Who knew? Barbie dolls can be quite valuable!

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Recently, I was asked by a friend to sell some items from her parent’s warehouse.  Some of the items were hers, from her childhood.  One item, which for some reason I saved for last, was a red chest, wrapped in multiple garbage bags, with the words “Barbie doll and clothes,” written in jittery black letters on the white plastic.  I thought to myself, “Oh, another item to sell.”  Little did I know what I was getting myself into!

I unwrapped it, to find a nice, sturdy chest, red in color.  I still did not know what to expect – maybe, “an old Barbie doll, great!” in a sarcastic tone, or “Okay at least it has been kept in good condition…”  I opened the chest, not knowing which way was up.  I peeked inside, to find a rod with tiny clothing hanging on it – coats, shirts, fancy fabric, faux fur, etc.  Opposite that was a set of large drawers.  I opened them, finding all sorts of bizarre, tiny accessories – hats, bags, shoes, plates, a tea set, gloves, glasses, Barbie-sized jewelry, etc. Oh – and a Barbie bathtub – you just never know when this will come in handy!

Then I thought to myself, “where did Barbie go?  Is she somewhere else?”  I was puzzled for a moment.  Then I saw a pink box in the corner.  Oh, that might be Barbie sized!  Sure enough, I opened it and I found a Barbie doll clothed in a simple white dress, made of simple material almost rough in texture.  Wrapped around her waist was a strand of rainbow-colored wool, like a belt.  It was almost as if I had unearthed a strange commentary on the Barbie phenomena – “the Hippy Barbie” (not that there is anything wrong with that).

So, I had a bunch of Barbie accessories on my hands, along with a simply dressed doll.  What to do with it?  Well in my ignorant fashion, I decided to just jump right in!  (Hopefully this pattern is on its way out!)  I decided I would post it on Ebay – of course, what a grand idea!  When I had spoken with its owner, she said that the Barbie was from the early sixties.  She could not narrow down a specific year however.  So I decided to list it as a 1961 Vintage Barbie Doll.  I was clueless.

Well I knew I had made a mistake within an hour of posting it, because I received an email from one of the bidders saying, “Can you take closer pictures of the face and body, because I think you have a #1 or a #2 Barbie, which might be worth thousands of dollars?”  Huh?  …  Oh my word!  I had originally listed it for about $200.  Hmmm…  Well I had a few hours of fretting as I worried that I was deceiving people, or that I had vastly undervalued it (and hence I was taking money away from myself and its owner).  I was able to research the value of Barbie dolls and discern exactly which year and model I had – and sure enough, it is a #2.  Thankfully Ebay allows, albeit reluctantly, the retracting of items when there is a problem.  Hey hey!  I was in luck, there were several problems – wrong price, wrong item listed, wrong date on the accessories.

So now, here I am, on the other side.  And I have a plan.  I will re-post it in a few days, after making a short movie about the Barbie, whose name is Lavender, walking around the Circle Center (where she has been living for the past few years) – a house in Charlottesville that is dedicated to healing facilitation.  I will also write a story about her experience.  It should be fun.  I will post it here when it is complete.  [Added a few years later…  I should note that Ebay said that telling a story, whether true or not, about an item can add more value.  Hence my desire to film a little Barbie tale.  But that did not pan out.]

And remember, you never know when you will come across a Diamond in the rough!  Who knows, there might be something in your attic right now, just basking in its secret value.

[Revision in October of 2009 – I ended up selling the Barbie doll and chest / accessories for $5500 via Ebay.  Can you imagine?  I was originally listing it for $200.  Wow!  I am glad I put in the 50 – 60 hours of work – researching, chatting with auction owners, etc.  It certainly paid off.]