5 comments about Barbie Doll Around The World 1964-2007.

1. Once again, Michael Augustyniak gives us another wonderfully informative book, but this time on those very hard to find Barbie dolls from the foreign markets. Michael breaks the book down by country, and those include, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Europe, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Venezuela.
   
   As in his other books, Michael gives a picture of the doll and a close up on the face. Barbie, Ken, Skipper and Kelly, among others, are featured. The years range from 1964 to 2007 with over 350 pages and a break down of Barbie's foreign family tree and celebrity friends. With this overwhelming task of finding these obscure dolls, some lines are not complete, but this book is well worth the price for any Barbie collector.
   
   This is a useful and fun book about Barbie dolls around the world.



2. Good job indeed! I always like Augustyniak's works as he's very accurate in his descriptions and shares also lovely pictures of dolls which are important to guide collectors within the huge world of Barbie dolls. I especially appreciated this book about international versions of dolls as I'm Italian and recognized many of them as sold in my country alone. It was also useful to know about special editions from other countries such as Japan or Philippines. Thanks Michael, as I said: a good job indeed! :-)



3. Barbie Doll Around the World: Identification & Values 1964-2007 is a top pick for any specialty Barbie collection or for lending libraries seeking to go beyond the general antiques and collectibles guides to get specific about the most collectible items. Barbie dolls are among the most highly collected types of dolls, so if you're a public lending library seeking a popular collectible guide, make it BARBIE DOLL AROUND THE WORLD: it covers all kinds of Barbie collectibles, not just USA issues.



4. I expected the Foreign designers of Barbie to blow my mind but I was disappointed. Particularly good were the cultural costumed Barbies from India and the Philippines but only in a minor way. This is a book to be perused at the local library or bookstore. It may not be the author's fault if he did not receive cooperation from the foreign Mattel offices or if the foreign designers are really not earning their pay. Ultimately, we Americans are not missing out. This book did contain many playline Barbies also sold in the United States. I recommend the Encyclopedia of Collector Barbies.



5. At first I really thought this was another book, it seemed to have the same dolls in the book as the 2008 book, but you have to take a closer look, these dolls that are in this book are dolls that were made in other countries. NOT USA , this is a cool book, I had a doll that I could not find, come to find out it was made in India and this book helped me find that out. Great source of finding out if the doll is made in another country also another way to tell is the doll will say Mattel India on the back of the box or where the logo is. But it is another great book. And will give you a basic start price for your doll. Enjoy & Thanks !!

2 comments about The Complete & Unauthorized Guide to Vintage Barbie Dolls: With Barbie & Skipper Fashions and the Whole Family of Barbie Dolls (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. There are many reasons why I disliked the book I will try to list them and be brief --- I stand by the books I recomend in my Listmanias & the How to Guide...
   
   1) All the items are listed, but MANY/MOST of them are NOT Pictured. THis is salvaged because you get a list of all the parts that come with that item. --- There are many pages with NO pictures.
   
   2) It has a price guide, I really dislike price guides as they usually never reflect the real market values; and tend to distort them.
   
   3) The pictures that it does have don't illustrate well the fashion - you see it on a doll - which would make a lovely picture book - but this is a reference, I want to see the details of the fashion and you can't see it if its dressed (ex. the Friday Night Date underdress).
   
   4) Not all dolls are pictured, the ones that are there have good shots, but I would also have explained how to tell all the PTs appart [including face close ups - there are no face close ups], also I would explain in a bit more detail Japanesse, European & Rare items [I mention them because they appear listed in the book]
   
   5) I was looking to have the 3 books I use the most in one tome -- but this is not it. [[1] Face of the American Dream: Barbie Doll 1959-1971 by Christopher Varaste , [2] Barbie Fashion: Vol. 1, 1959-1967 (Barbie Doll Fashion) by Sarah Sink Eames and [3] The Ultimate Barbie Doll Book by Marcie Melillo ]



2. Please, would someone step outside of their own personal collection and write a TRUE guide to Vintage Barbie and Friends plus fashion and structures? Is it asking too much for someone to put together a comprehensive book on the first 10 or 12 years?

5 comments about The Barbie Doll Years: A Comprehensive Listing & Value Guide Ofdolls & Accessories.

1. I had a huge box of Barbies from various years. This book helped to identify them. I also recommend a fun read about dolls, Dolls Aren't Just for Kids.



2. This book has a couple of pictures in the front. And the rest are complete and extense lists (vintage & modern dolls and accesories). But the prices are usually not accurate. And to be honest there is no actual good price list to apply to the second market barbie. You pay what you want and can afford. So, it is completely useless to have this book, since 1- It only contains names (no pictures) so it is hard to identify something unless it is NRFB - (in which case you don't need to because it says what it is on the box). 2- The prices are unrealistic.



