When Bruce Zalkin, a 59-year-old New Yorker who has lived in Florida since 1976, examines even early editions of the original 1959 Barbie, he can detect subtle variations that differentiate a doll worth thousands of dollars from a doll worth a few cents. .
The very first version of the doll — with downcast eyes, a curly blonde ponytail, and a black-and-white striped swimsuit — has holes in the feet so she can attach to a stand; in the second version, the holes were repaired after the kids ended up breaking the stands; the third edition Barbie wears mascara, while the fourth version is the first made from a mixture of vinyl plastic rather than polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
Zalkin began his Barbieland adventure in his 20s, while running a toy store in Tampa stocked with cast iron. Tonkin replica trucks and antiques. It was the early ’90s, and his team of mostly older women convinced him to focus instead on the intricacies and charm of Barbie dolls.
“They taught me everything about Barbies,” Zalkin said Fortune, “everything I wanted to know and more.
Zalkin has been selling Barbie dolls for more than 30 years, developing a knack for discerning the subtle differences between early versions of Mattel’s star bombshell. But he unofficially sells toys, learning the trade from influential women in his life, since much younger: at the age of 5, his grandmother taught him her hobby, collecting glassware, pottery and figurines in his hometown of Liberty, New York; At age 13, after his family moved to Tampa, he decided it was “old lady stuff” and started buying and selling toys instead.
Courtesy of Bruce Zalkin (2)
His 40-year career as an antique toy dealer now deals primarily in Barbie collections, mostly vintage models with seductive downcast eyes and feathery blonde ponytails. Over the years, Zalkin estimates he has sold $2 million worth of vintage Barbies, through eBay, toy shows, and auctions. While it’s not a profession he encourages others to join (it’s “just not a good investment,” he says), he’s managed to rely on charm, variety and nuances of the doll, as well as its lucrative market power, to create a sustainable market. means of subsistence.
“I’m not really a Barbie collector, I’m more of a dealer,” he said. Fortune. “This is how I make my living.”
Buyers of her vintage Barbies include those nostalgic for owning the dolls they grew up with or weren’t allowed to buy, as well as professional collectors.
“There are kids who grew up with parents who would never buy them a Barbie doll,” Zalkin said.
Then there are specific lines aimed at collectors that Mattel introduced in the 1980s, including limited edition dolls designed by noted artists. fashion designer Bob Mackie And silk stone modelsreleased in the 2000s. These often wear lingerie and, Zalkin says, “were never intended for children.”
However, they are “highly sought after by collectors” and can fetch up to 400 on eBay.
In search of rarities
Spotting the right collections can take some work, as the rare dolls Zalkin seeks aren’t easy to find at garage sales or on social media.
This week, Zalkin saw a Florida woman’s collection of more than 150 dolls, which she decided to sell as she was moving and because her child had outgrown them. Zalkin brought Marl Davidsona 38-year-old friend whom he describes as “the number one dealer in the world”.
Reviewing the dolls, Zalkin said, “she didn’t have any super rare items,” but luckily for him, the majority of the dolls were vintage, meaning they were released before the 1980s.
Zalkin and Davidson spent about $4,000 to purchase the collection. Once purchased, the duo then spent about two hours wrapping the dolls, wrapping them individually in paper or plastic (so “not to damage their hair”) and making ziplock bags containing the dolls’ accessories.
Then comes the next phase of the dolls’ journey: the return to the habitat. “It will take a few months to sort it out,” Zalkin said. “We bought 100 pairs of shoes, all in little bags, which you have to sort to know if they are vintage or modern, because people pay very different amounts depending on what they are.”
Accessories, he says, often sell for more than clothes and sometimes even the dolls themselves, because “those are the first things that get lost or vacuumed up.”
What makes a Barbie worth the money?
The answer, Zalkin said, usually depends on how much she likes it, how rare the edition is and whether or not her clothes have Mattel’s hot pink Barbie label.
