Posts Tagged ‘collecting dolls’

You’re Never Too Old to Start a Doll Collection

by Sandy | No Comments | Filed in Doll Collecting, vintage Barbie dolls

No matter what type of dolls you collect, there is probably at least one special doll that you remember from your childhood.  Perhaps it was the doll that got you started in collecting.  Maybe it was an "untouchable" doll at a relative's house that you just stared at and wished that you owned.  Most collectors have some especially memorable doll that is close to their hearts.


Unfortunately, a lot of us either loved those dolls so hard that they ended up looking a bit beat up or we may have gone through a phase where we thought we were simply too grown up for such "babyish" things.  When one of my cousins visits, she will always stop to check out my dolls.  For years she never failed to mention how much she regrets giving all of her dolls away when she went away to college.  Actually, she sold them at a garage sale.  She was quite a Barbie collector in the 1960s, and she realizes that beyond the memories, she also sold off some very collectible dolls at a pittance.

I have been telling my cousin for a few years that she could always start rebuilding her collection again.  She has always put it off for one reason or another and eventually, I just put it out of my mind.  She finally broke down and bought herself a Bubble Cut Barbie last month as a start to her collection.  You wouldn't believe the excitement bubbling out of her as she showed it to me.  It was just one doll, but it is lovely and it is a start to a new beginning of her collection.

Now, when she visits, she no longer looks sad or depressed about what she lost.  She seems to have almost magically gotten over her previous mistake and she talks about what her next doll purchase will be.  Now that she is older, she is sticking with Barbies but she is going the route of saving up, researching and buying the best that she can afford.  It may take her a while to get back to what she once had, but I have little doubt that she'll get there and enjoy the trip the whole way through.

If you have been putting off or ignoring a collection for a while, there is no reason you can't start right in or get back into the action.  Collecting dolls is a fun hobby whether you enjoy one particular type of doll or just the thrill of the hunt.  Collecting now is easier than ever with dolls available right on your computer.  Go browsing a bit and see if anything catches your eye.  You might end up having a lot of fun!

gimme babay.
Creative Commons License photo credit: ThouArt.

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Who Collects Dolls?

by Sandy | No Comments | Filed in Doll Collecting, Vintage Dolls

Who is Collecting Dolls Today?

Anyone can collect dolls.  It isn't just for little girls and old women anymore.  Although there are certainly a lot of females with a strong interest in doll collecting, now that it has grown into a business of sorts, men are also becoming more heavily involved in the collecting of dolls.

There is a common image of doll collecting being more of a feminine hobby.  Surely this is because it is a lot more common for little girls to openly play with dolls than it is for boys.  Little girls playing with their Barbie dolls is something you expect to see, and do see often.  Many parents would even discourage their young sons from "playing dolls" unless the toy was an "action figure" molded into shapes designed to maime and destroy.  Left to their own devices, many little boys enjoy playing with any doll they come across because they just like pretending and using their imaginations.  Most times, boys seem to outgrow the doll phase but it really is not a bad thing if they develop an appreciation for collecting them.

As I mentioned above, the collecting of dolls has become a serious business for some people.  Buying and selling dolls can be quite lucrative if you know what you are doing.  I'm sure that many people selling dolls on eBay are men.  Most likely they have not been holding on to some cherished doll since childhood.  They probably purchased it at a yard sale or auction and have decided to make it available for collectors more interested in the dolls themselves than in making a profit for them.

There are many men who now lament the loss of their prized GI Joe collections that may have been lost to abuse and damage or, in many cases, given away by parents to younger relatives or friends of the family.  They look now on eBay and see how much their collections would have been worth and just moan, thinking of possibly thousands of dollars worth of collectible figures that were simply given away back in the days before eBay made everyone aware of the collectibles market.

Collecting dolls is not necessarily the same as playing with dolls.  Actually, many doll collectors would never dream of letting their dolls get into the hands of a child who would use them to start acting out an adventure that could damage or de-value the doll.  Dolls are collected and often displayed in ways that show them off, but keep them protected as much as possible.  The types of dolls being preserved may be different, but the demographics of doll collecting reaches across the gender lines.

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