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
  • Favorite Doll Sites

Moving the Barbie Collection - Part 1

3/30/2014

1 Comment

 
doll storageMost of my collection is now housed in two of these built-in closets. Only a fraction of my dolls are on display.


I haven't posted a blog entry in over a month.  That's because I've spent almost every waking moment (when I'm not working) hauling my things to the newly renovated home that I now share with my partner.

We carried in a lot of furniture, household items, clothes and other personal effects.  I also had to transport my Barbie collection.  It's a modest collection by the standards of some long term collectors I've encountered online--some have amassed hundreds of dolls.  My latest official count is 132 dolls with their original boxes and about 20 loose dolls (no boxes).  I also have a lot of doll accoutrements--fashion, 1:6 scale furniture, and accessories.  Packing, transporting, and unpacking these is no easy task!

In my previous Barbie den, I didn't have a proper place to store dolls that weren't on display.  Most of my dolls were in their boxes, which I stored in clear plastic tote bins piled floor-to-ceiling.  I kept the Silkstone Barbie dolls together, and the rest were arranged by the tiered labeling system created by Mattel (Pink, Black, Gold, Platinum).  I believe that the best place to store these vinyl beauties is in the basement, which stays relatively cool throughout the year--no large temperature swings.  Very little sunlight filters in, so there's virtually no risk of damage from exposure to harsh natural light.

Knowing that the basement would be my Barbie den (and our TV den), my partner kindly commissioned a huge built-in closet for my collection--two double-door closets with motion activated lighting.  Each has three shelves, which gives me four tiers of storage space.  I'm guessing there's close to 100 square feet of doll real estate in there.

How did I pull off the move? It took several days to get all the dolls and doll-related things into the new space.  I carefully placed all the dolls back in their respective boxes.  I already had enough bins to transport most of them at once, but I took my time and brought in 4 or so bins at a time.  Then, as I was removing them from the bins and arranging them inside the closets, I used the Collectors app by Sort It to start an official inventory of my collection by scanning barcodes on the boxes with my iPhone.

After I had moved all the dolls and props into the cabinets, my partner and I transported my two glass display cabinets.  He installed LED lighting pucks into them, then I began doing my displays.  The Barbie den is not complete.  I haven't finished setting up my displays, but I'd say it's about 80% there.  When I'm happy with it, I will take more photos and post an update here.
How do you store and display your dolls?  Have you ever had to move your collection?
1 Comment
John M
3/31/2014 10:46:26 am

yes good to have a space specially for collections i dont know what ill do when the 2nd bed room is full . but that's a long way off yet :)

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    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

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    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
    Adèle Makéda
    Alexander Mcqueen
    Angel Kent
    Barbie
    Barbie Boy
    Barbie Convention
    Barbie Extra
    Barbie Fashion Model Collection
    Barbie Totally Throwback Tour
    BFMC
    Bill Greening
    Black Label
    Carlyle Nuera
    Collecting Advice
    Conventions
    David Buttry
    Designer
    Dia De Muertos Barbie
    Display
    Doll Collecting
    Doll Couture
    Doll Room
    Doll Shows
    Dracula
    Elton John
    Exhibits
    Fantasy
    Fashion
    Fashion Royalty
    Film Review
    Fine Art
    Flight Of Fashion
    Giveaway
    Gold Label
    Halloween
    Haunted Beauty
    Hoang Anh Khoi
    Integrity Toys
    Japan Barbie Convention
    Jeremy Scott
    Jessy Ayala
    Judy Choi
    Legendary Convention
    Licensed Merchandise
    Lunar New Year
    Made To Move
    Madrid Barbie Convention
    Makeup
    Marvel Studios' Black Widow
    Mattel
    Model Muse
    Moschino
    Nadja Rhymes
    Nashville
    Nick Corporon
    Nosferatu
    Nostalgic
    Nuface
    Organizing
    Pivotal
    Play Line
    Pop Culture
    Poppy Parker
    Pür X Barbie
    Review
    Robert Best
    Scarlett Johansson
    Shero
    Silkstone
    Superstar
    Swimsuit
    The Barbie Look
    Thoughts
    Tokidoki
    Totally Hair Barbie
    True Blood
    Unboxing
    Vampires
    Vintage
    Yara Shahidi
    Youtube
    YouTube Shorts

    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.