my version of the Taipei Collection Barbie
Some goofy 80's style Mexican clones... check out the blonde, she has Brenda from 90210's face mold!
Spain's 5o Aniversario Barbie
De Moda from Venezuela... thanks Bri!
blonde PB Store bride
Valerie Tahitiana from Mexico
1993 Filipina Barbie
Mexican Steffie faced Barbie clone
1988 Spain 10th Anniversary Barbie
Never featured in any book or magazine (to the best of my knowledge) is the very rare Wet and Wild Withney from Venezuela.
Passeio Viky from Brazil
an Argentinan Rock Star Barbie
Swapna Sundari Barbie, part of the Expressions of India series
These are my PB (Pretty Bunny Store) Barbie from Japan, my Kiddyland kimono, a Korean dress, and Oshogatsu I Barbies.
This is a pirated mold Barbie I found on a recent trip to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and a pirated mold Ken owned by my good friend, Lori Cacciatore.
Here are three hard to find foreign Barbies: Passeio Barbie from Brazil, Hawaiian Superstar from France, and New Wave Barbie from Brazil. Read below for details...
The main type of foreign dolls I am going to focus on is licensed dolls made by other companies in cooperation with Mattel. Good books to see pictures of these dolls in are the Barbie Doll Boom book by Augustniak, and S. Deutsch's book First 30 Years Of Barbie.
Mattel started licensing dolls out to foreign countries as early as 1961. Most of these dolls are the same as their American counterparts. This section is about licensed foreign dolls from 1961 to the present. Some countries such as Germany, Australia, and Japan had dolls which were never released in the United States.
LIST OF COUNTRIES AND THEIR COMPANIES:
Most of these countries began selling licensed Barbies in the 1980's. Those countries which had different Barbies than in the United States before 1980 are noted in their listing by an underline. In other words, if you only collect vintage Barbies, look for the underline!
PERU - BASA COMPANY Not much is known about these dolls. If you have any information, please email me.
BRAZIL - ESTRELA COMPANY These dolls are incredibly detailed, with elaborate facial painting and often, jointed wrists. Some of the earlier dolls from the 1980's are VERY WILD! Some examples of these dolls from my collection are New Wave Barbie with pink and blue hair, Passeio Barbie with a yellow overcoat and reddish brown hair, Ciclista with ash brown hair and a motorized bicycle (with training wheels!) Most of these dolls are worth over $100, especially those with jointed wrists or Lia and Viky, friends of Barbie who are only available there.
ARGENTINA - TOP TOYS There are only a few dolls I know of from Argentina, but I'm sure there are more. Some examples are Kenny Rock Star, Hawaii Barbie (similar to the US Tropical), and Felices Fiestas, a wild Happy Holidays barbie in a pink and iridescent dress. Value $50 up.
VENEZUELA - ROTOPLAST COMPANY These dolls are usually in ballgowns and have unique eye color/hair color combinations. Some from my collection are Miss Barbie with purple eyes and brown hair, and Emerald Barbie with blonde hair and green eyes. A very popular doll by Rotoplast is their Llanera Barbie (which means sheep herder.) She has a peasant gown and brown hair. Ken is also available; one interesting Ken is Olimpico Ken, who has the Derek face mold and dark tan skin. Whitney was available as Withney, with long brown hair, pale pink lips, and tan skin. These dolls usually sell in the $75-$100 range.
INDIA - LEO COMPANY These dolls usually are made from a plastic which is slightly translucent. Their painting is different than those in the US, and often their outfits are those styles which are traditional in India such as saris. Some of their dolls are blonde but they still look different than American versions. The most common doll from India at the moment is the Happy Birthday Barbie with purple and blue eyeliner. Most of these dolls sell in the $35-60 price range, with brunettes on the higher end of the price range. A recent collection from India is the Expressions of India series, with Rajasthani, Punjabi, and Swapna Sundari among others. These dolls usually sell for $75-100 because of their intricacy.
PHILLIPINES - RICHWELL PHILS These Barbies are very desirable. Most have dark skin, brown eyes, and brunette hair, and some are produced in editions as low as 500! Some have elaborate embroidered gowns, others wear highly detailed ethnic costumes. I have a blonde from the Private Collection series with wild eyeshadow and a sixties style minidress, and a 1991 Filipina in a hand woven pink embroidered gown. These dolls can go from $60-$300, depending on the limited run of the series. A new Phillipine series are the Santacruzans, the first religiously affiliated Barbies (Catholic).
SPAIN - CONGOST COMPANY These are usually blondes with different facial painting and outfits. The most popular doll from Spain is the 10 Aniversario, with a red gown designed by Pertegaz. Prices run from $75 to $200. These dolls are quite hard to find.
