Barbie Doll Values Collecting - A Value Guide To Find The Worth Of Your Barbie Dolls

When collecting Barbie, the doll values in a guide used for Barbie dolls can be either tangible or intangible but either way we have a value guide for you. As people always say...everything has a price. You might be wondering what the values of your Barbie doll are or if you are getting ready to purchase Barbie doll collectibles to add to your collection what price should you pay? For this a Barbie doll collector should always use a value guide.

Collecting Barbie Dolls, defined by our 8 steps, can be lots of fun but finding their values can become frustrating as a collector because you are not sure what are the "right" price values. With a Barbie doll values guide book you can spend time researching your Barbie collector dolls, to understand their history, and related items like dollhouses, clothes, coloring books, games, etc. to help you in the process of finding the right values for your dolls. During the search you will want to use many different methods such as internet, auctions, local stores, and basic collector guides . While trying to determine the values of your collector Barbie Doll you will need to look for Vintage Barbie collecting terminology and it will guide you in the right direction.

Some key words that you need to know while you are looking through your collector Barbie doll value collecting guide:

HTF- hard to find
MIB- mint in box (factory doll in mint condition)
MIP- mint in package (means all accessories are still in original packaging)
MNB- in mint condition but not in original box
NT- (not touched) can mean excellent as well when talking about the collector Barbie Doll's condition
NRFB- never removed from box
OSS- has the original swimsuit

When a collector is trying to determine the worth of their Barbie doll, here are some key terms they will see in their value collecting guide:

Barbie Doll Book Values is defined as the pricing guide values of the collector Barbie and does not mean the price you should get on a secondary market. This is an important key word to note when collecting Barbie.

Barbie Doll Market Values is defined as the actual price you expect to sell your collector Barbie Dolls for. There are many factors to take into consideration as a doll collector so you will want to use online auctions as a guide when determine your collector Barbie values.

Barbie collector dolls should reflect the values of the items you collect because they appeal to you. This is the point where the values of your Barbie collector doll become intangible so even if the worth of the Barbie you are collecting is not valuable to the market, the sentimental worth will make it a value to you!

For more information on Barbie visit http://www.crazyforbarbie.com

Collecting Paper Dolls

Snip, snip, snip with the scissors; around the base, along the curves and finally the last snip. The dolls, clad in colorful swimsuits, stood near by awaiting the final cut of their wardrobe. The hours invested in their story panned out while little fingers bent tabs to change attire.

Are you old enough to remember the joy of paper dolls? If not - all is not lost, paper dolls are still on the shelves of bookstores and super centers or available via the Internet. Although their numbers are not as great as they were in the pre fashion doll industry era .... They are still around. Many people value them beyond the playfulness associated with childhood but as the most desired collectible on the planet. Paper doll collecting needs very little room for storage only rivaled by stamp collecting for minimal space required. The dolls are an inexpensive pleasure that is not a lost art. Some publishing companies have even undertaken the replication of older dolls from by gone times making it possible to own even some of the most dated dolls affordably.

The two-dimensional figures accompanied by the best wardrobe for the time period was a considerable luxury during the 1700's. Many of the outfitted dolls were designed for adult entertainment with stages included. By the mid 1800's paper dolls were manufactured in Europe and the United States but were still considered a luxury until paper became more readily available and affordable. Magazines would even offer paper dolls within their pages. This practice appeared as recently as the 1990's with Sue Shanahan creating a new, modern version of the beloved and wildly popular Betsy McCall.

The popularity of paper dolls was not lost on the marketing branches of several industries during the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's. Some of the product leaders of the time that took advantage of this phenomenon were Pillsbury, Baker's (chocolate), Singer (sewing machines), Clark's (threads), Lyon's and McLaughlin (both coffee). Later magazine advertisements that would use the dolls would include the sales of children's clothing, fabrics, cars, nail polish and soaps.

These fabulous pieces of paper were not always colorful nor always of people. Some dolls required the addition of coloring which kept many children busy designing their own fashion couture. The dolls included inanimate objects and animals too. Popular dolls that were available over the past two hundred years included royalty, public leaders, movie stars, fantasy fairy tale style characters, family groups, stuffed animals and even cherubs.

