In the Beginning

I am a collector by nature... I remember playing with my Barbies while growing up in the early 1970s.  As most kids growing up, I put away most of my kid things and they were packed away once I became a teenager. After college it was all about working and making money.   I am a trained behavior counselor and spent my time working with girls at a private boarding school for several years.  That was fun, but then I got married and wanted to switch gears, so I ended up with a job in a local social service agency working with underprivileged kids, pregnant and parenting teens, and also kids in the juvenile probation system.  I did ok, but I started gravitating towards the collector Barbie dolls that Mattel was putting out in the early to mid 1990s.  Suddenly that little girl inside of me was awakened and I wanted to play.  It was a good stress reliever for me, as social service work is very demanding and draining.

 All things came to a head when I suffered a personal tragedy in early 1998 and I had to take a few months off work.  I couldn't go back and do my job right, I was known to deal with the toughest cases, the cases that would make most people cry because these are the kids that society labels and basically wants to throw away... I lost my edge with the kids.  I wasn't burned out, but after what had happened to me, my outlook changed.  I couldn't go back no matter what the offer was, and so there I was with a few collector Barbies staring at me.  I decided I wanted to focus more on dolls.  Dolls wouldn't talk back or be disrespectful.  Dolls didn't require a treatment plan. Dolls were my escape.  Suddenly I found myself wheeling and dealing and was able to buy a few of one doll in order to pay for the doll I really wanted to keep in my collection.  I was doing ok, but I wanted more and after many lengthy conversations with my husband, I took the next step and decided I would be a doll dealer.  Luckily my husband is a CPA, so he knew what I needed to get started in business.  From there, I contacted companies and moved forward.  Things just fell into place.  I got a website created and I was able to slowly build a customer base. 

All of this happened in the mid to late 1990s.   It wasn't a quick process.. it took several years to work up to.  Also, part of what helped was finding a good retail location... as I lovingly called my place a "hole in the wall"... it was no frills.  But it served the purpose because most companies require you to have a commercial retail space and want proof via pictures, copies of a lease, utility bills, etc.  In addition, you must provide a copy of your sales tax license from your respective state, and this is that pesky piece of paper which tells me I must collect sales tax on every purchase made in the shop and/or shipped to an address within the state of Pennsylvania.

Early on, a few companies required business references and I was told to go sell other collectibles, even it's their competition, they needed references.  It took me awhile, but I did manage to sell most of the main fashion doll lines.  I haven't been to Toy Fair in a few years, so I am not sure how companies are signing up new dealers.  I am sure things may have changed since I first signed on with different companies. 

In the next post, I will mention how things changed over the years......in the meantime, please keep playing dolls, dressing and redressing, and making dioramas.   I am grateful that my parents kept my original Barbie airplane, huge motorhome, mod Barbies, and all the home made clothes my cousin made so my dolls would match my outfit back in the day!  :-)