Hi Harriett,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.

You have a #1 Barbie #850 Ponytail doll, which was one of only about 350,000 made, in the early part of 1959. She should be made of heavy vinyl plastic, with a partially solid body that over time often turns quite pale; she came with both blond or brunette hair in a ponytail (there were three times as many blonde Barbies as brunette ones made). The holes in her feet and metal cylinders in her legs were meant to fit into a black pedestal stand. Usually, the eyebrows on this first edition Barbie are quite pointed ( ^^); the eyebrows on this doll are not quite as pronounced as they usually are suggesting her face may have been hand-painted. In addition, she has side-glancing eyes with white irises, with a closed red painted mouth. Rather than being marked on the back of the head as some later ones were, she is marked on her backside. The doll was issued with a one piece black and white zebra striped swimsuit, black open toe heeled shoes with holes on the bottom to fit on the black pedestal stand with prongs, white sunglasses with blue lenses, gold tone hoop earrings, Barbie doll’s cardboard box has TM in the marking and she came with a pink booklet with Barbie only on the cover.

Dolls from this first edition that sell at auction with just the box usually bring prices ranging between $1,000-1,500; those that have the original 1959-issued wardrobe bring more.

Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia