Still Lookin' Good at 50! - Holiday Barbie Doll

Each Christmas, shimmering in her sparkly gown is a new Holiday Barbie Doll waiting for you. 2008 was the twentieth anniversary of the collectible Holiday Barbie doll. For many little (and big) girls, Christmas would not be the same without a Holiday Barbie doll to share it with. Many of us have delightful childhood memories of finding a Holiday Barbie doll waiting for us under the tree on Christmas morning.

Following the success of the porcelain Rhapsody in Blue Barbie that was the first Barbie to be aimed at the collectible market, the Happy Holiday Barbie doll was born in 1988 and continued to grace our Christmas' until 1998. She was not produced in large numbers and as a result quickly sold out to little girls and collectors alike. Today, this doll fetches around $500 on the secondary market.

Realizing they were onto something; Mattel designed and released the very first Holiday Barbie Doll back in 1988. With her model looks she had a bouffant of blond hair with a big silver bow. Her holiday gown is made of red tulle accented glitter and a white satin bow at the waist. She was an instant sell out and could be found almost straight away for re-sale at a vastly increased price.

The story was the same pretty much until after 1994, when the 35th Anniversary Barbie doll, a reproduction of the original 1959 doll was released. Barbie fans and doll collectors went mad for this edition and they sold out rapidly and were hoarded. The trend continued and Barbie doll collectors began to covet and collect each Holiday Barbie Doll with the intention of re-selling for a large price.

In order to counteract this hoarding behavior, Mattel simply made more of each doll and she remained as popular as ever just without the craze factor and the excessive price tag on the secondary market. After 1998 the 'Happy' was lost from her title and more individual designs emerged, the first of which was Millennium Princess Barbie in 1999. She was designed to welcome the year 2000 and the new millennium.

This year see's the release of the 21st Holiday Barbie doll. It is also Barbies 50th anniversary so she is a pretty special Holiday Barbie doll this year. She is wearing an elegant pink and gold ball gown with layers of sparkling pink tulle which has pink rhinestone embellishments. Her bodice is wrapped in gold lame, which ends in a large bow at the back. And like the majority of the Holiday Barbie doll editions she is available in an African American model.

The last few years release of the Holiday Barbie Doll, while they remain a beautiful collectible doll don't command such a high price when re-sold. Many can be picked up at discount prices on the recommended value by searching online sellers like eBay.