Limited Edition Aaliyah Barbies Resell for 3X Retail Prices

Earlier this month, Mattel released a major homage to the late R&B icon Aaliyah. These Barbies were the perfect representation of the star’s style and poise, and they were produced in extremely limited numbers. Collectors, fans, and resellers quickly jumped on the opportunity, and it didn’t take long for all of them to sell out. Now they’re reselling, and we’ve seen sales for three, four, even five times more than what they retailed for. Let’s take a look.

It’s been more than 20 years since the untimely death of rising R&B star Aaliyah. The singer was just 22 when she died, but rose to attention as a teenager and was well on her way to becoming one of the most well-known American artists at the time.

And even though her life and career ended too soon, she’s continued to have a lasting presence on R&B. In honor of her 46th birthday on January 16, Mattel launched a commemorative Barbie doll based on Aaliyah.

These feature a unique face sculpt and highly articulated body. Her clothes are designed on some of Aaliyah’s most iconic leather stagewear, using high quality materials reserved for Mattel’s premium dolls.

As a Barbie Signature collectable doll, these shipped with certificates of authenticity. The Aaliyah Barbie doll retailed for $55, and released exclusively for Mattel’s Barbie Club 59 members on January 15.

These were highly limited dolls, and all of them sold out before the exclusivity window closed. They would have been available through Target had any stock remained.

And to no one’s surprise, it didn’t take long for them to begin reselling. These dolls began appearing on eBay within an hour of selling out, and the prices we’ve seen are pretty damn impressive.

Right now, Aaliyah Barbie dolls are reselling for upwards of $150, just about triple what they retailed for. Early on, we saw confirmed sales for more than $300 at a time, although things would quickly cool off.

Still, this was a pretty easy flip, and a chance for anyone to triple (or sextuple) their money with a few clicks. If Mattel gets to profit off of Aaliyah’s likeness, why can’t we?

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