Vintage Barbie Blog

YEARS ago, I wrote a little article with a passing reference to Samsonite-branded, Barbie-sized luggage.

I found a few more pieces, and these are definitely OFF BRAND and CHEAP.

On first glance, they look like regular Barbie / Samsonite luggage, but... 

The Samsonite-Branded luggage has a handle that is hinged, and movable (and often missing!), but this one has a molded-in-one-piece handle, though it visually is identical to the Samsonite-branded luggage.  The quality is noticeably cheaper, and it is unmarked.  The red one is marked "Made in the U.S.A." but again, no hinged handle.  The plastic is flimsier and lighter.

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Maybe Samsonite kept making them and just went cheaper on production at some point.  Who knows how long these things were even made.  Definitely 1960s - 1970s, but these were found with 1980s dolls.

I've also never seen this brown color "NRFP," but to be fair I haven't looked that hard.

NONE of this luggage is super-easy to find.  You see the ecru and teal ones pretty frequently but other colors are scarce.

This one at least has proper hinges and doesn't fall apart like the brown one.  Maybe it's legit, but the handle gives me pause.

Clone or legit, these are very fun to collect... you can really use them for storage, or travel, too!

Anyway, that's all!