The 50th Anniversary Barbie Convention
Washington, DC, July 11, 2009

(Originally written on August 14, 2009)

Even though I frequently played with Barbie dolls as a child and despite the fact that, for the last few years, I've sold used Barbie dolls that I recycled into fairy dolls at local craft fairs and online, I am not currently (as of this writing) an active member of any Barbie fandom either on the Internet or in real-life local Barbie doll clubs. So I didn't learn about the fact that there was a convention in downtown Washington, DC that celebrated the 50th anniversary of Barbie until I read an article about it in The Washington Post in the middle of the convention week. In that article I learned about the major controversy within the Barbie fandom ("Should a Barbie collected by an adult ever be removed from her own box?") as well as the fact that convention participants had paid up to nearly $500 to attend this week-long convention.

A couple of days later, I read an announcement in The Washington Post that the last day of the convention was being opened up to the general public for the admission price of $7.

When I arrived, I learned that for $7 you only get admitted to the showroom floor since the workshops and panels had ended the day before. Despite that fact, I still saw plenty at this convention and I even shot a video of it, which you can see below. I learned that there was a very active marketplace that had sprung up around the Barbie doll fandom--ranging from special limited-edition collectible Barbies to vintage Barbies to one-of-a-kind customized Barbies to vintage clothes to new handmade clothes, etc. There were even two special Barbie versions of Volkswagens for adults at this convention (one was parked outside the hotel while the other was displayed inside the hotel right next to the showroom doors).

Here is a second video featuring a slideshow of two 50th Anniversary Barbie dolls that I purchased. The one in the striped swimsuit is one that I had purchased a few months before this convention on impulse for $12. I actually carried this doll in my purse to the Barbie convention but I never took her out once I got there when I found out that only the showroom floor was the only part of the convention that was still opened. While I was at the convention, I saw a second anniversary Barbie doll that caught my eye but I didn't buy. When I got home and I looked at one of the free Barbie flyers that was given to me as part of the admission to the showroom, I saw that doll again and I began to regret not purchasing that doll. I found this same doll in a local Wal-Mart just a few days later and I bought her. (She cost just $45.) I decided to make a short slideshow video featuring these two dolls. Enjoy!

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