Barbie Facts that Every Collector Should Know About

Stamps may be the number one collector craze in the world but in a few years, second place Barbie dolls may just take the crown.

Unbeknownst to everyone, her full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts. She was named by her creator Ruth Handler after her daughter Barbara. She purportedly came from Willows, Wisconsin. She has five sisters, Skipper, Tutti, Stacie, Kelly and Krissy. The first Barbie retailed for just three dollars and sold 351,000 in its first year.

With thousands of Barbie doll models, there is a Barbie for everyone. There are even Barbie dolls that depict real life people and movie characters. In fact, the first celebrity that Barbie represented is fashion model Twiggy in 1967. These kinds are collectibles and are pretty expensive compared to the average Barbie doll.

The doll made its debut in the market in 1959. And if she is a real person, she is the most accomplished one, having over 80 careers including an astronaut, a doctor, a paleontologist, a lawyer and even a presidential candidate in 1992 and ran again in 2000.

She even became a medical sergeant and joined the army in 1992. After which she joined the Air Force, the Navy, and the Marine Corps. The uniforms for these series of military Barbies even underwent approvals from the pentagon to ensure that the uniforms are authentic. The first career, however, that she ventured into is, surprise, surprise, a fashion model. Barbie became an Olympic swimmer and competed in swimming in 2000.

Among the really collectible barbies are the models called Summit Barbie, which were introduced in the 1980s to commemorate the end of the US-Soviet Union cold war. The friendship (Freundshcafts) Barbie, on the other hand, was created to commemorate the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.

Another collectible is the Share A Smile Becky which was introduced in the market in 1997. Share a Smile Becky is the first fashion doll that has a wheelchair.
Barbie also came out with a series called Dolls of the World, which featured the dolls in different costumes. Italy was the first country that she represented in the collection. Black and Hispanic Barbies were introduced in 1980.

Other collectibles are the series that featured the collections of premiere Hollywood couturiers, Givenchy, Dolce & Gabana, Gucci, Versace and Vera Wang.

The best-selling Barbie in history is the "Totally-Hair Barbie, which has hair from the top of ther head to her toes.

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