purpose of being a teenage fashion doll. The first Barbie dolls were pretty stiff but in 1965 Barbie finally got legs that could bend. Over the years there were more variations of Barbie than you could count. Barbie herself had over 80 careers from nurse to rock star to even president. Barbie was a very successful gal. In 1964, back during a time when girls didn’t normally go to school past high school, Barbie went to college. The first Olympic Barbie was made in 1975 and popped up again in 2000.

Probably one of the more controversial Barbie Dolls came out in 1992 when Barbie joined the military as a medic in Operation Desert Storm. The entire military series of Barbie Dolls actually went through Pentagon approval to make sure that the uniforms were as authentic as possible.

But the military wasn’t the last of Barbie’s adventures. Barbie’s figure may have not been real, but no doll in history was ever more completely thought out. Barbie has been an inspiration to young girls now for over 40 years and her popularity doesn’t seem to be anywhere near fizzling out.

Collectible Dolls – How Rare?

Collectible dolls are a strange paradox. The reason that dolls are collectible is because back when they were new, they weren’t.

Well, the truth of the matter is, if every girl who bought a Barbie Doll back in 1959 when they first came out had kept it in its box and never played with it then none of these dolls would be worth anything. The reason Barbie is worth so much money is because back then little girls bought the dolls, took the dolls out of their boxes, played with the dolls and ultimately tossed the dolls in the garbage or gave them away either when they became too old to play with them or the dolls themselves simply just fell apart from use.

So an early doll that has become as popular as Barbie has become, if found in its original box and unopened, which is pretty unlikely, would get a lot of money at an auction. How much money? Last figures for an early Barbie doll are estimated at about $2,500. This is actually down quite a bit from the heyday of collectible selling when you could get close to $10,000 for a series 1 Barbie Doll from 1959. The early Barbie Dolls sold for a few dollars. If something is low on the supply side and enough people want it then the price is going to skyrocket. Of course not every old doll brings in thousand dollar price tags. If the doll was in great supply but for some reason never caught on at all then most likely the doll won’t be worth much today.

Check out other guide on vintage toys.