Good Housekeeping Magazine interview with Tim Weeks about Barbie figures

With the new Barbie film about to hit the big screen at the end of July, Wessex Auction Rooms Toy Specialist Tim Weeks recently spoke with Good Housekeeping magazine about the value that may be in your attic…

GH - You specialise in toys! Have you always been a fan of Barbie?

Tim Weeks - Well toy collecting is always based on nostalgia. You tend to collect either what you had as a child – the items that remind you of the glory days of your youth or as I like to put it… the items that your parents probably sold at a car boot sale back in 1988 for mere pennies! Or you collect the items that you so desperately wished for as a child! The ones that got away! The toy that never did appear under the Christmas tree! So, naturally for me, my collecting interests are all based around the tv shows that I would watch as a young boy - shows such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Thundercats, MASK and He-Man. Barbie is purely a professional relationship for me - its all business! While I wouldn’t be buying them…I will never get bored of selling them on behalf of our vendors as they are comfortably one of the top 5 selling collectors toys at auction.

GH - Barbie has been an icon for over 60 years. What’s behind her enduring appeal?

Tim Weeks – It’s not an absolute rule…but the older the better tends to be a loose guide. The Barbie dolls of the nineties are starting to ‘come through’ and have some value now but the closer you can get to the original run of 1959 the better. I would say that the barbie dolls I mostly see at auction would be from the 1960s to 1980s and all perform extremely well. Original clothing is important, is the swimsuit an original? Is there only one shoe? Should there have been a handbag with the model? Having an original 1960s boxed Barbie, in a good ‘well loved’ and complete condition will usually set a collector back over £100 at auction.

GH - Readers would love to know about the models that have increased in value. What are the most valuable Barbie dolls today? What makes a model special/valuable?

Tim Weeks - In recent years we have seen Mattel produce very high-end collectors series of Barbie dolls. When compared to other major toy brands like Corgi, Hornby, Scalextric and Subbuteo who have also released numerous ‘special edition’ models in the last 20 years, it’s the contemporary Barbie dolls that have certainly seen a faster profitable return on investment.

Also, don’t forget Barbies little sister Skipper! A boxed 60s Skipper has recently been selling at auction for well over £1000. Barbie dolls were an expensive and sought after toy so there would’ve been many girls that only had the one doll…the likelihood is that it wouldn’t have been a Skipper, so naturally not as many Skippers were sold on release. This means they are also a little more scarce in the Barbie collectors market 60 years later and can therefore create a bidding frenzy for collectors.

GH - Could people have any of these valuable dolls hidden in their attics? Will they still be worth something if they’re out of the packaging?

Tim Weeks - If I could choose the type of Barbie collection that I would like to sell…sure it would all be mint, boxed unopened and appearing like it was just taken off the toy shop shelf…however this is the toy world and toys were ‘made to be played’ so it is rare to find them in such perfect condition. Due to this, having a ‘play worn’ and unboxed Barbie collection will still create huge financial rewards. Even loose accessories such as clothing, stands, and shoes can be worth hundreds of pounds when sold as a group at auction – something I happily see while wielding the gavel at all my specialist Toy auctions.

GH - What are the important factors to consider when buying Barbies as collectors’ items? Should people seek out rare models? Undamaged packaging? Any things to avoid?

One of the biggest tips that I can give a buyer of Barbie dolls is to check the plastic (or skin!) condition. Naturally old toys will be stored in the garage or attic and therefore dampness can influence a dolls condition. Quite often you will see the arms and legs start to discolour and it can be hard to clean and make good. Don’t be afraid to give a doll the full once over before buying. If you dig your Barbies out of the attic to find this discolouring don’t discard them however! They will still have value, just not as much as a doll in better order.

GH - Which Barbie dolls available today are most likely to increase in value?

If you want to buy a collection of barbie dolls as an investment my advice would be to buy boxed nineties Barbie examples in as near perfect condition as possible. We tend to have a 25-30 year rule in toy collecting and Barbie is no different. The rule is that collectors start collecting the toys they had as a child about 25-30 years after originally having them as a child which means a 12 year girl that had barbie dolls in 1995 will be about to hit the barbie collecting market. I would expect more and more collectors to hit the 90s Barbie doll market over the next ten years which will see prices go up for the foreseeable future. Go and buy them before these new collectors do!

Wessex Auction Rooms are one of Europe’s leading specialists in rare and collectable toys, holding 10 Toy Collector’s auctions each year.If you have items you would like to sell, please get in touch with us via telephone – 01249 720888 or email enquiries@wessexauctionrooms.co.uk.Alternatively we are open Monday to Friday 9-5 for consignments with no appointment necessary.