Tis the Season for Clearances!

For the next few months you might have noticed all your local stores are putting EVERYTHING on Clearance!!

This includes the remainder of their Black Friday items, stocking stuffers, holiday items, and of course, the seasonal toys! A.K.A.  Holiday Barbies!

Soon it'll be time to put out all the Easter items (Easter this year is April 5th 2015) so sold or not sold, they will be empting those shelves to make room for all their left over Valentine's and after Easter, Easter items!

Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Toys R US, Target, etc... they all do these sales at the same time because they're all competing to get the next items on the shelves FIRST.  You might be annoyed when you walk into your local Wal-Mart and see Easter already on the shelves and it's not even the end of February (I know I always do) but it's out there for a reason.  The reason behind this is because, even though the economy is slowly recovering, people are still buying things ahead of time because they're going pay check to pay check and they want to have things bought and packaged BEFORE the Holidays, rather than wait until the last minute to find out they don't have the time nor the cash.

I personally am just as annoyed as the next person to walk into a store and see Christmas stuff out in August... BUT I'm usually buying my Christmas gifts starting back in June... so really the actual annoyance is knowing Christmas is on it's way and it's like the stores are literally rubbing it in your face that you have 'this' much time to get everything for your kids before Christmas arrives.

I never used to be a Black Friday person, I'd sit at home on that day and wait until the morning... the same goes for sales, I never would actually look into who's having a sale and when, and even though someone was having a sale, I'd say "Well, I don't 'really' need it, I'll get it when I do."  I have a completely different outlook to this now being that person who lives check to check... now I say "I'm going to need that in 4 months, but if I wait I'll have to pay $40 more! Might as well get it now and keep it until then!"  I am also the person who goes out to Wal-Mart and waits to get the best deals... not that I want to and I feel terrible for the workers, but me staying home isn't going to make Wal-Mart change it's Black Friday sale times no matter how much I want it to... there will be others excited for the deal and Wal-Mart knows this, so I have to huff it out for the deals or lose out, those are the choices... whining about the time isn't going to change anything.  (Trust me I wish it would but all I can do is send in my complaints to them and cross my fingers next year they'll do something different).

But getting back to the clearances -  You all should notice that the prices have dropped to prices BELOW what Black Friday offered!  Sure you're not getting a gift for your family member, but $1 instant coffee packages is a huge deal compared to paying $8 per box!  And so are the Holiday Barbie prices which have dropped to $15!!  If you hit the right store, you might even find them for less than $15!!  That's a huge discount compared to the $50 they were charging off the shelves, almost 75% off!  So if you're looking to grab your Holiday Barbie don't hesitate to take a small detour to the clearance isle while you're picking up milk or toliet paper, you might find yourself a huge deal that you didn't think was there!

2014 AND 2013 Holiday Barbie with Ornaments - WalMart Exclusive!

 

So, just after posting that previous blog I went looking for the ornament versions and discovered the reason behind the Ornment and now see that the Ornament versions AND K-Mart Exclusive Brunette will most definately carry the higher value of the series.

Turns out that WalMart had an Exclusive Holiday Barbie too, the Holiday Barbie containing the Ornaments.

So this means that ONLY the Blonde and African American versions carry this extra ornament because WalMart did not sell the K-Mart Exclusive Brunette, only K-Mart carried her and they did NOT have one with this ornament inside.

This being said, the Wal-Mart exclusives will most certainly obtain the higher value along side the Brunettes from K-Mart.

Also, upon discovering this, I also found that last year, during the 2013 Holiday Barbie Release - Wal-Mart had another exclusive ornament release in their Holiday Barbies stock.  So if you find a pretty silver snowflake in the top left (looking at you) with a red ribbon, you have the WalMart Exclusive release!  And the same thing goes for it, only the Blonde and African American versions were released with this snow flake as the Auburn version was only released by K-Mart!  So keep an eye out on the list, I will be updating it appropriately with these Barbies in both the List and the Value chart!

2014 Holiday Barbie - with an Ornament!

Well today I acquired the African American 2014 Holiday Barbie for my daughter's collection, but I was in for a surprise when I brought her home to add to her sisters.

Right away, as I put her on the shelf with the others, I noticed an extra piece in her box compared to the Brunette and Blonde 2014 Holiday Barbie - an ornament!  A beautiful gold snowflake with a red ribbon tied at the top.

Seeing this difference, I immediately went and did some research and low and behold, Matell did in fact release - not only 3 different hair/skin style Barbies, but each of them with AND without this ornament!

So now I will update our list of Barbies to include each of these Barbies with - and - without the ornament!  So, when you go to look at your 2014 Holiday Barbie, check that top left (if she's facing you) corner of the box.  See if you have the one with or without the ornament!  I'm sure it'll eventually come up in price and seeing as the ornament set was released later in the series until the season ended, I'm actually assuming the one WITHOUT the ornament will eventually be the higher priced doll as it was the earlier released... but only time will tell!

Updates to Holiday Barbie Value List

As everyone knows, with time comes change.  This is especially true with all items of potential value.  Now that the Holiday Season is over, prices are what people make them because the stores are selling off their last bit of stock to make room for the new year's items.

