RARE Barbie Skipper Titian

Vintage 1963 RARE Barbie Skipper Titian / Red Hair Test Market Prototype Doll. $115
In Very Good Played with Condition.
Cute Face!
Wearing a Pretty Vintage Smock Style Dress.
Has the RARE Heel-to-Toe JAPAN on one foot.
These dolls have the no markings on the neck rim.
She is missing plugs and has very thin hair.
Her ears are pierced, but no green.
Tight Limbs
Prototype Barbies:
Mattel makes prototype dolls and fashions. These are one of a kind test items. Mattel needs to see every small detail of the doll or the ensemble prior to production. Each doll and/or piece of clothing is meticulously handmade and their makeup and hair precisely done by professional hair and makeup artists. They are rare products and very hard to come by. Some people will claim that Mattel uses cheaper workmanship in these test products. You’ll have to judge for yourself! You will find that there may be only a slight difference between the test product and the promotional pictures that came out to announce the new product. There have been cases where the promotional picture debuted and then the product changed. As an example, take the color magic swim suit in 1965. The booklet showed it as a floral suit. But when it came out it was actually a diamond print. Prototypes also do not usually have a clothing label. Some prototypes may have a slight variation in the cut of the garment. Boxes for prototypes may be just plain white boxes with hand written permanent markings on them labeling the doll or labeled in sloppy handwriting. Sometimes you will see variations in fabric or fabric colors. That was because Mattel wanted to use up some old fabric or ran out of their standard fabric and had to use something different to complete the production. Some foreign outfits will have a little different fabric too. Those would not be true prototypes. Prototypes can sometimes be difficult to detect. But whatever the case in the variation, you may have yourself quite the find!