Collecting Creativity
I’ve been a collector of dolls (among other things) for a while, and I’ve noticed an interesting trend in collecting the past few years. For a long time, collecting fashion dolls meant buying very expensive Barbies in pristine boxes and putting them into storage to gain value. But more and more dolls have been released that are meant to be deboxed, even played with. The popularity of Asian ball-jointed dolls, which are meant to be customized with different eyes, wigs, and “face-ups” have also contributed to this.
Looking around now, collectors everywhere are playing. Customizing dolls, giving them names, personalities. Documenting their adventures in “picfics” which are sometimes very funny and well written. It’s gratifying to see so many people reclaiming that special sort of creativity that is often lost at the end of childhood and to know that there are many people who can become artists given the right inspiration.