Steffies of the 1970s

Check out my latest video on YouTube or embedded right above. I've gone through many of the US-released Steffie-faced dolls released between 1979 through 1980. I hope you enjoy this video podcast. It's just a little over three minutes.

1965 American Girl Barbie Doll, Stock #1070

The 1965 American Girl Barbie doll has a short pageboy style haircut with a center part. She came in a number of hair colors including variations of blonde, brunette, and titian. The American Girl Barbie pictured here has a box marked as "pale blonde". Later issues of this doll include long-hair and sidepart versions. There are also American Girl Barbie dolls which were exclusive to the Japanese market and had pink skin tone.

This Barbie has bendable knees which the box refers to as "lifelike bendable legs". Her skin tone is tan. Her side-glancing eyes are blue and she has molded lashes and curved eyebrows. There are a wide variety of lip colors. She was dressed in a multi-striped and turquoise one-piece swimsuit that is tagged with a black and white Barbie label. The striped portion of the swimsuit is cotton and the bottom section is knit. She has matching turquoise open-toe shoes one of which is marked Japan on the sole. Other accessories include a gold-wire stand and a fashion booklet.

Both the finger and toenails are painted coral. The toenail polish is often missing on played-with dolls. Her body markings are: c. 1958 Mattel, Inc./US Patented/US Pat Pend.

There was a foil tag on the right wrist.

The American Girl Barbie box was not wrapped in cello but there was a piece of cello on the doll's head. The graphics on the box sides include depictions of Barbie wearing Slumber Party, Golden Evening, Skater's Waltz, Student Teacher, Modern Art, Disc Date, Poodle Parade, Matinee Fashion, Learns to Cook, Jr. Designer, On the Avenue, and Holiday Dance. These are all highly coveted 1600 series fashions any of which look wonderful on an American Girl Barbie doll. Current market prices for short hair American Girl Barbie dolls are approximately $125 for a played with doll with some flaws to $795 for an NRFB example.

1961 Flocked Hair Ken Doll, Stock #750

Barbie's boyfriend Ken was introduced in 1961 and, for the first year, had "flocked" hair (fuzzy headed). This hair flocking easily rubbed off so Mattel changed Ken to a molded hair model in 1962. The hair colors available that first year were blonde, brunette, and a rare brownette color. Ken had blue forward-glancing eyes, mauve lips, and brown eyebrows.

He was made of hard plastic with a hollow torso marked: Ken T.M./Pats. Pend./c. MCMLX/by Mattel, Inc. He was dressed in bathing trunks, sandals, and sometimes a red and white beach jacket. The trunks were a solid red knit or red cotton with a white stripe up the sides, solid red cotton. The sandals are cork with a red vinyl strap. Other accessories included a fashion booklet, black wire stand, blue foil wrist tag, and a yellow towel (not found with all Ken dolls).

The box liner is in two pieces and is made of cardboard. The box top graphics consist of drawings of Ken in several of his early outfits including Saturday Date, Campus Hero, Tuxedo, Dreamboat, In Training, Terry Togs, Sleeper Set, and Casuals. There are also three drawings of Barbie doll in Enchanted Evening, Friday Night Date, and a coral swimsuit. Note that the black and white trunks depicted on Ken were never produced. Earlier boxes show the black and white trunks, later boxes depict Ken in red trunks. Boxes may or may not be marked as to hair color.

My flocked hair Ken came with his original store receipt from Grant's department store for $1.88 and was purchased on September 14, 1961. If you'd like to add a flocked hair Ken doll to your collection today it will set you back a bit more at about $20 for a nude Ken to approximately $175 for a boxed Ken with all the accessories.

Encyclopedia of Barbie Doll Family & Friends Licensed Products

This book is without a doubt the most comprehensive and accurate vintage Barbie reference book ever published. It is over 500 pages long, hardcover, and contains thousands of full-color photos. Many of the illustrated items are rare. Topics include vinyl products, playsets, musical toys, paper dolls, coloring books, furniture, and more. This is a must have for any vintage Barbie collector. Available from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble bookstores, and on Ebay.