During the 1940's and 1950's a new kind of marketing arrived in the comic book industry. Publishers took advantage of the love of the paper dolls and created complimentary dolls for some of the comics. The appeal went beyond drawing in a new customer base - girls. The publishers encouraged people to submit original ideas for the clothing / costume designs for the comic characters. The comic books would display the designer's name with each outfit chosen. This ingenious strategy appears in the books through the 1950's.

The public popularity waned during the 1960's with the rise of the three dimensional fashion doll industry but that has not deterred many from creating and collecting paper dolls. A quick search of an online auction will prove this fact. Dig a little deeper and do a search at http://www.google.com, http://www.yahoo.com or http://www.msn.com and you will find many very talented artists still creating beautiful pieces of art. The search will even provide you with many free resources for starting you paper doll collection.

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Vintage Doll Collecting - Engel-Puppen Doll Company

Engel-Puppen has been in business for more than 100 years. It is the oldest doll factory at its location in Roedental, Bavaria, Germany.

The Engel-Puppen dolls produce almost any type of doll from small playable vinyl dolls to decorative dolls in original German costumes, from nostalgic collectible dolls to valuable artist dolls made of porcelain in limited editions. The company also produces a large variety in doll clothes and accessories. One very important fact about the Engel-Puppen doll lines and accessories is that they are all made in Germany and meet the standard of quality that German products are known for all over the world.

At the end of the 19th century, home-workers in the city of Rodental, collected materials from their contractors located in world city of toys, Sonneberg. The dolls were usually complete. Most of the workers worked from workshops in their living rooms.

The first doll factory was established in Monchroden in October/November of 1896 by Edmuch Knoch and his wife, Emilie. Together they started working in one room of her father's house, but soon outgrew the space and moved to another house in Rothinestr 7. They moved into their own factory building in 1908 in Lange Wiesen 6.

The first big success of the Edmund Knoch Company was the small princess dolls sold mostly by exporters from Hamburg. Their next biggest customers were the export companies from Sonneberg, which is the oldest toy city in the world.

Edmund Knoch died in 1934. Edmund's son, Otto and his mother began to run the company, which now had 30 employees and home workers.

After the Second World War, Otto Knoch and his wife, Helga restarted the doll production with a trade mark of the letters "E.K." with a crown over them. Most deliveries went to the wholesalers and exporters in Sonneberg until the year of 1948.

Three more important doll factories were established in Germany. These were:

o E. Maar & Sohn in 1910

o Drei-M in 1920

o Zapf in 1931

The materials changed over the years from pressing compo, paper-mache, casting compo, porcelain and rubber to hard plastic and vinyl. Hard plastic and vinyl are materials of choice for doll production today.

With the death of Helga Knoch, Otto retired. His son, Lothar, had become a lawyer and was not interested in the doll business. Otto Knoch died in 1985.

January 1, 1976, Helmuth Engel came into the company and rented it for three years. Helmuth Engel worked with dolls all his life. After his childhood days in school, he joined the Drei-M doll company, which was one of the largest doll companies in Germany at that time. After 25 years working for the Drei-M doll company, Helmuth Engel decided to start his own company.

Helmuth Engel lead the Knoch Company in 1976 and at that time a new trademark was designed. The trademark was an angel with a crown placed in an oval. In 1979, Helmuth Engel bought the Knoch Company and moved the company to a larger building at Monchrodener Str. 55 on the main road in Rodental, which is located near the old factory. The company's name was changed from Edmund Knoch to "Helmut Engel."

Helmuth's daughter Susanne joined the company in 1983. By 1992, Susanne Engel created a part of the Engel collection. Markus Engle, the youngest child of Helmuth was the designated successor of Helmuth Engel. He joined the company in 1989. The company changed into a corporation with the name of "Engel-Puppen GmbH." Markus Engel now leads the business as the sole manager.

Source: Engel-Puppen Online

Important Disclaimer: The URL address in the resource box of this article is not associated with the Engel-Puppen Doll Company or any of its employees. This article is offered for information to the would-be and avid vintage doll collector.

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© 2007 Connie Limon All Rights Reserved

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