Due to the overwhelming response to the bestselling Collector's Encyclopedia of Barbie Doll Collector's Editions, Collector Books has produced this all-new second edition. Over 150 new dolls have been added to this volume, bringing the total number of dolls and fashions featured in this book to over 1,000. This up-to-the-minute book includes such recent releases as the Barbie 2007 annual doll, the 2007 Hollywood Silkstone Barbie collection, and the 2007 Wizard of Oz Barbie collection. The Holiday Barbie series is shown in its entirety, including the latest editions designed by the legendary Bob Mackie. Some of the other favorite series shown in their entirety include the Dolls of the World Collection, the Barbie Fashion Model Collection, the Hollywood Legends Collection, the Porcelain Barbie Collection, and every national Barbie Collectors' Convention set since the first in 1980. All Platinum Label Barbie dolls (dolls produced in quantities of less than 1,000 dolls worldwide) are found in this book, along with a large selection of priceless one-of-a-kind Barbie dolls produced for charity functions. A helpful index allows readers to research dolls by name or series. 2008 values.

Introduced to Barbie doll as a child, J. Michael Augustyniak played with his older sisters’ Barbie dolls alongside traditional boys’ toys such as Mego superhero dolls and the original Kenner Star Wars action figures. His most beloved childhood doll, a gift from his Grandma Clara, was the 1976 Ballerina Barbie doll, which was the first new Barbie doll Michael owned. Childhood toys are often discarded, but seldom forgotten, so Michael’s love for Barbie was rekindled soon after high school graduation in 1988, when a clearance-priced Rocker Derek doll wearing a gold stage costume proved too tempting to resist. At this time, Michael was working at his first job as an associate with Kohl’s department store, and he marveled at how Mattel’s dolls reflected current fashion trends; California Dream Ken doll’s fish necktie looked similar to the novelty neckties sold at Kohl’s! While briefly concentrating only on Ken dolls, the magnificence of the 1988 Happy Holidays Barbie proved irresistible, and an ensuing job at Sears prompted the collecting of Sears Exclusive Barbie dolls. Within a few years, Michael owned thousands of dolls and fashions. He has attended 13 national Barbie Collectors’ Conventions since 1991.

Michael earned his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in 1992 with a double major in English and social studies, and he has continued working toward a master’s degree. He put his love of writing and photography to use as a staff member of Barbie Bazaar magazine beginning in 1995. He also contributed to Dolls in Print magazine, where he collaborated on the first collectors’ fashion doll photo soap opera, Pink Intentions, from 2000 to 2001. Michael was promoted to Barbie Bazaar price-guide editor in 2002 and is now considered a leading authority on Barbie doll, sharing his views on collecting to various radio shows over the years.

Michael’s books include The Barbie Doll Boom (1996), Thirty Years of Mattel Fashion Dolls (1988), the best-selling Collector’s Encyclopedia of Barbie Doll Exclusives and More (1997, 2000, 2001, 2004), Collector’s Encyclopedia of Barbie Doll Collector’s Editions (2005, 2008), and Barbie Doll Around the World (2007).