3. I read the other reviews of this book, and it sounded like it was a good bet. What the other reviews DIDN'T say is that this book is only for those who have New In The Box items! For the average collector who finds dolls in antique malls and garage sales, this is worthless. It only prices items that are unopened in original boxes - perfect mint condition! There are no prices for any other condition level. Also there are virtually NO pictures, making it impossible to use to identify various models . Several reviewers made a big point of there being 50 pages of pictures(actually in the 5th edition it's only 29 pages, 3-6 photos per page, most are of only a single item). Only a handful of Barbies are pictured, with the rest of the pictures being other special items. So if you have one of those typical dolls found in a sale that doesn't have a box with a model number, good luck trying to figure out what you have. This book is worthless for trying to identify which Barbie you are holding, and there is no information at all in the book about identifying the knock-off copies of Barbie on the market. It is strictly a price list by year or model number, with no other information of any kind. If everything you have has boxes with model numbers, the other reviews are right - it's a good book with a VERY comprehensive listing - over 9,000 different items (see why 100 photos is no big deal?!). But if your Barbies are unidentified and in less than store shelf condition, forget it. This book is, a waste of time and money.



4. I love this book, I buy the updated version everytime it comes out. Easy listings so that I can keep track of the value of my collection



5. This book is exactly what it says - a comprehensive review and has an amazing amount of information. This book is perfect for those collectors who still have the doll or product with the original packaging and want an approximate value of that doll or product. The dolls/products are listed by the "title" of the product, i.e. Millenium Bride. What it does not have is alot of pictures.
   
   If you are trying to find out what a particular doll is and/or the value - and all you have is the doll - this is not the best book for the task.

5 comments about Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll.

1. This book isn't the next _war and peace_ nor was meant to be. Just like that dude J. Alfred Prufrock, it's good for swelling a crowd, and giving you something less-embarassing than watch television to do when you want to just relax. Analyzing pop culture, learning obscure facts about something I am vaguely ashamed of myself for being interested in in the first place . . . mmmmmmmm, pass the oreo ice cream, please. The author definitely shares my sheepish fascination with Barbie. His/her(?) text explores many aspects of our relationship with Barbie - as children, parents, adult women, queers, artists, etc., as well as a lot of very interesting background info on how she was created, the company who has promoted her over the years, and the toy industry in general. Holding my interest *without* getting so serious that I wished the book had come with a discussion section that met once a week, _Forever Barbie_ was like a long, interesting cultural-analysis chat with an amusing girlfriend. I would read it again in a few years or recommend it to friends . . .



2. On the one hand, this is an impressively researched book written with humor and intelligence. I'd love to see a new edition tracking some of the more recent developments in Barbie's empire. But some of Ms. Lord's arguments drift unpersuasively far into psycho-sexual realms. When she used an obscure 43 minute 1987 documentary as her three-page focus for the conflicting causes of eating disorders, she completely lost me.



3. I know you think I am a little young for this book but trust me it's great! It's so good! I never looked at a Barbie the same way again! This is a must-have for Barbie fans! I like how she talked about how Barbie made African-Americans and American-Asians feel undermined what with not a lot of ethnic Barbies being sold now. I loved loved hearing about the collector things and the weird people who think Barbie is the most fabulous thing ever. She also covers feminism, society's messages towards women, anorexic stars, and rituals that seem to be incorporated into Barbie play. And she gives some neat background dirt on Mattel. He, he!
   I did not like how she said the pregnant Midge doll was "icky". This book is cool with lots of photos and stories of interesting people and disturbing artists as well as the acessories made to make up for Ken's groin loss (lol) and the secret messages implanted in Barbie's accessories. I will never see Barbie as a cheap piece of skinny plastic anymore. Now, she is society in doll form. Believe it!
   Wamina!



4. I grew up thinking that Barbies were evil dolls that were part of the Establishment's plan to keep women in their place. I never had a Barbie and I only gave one to a child who specifically requested it. After reading this book I realized that I had been too hard on Barbies. They were part and parcel of our culture, not part of a plot. Just recently I read a "Best Toys for Children" review that still recommended dolls for girls and toy trucks for boys.
   
   The author covers a tremendous range of Barbie-related material, and the book seems to have been well-researched, with many good references.
   
   I began to wonder what it would have been like to have had a Barbie (instead of a working toy cannon), so after finishing the book I went to Toys R Us to see the current Barbies. Then I went to a thrift store.
   
   There were dozens of Barbies at the thrift store, most of them hanging feet-up, naked in plastic sacks. I bought one of the few of them that was dressed and took it(her?) home. She (I haven't named her) has been sitting on the edge of the sofa all week. I am trying to get a feeling of what it is to own a Barbie doll. I look at her, but she just stares into the distance. I could not tell you if she is dreamy or disdainful. I get absolutely no "velveteen rabbit" emanations.
   
