My Story of Barbie Collecting - how it started and where it is now

 Barbie collecting for me has had several rounds. (Seems like that is the case for many of the collections that I still have...) The first round of Barbie collecting began for me way back in 1999. It started one day while browsing in KB Toys - why I was in there, I really do not recall. But they had one of those specials which they would offer when they needed to clear out a bunch of stock. It was spend X amount and get a Ballerina Barbie for $1. The first Barbie I got was the beautiful Marzipan Nutcracker Barbie. Oh, was I ever enamored with her! And hooked on Barbie. I waited for sales as money was very tight in those days, and with time I snagged Swan Lake Barbie (another bargain doll) Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. I opened them all, but kept them stored in their boxes, only to take them out to admire them, and then back they went into their boxes and into my closet. A few more dolls joined the family. I remember Butterfly Tattoo Barbie and Kira. I don't recall the exact timeline, but for whatever reason, I didn't end up keeping the dolls. Perhaps that decision came when preparing for an upcoming move, I don't really remember. To this day I do miss Snow White and Marzipan Barbie. I've never replaced them.

Phase 2 of Barbie collecting came in 2002/03. I got a couple of dolls at K-Mart, and then more came on eBay. I didn't have many at this point, and the only ones I can really remember were Western Stamping Tara Lynn, and one of the 90's Beach Kens, who was my absolute favorite doll that I owned. I know I had others. This collection was sold when I branched out to collecting other things, such as G3, and then G1 MLP and American Girl dolls. I didn't look at Barbie again until.....

Phase 3 started in probably 2019. (These last few years have been a blur, and sometimes I can't remember what happened in which year. I know many of us can relate to that disconnected feeling when we look at 2019 onward.) I found this stunning birthstone Barbie Topaz, NIB at a Flea Market. I really wanted her, but I thought to myself "Self, you already collect enough stuff. Do you really want to try Barbie again?" I decided that the answer was "No" and left the market, only to turn around, go back and buy the doll. I did open her (her box wasn't super, and I am simply not a NIB collector) and then just had her tucked away in a container to occasionally get out and admire. About a year or so later, I found a fantastic deal on facebook MP where someone was selling holiday barbies for a great deal. I got 2 different rounds from her and was over the moon. One was Millenial Barbie, others were 2002, 2005 holiday Barbie, and so forth. I did open them and kept them in a container. Next I found repro Totally hair Barbie at Ollie's and a Caboodles Barbie from someone close to where I live,. And then came the real fun. I started finding cheap - usually nude and in need of cleaning up - 80's and 90's barbies at Flea Markets. This was the ultimate. Unfortunatley, I no longer have those dolls and its a regret that I have to just get over.

Here's the story behind that. To sum it up quickly, I had been living in a very stressful situation, halfway in boxes, with much of my stuff in town in a storage building. Things would get hauled back and forth when it had been too long since I had seen it. After so long, that gets extremely old and endlessly depressing. Sometimes you don't make the best choices in those situations. We were cleaning up and organizing the building to prepare for the upcoming move, and I was tired and worn out with it all, and basically just bagged up a lot of my stuff and simply donated it. Most of what I donated I really have no regret. But boy, I wish I hadn't tossed all my Barbies!! I'm just incredibly relieved that for some weird reason, I saved all their shoes and also kept the pack  of 40 pairs of shoes I got at a Flea Market. 

And now here we are in Phase 4. I really missed my Barbies, so I decided it was time to revisit some old friends. These dolls might have been new to me dolls, but Barbie herself is an old friend. First I got Earring Magic Barbie. I did buy her NIB and trust me, I felt incredibly guilty for opening her. But she also had her bag of shoes loose across her face, so she wouldn't have been ideal for NIB collectors. Then I found Earring Magic Ken for a very good price. And then came Paint and Dazzle Barbie who I got for so cheap, I was shocked. I found a Nude Caboodles Barbie and won her. (I still had her Caboodles case and shoes from my previous one.) My intent was to stick with those for awhile and then eventually add maybe one or two other dolls. And you know just how those plans go! I started thrifting again and while I still mourn for some of my past dolls, I have been able to find some wonderful treasures. I got a repro Barbie (nude, with her bangs not so perfectly removed, but not a problem) for Christmas, and I have since been going strong with the hunt! 

