REVIEW: Barbie A Rare Beauty by Sandi Holder

Title: Barbie A Rare Beauty
Author: Sandi Holder
Format: hardcover, 224 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Source: review copy from publicist
Published: September 2010 by Krause Publications

What a Doll!

The year is 1959. It is an era of one-dimensional paper dolls and cherubic baby dolls. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, there is Barbie doll. Sophisticated and full of possibilities. Barbie changes everything--forever.

When Ruth Handler created Barbie doll five decades ago she not only introduced a wonderful toy for little girls, she helped create one of the most popular and prized collectibles in the toy market. Imagine, Handler's first doll, a Ponytail Barbie, sold for more than $25,000 at auction; a staggering amount for a doll that originally sold for $3.

Barbie: A Rare Beauty hosts an amazing visual feast of 50 years of beautiful dolls, showcasing more than 500 striking photographs of some of the finest and rarest dolls ever created. Author and celebrated Barbie doll expert Sandi Holder presents a banquet of gorgeous vintage dolls, classic fashion sets, prototypes, one-of-a-kind rarities, Japanese fashions, store displays, licensed products and many never-before-seen items in this stunning presentation of the grandest doll ever: Barbie.

Reviewed by Knitz with Catz

Why I Read this Book: I grew up with Barbie. The first Barbie doll I had was around 1961-62. When I was about 4 or 5 years old, my uncle used to get Barbie dolls for me and my sister (his friend worked at Mattel). My mom felt I was too young for a Barbie doll, that the doll was not suitable for a kid my age, but she let me keep them anyways. I would use tissues boxes for Barbie’s bed and my fuzzy bedroom slippers as cars. To get a new Barbie doll or clothes was Christmas (that was about the only time I would get them). Now, I like looking at pictures of the old Barbie dolls; remembering the dolls and outfits I had and reminiscing about my days playing with America’s favorite doll.

What I Liked: The size of the book is perfect, not too bulky. It’s about 10” by 10” and the photographs were just about true to scale in regards to the size of the doll. There’s about 220 pages – smooth, shiny pages, all in color. That makes a big difference. Had the book been in black in white, I probably wouldn’t have been as inclined to pick it up. The photographs were nice, clear and big! Because of the size of the pictures, I could make out all the details like accessories, make-up and other minute details. There is text in the book and I felt that it was just enough, not too much and not too little.

I enjoyed learning the history behind Barbie, including her creator Ruth Handler. I knew some of the story behind the dolls, like that Barbie and Ken were named after Ruth’s own children, but it was nice to get the whole history.

One of my favorite quotes from the book was one from Ruth Handler herself, explaining what she wanted Barbie to be for young girls:

“My own philosophy of Barbie was that through the dolls, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be.”

And that’s exactly how it was for me. Barbie came donning only a bathing suit. I couldn’t afford to get a lot of outfits so I would make my own outfits by hand with my mother. I’d get together with my friends and we’d make up stories with Barbie, to tell our story. She could be whatever we wanted her to be. We would use our imaginations with Barbie, Ken, Skipper and Midge. We even gave them different names.

It was fun reading about Barbie thru the ages in Barbie A Rare Beauty. I played with Barbie from the time I was about 4 years old until I was about 11, which means I stopped playing with Barbie around 1967-68. So it was nice seeing how Barbie evolved through the decades between that time and the present time. The 1990s began the Collector Icon series of Barbie, which seems to be for one thing and one thing only: look but don’t touch. And certainly do not play with! It was interesting looking at the different collectable things, like the Japanese version Barbie. While the collector Barbie dolls are exquisite, they are certainly not a child’s toy. You can’t change Collector Barbie’s outfit or hairstyle; she’s just a collectable item to be put on display. To me, that went against Ruth Handler’s philosophy.

What I Didn’t Like: Barbie A Rare Beauty leans more towards the collectible and profitable aspect of the dolls. The author of this book, Sandi Holder, has been in the auction business for over 2 decades, which is fine (it gives her some authority on the subject matter) but with a lot of the book talking about how much different Barbie’s have gone for at her auctions, it seems like an advert for her own personal business. Some of the descriptions for the dolls sound like auction write ups. The last sentence in each description says something along the lines of “This doll sold for $25,143 at auction”, which seemed self-serving to me. I think it was fine to say that a particular Barbie is rare and why it’s rare but I’d rather her not have gone into prices she got at her auctions. Parts of the book felt like an advertisement on how well her auctions do.

I would have like to have seen more pictures of the early Barbie. And there was hardly anything on Skipper or Francie. More attention was focused on the collectable Barbie dolls, which is a far cry from what the doll was originally created for. Seems like Mattel is gearing towards high end collectors rather than children these days. With the collectable versions of the dolls, there’s no where to go with imagination as far as clothing is concerned. And in the 2000s, Lingerie Barbie was introduced scantily clad in a bra and panties, which is definitely not a child’s doll.

Overall Impression: Once I got past the author’s self-promoting, which didn’t take away from what was in the book, I enjoyed Barbie A Rare Beauty. I enjoyed seeing all the Barbie dolls throughout the decades. I was amazed at the different kinds of dolls that I wasn’t aware of, like the specialty ones. I still wish there were more pictures of the older dolls, like from when I was a child. Sandi Holder did a good job presenting the subject with all that she put into it. Anyone that grew up playing with Barbie, from any generation, will enjoy this book for years to come. Barbie A Rare Beauty is a good book to hold on to; once you’ve read it you’ll want to go back and look at the pictures. And maybe later on, you’ll want to pass it down to your children.

 

Knitz with Catz’s Rating: