

In the 1990s, a ton of really unique and cool Barbie dolls and playsets were released. Because there have been so many Barbie dolls that have come out over the years to commemorate special occasions or as collaborations with other brands, there are a lot of toy collectors that love Barbie and pride themselves on collecting all the rarest limited edition dolls and playsets.Įven if some dolls or playsets weren't particularly expensive when they were introduced, a lot of them have become really rare and expensive over the years.

BARBIE DOLL SET SERIES
For the past 50 years, Barbie has become a cultural icon and a staple in the toy world, particularly among dolls.īarbie has expanded from being a single doll to being a whole series of different characters, playsets, and even items like movies, clothing, and other toys. For information about the charity, visit:. This doll inspired her to come up with the concept of an adult fashion doll who we now all know as the iconic doll and media franchise Barbie, a name given to her as a reference to Handler's daughter, Barbara. Offer is valid at and at participating retailers (Target, Walmart, Amazon, and Kohl’s) in all 50 states of the United States. Barbie was inspired by a doll named Bild Lilli that Ruth Handler saw during a trip to Germany. "When environmental organizations sounded the alarm last summer that wild bees were threatened with extinction, a beekeeper Barbie immediately appeared on the market," says Dorfmann.Barbie is a doll that was launched in 1959 and created by Mattel, Inc. Barbie was a doctor, an archaeologist, a flight attendant, a pilot, an astronaut and a US presidential candidate. She wore whatever was fashionable at the time, but she also embodied many children's dreams. Dorfmann disagrees, arguing that Barbie has always been an emancipated woman. Barbie is too skinny, her legs are too long, her waist is too narrow and her breasts are too big, they say. Nevertheless, feminists have criticized the image of women conveyed by Barbie dolls. She loans rare Barbie dolls for various events, has written five books and many articles in trade journals, and is an overall authority on the Barbie doll.ĭorfmann began repairing Barbies as an adult, even opening a Barbie clinicīettina Dorfmann loves to organize exhibitions, the most recent one being "Busy Girl - Barbie Gets Ahead" with a focus on how the plastic doll has changed in the course of her 60-year history.īarbie dresses differently today, says Dorfmann: "She wears jeans, a military jacket and a gray T-shirt she's not wearing traditional high heels but stylish white sneakers and thick-rimmed glasses." Today, Dorfmann works at the Doll and Toy Museum in the western German city of Ratingen. She packed up her dolls and went on tour for nine years, first across China for two and a half years, and then throughout Europe. In addition, she began to organize Barbie-themed exhibitions that were highly successful in Germany and beyond. She soon began repairing the dolls, too, at Germany's only Barbie repair workshop, the " Barbie Clinic." Others, left in their boxes, were stacked and stowed away in a storeroom.ĭorfmann became increasingly known among collectors. Some of the dolls were moved to shelves in her living room before they were finally installed in a room set aside just for them. It turned out her customers were more interested in the dolls than in the clothes, so she was forced to shut the store.

In the mid-1980s Dorfmann displayed the Barbies in her newly opened women's fashion store. Dorfmann enjoyed Barbies as a child, but she only started collecting them as an adult - and unexpectedly created the basis of her current career
