As you’ll recall, I met Krista while trying to identify my $6 worth of vintage Barbie dolls and fashion doll heads.

Krista’s been collecting and restoring dolls since 1995 when she discovered Mattel’s line of Reproduction Barbie dolls. (These dolls were brand new but designed to resemble the vintage dolls & fashions of the 1960s Barbies.) She fell in love with the vintage looks, and since she’s a product of a family of antique collectors and dealers, she started to hunt for the old Barbies, vintage clothing and accessories — and to restore the dolls themselves.

Krista, what doll started it all for you?

My very first vintage doll was a 1961 Blonde Bubblecut that I purchased at a local antique mall about twelve years ago.

Since I have a background in art and art history, it was natural for me to venture into restoration. Soon friends and family were encouraging me to help them with their Barbie restorations. I thought it would be fun to start a website that covered all aspects of collecting as well as restoring. My site, dollrestoration.com, has been online for over ten years now, and it just keeps on growing.

Do you specialize or focus on specific types of dolls?

Yes, my specialty is vintage Barbie (and her friends) by Mattel. I am often asked to restore other fashion dolls from the same era (Tammy by Ideal, Liddle Kiddles by Mattel, Cher by Mego, even G.I. Joe!), but my main focus has been the Barbies that were made in Japan from 1959 - 1969.

How did you learn to restore and repair these dolls?

I learned my craft purely through experimentation and lots of practice! I have spent countless hours in hardware stores searching for products I could use to repair the dolls. I have a couple of ‘trade secrets’ using products that nobody else offers; one is to remove the ‘green ear’ caused by the original metal earrings having oxidized over time, and the other is to repair nose nips and other vinyl flaws.

My true specialty, however, is face painting. My goal is to restore the Barbies so they look ‘Christmas morning new,’ and yet maintain their originality. Nothing I do to the dolls permanently alters them in any way.

You admit that restoration isn’t for every doll — nor, for every collector.

Most collectors are not too concerned about re-selling, and want their dolls restored to their original beauty so they can be displayed and enjoyed once again (while leaving the doll as original as possible, which is my philosophy).

New collectors who still do not appreciate the dolls’ age and history will tend to focus on every little bump, spot and scratch (often to an excess), and I must gently remind them that these are in fact old toys that were once heavily played with and very ‘well-loved.’ It is amazing that these dolls have survived this long! Just like we do, they age with time, and this is perfectly OK! Even NRFB (Not Removed From Box) dolls age. I restore what I can and I don’t worry about that little dot on the arm, the darkened limbs, faded vinyl, or the shoe stain on the foot (all things that cannot be repaired or should not be tampered with).

I have also found some charming Mattel ‘factory flaws’ that I would never dream of altering. (My favorite is when I find that the hair was accidently rooted right through the ear lobe.)

Experienced collectors understand that less really is more when it comes to restoring the vintage dolls. After all, if we wanted everything to be new and shiny we would not be collecting vintage; we would only buy the brand new Barbies on the store shelves today.

Are there any other sorts of repairs do you feel are either unnecessary or like a car in an accident, when a doll is ‘totaled’ and the repairs are just not worth it?

Yes, for example, it is not worth restoring the doll with a chin which has been eaten away by a rodent; then it’s probably better to invest in a replacement head rather than a restoration.

And if I find that the cost of the restorations are more than the value of the doll, I will advise against restoration. Unless of course this is the person’s childhood doll and it has sentimental value.

***

Since these aren’t my childhood dolls, and the only sentimental value they’ve got at this point is of purchasing them and clumsily trying to identify them, the values are an important part of my decision making process. So first I need to know for sure who or what I have here…

After a long bit of rambling on my part about my complete idiocy regarding Barbie identification and the dolls and doll heads I now had, Krista graded my research. What I have is:

1 vintage Brunette bubblecut Barbie
1 vintage 1963+ body
1 blonde Hair Fair head
1 PJ head
1 Skipper Twist & Turn head
1 retro (not too special) Barbie head
1 unknown retro fashion doll head

What I can tell you from the identification process is that the old K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) applies: Just look at the photos and give your best guess.

When it comes to Barbie and her pals (and likely any Mattel dolls), the copyright information is what will tie you up in knots. The copyright dates are dates for the molds, not production; so looking for those years will drive you crazy. (And I mean crazy!) Follow Krista’s identification advice and look at the photos, and you’ll likely do fine.

That’s what I did and Krista told me my guesses were right on 4.5 of the 6 doll heads I was trying to ID. I count myself as only half-right on the Bubblecut as I was off a year — and that one blonde Hair Fair was a trick question because this ‘Mod era’ head was sold as a head only along with some little wiglets and clips and things. *wink*

(If I would have ignored the dates, I would have had the same answers — except that tricky Hair Fair head — in much less time.)

