Know any Barbie Collectors?

Growing up, my cousin was one of my best friends.  I remember going to her house and playing Barbies for like a million years.  She had the Barbie house too, super cool!   I tried to remember what age I started liking Barbie (and when I grew out of them) but for the life of me, I can't recall.  My mom recently said she played with Barbies for ages and then her mom joked that she traded Barbies for boys and it was over then!  I was excited to get two Barbie books for review to see the history of that doll so many girls have grown to love over the years! 

FTC Compliant Review Policy:

The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.

A required resource for all Barbie® collectors, this completely revised and expanded edition features new images and updated prices, all in a handy, easy-to-carry-along format. Now over 1,200 beautiful color photos illustrate this complete listing of Barbie through her vintage years from 1959 to 1972, including her sister Skipper® and their friends, relations, and pets. Ken®, Midge®, Allan®, Francie®, Skooter®, and all the rest are here. Never before presented in such detail and with so many images, every picture shows all the pieces originally included with the fashion. Values are given for loose and never removed from package items. The listing also provides each item’s stock number, date, and value.

When today’s Barbie® doll collector puts together an outfit for the world’s most fashionable doll, they soon find out that the bulk of the value lies in the shoes, hats, gloves, jewelry, and other important accessories. This revised and expanded, lighter edition is decked out with more than 1,200 images of accessories for Barbie, Skipper®, Francie®, Ken®, and other fashionable dolls available from 1959 to 1972, including stands and travel brochures. Complete with values and a cross-referenced description of the outfits each accessory came with, this identification guide is an authority for collectors and a fun addition to any fashionista’s library.

I love how it showed the outfits for the Barbies through the years.  I do wish they had more shots (and bigger ones) of the Barbie dolls in the packages.  This was still great though!  

I know I am not the only one that would go nuts looking for my Barbie shoes. Ha ha ha.
This page cracked me up at all the shoes through the years!  

I almost fell out when I saw these pages. I knew Barbie had it all, but I guess I never really thought about "it all."  Dishes, yes... corning wear type and candles?  Never would have thought it.  

My Nana had a neighbor that had polio as a child and was in a wheelchair. We would go visit her and it was always so much fun... Want to know why???  Because she had a massive Barbie Collection and she would ALWAYS let us go and look at them.  She had each doll in their box and while I don't remember her letting us play with them, it was amazing to be able to take each one out of her closet and look at them and listen to the story of when / where she received each one.
I wish I would have had these books back then to compare and share with her.  I know that we would have had so much fun looking through these books together. Sad to say,  I left for college, my Nana passed and her neighbor ended up in a nursing home. College life had me lose touch with her and I could not tell you what happened to her or her dolls.
If you know of any Barbie fans, I think this would be an amazing book to give as a gift. Not only for them to see the dolls of yesteryear, but for you both to enjoy time together taking a trip down memory lane.
Isn't it funny how books can trigger memories?
(Like these books for me... triggered childhood times with my cousin as well as fun memories of visiting my Nana and her neighbor!)