Fortunately for the common collector looking to make a deal, this is good news for the 2014 Holiday Barbie as the prices have plummeted.  Not so good though for someone who went out and purchased multiple Barbies for after the Holidays to make a quick buck as they'll most likely lose out on making a profit.

The reason for changes in price have to do with a number of things, how many were made, how many were actually bought, if the product was specially shipped, how many years old the series actually is, etc... In this case, the 2014 Holiday Barbie was a hit.  I, myself, bought several variations of it for my daughter's collection so how many others did the same or just purchased it to make it a beautiful addition to their little one's Christmas collection of gifts.  After all, with it's bright red box with golden decoration you wouldn't even feel the need to wrap it before putting it under the tree.

So, after doing a bit of research I went ahead and adjusted the prices on the Barbie Collection Value List that you can access by simply clicking on the tab above.  I also went ahead and checked on the 2012 and 2013 and adjusted it to meet current demand price.

As a reminder, these prices are just estimates based on my own research.  I find these prices by searching common websites for people who are looking to sell their item, or already have and what they sold their Holiday Barbie for.  Based on their sales all over the net I put together this list with the average price I find so people looking for a deal, know what to look for and when they find that perfect price, they know they're not getting ripped off.

For example, if you went looking for a Holiday Barbie 2013 on eBay and found the Auburn K-Mart Exclusive for $80, if you checked my list you'd find with just a little bit more searching you'll find a much better price at half that price, saving you money but delivering the same Mint in Box Holiday Barbie!

So go ahead and check out the updates on the List and feel free to leave me any questions, comments or concerns you have! Have a Wonderful Day!

Holiday Barbie Values

Holiday Barbie Values - One of the biggest questions I get here is,"How do I figure out what my Holiday Barbie is worth?"

Although I do have a page dedicated to each of the values of the Holiday Barbies in the collection, it still can be a bit confusing and I'm sure most of you wonder where I get the numbers from.

The answer is simple - I get these values through online research.

Now, I'm sure a lot of you are saying, "I don't have time to research all these Barbies, I just want to know what MINE is worth."  Well you're in luck!  Because the fastest form of research can be done right on one of biggest internet sites around in mere minutes - eBay!

That's right, the place you browse through the most looking for the best for your buck can be your key in determining what your Barbie is worth and I'm about to explain to you how to do it.

• Step 1:

Go to eBay's Home Page

• Step 2:

Type in the name of your Barbie (The ENTIRE name, Year and all, so if you have a '1988 Happy Holiday Barbie' you type in '1988 Happy Holiday Barbie' )

• Note - Try not to be TOO specific though - if you start entering in the hair color, or words like 'Exclusive' into the search you'll narrow your search.  Most people don't know what they have or if it's special, so they'll simply type in the year and what's written on the front of the Barbie, which is what you want to search for so you get ALL the results you can.

• Step 3: 

On the LEFT SIDE MARGIN look for a section called 'Show Only'  Under that you will find an option to select 'SOLD LISTINGS'.  Click on this and ONLY this one.

• Step 4: 

At the TOP RIGHT - JUST ABOVE THE LISTINGS look for a drop down box with 'SORT' next to it and select - "PRICE + SHIPPING: LOWEST FIRST"

• Step 5: 

Scroll until you reach the FIRST Barbie in the same condition as your own and observe the price it was SOLD for.




The end result of following these steps is you will have a list, that is dated with the days these Barbies were SOLD and what people paid to gain these Happy Holiday Barbies.

The trick of finding out what your item is worth, is to find out what people are willing to PAY.

Once one of these Barbies goes off the shelves, a number of things happen.

• First thing that happens is everyone calculates what they PAID for their Barbie, (Just so you have an idea, the average Holiday Barbie sells for between $35 to $50 at your local store).  

• The next thing people think about is how well their Barbie is kept.  Big collectors who are looking for good quality Barbies will be the ones looking for 'Mint in Box' listings, but everyone else is just looking for the Barbie in 'A' Box, they're not really thinking about if it's 'Mint' but common sense tells anyone that a Barbie 'IN' the Box is worth more than one 'OUT' of the box.

• Then they determine how OLD the Holiday Barbie is. (90% of all things grow in price as they grow in age.)

• The last thing people do (who are looking to sell) is figure out WHERE they want to sell their Holiday Barbie because if you want to sell it at your local yard sale you may gain more (but it might take more time) but if you sell it online you'll have to consider shipping costs or the cost of the website you're selling it on (such as eBay's listing fees).

This is where people come up with their prices that you see.  What they don't know is that not everyone is going to pay THEIR price and they're not always going to get back what they invested into their Barbie (which is the goal of every collector looking to sell).  The reason this is, is because of one final variable they're not thinking about - Over Production.

While there are many Barbies with a limited amount made, (such as Platinum Label Barbies with only 1,000 made or Gold Label Barbies with only 5,000 made) the Holiday Barbies are made as Supply and Demand dictate.  Meaning if Wal-Mart orders 10,000 Holiday Barbies, Matell will SEND 10,000 Holiday Barbies, and then that will be 10,000 Holiday Barbies your ONE Barbie has to compete with in price.  So you have to put yourself in the shoes of your potential Buyer - If one person is selling their Barbie at $30 with Free Shipping on eBay (meaning the person selling it is only making about $15 out of the deal) and you're selling yours at $90 with $15 Shipping attached - who do you think they are going to buy from?

