ORLANDO, Fla. – “Barbie” has already rocked the charts as the top box office moneymaker of the summer season and now the film has created a buzz in the world of doll owners.
News 6 viewers have been sharing photos of their Barbie collections, including limited edition plates, Holiday Barbies, 35th anniversary reproduction versions of the dolls (including a copy of the original 1959 Barbie) and Barbie accessories.
Unfortunately, just like baseball card collectors of past generations, the grown-up doll collectors have tales of moving and losing dolls along the way and damaging the all-important boxes they’re displayed in.
Valerie Hammond, a top appraiser with valuemystuff.com, told News 6 everyone thinks they have a rare Barbie, but the market is flooded with the Mattel toy icon.
“As soon as they announced the release of the movie, I went from appraising maybe six or seven (dolls) a day to 20 or 30 a day,” she said. “You’re going to come up with millions of hits for Barbie and out of all of those millions, maybe a thousand are rare Barbie dolls.”
Kym Rorabacher, currently in Winter Park, has an array of crinkled boxes and an impressive collection of accessories and original Barbie dolls, including the Audrey Hepburn “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” doll still in the gray-trimmed box.
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“We love Barbies,” Rorabacher told News 6. “We played with them as little kids. Francie was my first Barbie doll.”
Her original Francie is long gone, but her reproduction is valued from $39.99 to $242. Rorabacher’s prized, classic edition Audrey Hepburn doll is worth from $47.99 to just over $140.
But for Rorabacher and the millions of collectors who hold on to the various Barbie doll collectables, the memories are priceless and looking at the values is just pure fun.
You can check the potential value of your dolls here.
This site offers a free guide presenting the lowest, average and highest value for every Barbie in the Mattel universe.
If you have a doll you think may have special value you can have it appraised at valuemystuff.com.
For instance, the 2019 Holiday Barbie has a low value of $9, average value of $27 and highest value of $67.
BonusFinder.com crunched the numbers and developed this top 10 list. Good luck! If you find you have a rare Barbie, let us know. Just email makendsmeet@wkmg.com.
The most valuable Barbie dolls:
| Rank | Barbie doll name | Release year | Maximum resale value ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barbie #1 | 1959 | $27,450 |
| 2 | Dahlia Barbie | 2006 | $2,423 |
| 3 | Golden Gala Barbie | 2009 | $1,451 |
| 4 | Happy Holidays Barbie 1997 Brunette | 1997 | $1,201 |
| 5 | City Smart Barbie | 2003 | $1,151 |
| 6 | Byron Lars Coco Barbie | 2007 | $1,101 |
| 7 | Special 2000 Edition Celebration Barbie | 2000 | $1,051 |
| 8 | Barbie Baby-Sits Outfit | 1963 | $1,036 |
| 9 | Harvey Nichols Special Edition Barbie | 1995 | $900 |
| 10 | Bob Mackie Countess Dracula Barbie | 2011 | $886 |
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