When Bruce Zalkin, a 59-year-old New York native who has lived in Florida since 1976, looks at even the earliest editions of the original 1959 Barbie, he can detect subtle variations that differentiate a doll worth thousands of dollars and one worth pennies.
The very first version of the doll—with downcast eyes, a curled blonde ponytail and black and white striped swimsuit—has holes in her feet so she can attach to a stand; in the second version, the holes were patched up the after children ended up breaking the stands; the third edition of Barbie wears mascara, while the fourth version is the first made from a vinyl plastic blend rather than polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
