Today it has been raining steadily all day. I don’t mind. It’s filling my water tank. It also seemed a good opportunity to do something that I have been telling all of you to do and start making a record of my fashion dolls.
It’s going to be a mammoth task but as I have now got to the point where I can’t always remember what I have it seemed like a good idea to start it while the majority of dolls are still boxed. I will break it down into lots and do it bit by bit so it won’t seem too overwhelming. Today I took all the dolls out of the big plastic tub in my wardrobe to have a look at them. There were a few Ken’s in the bottom but I have left them to do separately later. The rest of the box was a mixture of Fashion Fever and 90s twist and turn waist dolls plus a few clones, a couple of Candi’s and some other odd ones.
I have taken photos of each doll either nude or in her original outfit if she had it on. I also did a head shot of each. When I have processed them I will start a spreadsheet to record the details. I will probably have to take the dolls out once more to record their marks but that can be added later as can photos of them in the original outfits that I still have. I think this will be a good project for the next few months.
While I’m doing this I’ll be able to make a note of any dolls that I want to restyle, and do that over time as well. It will also be a good opportunity to record all the names I gave them somewhere. I’m finding it hard to remember so many. It was so much easier with paper dolls where you could write them on the back.
When I eventually get to the vintage dolls I’ll probablly put swing tags on them all with the basic information as I have done for some of Naomi’s already.
I’ll add something here about the project from time to time just to remind me to keep doing it.
Dolls, Dolls, Dolls 
It’s a great and useful project to document the dolls you have. Also, making notes on which ones need restyling is a good idea, I should do that too because there are quite a few!
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Wow, a mammoth task indeed! I’m very impressed. I know I should do this, too, but it seems like an overwhelming task. I like the idea of adding tags to the dolls so they can be quickly identified. Congratulations on starting this huge task, and good luck!
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I’m counting on the fact that I want to write about it to keep me going.
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Great idea about the tags, I found I hadn’t identified several dolls by their lack of one, plus making the head and body marks on one side the outfit they either belong in or came in on the other. I do it in pencil so I can reuse a tag if I donate (duplicate) or restyle it. I STILL don’t have a clue how many 1:6 scale dolls/figures I have, gonna be like Santa and make a list and check it twice. Awesome blog!
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Pencil is a good idea and I have no idea how many dolls I have either. People ask me but I have never counted. I might have a rough idea when I finish this project.
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I’m glad it’s you doing it and not me. I started doing my Matchbox cars. There is a lot of info on the bottom of each car and it takes a while to read it all and then type it into some sort of record book. I’d only do about ten of them at a time and I had enough of it. I have so many collectables of different types I think I would be dead before I finished it.
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I’m going to do it in small batches as I feel because they take up a lot of room on the table while all the info is being recorded. What I did the other day was mostly photos but it won’t take long to go through that tub again to record markings and anything else I need to know. Then later I’ll do the ones in the wheeled trolleys, then the others a box at a time. I probably will get fed up with it but it will be useful information to have stored.
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I have catalogued all mine in the old fashioned way – cardboard record cards. Each doll has a card with a close up photo and all details such as markings, where purchased etc and they are under sections such as “Pedigree Sindy and friends” “Barbie and friends etc” I’m not sure of the exact amount, I haven’t counted recently but I have over 100 loose dolls and over 40 NRFB. As soon as I acquire a new doll I make the card straight away. This suits me as I’m not great with computers and I can go straight to it if I want to check something or add more information. I have tagged dolls that are in their original outfits and are not used too much on photo shoots. Laurel’s idea of pencil is good, I hadn’t thought of that.
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Card files are a good idea. At least you can’t lose your records if you computer dies. I wish I had done this earlier, so much easier if you do it as you go.
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That’s true, although the cards and swing labels are getting harder to find, probably because nearly everything is computerised now. I did a load to begin with, then doing a few as they built up, but now I’ve got into the habit of getting the card ready as soon as I have the doll or when it is on the way by post. I currently have three cards awaiting the photographs which are being developed.
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I came back to take another look at some of your posts and one of your dolls jumped out at me. What is the name of the green-eyed girl (upper left in the head shots)? She has such vibrant colouring!
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That is Generation Girl Chelsie. She is nice, isn’t she? I actually have an NRFB one of her as well. I bought this one later because I wanted to play with her. She has articulated arms. If you remember the Generation Girls they were teen Skipper sized.
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Thanks so much for the info. Chelsie is gorgeous. Another one to add to my Wish List!
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