The dolls that don't go on my desk

Here is a snapshot of the majority of my international / Dolls of the World. There are about 15 you don't see in the photo because, well, I need more shelving.

These are the dolls that don't go on my desk in the newsroom.

Most of them are not worth much - even if I had kept them in their boxes, which, I don't and that allows me to find dolls on the cheap. The known exception is Princess of the Nile doll, which is worth about $65. That surprised me greatly when I thought that would be fun to showcase that doll in honor of Elizabeth Taylor.

The reason these dolls stay at home is that the international dolls started my collection; and there's a lot of time and effort put into assembling this set. I still have a few gaps in the early years and with at least one of the known variations.

The separate pink box doll collection started specifically so I could put a doll on my desk.

Vinyl problems on 2005-era Barbie dolls?

I've heard about the vinyl stickiness and degradation on some of the vintage dolls, but I really did not expect it on some of my dolls that are only five or six years old.

I am noticing as I'm dusting off / rearranging my dolls that both the Spirit of Water Barbie and the Princess of India Barbie dolls have very sticky legs. I debox my dolls but otherwise just put them on display.

This is obviously a problem with the plastic or vinyl but I really don't know what to do about it.

If it was the entire doll affected, well, OK, my bad. But the arms and torsos are fine and this is a non-smoking house. Something is wrong with the dolls' legs and I'm not sure what to do about it.

Go see the Target exclusive Barbie Basics!

Barbie collectors: you want to go to your nearest Target store and see the Target exclusive pieces in the Barbie Basics collection!

I counted four different dolls, and two accessory packs, on the shelf today at Target in Monroe, Mich.

My Barbie budget is kind of small right now so I picked out one doll. Yes, this is a blonde and not my usual choice in dolls. However, I really did like this one's hairstyle.

Salute to 9/11: Tea Time at the Plaza Gene doll

The Nashville Doll Collecting Examiner has this post with a photo of Gene doll posed in front of the New York skyline with the World Trade Center in the background: Tea Time at the Plaza Gene Doll - a Remembrance of 9/11.

The photos were taken by Kathryn Darden in the style that's been so popular in recent years of a doll or stuffed animal being posed on its "travels" around the city, country or world.

My traditional "doll on my desk" display for 9/11 was to dress Teresa in a firefighter outfit. But I was so busy last week that I forgot all about digging through the doll boxes to get that doll out of storage.