Barbie Doll Collecting for Adults

A Guide to Collecting Barbie Dolls

All About Tiers

• 1The Pink Tier. This includes all the keepsake dolls such as the "I Love Lucy" celebrity dolls and the "Dolls of the World - The Princess Collection". These dolls come in boxes with clear acetate fronts trimmed in pink (great for displaying NRFB or "never removed from box" dolls. Pink Label Barbie dolls dolls are not limited in production numbers and are mainly sold in shops such as WalMart.
  
  

  

  

• 2The Silver Tier. Silver Label Barbie dolls are those which are limited to no more than 50,000 pieces worldwide. The dolls are packaged in silver-trimmed "reveal" boxes. What's great about this is that you can simply remove the lid to reveal the doll, securely protected behind a layer of acetate, to enjoy your Barbie doll in all its full glory without even having to take it out of the box. This is some great news for NRFB (never removed from box) collectors! Silver Label dolls are available at select retailers, with Toys 'R Us and Toysrus.com being its premier destination.
  
  

  

  

• 3The Gold Tier.Barbie dolls belonging to the Gold Label edition are limited to no more than 25,000 pieces worldwide. They come packaged much like those in the Silver tier. Gold Label Barbie dolls are sold at authorized Barbie doll dealers as well as at other fine retailers.
  
  Note: I love this mythical series! Absolutely gorgeous dolls!
  
  

  

  

  

  

• 4The Platinum Tier. These are the most exclusive of all Barbie dolls, with only about 1,000 pieces produced worldwide. This may also include one-of-a-kind (OOAK) dolls such as the Bob Mackie Barbie Dream Halloween doll.
  
  

  

  

  

Tips in Starting Your Own Barbie Doll Collection

• 1Knowledge is key. If there's one thing you need before diving in to the world of collecting Barbie dolls, it would be education. You need to learn everything you can about Barbie, including prices and availability. How do you do it? By periodically visiting your local toy stores (Toys 'R' Us, Target, and Walmart, among others).
  
  It is also good if you can check out previous issues of the "Barbie Bazaar" magazine (once hailed as the "Official Barbie Magazine" but ceased publication in May 2006) or read books on the topic. Some of my personal favorites include "The Ultimate Barbie Doll Book", a full color book containing more than 1,070 U.S. issue dolls produced by Mattel®, Inc. from 1959 through 1995, and Barbie Doll Exclusives 1972-2004 (Collector's Encyclopedia of Barbie Doll Exclusives and More), the only book you will ever need to identify and value your retailer exclusive Barbie dolls. The latter is a great reference tool for Kelly dolls, too.
  
  

  

• 2Find great bargains. To get the best value for your money, don't buy as soon as the dolls are released. Well, this may be hard for hardcore Barbie fanatics but please be assured that if you wait for just a few months, you'll get your coveted Barbie doll at a discount.
• 3Go online. You don't need to go hopping from one shop to another once or twice a week just to make sure you get the first to spot the new arrivals. Just check out official Barbie websites and/or collectible doll dealers' websites and you'll get the latest scoop.
• 4Do it for love. Loving what you do is the best motivation for having a successful Barbie collection. Don't go collecting Barbie dolls in the hope of striking it rich someday. While there is a possibility of this happening, it's best if you do it for the love of Barbie.
• 5Create a workable strategy.Unless you come into an inexhaustible inheritance, you cannot buy every single collectible Barbie that comes out in the market. So, you need to devise a strategy for this to work. Decide on how you want to grow your collection. Ask yourself these questions:
  
  1. Would you be collecting the Pink Label Barbie dolls designed for play or the more expensive collectible Barbies from the other tiers?
  
  2. Boxed or not? While more serious collectors go for NRFB dolls, some can do without it. Which one are you?
  
  3. Make sense of your Barbie collection by basing it on a theme. There are a lot of themes by which you can base your collection. Do you want a collection of Celebrity or Movie Star dolls, Historical dolls, Fantasy dolls, or perhaps Bob Mackie Barbie dolls? It's your choice. Or you can go free-style and collect Barbie doll based on your own personal criteria. Let your imagination, creativity, and personal taste be your guide and you'll never go wrong!