The Doll That Started It All

I got my first Barbie doll when I was 8 or 9 years old.  My sister had received the Black haired Ponytail Barbie the previous year, so I wanted one too. I am a natural blonde, and in my youth my hair was a very light blonde - almost platinum so it was a no brainer that I got the Platinum Blonde Bubble Cut Barbie. My sister and I played for hours on end with those dolls. We dressed them up, talked for them and it was so much fun! I still had my doll when I was in high school, but was too grown up to admit that I still liked her (LOL). We gave them to my young niece to play with and later they were sold in a garage sale.

When I became an adult, I still was interested in the fashion doll, but somehow thought it would be too embarrassing to purchase dolls for myself, but I would always play Barbies with my nieces when I saw them.  When I got my daughter Alyssa in 1996 from China, it opened up the opportunity to get her some Barbie dolls. Starting with her third birthday, I got her a new doll for every occasion and reward possible. And she loved that I would play Barbie for hours on end with her. I instilled in her the love of the doll, and every time she opened a new Barbie, she would say: "Thank you, Mom, just what I always wanted." Now that she is a teen, she has given me most of her dolls to add to my stash! My youngest daughter also fell in love with Barbie and we sometimes still play with them together.

I then started to buy dolls for myself also and began collecting the Dolls of the World series, however, I longed for the doll of my youth to return. I discovered eBay, and began my quest. At that time, I was most interested in searching through the vintage dolls. It took a while, and I did find and purchase several vintage dolls before finally finding a vintage Platinum Blonde Bubble Cut doll in good condition. Here she is!

Here is another of her full body view.  Note that her dress is vintage as well.

Before I found her, I purchased a Platinum reproduction, pictured below.

Other vintage dolls I purchased along the way (see a pattern here??)

Barbies and Kens:

Midges and Alans:

My favorite gal with her vintage beau!

And my favorite Midge with Alan!

And that is how it all began for me.  I now probably have between 400 and 500 dolls in my collection.  You think a monster has been created???

Thanks for looking!