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This is one of the first dolls that got me addicted to collecting Barbies! I remember having Casey when I was very young so she had to be one of my first to have left an impression like this. I was fascinated with the shiny gold shorts and dangling earring! In many cases this earring has tragically turned many Casey dolls' ears green but my doll avoided that pitfall, somehow. Whew! This photo is from my personal collection and is still one of my favs. 

Casey is Francie's fun friend who shares the same body mold as Francie which makes it easy for them to raid one another's closets! In 1967 she came with rooted eyelashes and super cute chin-length hair. Francie and Casey had a third bestie they hung out with named Twiggy #1185 who was the first "personality" doll based on the '60s top model from London. 

The only difference between the 1967 Casey and the 1968 - 1970 doll is that the '67 Casey with brunette hair may have oxidized to a reddish color. The latter year dolls' hair did not change color so mine must be from that era. And for a blast from the past, here is a 1967 commercial with Francie and Casey! 

Click here to find your Casey doll on eBay!!

1967 Twist 'n Turn Casey #1180 - Values: $350 - $475 NRFB; $175 - $225 mint/no box

Values from "Vintage Barbie Dolls" by Hillary Shilkitus James (2011)
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1967 Twist 'n Turn Casey
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Talking Julia #1128 is absolutely dazzling in this gold and silver jumpsuit. And, you know, jumpsuits are back on trend! Speaking of... I need to purchase one. LOVE jumpsuits. Talking Julia depicted a TV personality, Diahann Carroll. She starred on a show called Julia which aired from 1968 until 1971. Julia was one of the first weekly series to portray an African American woman in a non-stereotypical role. She played a nurse who was a widowed single mother to a little boy, Corey. Julia debuted in 1969 and also came in a Twist 'n Turn model dressed as her character, a nurse. This first doll, Twist 'n Turn Julia (1969) #1127, was dressed in a two-piece nurse uniform but in 1970 it was updated to a one-piece outfit. The doll with the two-piece nurse uniform is worth more.

I was lucky enough to recently score a 1969 NRFB Talking Julia for $120. She came with brunette hair but, as you can see, her hair typically oxidized to red over the years. When you pull the string in the back of her neck, she "spoke" with Diahann's voice! Julia is one of the few Barbie dolls who has her own wardrobe (so did Twiggy). Julia had four special outfits, such as the Sears Exclusive gift set Simply Wow #1594, but also fit in Barbie's clothes.

1969 Twist 'n Turn Julia #1127 - Values: $225 - $300 NRFB; $100 - $150 mint/no box
1969 Talking Julia #1128 - Values: $225 - $300 NRFB; $100 - $150 mint/no box

Values from "Vintage Barbie Dolls" by Hillary Shilkitus James (2011)
1969 Talking Julia Barbie doll / www.modbarbies.com

1969 Talking Julia (from the collection of Lynne Pelzek)

Julia Barbie doll fashions / www.modbarbies.com

Candlelight Capers, Julia outfit, #1753 (value: $150 - $200 NRFB)

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Dramatic Living Barbie and Skipper dolls / www.modbarbies.com

Barbie Fan Club Booklet came with the dolls

Hello fellow Barbie aficionados! As a young girl, I had both Dramatic Living Barbie and her little sister Living Skipper. Unfortunately,  like all of my other Barbies, they drowned in a basement flood in Milwaukee. With eBay, I was able to recreate the majority of my collection. 
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In 1970, Mattel introduced the first fully posable Barbie doll, Dramatic New Living Barbie. She could tilt her head, bend her knees and elbows, pose her ankles, rotate her wrists, swing her arms and swivel at her waist. She could even do the splits! She was available in blonde, titian red or brunette hair (see below) and wore a beautiful gold and silver metallic one-piece suit with an orange fishnet cover-up. In 1971 "New" was dropped from her name and was shortened to "Dramatic Living Barbie." She was packaged in a new box and came in a polka-dotted swimsuit with a matching wrap. Another difference between the two is that the 1970 doll had side glance eyes whereas the 1971 doll had centered eyes. 
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Dramatic New Living Barbie's advertisement touted that she "twists left and right and bends at the waist like a willow." Huh? Bends like a tree? No matter, I had hours of fun with these two! She has pretty, extra-long lashes (no falsies here!).

These dolls aren't super-popular with collectors unless it's a Living Barbie produced in Japan rather than Taiwan. I tried reading the stamps on the bums from my collection but my old eyes cannot decipher the small imprint! 

I watched an eBay bid for a Dramatic Living Barbie (1969) today and it sold for $184 NRFB, and another mint/no box 1970 Dramatic Living Barbie which went for $89 - both great deals for the winners!

1970 Dramatic New Living Barbie - Values: $260 NRFB; $120 mint/no box
1970 Dramatic New Living Skipper - Values: $110 NRFB; $60 mint/no box

Values from "Vintage Barbie Dolls" by Hillary Shilkitus James (2011)
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1969 Twist 'N Turn Marlo Mod Barbie #1160
vintage Twist n Turn Barbie and reproduction / www.modbarbies.com

2007 reproduction TNT Barbie Marlo Flip in Red White 'n Warm (#1491)

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Hi Dolls!

