New Look to our Blog

So, after some fidgeting, I've decided to update the look to our blog here!
Seeing as the original was so narrow, I decided to widen out the area to make current blogs easier to read, and older blogs easier to scroll to!

I also went ahead and added an extra section to the left of our blog site!  It might seem out of place, but these Handmade Diaper crafts were made by me personally and are being sold online on eBay and I accept the secure Paypal payment with all of them.

Please let me know what you all think of the new layout and of course, any questions, comments or concerns leave them below here! Have a great day!

2015 Holiday Barbie Revealed!!

2015 Holiday Barbie is revealed! 

Although I haven't found the design listed on Matell's collector website, the Barbies have been viewed on many other well known websites who have been very accurate in portraying the new year's design!

So it's safe to say, these will be the Holiday Barbies for 2015... and most likely there will be an exclusive release as well, however we can probably expect to see that in either May, June or July 2015!!

For now we will at least have the design of the dress to admire.  I lacey deep red dress, typically designed for the Holidays, with a beautiful white snow flake design under layer.

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!