Sell Your Collection & FAQ

Number 1 Barbie

Many people believe they have one of the first Barbies, a Number 1 ponytail. Here is a short course in how to identify what you have.

1. Look at her eyes. The number 1 has no color in her eyes and the irises are black and white. Only the blonde and the brunette were available when it first came out, however there were twice as many blondes made as the brunette.
2. Check is if it has holes in the feet with copper tubing in them. They did this so that it would be able to be mounted on it’s stand, which only had two small pegs coming out from the base.
3. Check the stamp on the bottom/butt. For the first few Barbies they had “Barbie TM” on the first line and “Pats. Pend.” on the second line. If this isn’t what you have, you may have one of the other ponytail Barbies that look very similar to the Number 1.

Number 2 Barbie
Practically identical to the Number 1, except that it did not have holes in the feet. She also comes with a black wire stand that attaches to the black base. This doll was only manufactured for only three months, making it much harder to find.

Number 3 Barbie

Issued in 1960 and had a softer look to it. It’s eye brows were curved instead of being arched. The eyes were now blue with a blue or brown eye liner on the upper lids.

Number 4 Barbie
Identical to the Number 3, except it was made from vinyl, which retained it’s tanned flesh tone. The arms and legs were more rubbery than the later Barbies and she only came with blue eye liner.

Number 5 Barbie

Made of a harder, stiffer plastic material. It came in a wide variety of hair colors with the hair being coarser and firmer in texture. The Number 5 sometimes developed a “greasy face” over time due to a particular chemical that was used in production.

Number 6 Barbie

The final ponytail that was made, was nearly identical to the Number 5 Barbie except for the “greasy face” problem. The lip and nail polish now varied from bright red to pink. It was dressed in a red jersey swimsuit.

Once upon a time in faraway Germany existed a cartoon character named Lili.

This playgirl was a regular in the comic strips of Das Bild, a German tabloid of similar repute as The Enquirer. The Lili doll, 11.5 inches with buxom breasts, was intended to be an adult male’s sex pet and was sold in tobacconists and bars. The blond German beauty came in two different (sexy) outfits: the child-like baby doll lingerie look and the tight leggings/bare midriff bad-girl look. The overseas market for Lili was not very promising. They could only sell a couple to a specialty import doll store in Beverly Hills. Poor Lili.

Mattel, by this time (1958), had become a leading maker of action toys for boys and saw Lili as a perfect way to even the market and collect more parents’ money. Barbie is perhaps the most famous and most popular doll in the world, being sold in every single country in the world and sparking an enormous number of copies. As history reports, Mattel toy manufacturers Ruth and Elliott Handler and their two children, Barbara and Ken, were on holiday in Europe when they saw an adult fashion doll in the window of a toy store in Switzerland. The doll was called “Lili” and was based on a sexy cartoon character in a popular German newspaper. The Handlers purchased several of the vampish-looking dolls and Mrs. Handler was soon inspired to create a fashion doll with an extensive wardrobe, which she named “Barbie” after her own daughter.

The similarity in appearance between the number 1 Barbie and the Lili doll becomes very clear when they are placed side by side. Their facial features are almost identical as are their hairstyles, although the Lili is blonde and Barbie was a classic brunette. After buying all rights to Lili and various studies of the market, they transformed blonde sexpot Lili into brunette Barbie, the paradigm for little girls. In a study where 100 mothers and daughters were shown the Barbie separately, nearly all the mothers said that the Barbie Dolls were too mature looking and didn’t want their children playing with them (let alone buying them). Nearly all of the girls in the study said that they loved the doll and wanted to own one.

There are two possible answers to your question.

The first answer is the list of dolls actually sold in 1966:

• Bend leg/American Girl blonde or brunette, two different shades, two different hair parts, with Color Magic face, sold only in Japan
• Color Magic black/red hair, two different boxes
• Color Magic blonde/red hair, two different boxes
• Color Magic gift set
• Sew Free Wardrobe gift set

The above dolls were all made in Japan. They are very rare and can sell between $500 and $1,000 if in mint condition.

