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Monday, July 7, 2014

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!

4 comments:

  1. Over 400 dolls! Even though I saw all the photos in your first post, it doesn't seem like so many dolls. I guess that's how they sneak up on you by being so small.

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    1. That is because you are not seeing them all! I have a display case for my vintage and special dolls that I don't play with and many dolls in other cabinets and boxes. I will be "exposing" them as we go. The other day, I couldn't find a doll that I recently purchased and I said to my daughter: "There is a doll missing!". She replied, "How would you ever know?!"

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  2. I remember her!! Also being so enthralled with her clothes!!! We need to play together one of these days.

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    1. That would be nice. You will have to come and help me organize!

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