Collectible Dolls

Like other collectibles, collectible dolls generally fall into one of three categories: antique, vintage, and modern.

Antique

Technically speaking, antique dolls, like most other antiques date back to prehistoric times! However, when we talk about antique collectible dolls, we usually mean those produced before 1930. Antique dolls were usually made of wax, papier mache, wood, china, bisque, or cloth, and today that's how they're usually classified. (Bisque is a kind of unglazed porcelain. Its matte surface is more realistic than the shinier glazed china.) These categories refer to what the doll's head was made of—the bodies were usually made of softer materials such as kid leather or cloth.

Most antique dolls were made to look like adults and came with removable clothing. However, some dolls, particularly French bébé (literally, baby) dolls and German “dolly-faced” dolls, were made to look like children.

Raggedy Ann and Andy, first created in 1915, are amazingly still in production more than 80 years later, as are Ginny dolls, from 1922.

The first talking dolls, mama dolls, were invented around 1915. These dolls combined a soft body with two innovative characteristics: a voice mechanism that said “mama” when the doll was turned and leg joints that allowed the child to “walk” the doll. These realistic dolls were the first doll craze in the United States and one of the great fads of the 1920s.

During these times, most dolls were made as children's toys and so usually show at least some wear. How much depends on what the doll was made of and, of course, how carefully it was handled.

Vintage

Vintage collectible dolls are those produced between 1930 and roughly 1980. This category includes the most famous collectible doll, the Barbie doll (1959), Chatty Cathy (1959), and Strawberry Shortcake (1979).

Trivia note: The Twilight Zone episode The Living Doll (1963) was not only based on Chatty Cathy but used the voice of the original Chatty Cathy, June Foray!

Most of these dolls were made of composites, vinyl, or plastic, though cloth was also common, particularly for dolls designed for very young children.

Madame Alexander first started her doll company in 1923 and also created what is probably the first movie tie-in product, a cloth Alice doll to go with the 1933 movie Alice in Wonderland. She is also credited with the first line of celebrity dolls.

Modern

Some consider modern collectible dolls to be only the dolls made for the collectibles market, while others include any kind of doll that becomes a collectible.

Many modern dolls are continuations of vintage doll lines, such as Barbie, Madame Alexander, and Strawberry Shortcake, and some, such as Ginny and Raggedy Ann and Andy, are based on antique doll lines.

Cabbage Patch Kids were a major fad in the 1980s, largely because of the wide range of variations that insured each one was unique, capturing the spirit of the handmade originals, and because the dolls came with signed birth certificates. In October, 1985, one was even included in a NASA shuttle launch!

Some more recent modern dolls include:

• Bratz dolls
• Marie Osmond dolls
• Lee Middleton dolls
• Robert Tonner dolls
• Adora dolls
• American Girl dolls

Buying Collectible Dolls

Some of the most common sources of collectible toys are shows and fairs, specialty shops, and both live and online auctions. Collectors also trade among themselves through magazines and newsletters.

Caring for Collectible Dolls

Dolls, like most other collectibles, need to be stored in places that keep them from extremes of heat, humidity and temperature fluctuations, and that provide them with protection from dust but sufficient air circulation. Always use acid-free materials for packing and protection and do not let metal parts touch plastic dolls.