By A. Glenn Mandeville

Q: I found this exciting airplane by Irwin at a recent doll show. It is mint in the box and fabulous! I was wondering what you could tell me about it?

A: Your airplane was indeed made by the Irwin company, which made many licensed products for Mattel in the early 1960s. They also made boats, cars, etc. The packages said that the items were available for Barbie, Ken, Midge, and Skipper. The airplane is the rarest and hardest to find, followed by the boat.

This is quite valuable! The last one I saw for sale didn’t have the box, and it was about $2,500. The box is interesting because it is marketed as “Ken’s Sports plane,” but I have seen other packages where it’s Barbie as the lead on the box. What a great find! Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

A. Glenn Mandeville is the author of numerous books on dolls and doll collecting and writes his Curious Collector column for each issue of DOLLS magazine. Send your queries about vintage and modern dolls, with photos, to Curious Collector.

Read the rest of Glenn’s Curious Collector column in DOLLS July 2020 issue.

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