What I find amusing about looking back at what was important to me in each of these phases and where I am now. Phase 1 and Phase 3 (in the beginning) was all about the holiday or collectors Barbies. Phase 2 and my present self, it's all about the playline dolls. I started out only thinking about the early to mid 90's dolls,  and then I got interested in the 80s, then the 70s and now I have 60s dolls on my Dream List. One of my recent finds was an early 80s Ken that I  in previous phases would never have bought. I sure do love him now though!

I have no intention of ever parting with my collection again. I feel pretty confident in that assessment since I am finally in a far less stressful, much more secure phase in my life. I know we can never predict these things, and while I expect my collection to have adjustments periods, I intend to keep Barbie as a very close friend. 

Vintage Ginny has come to town

 I seem to have been on a vintage doll kick. Over the past couple of months I have found while thrifting at either the Flea Market or Goodwill Lesney Ginny (AKA Skinny Ginny,) 1971 Malibu Barbie, Tuesday Taylor, Madame Alexander Little Red Riding Hood, and finally, Ideal Doll Tammy. Malibu Barbie has shoes that she can wear and my little MA came with her shoes. None of the other dolls mentioned above came with shoes. I figured that I could just slowly gather up shoes for them. I found an auction of 4 pairs of shoes for my Skinny Ginny and won them for cheap. It was while I was looking for shoes for her that I really got to looking at the earlier versions of Ginny.

And that was when I found the most adorable little Ginny doll that had a starting bid of $5.00. In the listing, the seller described her as having such terrible hair that she almost threw her away! Thankfully she did not. I figured I could handle bad hair and the next day, I won my very first 50's Ginny for a whopping $8. 

I was so excited for her to get here, and the seller shipped her at a reasonable time. She arrived yesterday! I was a little horrified to see that she was simply wrapped in bubble wrap and put in a thin shipping envelop, but she was fine. Upon examining her, yeah, her hair is pretty much shot. I'm assuming her hair is mohair as it feels more like mohair than some of the other materials mentioned that they used on early Ginny's. It was tangled, balding and yeah. Pretty bad. It didn't deter though from how absolutely beautiful and magical this little dolly was! Her eyes were shut upon opening her, but I was able to very gently move the lids up. Her body is practically perfect. No real major stains or blemishes. No cracks or splits. Her walking mechanism works flawlessly. To say that I am madly in love with this dolly is an understatement!!

Now, for her hair. Her hair was meant to be in braided pigtails. You aren't supposed to saturate mohair with water as it is glued on, and you don't want to soften the glue and have the hair fall off. I also read that you aren't supposed to brush mohair, but this mop of a disaster desperately needed detangling, so I very carefully combed through it to get the knots out. I did get it damp and conditioned it, but not on her actual scalp. Maybe that was inviting danger, but it just needed a little cleaning. It didn't cause her hair any more hurt than she had already suffered, thankfully. Now, the bald spots are not possible to hide, but I did my best. I tried to comb it into place to cover up as much as I could, and then I braided her hair. Her bangs are pretty thread bare. My solution was to dampen a comb and then comb what little bit of bangs that remain to cover as much of her forehead as possible, and then I secured that with a paper towel and plastic wrap to hold it into place. It worked pretty well, and while her age and wear hasn't been fixed, it's so much better than it was. I think she looks pretty darn good for a gal her age!

I'm really enjoying gathering as much info as I can on these dollies. Here is what I have learned thus far from other collectors. My Ginny has the painted lashes and is a straight leg walker. This doll was only made in 1954. She also has GINNY on her back. Dolls with painted lashes who are strung (non walkers) are earlier - I think 1952/3, and have VOGUE on their backs. After 1954, the painted lashes were replaced with the molded lashes, and the walkers became bent knee walkers. I'm thinking the bent knee walkers are more like 1957. I'm still learning! I can see the appeal of the bent knee walkers. The knee joint must allow them to sit, as I see that the straight leg walkers are permanent standers. 