I'm just starting out with my Mod Barbie blog and decided to share photos of Barbies in my personal collection and a bit of their history. This post features Twist 'N Turn Barbie #1160. She got a new look in 1969; a new hairstyle, the "Marlo" flip style... a shoulder length flip, inspired by the hit TV show "That Girl" which aired from 1966 to 1971. I remember it being one of my grandma and my favorite TV shows - along with Laugh In! This Barbie is often referred to as TNT Flip or TNT Marlo. She wore a new diamond-print one-piece swimsuit with a yellow collar. Values: $525 - $600 NRFB; $285 - $375 mint/no box; $175 - $300 average

She's wearing Loop Scoop #1454 (1970). This sleeveless, yellow cotton dress features a skirt with colorful rows of braids below the dropped waist. The dress has built-in panties and comes with yellow chunky shoes. This outfit in mint condition is worth $125.

I also have the 2007 Red White 'n Warm Vintage Barbie Reproduction doll which features the TNT Barbie doll with a flip hairstyle. It is a Gold Label Collectible Barbie doll (limited to 11,100 dolls worldwide) from the Vintage Barbie Reproduction Collection. She's wearing a reproduction of the Mod ensemble, Red White 'n Warm #1491 (1969 - 70). It includes a white vinyl coat with faux fur, a fur trimmed hat and white boots w/ gold ankle chains. Underneath it is a sleeveless color block dress in orange and hot pink. The original outfit in mint condition is worth $250.

Barbie's fashions in 1969 were super mod minis, midis and maxis in bright colors and crazy prints. Barbie's wardrobe also fit her friends Christie, Julia and Stacey. 1969 brought Barbie 36 new outfits and 16 that were repeated from 1968.

Values from "Vintage Barbie Dolls" by Hillary Shilkitus James (2011)
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It sure can be confusing figuring out Barbie’s genealogy! So I pulled together a list from various sources to come up with a quick cheat sheet of how the Barbie family and friends are related to one another. And if you’re particularly interested in a particular doll, check out the individual tabs under “Barbie & Friends” (coming soon)! Their stories are a work in progress for me but, as I discover more, I will continually add to these pages.

* The year denotes when the doll was created.

Barbie Millicent Roberts (1959) – The first Barbie doll was described as a “Teen Age Fashion Model” and her parents’ names are George and Margaret Roberts. Barbie grew up in fictional Willows, Wisconsin. (I love this little fun fact since I also grew up in Wisconsin!)

Midge Hadley Sherwood (1963) – She was Barbie’s best friend and the third character introduced to the Barbie line, following Barbie and Ken. She was paired with Allan Sherwood, Ken’s best friend, when Allan was introduced in 1964.

Skipper Roberts (1964) – Skipper was the first character added to the line as part of Barbie doll’s family. Skipper is Barbie’s younger sister. Skipper’s best friend’s name was Skooter (1965) and Skipper’s boyfriend was Ricky (1965).

Tutti and Todd Roberts (1965) – Younger twin sister and brother to Barbie and Skipper. Tutti and Todd had a female friend named Chris (1967).

Francie Fairchild (1966) – Francie is Barbie’s cousin. In the March 1966 issue of Barbie Magazine, Francie was the daughter of Claude and Lily Fairchild. Some believe that the Francie doll may have been based on the character “Gidget,” whose real name was Frances Lawrence (sometimes called Francie). Francie was such a smash hit that she led the way for Barbie’s makeover and MOD debut in 1967.

Casey (1967) – The second doll in Francie’s size, Casey, was issued as “Francie’s Fun Friend.”

Twiggy (1967) – Twiggy was based on the famous fashion model, Lesley Hornby Lawson, of the Mod era. Twiggy resembled Casey but with heavier painted-on makeup. The Twiggy doll was made through 1968, and Casey through 1970.

Stacey (1968) – Stacey was Barbie’s “British chum,” part of the new group of Talking dolls in 1968. She was later issued as a Twist ‘N Turn version. These are the only two types of Stacey dolls ever made.

Christie (1968) – Christie was Barbie’s first African-American friend.

P.J. (1969) – P.J. was a friend of Barbie’s and initially marketed as “New ‘N Groovy Talking P.J.” To date, Mattel has declared that the initials P.J. don’t stand for anything, that it is simply the character’s name.

Julia (1969) – She was based on Diahann Carroll’s character from the TV show Julia.

Jamie (1970) – Walking Jamie was a Sears exclusive doll.

Steffie (1972) – She was available as Busy Steffie, Talking Busy Steffie, and Walk Lively Steffie. Though the character was discontinued after only a year, she is notable in that none of the three Steffie dolls featured the same eye color/hair color combination.

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Hi Dolls! I’m Lynne and I’ve been into Barbies for as long as I can remember! I’ve been collecting vintage Barbies for a few years now. I decided to create a Barbie site and blog focusing on my favorite years ~ the MOD era from 1967 – 1972. My friends tease me about my Barbie passion (obsession?!) I’ve discovered a lot about Barbie over the years, and I’d like to share my knowledge with you. As I’ve been researching Barbie and her friends, I wasn’t able to find the information I was looking for in one place. I was pouring through books and guides, and searching online for hours. 

My goal is to provide an easy to navigate, one-stop forum where we can share our Barbie stories, thoughts and photos. And, well, to just talk Barbie! I’m going to provide Barbie news, Barbie doll values, history, doll and fashion info, and more! As I’m developing this site, I’m very interested in the types of things you’d like to read about regarding Barbie and her friends. You can reply to this blog or email me at ModBarbies@gmail.com.

I will leave you with an interesting tidbit about us collectors. “Mattel estimates that there are well over 100,000 avid Barbie collectors. Ninety percent are women, at an average age of 40, purchasing more than twenty Barbie dolls each year. Forty-five percent of them spend upwards of $1,000 a year.”

I will admit that I fall into that category, haha. What about you? Let’s talk!

xo, Lynne 
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