“Even today, all clothes are labeled,” he said. In the 1960s, he adds, “Mattel sold pattern books so women could make clothes for Barbies, because it was cheaper than buying Mattel clothes.” »
The rarity of Barbie clothing and editions can mean the difference between a doll worth pennies and over $5,000.
In the 1960s, for example, Mattel released a line of Barbies that were only released available in Japan. Clothes from this line, Zalkin said, “are extremely expensive and extremely rare. I’ve only had a few of these outfits and they sell for thousands.
Zalkin sold individual dolls for $10,000. He recalled the collection of a couple in their 80s – more than 500 “in perfect condition, original dolls and clothes still in their original packaging” – which he sold for $250,000, mostly to private collectors.
Vintage Barbies, and especially early versions of the doll, tend to be the most valuable. An original 1959 Barbie, in mint condition, is worth between $5,000 and $10,000, Zalkin said.
“There will be people who are collecting for investment or who want perfect items, and they will pay top dollar for that,” he said. “Other collectors just want the doll, get it for a tenth of the price, and then they redo the makeup, redo the hair and have the doll they want.”
Of course, the job is not without its challenges. One of the most important, Zalkin said, is finding collections or inventory to purchase. He finds the majority of his business through word of mouth, with sites like Facebook Marketplace and Craiglist accounting for only a small fraction of its sales. He also often buys collections from people with whom he has made sales over the decades he has been in the business, who contact him after life events, such as death or divorce, which prompt them to separate. of their collections.
Greta Gerwig has generated a new batch of collectors
The highly anticipated Greta Gerwig film barbie The film, released last year, attracted more collectors to enter the market. The dolls that were featured in the film, especially “Pregnant midge” And “Growing Up Skipper” (which has a rotating arm that makes her grow and her chest expands) has doubled its price.
“As soon as the movie came out, Barbie sales increased dramatically,” he said, adding that prices still had not returned to pre-movie levels.
According to estimates According to Barbie Wiki, a fandom website, there are over 100,000 Barbie collectors worldwide.
“Older women are the main market, either new collectors, because of the new movie, or older women whose brothers blew up their dolls with GI Joe, or whose parents sold them at a yard sale “Zalkin said. “Believe it or not, the gay male community buys a lot of Barbie dolls, too.”
The key to Barbie’s market power
For better or worse, Barbie is an undeniable cultural icon. She was the centerpiece of museum exhibits and was the subject of a documentary on Hulu. Gerwig’s film grossed nearly $1.3 billion at the worldwide box office, becoming one of the few female-dominated films among the highest-grossing films of all time. NPR reported.
The doll was also a game changer, both for toy makers and for young children. According to a story of British Encyclopedia, dolls were the norm in the early 1950s and often encouraged young girls to see themselves as nurturers, mothers, or caregivers. Barbie, however, was marketed as a woman many careers, such as hospital volunteer, astronaut, surgeon and CEO, with outfits to match. When children played with her, they could imagine themselves in careers that were not adequately represented by women.
Yet the doll maker has been criticized for setting unrealistic body standards. Researchers in Finland concluded that if a real woman had the proportions of a doll, she wouldn’t have enough body fat to get her period.
Between 2012 and 2018, Mattel faced several quarters of falling sales and the criticism continued as other companies made dolls that better reflected the diversity of Americans in terms of size, color, and physical ability.
In the mid-2010s, after Mattel released more diverse dolls, sales increased. According to Mattel website, Barbie is now “the most diverse doll line,” available in 35 skin tones, 97 hairstyles and 9 body types. The brand has since launched dolls with disabilities, such as Down syndrome, prosthetic legs and wheelchairs.
It’s been decades since Zalkin first dove into the world of Barbie as a salesman, but he has no plans to turn away. He recently launched his own auction site, in part to avoid rising eBay selling fees, and has more than 150 toy fairs under his belt, which he runs with his wife, Laura.
“When we attend a buying show, we will be sitting behind tables while people come and sell their products,” he said. “Naturally, if they have Barbie dolls, they’ll go to my wife, who’ll say, ‘My husband makes Barbies.’ I make all the trucks in cast iron.
