Customer Reviews

The Collector's Encyclopedia of Barbie Dolls and Collectibles

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This is a must for anyone who collects vintage Barbies and related items. It contains information and prices from the first Barbie starting with 1957 to 1976. It has all marks from those times. Also, pictures with information each year, which dolls were released and what clothes they were wearing. They have a year by year section, with information on other Mattel dolls, Ken, Midge and other rare ones. This is the most informative Barbie book I've read.

I have a substantial collection of reference books about Barbie doll and her world, but I simply COULD NOT do without this book! It is the most complete, chronological breakdown of Barbie & family dolls and that I have found. This book, in combination with Marcie Melillo's "The Barbie Book", will help the beginner and even the advanced collector to identify just about any Barbie family doll from any early (60's & 70's, primarily) era. It even goes into detail about dolls offered in successive years, and the differences in their manufacture, so that, for one example, you can tell to WHICH year your specific Growin' Pretty Hair Francie, a doll offered over a few years in the early 70's, belongs. The text accompanying the many, many photos is succinct and easy to understand, and while many photos are in black-and-white, there are quite a few pages of color photos as well, which detail much of Barbie's clothing across those early years. Well-executed, altogether. One might expect just such an excellent guide from Sibyl DeWein, who was a major player in the Barbie collectibles world until her death just a few years ago. I bought the book because she was a name of such renown & had written it (with a co-author/collector), and I was and am pleased to have it.

I do realize that this book was published in 1977, but it would have been nice to see the pictures in more color, 90% of the book is black and white the rest is a little bit of color. It would have been great if the whole book was color. There are some informative and good explanations of the earlier Barbie's but not all of them are covered, a lot of the Bubblecut's are missing and it would have been nice it they explained the body of the 1960's Barbie doll. Oh well it cost me $6.80.

I am absolutely happy with this purchase. This book is an excellent source and wealth of information on vintage Barbie.
I am glad there was an avenue to help me get this book . Description of book was right on.

While containing mostly black & white photos, the information contained in this book is still as pertinent today as it was when first published in 1977. Sibyl DeWein truly set the standard for diligent reporting of every possible detail about the Barbie family of dolls produced from 1959 through 1976, including head and back markings, correct years that each doll was on the market, known foreign examples, and variations. I suspect that the lack of color photography is what keeps more collectors from embracing this book today, but the facts contained within are timeless.

This was the first book of its kind, and still reigns supreme after 34 years. Many books with flashier photos have come and gone, but they've offered little in the way of new information, and many of them actually contain misinformation. This book, with its humble black-and-white photography, has the most comprehensive and complete information about Barbie dolls from the beginning in 1959 until 1976 when the book was published. It's not as good a resource for identifying Barbie fashions, for that you will need the three volumes of Sarah Sink Eames' Barbie Fashion books. The four books together are really all you'll ever need as a Vintage/Mod/Malibu/SuperStar collector.

I found the book ok i am still just reading through it , i didnt find the photos as good as other Barbie books i have bought