1977 SuperStar Barbie #9720

An influential era in Barbie history was the introduction of iconic Superstar Barbie in 1977. She was ready to do the Hustle under a disco ball at Studio 54, right along with Karen and Tony in Saturday Night Fever! Barbie Signature Principal Designer, Bill Greening, said SuperStar Barbie was a game-changer Barbie doll. Glitzy SuperStar Barbie was Mattel’s first major redesign since the 1967 Twist ’n Turn Barbie. The updated head mold featured a new smiling and decidedly different face. Also new were her bent arms but she kept her twist ’n turn waist and bendable legs. She sported a Farrah Fawcett-inspired hairstyle with a flowing blonde mane parted on her left with pretty sun streaks. The first SuperStar Barbie dolls on the market included a star-shaped SuperStar necklace for the child.

In honor of this doll’s 45th anniversary, a vintage SuperStar Barbie reproduction debuted in 2022 for adult collectors. “Superstar Barbie reflected all of the glitz and glamour of the disco era,” Bill recalls. This reproduction (repro) doll is dressed in a fabulous pink evening gown with a glittering ruffle boa. Sparkling “diamond” jewelry and matching pink heels complete her glamorous look. This doll uses the same Superstar face sculpt that was introduced with the original doll. The SuperStar Barbie face mold stayed in the Barbie line for more than 20 years!

The 2022 repro SuperStar Barbie isn’t Mattel’s first, though. For Barbie’s 50th anniversary, in 2009, Mattel produced six reproductions of past popular Barbie dolls for the My Favorite Barbie line: 1959 Original Teenage Fashion Model “Ponytail Barbie,” 1982 Bubble Cut Barbie, 1967 Twist ’n Turn Barbie, 1971 Malibu Barbie, 1977 SuperStar Barbie and 1986 Rockers Barbie. There were several other dolls were created to celebrate Barbie’s 50th birthday but they weren’t reproductions.

SuperStar Barbie’s best friend was 1977 SuperStar Christie #9950 who also uses the SuperStar Barbie head mold. She has black hair with copper highlights and wears a yellow version of SuperStar Barbie’s pink satin gown. Mattel produced a beautiful reproduction of SuperStar Christie in 2021, a year before SuperStar Barbie’s repro debuted.