Why are Barbie houses SO expensive?

[WankPuffins]

Am I missing something?

Dd has got into Barbie and would like a house for Christmas. I was looking at them online today and almost had a heart attack. £200 plus for the dream house that’s just a bit of plastic and not even that big. Even on eBay they are daft amounts - ones with loads missing are still over a hundred.

Can anyone recommend a cheaper version that would for the dolls? I could get her grandparents to get it between the two of them, but there is part of me that just refuses to have that much paid out for a bit of plastic tat.

Laughing at the bookcase Barbie house.

I remember wanting the Sindy house which was probably equally expensive and the furniture for it was sold separately. Somehow my mum managed to get me to settle for Sindy's beach buggy car thing and caravan
We lived in a small flat so it was probably a combination of cost and the storage issue of the house that made her get me to review what I was after.

PMSL at Sindy beach buggy and caravan. I did have both of those. along with a very high-tech Sindy record and cassette player, which really worked (thanks to Granny, who bought things that our parents wouldn't buy). Weirdly, though, they were nowhere near as much fun as the bookcase-and-box house.

We also had a Sindy horse. It's all coming back to me now. We made a hole in its bum so it could pee in the bath.

Get a kid Kraft one! Had ours for 4 years now and they still play with it nearly every day.
Plenty on eBay too.

@imissthesouth My DS (nearly 4) loves Barbie at the moment too. He too has got into it via Netflix, Barbie Dolphin Magic or something. I need to encourage him to watch the others as the Dolphin Magic merchandise isn't on sale anymore.

I'm so glad i'm not the only one, i'd never tell either of my kids they couldn't play with a toy as it was for the wrong gender, yet other parents have told me i'm wrong. He loves barbie!

@Nimello

We also had a Sindy horse. It's all coming back to me now. We made a hole in its bum so it could pee in the bath.

OMG now I'm PSML!

Oh, what fun we had, @Bikingbear. We also performed brain surgery on a Barbie with a scalpel. However, we replaced her brain (namely a piece of cotton wool) upside down, and she was never the same again.

Children are horrid. But I still wouldn't spend £200 on a ready-made Barbie house. I suspect it wouldn't be much played with after Christmas Day.

I made my own Sindy/Barbie house too, when my parents informed me that Santa would not be bringing one. (They were £50 in the 80s Nimello - I remember quite vividly staring at it in the Argos catalogue and willing that price to shrink.) I made a spiral staircase and a settee out of cigarette packets glued together. Ah, the 80s!

Venus you think they were £50 I definitely remember the furniture was extra so that was probably the same again if not more. I can see why mum persuaded me a caravan would be more fun!