With my collection - yes, I am definitely planning on expanding my collection eventually, ha ha - I want to focus on the dolls with painted lashes. I've been looking for a friend for my Ginny, hoping to find another steal. We'll see how that goes! A couple have caught my eye. 2 on my watch page are the 1954 dolls, and one is from earlier. Fingers crossed I can find a friend for a good price for my Ginny!

Newest Barbie thrifted finds!

The week of Christmas has finally arrived. Most of the shopping has been done, but there's always that last hurrah to ensure you have everything you need for Christmas dinner. The last thing I honestly wanted to do yesterday was brave the 39 degree weather (I know, I know. It wasn't that bad.) and the pre-holiday crowds and traffic but we all gotta do it. The trip wasn't going to be too terribly demanding - just Wal-Mart, Meijers and Hobby Lobby. Goodwill is right next to Wal-Mart, so I wanted to quickly run in there to see if I could find some little treasure.

The toy aisle there is pretty much 2 rows of toys, and then the stuffed animals have been moved to an idiotic corner where you can't actually find much. Which is better because I am OUT of Build a Bear room! They keep the barbies in one or 2 big plastic totes on the bottom shelf. The last few stops in there have been a bust, but the sight of them overflowing with dolls was promising! Most of the dolls you will find are the recent dolls from the last few years, a great deal of Disney princesses and some knock off sort of dolls. Yesterday, however, I unearthed some goodies. :D First I found the 1997 brunette Christmas barbie. She had her crown and jewelry and seemed to be in pretty good shape, even though she had some spots on her face that I was doubtful as to whether or not they would come off. I've always preferred the blonde version, but seeing her then, I had to have her. 

Next, I spied the Tropical Splash Barbie from 1994. Her earrings were broken off and her hair was messy but other than that, she was in good shape! Next I unearthed a Pearl Beach Barbie with a broken neck. Her head was shoved down low on the neck, which is always quite a sight to see. I knew I could switch the bodies if I could find a suitable replacement. I have a serious weakness for the 80s/90s (especially the 90s) beach barbies, so when I find them, I have to grab them. Her hair was a fright - ratty and tangled, but her face was clean and she still had her earrings. I set her on my growing pile of To-Get dolls and went back to searching through the containers. Lo and behold, there was a second Tropical Splash barbie! Perfect match. Finally, I found a Scarlett O'Hara doll in the burgundy dress. My final find for the day was an unexpected non Barbie find - an early release brunette Bitty Baby, for a whopping $1.79! Yay!

The rest of the trip went as expected. Busy aisles, annoying traffic. But we got pretty much everything we came for. Gifts were completed, food and necessities acquired. Well, except for the over bags. Darn it all, I finally found some and didn't bother to notice that they were only for 8 lb turkeys. 8 lbs is not going to suffice for our 19 pound turkey. It was all Wal-Mart had, but if I had just paid attention, I could have gotten the right size in Meijers. It's always something though, right? :)

I was really excited to get my dolls cleaned up, so after dinner I got out the kitchen Lysol and Magic Eraser and wiped my dolls down. This is a winning combination. Just spray the dry sponge with Lysol - it is second to none for removing grease, grime and surface stains. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to completely remove the 2 small stains on my brunette Barbie's face, but it's okay. They aren't bad. I was really nervous to remove the second Tropical Splash barbie's head to do the head swap. I heated the head up with a blow dryer and with much trepidation, went through the process. What I discovered was that there is a time to be careful and then a time to just pull hard. Otherwise, you can run the risk of splitting the neck or breaking the ball joint. The head swap went well. After that, I decided to take off my other Tropical Barbie's head so I could take the broken earrings out. With both dolls put back together, it was time for the hair treatments!

First, I washed them with shampoo and then slathered on a good amount of condition. And then, I combed. My first project was the Pearl Beach barbie. It took some time to carefully comb it all and untangle the tightly coiled hair from around her earrings. Once I felt pretty good about my initial comb through, I got out my flat iron. The lowest setting on mine is 100 C and it is perfect for doll and pony hair. It took me awhile to get through her whole head, going 1/4" wide and very thin sections at a time. But once I was done, wow! She looks almost as good as new!