AUSTRALIA - VARIOUS COMPANIES INCLUDING RICHWELL PHILS - They always get the strangest dolls. In the late 1960's and early 1970's they had some Canadian exclusives and also Hair Happenin's Barbie in a different outfit with a standard Barbie body. They also had Barbies that came in blister packs wearing earlier outfits, such as Truly Scrumptious without nail polish and Redhead Twist and Turn Barbies in outfits like Floating Gardens and Magnificence! It seems that Mattel wanted to use Australia as a dumping ground for leftover parts. Some examples of newer licensed dolls are Miss Barbie in a tartan skirt, and Safari Barbie from the 1980's. Price range $30up.
MEXICO - MATTEL MEXICO Their exclusive dolls from the late 1970's
are my personal favorites! They have an exclusive friend doll named Valerie from the mid to late 1970's who is very rare
and worth up to $250. There was also an ash blonde Quick Curl Barbie with different facial painting and the Steffie face mold released in Mexico. Also available were Spanish Talking Barbie and Ken in the late 1960's. On a trip to Mexico in 1987, I found a P.J. paper doll book from 1970! I think there is still much to be learned and found in Mexico from and about the vintage era.
In more recent times Mexico usually has the European exclusives with slight clothes
variations and different face paint. Also in Mexico sometimes people steal
Mattel molds and make pirate Barbies. These pirate Barbies, especially those with face molds other than the Superstar mold, are very rare and
some are beautiful. They often have exquisite handpainted
faces. One of mine has strawberry blonde hair with purple eyes and gold eyeshadow! (See the photo at the top of the page.)Another is a brunette wearing a yellow dress, and a third has the Steffie face mold. I have also heard from my friend Lori that there are also pirated Kens in elaborate handmade Mexican attire.
GERMANY - MATTEL GERMANY - The most desirable vintage exclusive German doll is German Francie, released in the early 1970's. There are two versions,one with a twist and turn straight leg body and another with busy hands. She has a very large head with blonde hair and blue eyes. In the mid 1970's Germany also had other Barbies and Skippers which were exclusive to Europe, and outfits as well. It should be noted here that whereas booklets were not produced in the mid 1970's in the US, they were produced continuously in countries such as Germany and Italy. Most of the newer exclusives are blondes who have different outfits and
boxes than American dolls from the same year. Examples are 1981 Disco Barbie
with a gold shirt and shorts outfit, and the Stacey face mold! Also available in Germany were
Friendship Barbie with the short pink dress in 1990, and the Vedes Dept.
Store doll. Prices run from $30 to $100.
Noteworthy: The Teen Talk and Super Talk Barbies spoke different languages
in different countries, as many as seven or more. Joe Blitman has some of
these for sale in California (phone number is in Barbie Bazaar and Miller's)
PORTUGAL - I only know of one or two dolls, but there's probably more. One
of them is 5o Aniversario in a short silver dress. Value is $75 up.
Some dolls are exclusives to all of Europe.
JAPAN- VARIOUS, INCLUDING TAKARA, MATTEL JAPAN, MA-BA, AND BANDAI. In Japan, Barbie was available from about 1961 or 1962 onward. They had many vintage exclusives such as bubblecuts and American Girl sideparts with pink instead of tan vinyl.
There were also exclusive outfits and variations of outfits, such as Midnight Blue in red or pink! A Japanese exclusive friend of Barbie in 1970 was Living Eli, who had brunette hair, a big head, brown eyes, and the same body as Living Barbie. Skipper, Midge, and Francie each were different than the American versions. Francie had blue dots in the center of her eyes, Skipper had black eyes with a white pie shaped wedge, and Midge had
brown eyes with a closed mouth face mold, and a bald head for wigs like Fashion Queen Barbie's.
The licensed dolls from the early 1980's up until last year resembled Japanese animation with big heads and big
eyes. Very hard to find is Japanese Ken, with the big eyes. This year Mattel
is making them and many have the Bob Mackie face mold! Value is $25 to
$600 (for Takara Mink Barbie). Most are worth about $50 to 75.
My favorite Japanese doll is the PB Barbie, which was made using the Nostalgic
face mold. These are worth up to $400, depending on the doll and outfit; the
most common are the brunette bride and the blonde in silver and pink evening
gown and jacket. Hiromichi Nakano barbies are another type of Barbie made in Japan in the 1980's using the original ponytail face mold.
It is important to note here that Jenny is not a Barbie! She is a doll
Takara made after they no longer had permission to make barbies, and are
less valuable than Barbies made by Takara.
KOREAN- USUALLY A GREEN ELEPHANT ON THE BOX- These look similar to the
Japanese ones with different outfits.
SINGAPORE - only one I know of is Singapore Airlines Girl. Value $100
TAIWAN - RICHWELL PHILS These are usually the Haute Couture dolls. One of them is a
blonde wearing an outfit similar to Benefit Ball. Value: $100 Kay's
Collectibles sells these (see Barbie Bazaar)