If you’re searching for a 1988 Happy Holidays Barbie you’ve come to the right place. The 1988 Happy Holidays Barbie doll was the first year that the Happy Holidays doll was introduced. As mentioned in an earlier article, The First Happy Holidays Barbie, it was a runaway success. This in turn led to a whole slew of Special Edition Barbies for collectors in the later years.

If you want to cap you’re collection or even start it with this special Barbie it’s probably easiest to find it on eBay. It’s a great time to shop right now because the collector values are lower than they used to be.

However the prices on Amazon are still quite high, ranging in the $300-$500 range depending on condition.

When looking for a Collectors Edition Barbie or in fact anything it’s important to analyze several key points before purchase. The first thing you should consider is if you can trust the seller. Seller trust, especially on eBay is critical because you may lose that hard earned cash trying to add to your collection if you run across an unscrupulous seller. If you’re shopping on eBay you should check out http://www.toolhaus.org/. Toolhaus is a great tool to check seller’s before you buy anything, because eBay’s feedback system can’t always be trusted.

The next step you should do is find out what the actual condition is by asking questions. Pictures are a great way to tell but sometimes a little Photoshop after effect can go a long way… Remember it’s not uncommon to ask the seller very specific questions or for more pictures, especially if something is kind of hidden by one of the pictures.

If you follow these few points you’ll be way ahead of most of the collecting crowd who shop at eBay and will run across some extraordinary deals.