subject: Collecting Figurine Dolls [print this page] Copyright (c) 2010 Ian CampbellDolls are great collectibles; things of beauty and craftsmanship that aren't just the playthings of children.Figurine dolls come in a huge variety, from those based on the stars (and often the creatures) featured in modern fantasy films like the Twilight saga, to romantic figurines which have their roots in 18th and 19th Century porcelain work.Figurine dolls go back far into antiquity and collecting antique examples is a marvelous hobby - although, it may well drain your pocket book.Porcelain figurines became very popular in Britain in the Georgian and Victorian eras, often depicting figures from classical antiquity or more recent history involved in idealized views of the country life that was fast disappearing as the Industrial Revolution ground onwards.Such figurines are now the province of the exclusive antiques shop of the high end auctioneer. However; any collector knows that keeping one's eyes open is the key to finding a gem that has been overlooked, and such figurines still turn up for a few pennies hidden away in a box in a yard sale. The most popular figurine dolls today are made in imitation of those from the classic period, but are designed to be collected and, indeed, to become the valuable antiques of the future.You can find wonderful examples of traditional Chinese figurine dolls at sites like Chinacart, still handmade in silk and showing the striking costumes of ancient Chinese history. In fact specializing your collection on a particular country may be a fun idea: reproductions of German and Dutch figurine dolls are charming and rustic in appearance and produced with a real sense of humour.No discussion of figurine dolls would be complete without mentioning that modern phenomenon the movie spin-off. Star Wars is said to have been the first movie that was marketed in this fashion, and if you have original figurine dolls of Luke Skywalker, Hans Solo or Chewbacca you may be sitting on quite a lot of money.Sadly, however, if you do have such a figurine doll, it's very likely that it shows the wear and tear of fighting a thousand Death Star light saber battles under the kitchen table. If you're serious about collecting such dolls now and you want them to retain their value, then resist the temptation to even take them out of their original packaging, that way they will retain their value.The usual rules of collecting apply to figurine dolls - keep your eyes open at all times, because you never know when a yard sale, junk store or market stall might be hiding a gem.
