Debating on Selling Collection

Do you have them displayed?





(trying to think like that t.v. organizer guy)

I don't know much about the market, but it sounds like it's the kind of thing that will only appreciate. It'd make a nice gift for Ade when she gets old enough, if she's interested. You can certainly keep stuff out of her reach until then. (If you absolutely can't, THAT'd be a reason to sell!)

Not right now. There isn't any where for them. They are packed away in a closet. And when we get a house, I'll have to designate a space for them and could rotate the display because I couldn't possibly display 52 dolls at one time. I'd need a whole room for that.

With their boxes they are quite big.

keep the good ones, sell the rest...

I'm kinda torn here...but I know where your'e coming from.

I collect and have collected various things in the past 10-15 years. Mainly coins and baseball cards but these are small items that don't take up lots of space. I did the whole beanie baby routine, and I finally sold them on Ebay a few years ago when I run out of places to put them.

I also had an extensive Hot Wheels Car collection, which I had hidden in a closet to keep both sons from finding till I could give them to both of them at an older age....but they found them earlier than expected, had ripped them out of their packages and were playing with them when I found them. So, I just let them have all of them.... I was upset, but knew it was a matter of time till they happened across them.


So, I don't know....like some suggested maybe you get rid of a few and keep the one's that may become the rarest out of the bunch till years later. Collecting anything of value is an asset in my book, and very hard to part with. I want to think one day that my kids will appreciate the things I've collected with them in mind.

Do you know for sure that you'll get what you paid for if you were to sell? 1990 isn't that old.

My wife was into collecting dolls in the past, so I can understand the space issue. She didn't buy new though, but from second-hand stores.

We tried selling some a few years back, but couldn't get a "worthwhile" price for them, even though they were very reasonably priced.

I think Bella means she started buying them in 1990, not that they date from 1990.

You're really looking at a trade here. Which has more value to you- the dolls or what you would get for selling the dolls. What would you do with the money? Start a college fund for your daughter? Add it to a down payment for a house? or will you end up spending it on groceries? What will you do with the additional space? Play area for your daughter, exercise space or another area to stack clutter?

It's hard to predict future values on collectables. Most prices have stayed steady or have gone down because of Ebay. It used to be a real chore to find certain items, now you type in an item description and up pops six of them. I doubt the Barbie market will go bust like the Beenie baby market, but you never know. Of course, the market could soar because of nostalgia and you might be holding on to your child's college fund in the form of pink high heels and plastic boobs. It's all a gamble.

If you do decide to keep the dolls, you should put them where Ade can't get a hold of them until she is old enough to understand that they are not toys, but rather something mommy values just the way they are. At least get them professionally appraised by a toy dealer so you know their value in today's market. It would also help for insurance reasons. Speaking of, make sure you have photos and a rider on your apartment insurance that covers the collection.