My Tropical Splash Barbie's hair was okay, but I figured I would go ahead and use the flat iron to tame any remaining frizzies. I haven't decided yet whether I want to put her hair back in its original style, or curl it. 

My Christmas Barbie's hair was such a horrible rats nest I thought I would have to use the flat iron on it. Surprisingly though after several reapplications of conditioner and lots of vigorous combing (I really couldn't be gentle - it was that bad) it seems like it'll be okay without the flat iron. Which is better, as I hated to lose the original curl (which is now more like a gentle wave) and I don't quite feel confident with curlers as I know I will be with more practice.

Right now, all 3 dolls are waiting for their hair to dry before they can meet the other dolls in my tiny collection. I set Scarlett aside for another day's spa, as her hair is going to take a different approach to clean up. 

Strawberry Shortcake Berry Happy Home

***This was actually last week's post. But between being sick and then being very busy with orders, I never got around to adding the pics so that I could publish this post. So here it is, better late than never.**** 

Today I went and bought myself the Berry Happy Home that my local Flea Market had for sale. I first noticed it a few weeks ago when I was there buying Monster High dolls. It was pretty exciting to actually see one of these houses again in person. I had only seen one in real life before - this was years ago at a dollhouse shop in a nearby town. Naturally, I felt the immediate impulse to buy it, but I told myself NO and went off and forgot about it. When I came back to the flea market to pick up some more MH dolls,  I was once again checking out the Berry Happy Home. It was up high on a shelf, a little hidden by the merchandise around it. 

For awhile, I kept myself convinced that I had no space for it. I really used to want that house. What SSC collector doesn't? It is just so darn cute and the furniture that was made for it is just adorable. I ended up putting it pretty much put it out of my mind. Mostly. And then last night, I got to thinking about. Not just "sigh, how neat is that house and wouldn't it be neat to one day have it." No, it was more like "I have to have that house." I started thinking of everything that I could do with it. Decorating it for the holidays. Making clay food and other paraphernalia. And the price was definitely something that I could justify! 

There were 2 concerns in front of me. 1, was obviously, where the heck was I gonna put it? And 2, was is it still there? After much debate and mental arguing with myself, I let myself believe that there was a good spot for it, though I worried that it was too tall. But, by the time I went to bed I had talked myself out of it again. This is where it is important in every collectors life to have the supportive enablers that enrich your collecting experience to talk some sense right back into you.

So I found myself heading to town the following afternoon. Luckily, the house was still up there on the shelf, half buried by plushies. The house was too large to sit in the cart, so it rode on top. The house was definitely faded and the color turned. It was dirty, but appeared to have most of the basic house parts. It was missing the front window, the chimney, the mail box and the greenery. That's not a big deal as replacement parts are relatively easy to find. (You just have to find the best deal. Prices vary from "hey that's a great deal!" to "eek, I can wait.") After setting it on my cart, 2 different people stopped to ask about it. I got the feeling that they both would have grabbed it themselves if they could have. I felt pretty darn lucky that the house lasted as long as it did so that I could buy it!

The house did come with a bag of furniture. Unfortunately, I will only be using 2 of the pieces. 1 is the Rose Petal Place vanity (I already have it, so I will most likely sell it) the toilet, (which I do not need. I will sell it as well as I don't enjoy bathrooms for my dolls)  a hutch (yay!!!) and a yellow mirror. I did glance on eBay after I bought the house to check out furniture prices. I found the kitchen set for an excellent price that I could not resist, so I did go ahead and order that. The kitchen is the most important place in the house!

I decided to start cleaning the house around 6 that evening and the best place to clean it ended up being the kitchen. I placed trash bags on the floor and got to work. Now, I admit that I didn't inspect the house super closely. I saw it was faded, yellowed and dirty. But it wasn't until I sat down to clean it that I saw how it wasn't just dirty. It was filthy and smelled HORRIBLE.  Let me say that these pics do NOT show just how dirty this house was.

