Old Barbies: what is Vintage?

Dear Barbie fans,

Sorry if my question may sound a tad silly but that's really something that makes me confused at the moment. Which Barbie dolls are called "vintage" now? It's understood that everything before 1970-s is vintage but what about later dolls? What about Superstar Barbie and her gang? It's 2011 now and how many years should I subtract from 2011 to find out whether my Barbie is "vintage" or not? Or is it all about the difference between Superstar Barbie doll image and earlier concept of better quality and details?

Here in Russia people often refer to Barbies from their childhood as "vintage" and those are Barbies from late 1980-s and early 1990-s. One of my buddy collectors said that probably that's the question of the generations - the new generation of doll collectors had Superstar-faced barbies in their childhood so they think those Barbies are "old". In our community there's even an abbreviation that can be roughly translated as "OF Barbie" - old-fashioned Barbie, while the dolls produced in 1999 and later (when Generation Girl face became the main face type for this doll) are referred to as "new standard Barbie" :)

I'll be grateful for your help!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rose Red on October 16, 2011 at 12:32

Vintage is generally accepted to be pre-1972 by serious collectors. You can divide this into vintage ( pre 1967) and Mod ( 1967 - 1972)

1980's and 90's would not be considered vintage in Europe or USA. I do know a few collectors of Superstar  Barbie - I'm not sure what they refer to them as - but it's def.not vintage.

Oh - and 1966 on the back of the doll is the patent date - if I had a £ for every time someone has waved some ugly doll at me and said 'It must be valuable, it has 1966 on it' Well, I would have a pretty penny in the bank!

Permalink Reply by Katie on October 16, 2011 at 14:52

Thank you very much Rose! Probably you know why 1972? What's this date famous for? And what are the dolls produced between 1972 and 1977 then? I'm really interested in that because I regularly write doll articles and I don't want to make any confusion.

Haha, the same story with 1966 on the back, and 1976 on the head :) People seriously think these dolls are vintage and therefore valuable.


Community ManagerPermalink Reply by Simon Farnworth on October 16, 2011 at 16:58

Thanks for asking this Katie and Rose Red for explaining all this. It is really useful and fascinating too :)

I'm with you Kate, what's the deal with 1972. I'm guessing a new body/face hold?? Malibu Barbie maybe?? Hehe pleas put us out of our misery LOL!

Permalink Reply by Katie on October 16, 2011 at 17:15

Malibu Barbie appeared in 1971 as far as I remember... As far as I know the Mod face mold was eagerly used by the company until 1977. Hmmm... when was the term "vintage" itself first used in the Barbie world I wonder? As far as I remember "vintage" is something older than 30+ years but still not antique. Could the whole "vintage" Barbie talk start in early 90's?... That's just one of the guesses :)

Simon Farnworth said:

Thanks for asking this Katie and Rose Red for explaining all this. It is really useful and fascinating too :)

I'm with you Kate, what's the deal with 1972. I'm guessing a new body/face hold?? Malibu Barbie maybe?? Hehe pleas put us out of our misery LOL!

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