1959 Number 1 Barbie Doll & Accessories
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GUEST:
I first got her when I was nine years old. My dad worked for a drugstore as a pharmacist. New toys came in. And I have a feeling that he either brought her home for me because she was brand new, or bought her for my birthday that year. So I've had her ever since I was nine.
APPRAISER:
And what do you know about the actual doll?
GUEST:
I know that she is a first edition Barbie doll, because she's the only Barbie doll that has holes in the bottom of her feet. She came with a stand, with two little prongs that she stood on. I've kept her all these years. She was well loved and played with. And she's just been a treasure of mine.
APPRAISER:
Okay, I think that's wonderful in itself that you've loved that doll for so many years. She is indeed a number one Barbie. And there are three main things that you can tell that she's a number one Barbie. One is she has very arched, triangular-shaped eyebrows. They're very distinctive compared to later Barbies. She also has a white iris that's very distinctive. Their eyes always look to the side. And the third thing, which you already mentioned, was that she has the holes in the bottom of her feet. And it also... the holes are in the shoes, so the two prongs of the stand will hold the doll. The stand is missing.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And you said she was well loved, but she's in quite nice condition. Her wig is a little bit frizzed out. I think you've combed that... Sometime in its lifetime you've given a little brush-out there.
GUEST:
I'm sure I did.
APPRAISER:
And she's also wearing her original bathing suit, which was the main item that they were wearing. And usually that's what they came with in their box.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Tell me about the outfit.
GUEST:
This little catalogue had pages and pages and pages of Barbie outfits. And I remember asking for an outfit for another time, maybe a birthday or Christmas. And this was the one that my mom picked out for me to have, and so I've kept that all these years also.
APPRAISER:
Well, these dolls were the brainchild of Ruth Handler, who was with Mattel. And who would have known what a bonanza that she started. And she was an extremely good businesswoman. And she actually got her ideas from a German doll. Bild Lilli was the German doll. This was, like we said, the number one Barbie. It was made in 1959 for only one year.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
The body is marked 1958. And they used that same body for several years, so people do get confused when they get a Barbie doll that'll... every time they see 1958, they think it's the number one Barbie.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
But it has to have those other features that we talked about. The number one, number two, and number three Barbies have always stayed very strong. The number one Barbie, including everything on display here, would probably sell on the market today in a retail setting for $3,500 to $4,500.
GUEST:
Wow. Oh, I had no idea.
APPRAISER:
If she were pristine and in the original box, the price would go up a little bit more. My goodness.
GUEST:
She's well-loved, but maybe I love her even a little more now. (laughing)
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