The toy maker has donated 17 dolls and a few other pieces to try to ease the loss.
“Losing a 17-year collection of carefully curated, special edition and unique dolls in such a terrible circumstance is something we would never want anyone in our Barbie community to go through,” Mattel vice-president and country manager Paul Faulkner said.
The owner of the stolen dolls had been collecting the iconic dolls, which were all still in their original packaging, for 12 years.
The dolls were released between 1970 and 2017 and are estimated to be worth more than $15,000, with many among the collection being rare varieties.
Mr Faulkner said Mattel had donated a range of Signature and Barbie the Movie dolls to the woman.
One of the Barbies Mattel has donated to the woman.
They include one from Barbie’s sapphire anniversary collection, and the Tommy Hilfiger and Gigi Hadid doll — both of which had only very limited quantities available in the Australian market.
“Nearly all of the dolls donated are part of our Signature collection, which are highly sought after by the collector community,” Mr Faulkner said.
“One of the dolls was the sapphire anniversary Barbie fashion model collection doll, which was launched last year to honour the momentous occasion of the 65th anniversary of Barbie.”
Mr Faulkner said the Mattel team was devastated to hear about the loss of the dolls in the media and wanted to do something to inspire the owner to continue her love for collecting Barbie dolls.
“We are thrilled to hear she is happy with her chance to rebuild her beloved collection,” he said.
The search for the stolen Barbies continues, with police confirming no arrests had been made and none of the dolls had been recovered.
Police said entry was forced into the home between Thursday, December 5 and Wednesday, December 11, and the Barbies, Elvis Presley collectables and a Jack Daniels esky were stolen.
Shepparton Crime Investigation Unit’s Detective Acting Sergeant Lance Wiltshire urged anyone with information about the theft to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or crimestoppersvic.com.au
“We’re still sure someone knows something and has some information,” he said.
“Tatura is a fairly small place — if someone has 150 Barbie dolls, someone’s got to know about it.
“We just need that information to filter through to police.”
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