The first Holiday Barbie was released in 1988 and was called the Happy Holidays Barbie. This is what the series was called from 1988 until 1998. Though the Happy Holiday Barbie from 1988 wasn’t technically the first collector Barbie, she is responsible for igniting interest in collector dolls for adults. She started the adult collector Barbie craze of the 90’s as Mattel realized there was a market for these dolls aimed at adults.

Holiday Barbie remains one of the most popular Barbie collections as it’s the series that got most people into Barbie collecting as a hobby. The series has been around since 1988 but it has undergone a name change occasionally. In 1999, the holiday Barbie was called the Millennium Princess Barbie to celebrate the beginning of the new millennium. From 2000 to 2002 the series was called Holiday Celebration Barbie. In 2003 the Holiday Barbie was called the Winter Fantasy Barbie, she was meant to be the first in a new series called Holiday Visions, but it never continued. She and her AA counterpart are the only two dolls in that series, but they are still officially Holiday Barbie dolls. From 2004 and onward, they are called the Holiday Barbie collection.

It all started with one single Holiday Barbie. In the first and second year Mattel issues only one doll: a typical blonde caucasian Barbie doll.
1988 Happy Holidays Barbie #1703
Like the year before, Mattel issued again one blonde caucasian Barbie doll
1989 Happy Holidays Barbie #3523
In 1990 Mattel started with two Holiday Dolls: caucasian and afro-american.
1990 Happy Holidays Barbie #4098 (caucasian)
1990 Happy Holidays Barbie #4543 (afro-american)
1991 Happy Holidays Barbie #1871 (caucasian)
1991 Happy Holidays Barbie #2696 (afro-american)
1992 Happy Holidays Barbie #1429 (caucasian)
1992 Happy Holidays Barbie AA #2396 (afro-american)
1993 Happy Holidays Barbie #10824 (caucasian)
1993 Happy Holidays Barbie #10911 (afro-american)
1994 Happy Holidays Barbie #12155 (caucasian)
1994 Happy Holidays Barbie #12156 (afro-american)

Beside the two regular Holiday Barbies, Mattel issued in 1994 an extra „Gala“ Doll.
1994 Happy Holidays Gala Barbie #13545

1995 Happy Holidays Barbie #14123 (caucasian)
1995 Happy Holidays Barbie AA #14124 (afro-american)

1995 Happy Holidays Gala Barbie #15856

1996 Happy Holidays Barbie #15646 (caucasian)
1996 Happy Holidays Barbie #15647(afro-american)
The 1997 Holiday Barbie line is an odd exception. There is a blonde, brunette, and AA in the lineup like later on in 2012. So far nothing special, but usually the blonde Barbie is the one, that is widely available. In this year it was the brunette and the blonde was a rare variant.
1997 Happy Holidays Barbie #17832 (brunette)
1997 Happy Holidays Barbie #17833 (afro-american)
1997 Happy Holidays Barbie #20416 (blonde)
1998 Happy Holidays Barbie #20200 (caucasian)
1998 Happy Holidays Barbie #20201 (afro-american)
1999 Millennium Princess Barbie #24154 (caucasian)
1999 Millennium Princess Barbie AA #23995 (afro-american)
The 2000 Holiday dolls were the Holiday Celebration Barbie dolls holding a silver Christmas tree ball with the year 2000 etched onto them. „Celebration Barbie is the first in a new series of dolls that symbolize the holiday spirit of the 21st century. She is stunning in a golden and ivory dress that defines a new elegance for the holiday season.“
2000 Celebration Barbie #28269 (caucasian)
2000 Celebration Barbie #28270 (afro-american)
2000 Celebration Teresa #28271
2001 Holiday Celebration Barbie #50304 (caucasian)
2001 Holiday Celebration Barbie #50305 (afro-american)
2002 Holiday Celebration Barbie #56209 (caucasian)
2002 Holiday Celebration Barbie #56210 (afro-american)
2003 Winter Fantasy – Holiday Visions Barbie B2519 (caucasian)
2003 Winter Fantasy – Holiday Visions Barbie C0166 (afro-american)
2004 Holiday Barbie #B5848 (caucasian) green and burgundy dress
2004 Holiday Barbie #B5849 (afro-american)
In 2005 Bob Mackie was the Designer of the Holiday dolls
2005 Holiday Barbie #H8583 by Bob Mackie (caucasian)
2005 Holiday Barbie #H0178 by Bob Mackie (afro-american)
2006 Holiday Barbie by Bob Mackie J0949 (caucasian)
2006 Holiday Barbie by Bob Mackie J0950 (afro-american)

2007 was the first year that the Holiday dolls started using ModelMuse bodies.

In diesem Jahr setzte Mattel zum ersten Model Muse Körper in der Holidays Reihe ein. Die Holiday Barbie 2007 wirkt in ihrem roten Kleid und der weißen Plüsch-Umrandung wie eine moderne Antwort auf „Mrs. Santa Claus“. Um den Hals trägt sie das Symbol des Nordsterns. Die Caucasian Version wurde mit dem CEO Face produziert und hat eine blond gelockte Frisur. Die afro-amerikanische Holiday Barbie hat eine identische Frisur und Mbili Face.
2007 Holiday Barbie #K7958 (caucasian)
2007 Holiday Barbie #K7959 (afro-american)

2008 20th Anniversary Holiday Barbie #L9643 (caucasian)
2008 20th Anniversary Holiday Barbie #L9644(afro-american)

2009 Holiday Barbie #N6556 (caucasian)
2009 Holiday Barbie #N6557 (afro-american)

 (caucasian)
(afro-american)

 (caucasian)
(afro-american)

 (caucasian)
(afro-american)
2012 was the first year where the series started adding a brunette doll to the lineup alongside the Caucasian and AA dolls.

 (caucasian)
(afro-american)

2016 was the first year where the brunette version was more obviously an ethnic / Hispanic doll. 2016 also had a redhead in the lineup, which wouldn’t happen again until 2022. The first Asian holiday Barbie was also included that year alongside the other four dolls.
Die Holiday Barbie Reihe umfasste 2017 drei Barbies – Caucasian mit closed Millie Face, Latino mit Mermaid Face und Afroamerican mit LaVinia Face.
In 2021, the brunette did use the Asian Kira face but she was supposed to be a Hispanic / Latina doll.