Questions & Answers
Table of Contents
Restoration
Advice for vintage dolls
What
Barbie books should I get?
How to determine the condition of an item?
How
to identify the Barbie Item I have?
Advice for new collectors
Click Here for an Easy to Print Version.
Common Used Terms
·
AG – American
Girl
·
BL –
·
CT – Close
Toe shoes
·
EXC – Excellent
·
FQ – Fashion Queen
·
G / VG
- Good /
Very Good
·
Hard Curl – see
Hair Part in Determine Value of Doll
·
HTF – Hard to Find
·
M – Mint
·
M / C – Mint and
Complete
·
M / NC – Mint and
Near Complete
·
MIB – Mint in Box
(was removed and placed back, without playing with it)
·
MIP – Mint in
Package
·
MOC – Mint on Card
·
Mod – Mod
era, 1967- 72 / 73
·
NM – Near Mint
·
NRFB – Never
Removed From Box (check for the boxes
condition)
·
OT – Open Toe
shoes
·
PAK – Mix and
Matches pieces that where sold during the vintage era (59-73)
·
Ponytail Wrap –
In a ponytail it is the Longer Piece of hair that is
used to cover the rubber band.
·
PT – Ponytail
·
SL – Straight Leg
·
Silkstone / Silky
– It is a barbie made with
silkstone material; they belong to the Fashion Model Collection.
·
TNT – Twist and
Turn Barbie
·
Vintage Case - Vinyl product pre
1973, it is thin and holds one doll.
·
Vintage Trunk - Similar to a case
but bigger , holds more than 1 doll.
Restoration Advice for vintage dolls
Two books with good advice:
v The Story of Barbie by Kitturah Westenhouser
v Barbie Doll Collector’s Handbook
There will be a link to a PDF printer friendly file soon. This advice has been collected by the experience of several collectors, I have not tried every method, I will not be held responsible for the outcomes. You will need Acrobat Reader to open the link that will be provided you can get it at www.adobe.com . In the mean time, here is the old version.
What Barbie Books Should I Get?
Follow this link for a review I have posted in Amazon. You will be able to buy books there, sometimes you can find the same books cheaper in ebay. You can also
find vintage catalogue reprints for sale at www.barbiebazaar.com
in the special editions section. The
book Barbie in
How to determine the condition?
The C rating system by Barbie Bazaar’s Definition.
|
Grade |
Description |
|
C-10 |
Mint. Factory perfect. Right off toy store shelves. No apologies or anything. No matter what the age, item is factory new. |
|
C-9 |
Mint. No original packaging, |
|
C-8 |
Near Mint to Excellent condition. |
|
C-7 |
Display quality,
but "crispness is missing. |
|
C-6 |
Gently played with. |
|
C-5 / C-4 |
Lots of flaws and spots. Poor, Heavily played with and damaged in some way. A professional is required to repair or restore it. |
|
C-3 |
Doll Damaged. In the right costume, it could be used for display. LOTS of work needed here. |
|
C-2 |
Doll is beyond repair but it may have a couple of parts that a collector wants. Legs or arms still good for transplanting to another doll. |
|
C-1 |
One part of doll, outfit (snaps and zippers) or item could still be used for parts |
For Modern Items Click Here
For Vintage Items Click Here
For My thoughts on Repair Click Here
Buying/Selling Guidelines
Click HERE for a rather printer friendly. If not feel free to copy and paste it to a word document for more efficient printing results.
How to identify the Barbie Item I have?
Vintage VS Modern. -> Most vintage dolls don’t twist at the waist. If your doll says 1966 it doesn’t mean it was made in that year. You can email me and I will help you ID both Vintage Clothing and Dolls, vintage clothing usually has Tags in black and white. When you email me please try to include pictures or a really detailed description, I will do my best to help you id your doll. EMAIL
For modern Fashion Avenues – CLICK HERE
For Vintage Items – CLICK HERE
For Vintage & Modern Items – CLICK HERE
How to tell Vintage items from Reproductions?
I will answer this question during June. I will provide pictures of both the real vintage item and the reproductions item. I will give tips on how to tell them apart. In the mean time… Click Here
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