Barbie American Girl Dolls are Reselling for Wild Prices

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By RC Staff

06 December 2023

Last Wednesday, Mattel released a special doll. That’s not really anything out of the ordinary, they’re making special dolls all the time, but this one was a special special doll. It was an American Girl Collector Doll based on Barbie No. 1 from 1959. If you know anything about doll collecting, you’d understand that American Girl fans don’t play around. After all of these dolls sold out, they began to resell on eBay for more than double their retail price.

American Girl Meets Barbie

Let’s talk dolls. We’re sure you’re already well familiar with most brands, but let’s do a quick refresher. Barbie is, well, Barbie. The megabrand got its start in 1959 with Barbie No. 1, a doll based on an adult woman wearing a black and white swimsuit.

Barbie would go on to become an absolute cultural powerhouse and dominate the doll market domestically and worldwide during the proceeding decades, right up to now with the release of the Barbie movie.

In that time it has made a shitload of money for both Mattel, and resellers. Just search “Barbie” on our website if you want some examples.

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In 1986, the American Girl line of dolls was created to target the gap in the market between baby dolls and adult dolls. All of the American Girl dolls were based on a girl between 8 and 14, and from a particular era of American history.

Both brands have dedicated collectors, but American Girl fans tend to be the heavier spenders. It helps that most of them start at around $100 at least.

But we want to talk about a specific doll. Last week, Mattel released a new American Girl doll based on the original Barbie No. 1 from 1959. It’s kind of funny to think about it, but this is pretty much fair game for a doll that revolves around American history.

The Barbie American Girl Doll comes with a black and white striped swimsuit embedded with 455 real Swarovski crystals. It also includes a miniature replica Barbie magazine from the era.

Sunglasses, earrings, and sandals round out the look. For a fan of both brands, this was a must-have.

Barbie American Girl Price and Release Date

The Barbie American Girl Doll went up for sale on November 30 through the Mattel Creations website. They cost $300, which had a lot of people doubting if they would sell out.

Mattel did confirm that only 5,000 of these dolls would be produced globally. Ideal for collectors, even better for resellers. Additionally, they were limited to three dolls per order.

The dolls were only available to purchase for Barbie Signature members for the first 24 hours, after which the sale would (theoretically) open to the general public. Given the limited availability and interest in the doll, that seemed unlikely.

Barbie American Girl Doll Resells

Many resellers saw this drop as too risky. The extremely high upfront cost was very off-putting. Other American Dolls usually aren’t this expensive, and even with a large base of collectors it was seen as too much.

Because of this, it was actually a pretty easy product to buy. After going live on the morning of the 30th, the dolls remained in stock for quite awhile. It took around 24 hours for all of them to sell out.

And it turns out that they were actually a great investment. Barbie American Girl Dolls are now reselling for upwards of $600 at a time. Many have gone for more than $700.

Don’t beat yourself up if you missed out on this one. No cancellations or refunds would be accepted for these orders, and that combined with the high upfront cost made for some definite risk. $300 is a lot to gamble on a potential flip, and many would prefer to sit this one out.

But for those that didn’t mind and were willing to bet on the desperation of doll collectors, this ended up being a feast. Remember, these dolls were limited to three per order. If you picked up a full cart, this was an opportunity to make $1,000.

Want to learn more about flips like these? Subscribe to our newsletter! Dolls are a big business for resellers, and we’ve been raking it the last few months by flipping stuff like the Monster High Nightmare Before Christmas dolls, Pink Magnolia Barbies, and Elvira Skullector Series dolls.