My Plastic Universe
Connect with Life in Plastic: My Plastic Universe
  • Home
  • My Plastic Musings
  • Tutorials & Projects
  • Life in Plastic Photoblog
  • Master of the Universe
  • Store
  • Favorite Doll Sites

Play Line Snobbery

9/23/2015

5 Comments

 
LA Girl Barbie Fashionistas dollLA Girl Fashionistas™ Barbie® doll. Notice that this prototype in the photo has yellow-green shoes instead of black, and some blue hair along with the pink. She also wears 3/4 sleeves instead of a sleeveless top.
An exchange I recently found on the Barbie forums went something like this:
Member A: Can someone tell me where to find the highly collectible recent wave of 2015 Fashionistas™ dolls?
Member B: Highly collectible play line dolls? You mean the ones they make millions of? Check WalMart. They're all bound to be there for $7.99 *hair flip* *rolls eyes* *pats self on back for throwing shade at play line collector*
It seems that some collectors have forgotten that there was a time when Barbie® dolls made for adult collectors were not a thing, and Barbie® dolls were all "play line". Let's be real. Barbie® started out as a toy marketed towards young girls, and for better or for worse, the brand is continuously evolving.  
The new dolls lining shelves at Target, Walmart, or Toys R Us may not be to everyone's liking, particularly some whose tastes have moved away from colors so bright that they could induce seizures. However, that doesn't make your Platinum Label™ Karl Lagerfeld™ Barbie® more collectible than, say, the new LA Girl Fashionistas™ Barbie® doll. Karl is rarer, and some might say made to a "higher standard", but to a true collector that shouldn't matter. Yes, in some ways, dolls made for adults can be considered objectively "better" than dolls made for kids--the fabrics are more expensive, the closures are not made of velcro (mostly), the designs are more sophisticated, and so on. However, those things don't make a doll more collectible, they just make it more expensive and geared towards a "mature" crowd. I had to use quotation marks around the word mature because of all the tantrums I witnessed over the recent Platinum tokidoki Barbie®, but generally we're talking about an older audience.
The best piece of collecting advice I have ever heard, and still read on the forums from time to time, is to collect what you like. Don't buy dolls hoping they'll appreciate in value over time (some do, most don't). Don't buy dolls just because they're rare and coveted. Don't buy dolls to impress your collector friends. Buy dolls that make you happy. I mostly buy Barbie Collector dolls because those are the dolls that I enjoy, but every now and then, a play line doll, fashion or accessory catches my eye, and I don't hesitate to add it to my collection. I collect what I want. You should, too!
 

5 Comments

    About the Webmaster

    My name is Jared.  I began collecting dolls in 2011.  It all started with Barbie® Basics Model No 16 Collection 002 for me. Soon after that, I started photographing my dolls, editing the images and sharing my work on my Tumblr photoblog, Life in Plastic. "Playing" with dolls has inspired me to learn to sew, paint with acrylics, re-root doll hair, practice my bead craft, among other things...My collecting hobby turned into a passion for creating art in different media!

    Fashion Doll Top 100 websites

    Archives

    November 2019
    November 2018
    March 2018
    December 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Contributing Authors

    Viktor Zavadsky
    ​Colleen Kelly

    Categories

    All
    Alexander Mcqueen
    Barbie
    Barbie Boy
    Barbie Convention
    BFMC
    Bill Greening
    Black Label
    Carlyle Nuera
    Collecting Advice
    Conventions
    Designer
    Display
    Doll Collecting
    Doll Shows
    Dracula
    Exhibits
    Fantasy
    Fashion
    Film Review
    Fine Art
    Gold Label
    Haunted Beauty
    Jeremy Scott
    Model Muse
    Moschino
    Nashville
    Nick Corporon
    Nosferatu
    Nostalgic
    Organizing
    Pivotal
    Play Line
    Review
    Robert Best
    Silkstone
    Superstar
    Swimsuit
    The Barbie Look
    Thoughts
    Tokidoki
    True Blood
    Vampires
    Vintage

    RSS Feed

Mandatory Credit © 2016 My Plastic Universe / Jared P. / iamken85

For any and all usage in print, online, or other media, please contact the administrator prior to use.