There was no doubt in my mind the house had mold. The best way to kill mold is white vinegar. I poured some into a bowl of water and mixed in a little kitchen Lysol. I ended up using a wash cloth to clean it. I felt it was best to deal with the various shapes of the house. And I was right, except when it came to getting into teeny tiny spaces such as the base of the porch railings and that adorable wood texture, which proved to be quite hard to get clean. I had previous gotten a set of cheap tooth brushes for such a job as this, but where are they after the move? Who knows. Q tips were the next best option. They were pretty good at getting into all the areas that I needed to clean, though I really think a tooth brush would have worked much, much better. I still need to go back over a few places.

The more I cleaned, the more I recognized the dreadful rodent smell. Wherever this poor dollhouse had been stored, it was definitely a play area for rodents. :/ I honestly was really gagging at one point trying to clean it. It really wasn't as bad as it could have been, but for some reason, it was really getting to me. At one point, some hour later, I was starting to feel concerned that I wasn't going to be able to get it clean and clear of that dreadful smell. It was when I was cleaning the bottom of the house, with all of those nooks and crannies and areas cut up by plastic to give it a secure base - you know what I mean - that I concluded that there was simply no good way to clean it, even after I switching to the foaming bathroom Lysol. I finally decided to haul this massive house to the bathroom and stick it under the shower head while I scrubbed on it. This was actually a really good idea! I l hauled it to the bathroom and into the bathtub. I turned the shower on warm to hot temperature and let it just sit under the water for a few minutes. Then  I reached in with my gloved hand, trying to hold the shower curtain as best as I could to keep the water off the floor (it didn't work real well - a section of the rug got soaked. As did part of my pants) while I scrubbed. I kept rotating the house, hoping the water would get into crevices that I couldn't reach with any cleaning tool and would flush out all that disgusting grime. It was at this moment I have to admit that I was feeling - just for a moment - buyers regret. It did pass pretty quickly.  I'm really not sure how long I did this step. I finally decided at one point that that was the best that I was going to be able to do, and shut the water off. 

It would have been a good idea to simply let the house drip dry there in the tub. But, at that point I was pretty much done with working on it for the night (it was after 8) and since I needed to clean the bathroom after what I just put it through (it was covered in grime) and the kitchen floor, for that matter, so I just wanted to move it out of there. I made the great decision to just haul the dripping wet house down the hallway, through the living room and back into the kitchen.  Mopping all the floors and cleaning the tub went quicker than I expected. Once that was done, I took a towel and dried my house inside and out. Talk about relief when I didn't smell any more of that foul odor! Maybe it was saved! The real truth would be revealed once it was moved to its final resting place. Where it was going, we keep that door closed to keep the cats out of there as it's my sewing room/doll room and no furbie needs to be let loose in there unsupervised. My fear was that the door would be closed all night and would wreak to high heaven in the morning.

Now, before I get ahead of myself, there's a few more issues that my house has that I need to go over. The floors. They are in dreadful shape. I'm not really sure if the house originally had flooring - from pics it appears that the kitchen and bathroom did. My house has the remains of grime stained glue all over the floors. The exception is the bathroom ,which has a nasty floor still in place. 

Again, I'm not sure if that flooring is original or not. It's not staying either way as it's just gross. Ideally, I would need to spend a great amount of time outside with Goo Gone to clean all of this up. That's something to deal with later. Another small issue is that the turned beigy orange base of my house is stained in places with mildew. There's no active mold. It's just staining. But it looks pretty bad. At one point, I need to paint it a color to match the original. 

Now, the place that was determined for my house to fit is, as I said, in my little sewing room. The intended place would be under the BJD shelf and partially behind the storage bench that sits under the window and holds my hoard of knit/denim/suiting fabrics. The houses ended up being a good fit in width and depth. But.....it was too tall to fit. Which was exactly what I was worried about. The good thing is that we can simply raise the shelves for it to fit as planned. :D :D :D

The happy news is that upon opening the door to the sewing room today, after my house was in there all night, there was no bad smell! The house smells a little old, which is totally fine by me. Old I can handle. Moldy and rodenty, I can't. My biggest fear has been assuaged. 

The fun is going to start soon as I plan out how to fix up Strawberry's new house. She can pick out flooring, maybe even wall paper, and brain storm furniture. I'm really excited and I honestly cannot believe that I have my very own Berry Happy Home!