Antique Victorian Doll
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Can you answer my question about antique dolls?
I'm 19 and i've always wanted to begin collecting dolls. I recently went to a Goodwill the other day and came across 2 discontinued spice girl dolls from the 90s [one was scary spice, haha] and a bratz world doll [from 2000 or 2001, dressed as a geisha], and a "victorian barbie with cedric bear" from the late 90s, all were in boxes and unopened, expept for the barbie who's box was open a bit. All were 15-19 bucks except the bratz, which was 29. Expensive for a goodwill, yeah? Heh, I saw a pair of Versace jeans for 49 bucks, too.
So, are these dolls worth buying? The bratz's box was in perfect condition, and was sooooo pretty. The spice girl dolls looked so primitive, but seemingly valuable, and the barbie had a price tag for 49 bucks and was from kb toys. Yeah, the old price was still on. Any thoughts?
This is a slightly "recycled" answer:
1. Pay attention to the Barbie Label Tier System. A Label is assigned to collector dolls that tells the buyer how many are available, which indicates their value. The higher the label, the more they are worth and the less available they are, you can find it on the front (bottom) and back of every collector edition box:
Platinum Label -- 1,000 worldwide
Gold Label -- 25,000 worldwide
Silver Label -- 50,000 worldwide
Black Label -- "Designed for the adult collector" dolls (I assume they're not produced in limited quantites because it doesn't say so anywhere)
Pink Label -- Unlimited availability, considered "beginner" collector dolls, available wherever dolls are sold.
Pink and Black label dolls usually cost about the same, don't expect to find Platinum, Gold, (sometimes) Silver Label dolls in department stores, these are sold online or in selected retailers.
2. When looking to buy older dolls, check their condition, and don't pay too much. I say this because only Barbie dolls that were produced from 1959-1971 are considered vintage, dolls that were produced from 1972 to the present are considered modern. Sometimes vendors will list modern dolls as "vintage" just because they might be a decade or two old, but don't fall for this. Also, "antique" doesn't apply to Barbie yet since she's only 52 which is nothing compared to real antique dolls (think rare and at least 100+ years).
3. Before I started collecting seriously, I never noticed that a lot of collector dolls end up at Big Lots 6-12 months after their release (usually Pink & Black label), sometimes sooner. I've gotten several collector dolls at Big Lots for no more than $20 one of which was the 2009 50th Anniversary "Generations of Dreams" Barbie doll originally sold for $50 (I got her less than a year after her release). By the way, she is a must-have for your collection 
Walmart sometimes has collector dolls for pretty good prices online that are much cheaper than in their stores (I have no idea why).
4. Order the free catalogs off of BarbieCollector.com. Your first collector catalog will feature a free-shipping code for you to use on your first purchase, sometimes codes will still work after their "expiration date", so try them out and Google "barbie collector codes" (here's a code from a catalog I have for free shipping-- "A29051").
5. Check BarbieCollector's "Special Offers" to see what's on sale. Keep in mind that shipping is $7, and some of these dolls will be on sale at stores too, the shipping makes up the difference so the sale price really won't end up being too different. Right now, they have a pretty good sale going on, some dolls' prices have been dropped A LOT.
6. When buying reproductions, don't buy them unless you REALLY like them (they tend to be around $40). I say this because not only are they just reproductions, but you should like what you buy since it will be with you for a long time. Like I said, sometimes they end up in Big Lots for $20.
7. Go to yard sales, estate sales, and thrift shops and search their toys. My best thrift store find was a vintage 1971 Malibu Barbie and Skipper, they were in good but played-with condition, I got them for $7! In this case, the price was good for these two dolls, sometimes people just don't know what they have.
8. If you stumble upon great finds, don't try to fix the dolls, restoring anything collectible brings down its value.
9. Go to craft stores like Michael's or Joann's if you need doll stands.
10. Think about and decide whether you want to remove the dolls from their boxes. My dolls are on display without their boxes (but they're in my closet), since I don't plan on selling them ever, I don't feel the need to keep them in their boxes. However, if you have more than one doll of the same kind, you should keep one in the box at least.
11. Wall shelves are good for display. They don't take up floor space, and are out of reach. You can find long and wide ones in different finishes at Home Depot for like $5 by Rubbermaid. Since the doll stands will take up space, you can stand some on light cardboard boxes (covered in black poster paper to take away any distractions) on the shelves behind other dolls, it will look kind of like a panorama picture of dolls. Recently, one of the shelves fell in the middle of the night and the dolls flew everywhere because the shelf got too heavy, most shelves can support about 40 lbs. so distribute the weight evenly and get plenty of shelves to keep this from happening.
12. Let people know you collect dolls, this way you get them for the holidays and your birthday
http://www.barbiecollector.com/node/5
Collector terminology/what you need to know when selling or buying Barbie dolls.
manbehindthedoll.com
This guy has a huge Ken collection, his website is really great.
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