The second answer is more complicated:

Mattel had the Twist N Turn waist for the Barbie doll patented in 1966, and that design of waist/body was used for dolls sold between 1967 and 1999. In other words, if you bought a doll that was new for sale in the stores in 1999, removed her from her box and undressed her, she would have the 1966 patent date on her backside. Hundreds of millions of dolls out there have the 1966 date on their behinds but that doesn’t mean the doll was sold in 1966. A better gauge of the doll’s age is to look at the country of manufacture:

• 1959-1972 JAPAN
• 1968-1970, 1989-1990 MEXICO
• 1970-1987 HONG KONG
• 1970-1987 TAIWAN
• 1973-1978 KOREA
• 1978-1988 PHILIPPINES
• 1986 to present CHINA
• 1986 to present MALAYSIA
• 992 to present INDONESIA

A nude, played with doll with the patent date of 1966 can sell for 25 cents and up.

Barbie Clones

Beware of the look alike dolls as they look very similar to some of the original Barbies. Most of them are made from a much thinner material and have the black and white irises, just like the Number 1 Barbies.

• NRFB – Never Removed from Box
• NRFP – Never Removed from Package
• MIB – Mint in Box
• MIP – Mint in Package
• MOC – Mint on Card
• NM – Near Mint – Stiffness still in fashion‚ doll not played with
• EX – Excellent – Played with, still some life there; no problems, unless specified
• VG – Very Good – Played with quite a bit, but still nice
• G – Good – Played with a lot
• F – Fair – Pretty much problematic
• P – Poor – Problems but could come in handy

• C – Complete
• A/C – Almost complete
• O/W – Otherwise
• S/S – Swimsuit
• JOOP – Just out of package
• W/O – Without
• ORIG – Original
• RT – Retouched
• O/O – Original outfit

Our shopping cart is secured by SSL so, yes it is. A few things to look for to make sure your information is secure is the padlock and or the letters “https” at the beginning of the web address. All addresses on the internet will start with “http”, however it is the “s” after that which lets you know that it is secure.

We all forget our passwords at some point in time. If this happens, go to My Account and click the Forgotten Password Link and the system will automatically send it to your email address. Please do not email us asking for your password, we do not physically have it, they are all stored confidentially on our host server.

All in stock items are shipped out within 1-3 business days once the order is placed. Delivery time will depend on the method you’ve selected for the item to be shipped. We ship through USPS.

Yes, Marl & B ships thousands of dolls a year all over the globe.

Our online ordering system can give you the most accurate shipping rates for your country. Simply add the items to your cart and proceed to the checkout. You will then be given your shipping options and the rates for each method.

We do our best to ship out perfect boxes, but due to the nature of cardboard and paper boxes, we cannot guarantee undamaged boxes. If any items arrive damaged, we can put in a claim with USPS, and see what we can do about getting you a replacement.

Of course, you can select the payment method of your choice once you go to your checkout screen. We will send the order out as soon as we receive your payment.

We accept all major credit cards in use today. There are some cards in use overseas that may not be valid in the USA. If you have doubts, please email us and we will be able to answer any questions for you.

Yes, the plan is only available for orders over $150. It is half down and the remaining balance in 30 days. Please keep in mind that any Vintage order that is placed on layaway will not have the 5 day return privilege like a normal vintage order would. If you decide to cancel your layaway, you will forfeit your monies paid. We only accept returns on Vintage fashions and dolls. We DO NOT accept returns on Bargain Basement items, jewelry, or adult clothing.

We Do Not have a toll free number. Our telephone number is: +1 941-751-6275.

Of course. We all know how nice it is to speak to an actual person versus an automated system or computer. There is someone available Monday through Friday 10 am to 5 pm Eastern Time USA.

If you refuse a package and it is returned to us you will be held liable for the shipping charges both out to you and back to us. If the package is received damaged we will not issue a credit we will file a damage claim to be approved to be reimbursed.