Kate’s Tangents – Is There A Right Way To Collect?

I decided to split the last post into two because it was becoming quite the novel.

There is a whole world of collectors out there both young and older who enjoy dolls and toys of all kinds. For some of us, it’s fashion dolls like Barbie, for others the 18 inch dolls like American Girl, Our Generation. Some like expensive ball jointed dolls or look for the most unique dolls to collect. Others like the licensed Disney, Marvel etc. character dolls from certain franchises and want to collect solely those. And still others prefer to simply collect whichever dolls we find attractive in that moment, regardless of which they are.
And this is the other trend I’ve seen lately – People behaving as though there’s a right or wrong way to collect. There truly, truly is not.
You want to keep your dolls in the box to preserve their original hair and clothes to perfection? That’s fine!
You prefer to take them out to play and pose them for photos, restyle hair etc.? Also fine!
Maybe you only collect second hand and prefer to go to thrift stores and flea markets to pick up your dolls of choice for restoration purposes? Cool!
Do you keep them original or customize every doll that comes through your hands? Have just a hand full of customs amid a bunch of originals? Collect modern or vintage or a mix of the two? Barbie? Bratz? Both? Action figures too or just dolls? Larger dolls, smaller dolls, complete sets or just those that strike your fancy? Lots of dolls or just a few choice ones? Doll houses or simple, clean shelves or perhaps you’ll turn the shelves into doll houses? Store bought clothes and accessories or DIY crafting? Do you name every doll or do you simply name the few that mean the most? Leave them on their shelves or bring one down to keep you company at your desk now and then?

Do you collect one sole brand of doll, one particular character or set of characters? Or do you collect several different kinds of dolls? Simply dolls…or do you include other toys like Polly Pocket compacts, Shopkins, Disney Doorables, Fur Real pets, Fingerlings, Pokemon? Some of us use smaller toys as toys for our dolls or decor for doll house rooms. Beanie Boo keychain clips make wonderful plushies for American Girls and your 3 inch tall Fashion Polly dolls with their rubber clothes make perfect Barbie scale dolls for the 18 inch ones. Meanwhile Mega Construx American Girls make perfect 18 inch scale dolls for your Barbies. World’s Smallest toys make for decent doll toys also depending on which ones.

For reference, here’s a few shots of my collection(s)!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

There is no wrong way to collect. So don’t let anyone tell you your way is wrong. Play on, dolly collectors! And feel free to let us know what your collecting style is in the comments!

Posted In: Kate's Tangents