   All I can think of is a poem I read long ago - Keat's "Ode On a Grecian Urn"*.
   "She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
   Forever will thou love, and she be fair!"
   
   She is, I guess, what you make of her, and still reflects our culture.
   
   *I looked it up.



5. Though I read the book because I was interested in the subject matter and was doing research for a writing project of my own, what really struck me here was the talent of the writer. M.G. Lord is a rare combination for a writer. She has both the mechanics and the heart down-pat: She can construct a sentence or turn a phrase like nobody's business, AND she digs into and presents the most relevant content with good judgment. The broad array of cultural references at the tip of her consciousness alone is quite impressive. I enjoyed the book, and even laughed often at the edgy humor.

1 comments about Barbie The First 30 Years 1959 Through 1989 3rd Edition.

1. Collector's libraries will wish to add the third updated edition of Stefanie Deutsch and Bettina Dorfmann's BARBIE: THE FIRST 30 YEARS 1959 THROUGH 1989 AND BEYOND IDENTIFICATION AND VALUE GUIDE. Each page holds 4 good-sized color photos featuring Barbie, her outfits, her friends and accessories. The latest values accompany discussions of changing eras and focus in this fine historical pictorial perfect for any Barbie doll collector.

4 comments about Warman's Barbie Doll Field Guide: Values and Identification.

1. DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. If you're looking for a book that will give you inaccurate information, this is the one for you. It was obviously written by someone who knows very little about Vintage Barbie. The pictures are inaccurate, and just plan bad in some cases. They have the American Girl wearing Pilgrims for goodness sake! And to help you identify a Swirl Ponytail they have her pictured wearing an American Girl bathing suit (now I know there are rare ones that came this way, but this book is supposed to guide you in your collecting, not confuse the heck out of you causing you to look for the wrong thing or at least something next to impossible in most cases to find. You can't even see her ponytail in the picture. I was really shocked, and am returning this book immediately. What a waste of time and I was really looking forward to getting this book too. And as for pricing in this "price guide", my god, prices are sky high!!!! if the price guide in the book is accurate, I've gotten some amazing deals recently, I mean like half price, I know the economy is bad but this edition of the book is supposed to reflect updated values. Have values really dropped in half since this was printed??? Or was this written by Barbie dealers, to "educate" you so as to help relieve you of more of your cash while collecting. I think so... It's a sham and a shame!!!



2. I think this is a great book for the novice collector.
   
   The market will bear whatever someone is willing to pay for an item, so I never pay attention to estimated values in books, mostly due to prices will increase and decrease at all different times of the year.
   
   I love buying from Dealers as they will only charge you actual MSRP on an item when it first comes out. I understand an item increasing in value, so I understand a dealer charging more for an item when the supply is low & demand is high.
   
   This book is a neat tool to carry in my purse when I am looking at Barbies and find one I have never seen before. I have the previous edition & I have worn it out, so it was nice to see a new one come out!
   
   The best way to get a idea on a value on a doll is to research completed or sold items. Sometimes my dealers will let me know what a doll is worth too. Always do your own research for values, but the book is a great starting point to find valuable dolls!



3. I have a problem with reference books that are filled with errors because they are written by non-collectors. I am assuming this book was written by a non-collector because no self-respecting collector/expert would want to lead other collectors so astray.
   
   The only reason for a collector to purchase a reference book is to assist in their purchases -- ensure they are buying a doll with the correct head and body along with the proper swimsuit/outfit. This book has significant errors so the collector is left vulnerable instead of informed. These errors are blatant, hopelessly sloppy and undoubtedly caused because the author does not know her subject matter. That alone is unforgiveable, but additionally, the price guide is terribly inaccurate.
   
   If the subject is of sufficient interest to warrant a reference book, the effort should entail enough research and care in the creation to produce something of value to the reader. This book will mislead rather than empower a collector.
   
   It is clear is that the main motivation for producing the book is money, not sharing accurate information. Collectors deserve better, and there are much better books on the subject.



4. This title not only features an expanded price guide from the previous edition but showcases a part of the collection of renowned Barbie expert Sandi Holder. Holder, who runs Sandi Holder's Doll Attic in Southern California, has been featured in Newsweek magazine, as well as newspapers and magazines around the world. Sandi has served as a Barbie doll consultant for Mattel for years. Her business established a world record for the highest price ever paid for a single Barbie when she auctioned a Ponytail #1 doll for $25,700. My favorite part of the book? The 50-page vintage fashion sets chapter. Great fun and simply beautiful! Whether you are a collector, a big girl with fond memories, or have a little girl who loves Barbie in your family, this is a wonderful little book.

5 comments about The Ultimate Barbie Doll Book.