Now I'm not saying this is true for every Barbie and person trying to sell, you might actually get lucky and sell yours at the $90 + $15 Shipping cost, but the odds are against you if you fight to sell your Barbie at an over-inflated price so it's better to look up what others are selling their Barbies at, and go from there.

Also, just FYI, these steps can work for ANY item you're looking to price.  So if you have a cell phone you're looking to sell, a computer, or even a DVD, just follow these steps and you'll get an idea of what you should sell yours for!


So now you know where I obtained my numbers for the Holiday Barbies Collection Value page I created for all of you to compare your Barbies to.  I did this to save you the time of looking up the information yourself as there are, as of right now, over 60 different Holiday Barbies out there, but if you want to verify the information yourself, you now have an idea on how to do it quickly and efficiently!

Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below you have for me any time and as always - Have a Great Day!

2014 Holiday Barbie Released!

Hello again!  I apologize for the long delay between posts but my newborn son came into the world the beginning of August and as you can imagine, I've been very preoccupied juggling school starting with my older two children and taking care of my newborn son.

But, I am back and wanted to let everyone know about the new 2014 Holiday Barbie that was released!

Like 2013, this one has an Exclusive release with it that can only be found at K-Mart.

There have been years where the exclusive released to Wal-Mart and Toys R Us, but K-Mart has been winning the bid on the exclusive almost 90% of the time.

The Exclusive is a beautiful Brunette release, pictured here.  Only recently has it showed up on their website however so if you're looking to grab a 2014 for your collection, I'd advise grabbing the Brunette first before the Blonde or African American version as it'll be the first one to disappear off the shelves as history has shown us!

However, getting back to the 2014 Holiday Barbie outfit, one of the things that pops out to me first is all the gold flare added to her outfit, as well as the box display as well.

There have been Holiday Barbies in the past that have had a small amount of gold added to their outfit, but this one shows off just as much Gold as it does Red, giving the whole thing an overall warm glow to her that is a welcomed change this Holiday Season :)

I'll be updating her into the Value Price Guide along with her Blonde and African American versions as well and will be grabbing her myself and adding her to the collection.  Very excited that Matell is continuing to add more Holiday Barbies to the collection, after all, the more they make, the more valuable the collection will be.  Each year adds one more vintage year to all predecessors in the series!  Enjoy everyone!

2003 Holiday Visions (Winter Fantasy) Barbie - Holiday Barbie found at local Yard Sale!

I know that I haven't posted here in quite some time, but as stated in previous posts we had to put our collection on hold because of everything that was going on here.

However, it doesn't mean that we haven't stopped looking for these Barbies, and through that causal browsing, we came across a chance find that just proves that as long as you keep your eyes open, you can still find these Holiday Barbies anywhere!

Since we have a new baby due in August and Memorial Day has come and went, the big thing has been Yard Sales, Yard Sales and more Yard Sales (and of course Garage Sales!). 

The saying is true - "One person's trash is another person's treasure!"

You never know what you're going to find at a Yard Sale, but I will tell you the best time to look for them is on the Weekends (Friday Thru Sunday) starting at 8:00am!

There are those select few yard sales that begin at 9 and 10am, but if you want to get the good stuff, you want to make sure you are awake, out the door and at THEIR yard sale by 8am!

You can find yard sales in the paper, advertised on facebook or simply driving around!

Our sole purpose that day was to look for baby items for our new arrival, but while we were searching we came across a yard sale where in front of us stood a 2003 Holiday Visions Barbie, still perfectly preserved in her box!

These are the best kinds of finds because the reason someone's starting a yard sale is to make money and clear up some space in their own home.  They don't know when they're going to get another potential buyer, so you can haggle with them (unless they already have a low low offer that you can't refuse!).

Now, I was in the mood to haggle that day, but when a perfect - mint in box -2003 Holiday Visions Barbie is staring me in the face, and the woman selling it is only asking for $10,  I'm going to give her the $10 because that is a DEAL!

So remember to keep your eyes open during your yard sale searches because you might come across a Holiday Barbie that you're looking for, and again these are the best kind because you can PHYSICALLY inspect that Barbie!  Unlike eBay, where all you have to go by are pictures and the seller's word, you can actually LOOK at this Barbie and see if it's worth the actually price that it's labelled and even if it isn't, you can still haggle with them if it's still in great shape to be worthy for your shelf at home!

We can now cross this one off our list as collected!

And as always, please check out my eBay store here at: http://stores.ebay.com/ArtsyCellCases

We just added new cases to our lists, including Samsung Galaxy S5 Cases and I will begin some Penny Auctions starting TODAY!  (And ONLY YOU, who are reading this right now, have the heads up that these Penny Auctions are coming so you can be prepared and have first dibs on these cases coming up for sale!)

Simply Click here to Access our eBay store now: Artsy Cell Cases!
Thank you all for reading!