{"product_id":"1996-barbie-horse-lovin-doll-nrfb","title":"1996 – Barbie – Horse Lovin' – NRFB","description":"\u003ch3\u003eHills Brought Back the Horse Lovin' Concept in 1996 and Introduced Nibbles the Horse\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eHorse Lovin' Barbie was released in 1996 as a Hills department store Special Edition — a revival of the western-ranch concept that Mattel had originally explored with the 1982 Horse Lovin' Barbie. This version arrives with a specific narrative hook: she's the \"Special Friend of Nibbles the horse\", positioning the doll as a companion piece to a separately sold horse accessory. The outfit is a cotton-print shirt, denim jeans with patchwork detailing, pink hat, and braided blonde hair in a distinctly early-nineties western-casual register.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHills department store exclusives from the mid-nineties occupy a specific collector niche — the chain operated predominantly in the midwest and southeast US, and its exclusive dolls had a tighter geographic distribution than Wal-Mart or Target equivalents. The Hills price sticker visible on surviving boxed examples is a reliable provenance marker. Hills filed for bankruptcy in 1999, making this one of the later exclusives from the chain's active period.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eManufacturer:\u003c\/strong\u003e Mattel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCountry of manufacture:\u003c\/strong\u003e China\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel #:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15648\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMelody Likes box condition grade:\u003c\/strong\u003e Excellent — \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0709\/4504\/6718\/files\/MelodyLikes-Doll-Box-Condition-Guide_05303af8-20b2-4137-8091-87f3c51d9668.png?v=1773150063\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eView our box condition guide\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mattel","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47643747811518,"sku":"BARBIE-1996-HORSELOV-DOLL0001","price":134.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0709\/4504\/6718\/files\/1996-barbie-horse-lovin-doll-nrfb-front.jpg?v=1781573767","url":"https:\/\/melodylikes.com\/products\/1996-barbie-horse-lovin-doll-nrfb","provider":"Melody Likes","version":"1.0","type":"link"}