1. I mainly purchased this book to remember some of my childhood toys- I wasn't expecting the detail and page after page of pictures that made me interested in collecting Barbie's as well-
   
   This thick hardcover book has colored photos of each Barbie both in the box and then a close up of the face. The Barbies are presented in chronological order by year by doll type- so i.e. Barbie from 1950s til 90s then Skipper from 50s-90s, then Ken, etc.
   
   The book also has friends of the infamous Barbie and Ken couple; many of which I have never seen or heard of!
   
   If you are looking for a nice photo array and price guide of Barbie and Friends. Truly the "Ultimate" Barbie book.



2. This book is NOT the Ultimate Barbie Doll Book. I could not find a single collectible Barbie Doll which I posses from the years it describes it covers when I purchased it. Description of the dolls covered should really be more detailed for collectors who are new to the industry. In addition, there is no option to select from Amazon if the item described does not meet your needs, you simply get a refund, minus shipping as a user error...Not too fair in my opinion.



3. Sveglia Italia! Articoli di difficilissima reperibilità sul mercato interno arrivano regolarmente in tempi ragionevoli ed a prezzi inferiori, spedizione compresa, di quelli pretesi da rivenditori nostrani. "Ahi, serva Italia, di dolore ostello, nave sanza nocchiero in gran tempesta ........" . Il libro? Ogni appassionato del genere ne conosce autorevolezza e valore.



4. there are a million of pics. pics full colored on every page. you can identify any barbie and a price guide in the back. ! excellent!



5. Very good guide for Barbie collectors, very helpful pictures, descriptions and price guidelines. However, I would have liked to see more Barbie doll clothes but very good overall. Was helpful in my e-bay Barbie bidding.

5 comments about Collector's Ency of Barbie Doll Collector's Editions (Collector's Encyclopedia of Barbie Doll Collector's Editions).

1. This was shipped and packaged very well and also it's helping me with my collection. Item was as described and I would highly recommend this seller and will do business with again!!!!!!!!!!++++++++AAAAAAAA



2. I was actually looking for a book that showed all the Barbie's ever made. This book doesn't cover that.



3. I needed a book that would give me the values of my Barbie collection - this book was the most complete of all that I looked at.



4. My daughter saw this book at Pottery Barn Kids and asked Santa for it. I found it for a better price on Amazon. Book arrived in perfect condition and she loves it.



5. I had misgivings about ordering this book because for me, Barbie dolls should be playable. However, I learned from this book that many of the dolls I consider to be pretty enough to be enjoyable and therefore worth buying are labeled "Collector" by Mattel. Thankfully, these dolls are often available for $20 or less from many vendors. I also learned from this book that many of the dolls that I find unattractive and are often included in playsets are Generation Girl Barbies. This book helped me to understand my choices. I recommend it to anyone who plans to buy Barbies for their children. In contrast to this book, check out the Foreign Barbies book by the same author that describes not only dolls exclusive to overseas markets but many playline dolls sold in the US. The playline dolls just aren't as nice as the "Collector" dolls and it's not about price point. After perusing the Foreign Barbies book, I no longer wished for an Encyclopedia of Playline Barbies.

5 comments about Barbie: All Dolled Up: Celebrating 50 Years of Barbie.

1. I bought this book for my 9 year old Barbie fan. It is done in the style of a scrapbook and some pages have mini books and other extras to pull out. There's even an "official" Original Barbie Fan Club welcome letter. The colors and quality of the paper (the pages are very thick and kind of glossy)are phenomenal. This will be a book my daughter will pour over time and time again. I especially love seeing all the old barbies I had as a girl - and it's up to date with many of the barbies my girls have now. You won't be disappointed!



2. The jacket cover was bent down ont the top, either before packaging or because of tight packaging. The page corners in over 50% of the book were stuck together.
   Wish I had bought the book at the Barbie Store at Mall of America when I was there in Nov., instead.



3. My 10 year old loves the guide books for Barbie and this book is something a little different to add to her collection. It has great pictures and fun history on Barbie. It is easy to read and refer back to. She has gotten lots of reading time out of it since Christmas and it will be fun to hold on to for future generations.



4. It was my entire childhood in one book. I blissfully recalled the Barbies I had, and dreamed about the Barbies I wish I had. I can't imagine a more complete book than this!



5. This book is fantastic! Not only is it a great coffee table book , it is also wonderful for the Barbie Collector with reproductions of the fan club letter from long ago and lots of other memorabilia .

1 comments about Barbie Doll Photo Album 1959 to 2009.

1. Book has alot of pink/grocery store versions, very little collectible dolls, Missing alot of dolls, from 2006 - 2009. VERY LITTLE details. Convention dolls are in this book for the 50th anniversary but prior convention dolls are missing???? Vintage doll collectors will be thrilled with book. Alot of vintage pictures never seen in prior books. Photos are much bigger than prior book versions which is nicer! There is a little bit of everything from 1959-2009.