If you want to learn more about Barbie and her friends, Krista recommends The Ultimate Barbie Book, by Marcie Melillo. “It’s the best guide book I have found and probably the only one you need to study,” she says. I’ll sure take her word for it.

So, Krista, did I do OK for my $6 investment?

Yes, you did not do badly at all! In a sense, you got: one vintage brunette Bubblecut Barbie that needs some restoration, one vintage 1963+ body, one blonde Hair Fair head, and one PJ head (the other three heads have little to no value) I am guessing you could resell them for about $50+. A Hair Fair head alone (in excellent condition) would probably resell for more than the $6 you spent.

Hey look, I came out a-head! Heh Heh.

I guess Barbie isn’t that intimidating after all.

Like Krista said, “As with anything, when one has a passion for the subject, one is motivated to learn. The quest for knowledge becomes exciting and enjoyable (not intimidating).”

I smell another addiction collection starting… Oh, wait; too late. I’ve got more than three, so I guess I’ve already started. Now I need to find out about the repairs and restoration.

Are my dolls worth it? Are yours? That’s for next time.

All photos courtesy of Krista’s Doll Restoration.

After getting so many old empty fashion doll cases, I decided I needed something, or someone, to put in them. So out rummaging, again, I allowed myself to buy a plastic baggy of fashion doll heads.

Four of them, to be precise, for one dollar. (A girl’s got to start somewhere, and, as they say, why not start at the top?)

Only once I got home I realized I had no idea about the heads. Who were they? What bodies did I need? Were they worth anything?

I turned to the Internet. After looking around at fashion doll identification sites, like DollReference.com’s vintage Barbie and friends pages, I remembered why I didn’t have many Barbie dolls in my fashion doll collection: Babs is intimidating.

Barbie isn’t just two-faced — she’s got multiple faces. And bodies. And friends. And wanna-be imitations, and wanna-be imitations of friends. Barbie is so confusing that when I try to find my favorite childhood Barbie, the 1970’s Miss America Barbie doll, I’m not even sure which one I had… That’s sad.

As if this alone weren’t confusing, there are all the condition issues… What’s ‘normal wear’ for a Barbie? What’s horrible? What can be fixed? I know it sounds strange coming from a woman who collects misfit toys, but what is worth fixing on an old Barbie doll?

Frankly, I’ve long avoided Barbie and her ilk because I can’t follow and keep up with all the Barbie lore & identification stuff. Unless she’s unopened in a box, I haven’t a clue. But, every now and then, I wonder… Should I grab that old Barbie doll?

A few days later, despite having recently been made away of my utter Barbie ignorance, I spotted two vintage Barbies at a garage sale. Both had the old hard, non-bendable, legs, and one had a the old face with the hard molded lashes. Each was marked $5, but it was late in the day and I offered them $5 for the two of them. They said yes, even tossed a retro generic fashion doll case in for free, and I took them home.

Relatively certain that at least the bodies were authentic vintage Mattel dolls, I was now more concerned with the conditions of the dolls. There were some dents, broken fingers, and other signs of play.

The older head had faded paint and a non-factory issued off-center chin cleft. Were these fixable things, or did they render the dolls worthless?

I returned to the Internet and found DollRestoration.com. Here there is more vintage Barbie doll information than you can shake a stick at. So much, that I retrieved my roll-y poll-y doll heads to see if I could identify them here.

But quickly, my head began to swim again. Why did the body say Midge — had the heads been put onto different doll bodies? Was this Skipper? Or was my girl’s nose too pointy? Was this a bubblecut Barbie, or was the hair cut or something? P.J. started to look like Midge… And why wasn’t I seeing that blond doll head anywhere?

The only thing I was pretty sure about at this point was that the one doll head, the one with the black hair which was slightly larger than the Barbie heads wasn’t made by Mattel and that she was likely some cheap imitation fashion doll.

OK, I told myself, so what if you don’t know who they are… Are they repairable? Which begged the question: should they even be repaired?

I decided the wise thing to do was to find out — and who better to ask than Krista, of Krista’s Doll Restoration.

Krista entered college as an art major where she discovered her love of art history. She graduated from UCLA’s College of Fine Arts with a B.A. in art history and now applies her artistic talent, research abilities and love of preserving history in the restoration of Barbie dolls. She’s been doing this for 12 years now, and it’s more than a business; it’s a passion.

Krista kindly agreed to share her experience with me (us) and answer my questions.

Are the dolls worth my $6 investment?

Should I repair or restore any of the dolls?

Can they even be fixed?

Will I ever learn how to identify a vintage Barbie doll? (Or must my doll heads remain body-less forever!)

Stay tuned and find out.