Barbie Is So Much More Than a Movie for These Collectors

For Barbie collectors, some of whom have been die-hard fans since the 1960s, they’re watching a superbloom of Barbie and most couldn’t be happier for their girl. At the National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention at the Hyatt Regency in Orlando in early July, some 850 attendees marveled at how their favorite doll has stepped out of the box and onto the big screen with the marketing machine that is the “Barbie” movie coming out this week. The hashtag #Barbietok has 250 million views on TikTok and Barbenheimer memes, playing off the opening of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are taking off. Tickets to the five day Barbie convention, which can run $475, sold out this year less than seven hours after going on sale to the general public, said Linda Levine, co-chair of the convention, which has been held almost every year since 1980. They’re expecting tickets to sell out again in 2024.