Collector Dolls: What Makes Them Appealing? (not advertising)

Dear users, dear authors,
Today I saw an ad for a lifelike collector doll, or baby doll. Really cute, a pretty face, with a facial expression, lots of details. It just makes you want to be allowed to cuddle the doll. The manufacturer has clearly put a lot of effort into it.
But this doll is certainly not intended for children or for playing with.
What makes these dolls appealing to you?
I admire the craftsmanship involved in making them, but I wouldn’t buy the doll myself.
Would you? Do those porcelain dolls for collecting actually still exist?

Of course, there are also dolls on Crazypatterns; these have the advantage that you can make them yourself.
But for the collector dolls mentioned above, you can certainly also make doll clothes.

Personally, I would never buy these collector’s dolls either, since I’ve never been a doll enthusiast (not even as a child).

But I do own one of these collector’s dolls. I inherited it from my late grandmother and keep it for sentimental reasons. My grandmother was very attached to this doll and was immensely proud of it.
 
 It’s a little boy doll with lots of detail and is beautifully crafted. 

As a Sasha Morgenthaler fan I have to chime in here as well. The dolls were first created by a Swiss woman for her daughter, then for her daughter’s friend, then for her daughter’s friend’s friend, and so on. Eventually they made it into wholesale, but they were so expensive that back then only a few people could afford to buy one. After the death of Sasha Morgenthaler’s husband, the company was dissolved, and the Sasha dolls were produced again by Trendon (England). Later they went to the German doll manufacturer Götz and were made there until 1975, if I’m not mistaken. Back then, the attraction was that they were the first dolls whose hair you could actually wash. Daily, if necessary. And they also had joints, so you could move them. They can still stand upright on their own (as long as the elastic hasn’t suffered over the years. - smile -)

On a certain Swiss site, I’ve been offering self-sewn Sasha clothes for the past three years. (Sasha Design). In America, there is a Sasha Day every year where Sasha fans meet. Besides the “big” ones, there are also Sasha babies, very sweet dolls. In England, where Facebook connects doll fans who are friends, there was a Sasha Day two years ago, but unfortunately I was ill at the time.
There are many different Sasha dolls, because Trendon changed the eyes only very slightly.
Götz then made small changes again. The fascination of the Sasha dolls lies in their eyes. They look so childlike and dreamy. Compared with the dolls of that time (Schildkröt), they seemed very expressive, which still delights fans today.

So, that was a little about my Sashas in terms of collector dolls.

Best regards
Jana

Yes, I also gave my children 2 such Sasha dolls in the early 1980s. They still have them today, and now my grandchildren play with them.
I also think dolls are for playing with, which is why I’m not too keen on overly lifelike artist dolls. But they should still be expressive and of high quality. I simply find the identical faces of some plastic dolls dreadful. 
I also like Waldorf dolls very much. Some time ago I made one myself for my granddaughter:

Oops... I thought I’d rotated the image...

I personally don't like dolls; I never have.
But my mother-in-law has a beautiful old doll. She never had one herself as a child, and then treated herself to one when she was young.
It's nothing spectacular, but that's exactly why I like it so much.
Unfortunately, I don't know what brand it is.

What my mother collects, and her mother before her, are Hummel figurines.
They don't really count as dolls, but I like the figurines too.

@ruthk That’s exactly right, dolls should be played with. That’s one of the things that brings me joy too: I keep seeing grandchildren with a Sasha doll that their parents or grandparents once had, and the fact that they stay beautiful for so long is one of the things I particularly like about Sashas. Funny enough, I never had a Sasha as a child. I used to admire them in the toy shop. The doll was on every Christmas wish list I wrote, but, well, there was never one there.;.)). Later, I collected other dolls, but now I only collect Sashas. But there are also wonderful newborn dolls today, with such real and sweet faces.

Well, work calls.
Wishing everyone a lovely afternoon

Jana

Hello everyone :)
Personally, I find these dolls creepy and eerie *laugh* You occasionally see pictures of the dolls in various groups on FB, and every time I’m amazed all over again at how REAL they look *brr* 
But in general I’m not really a doll fan.. My grandma used to collect those porcelain dolls and porcelain clowns :D haha really creepy :D

Haha, I was just about to write the same thing as Crisa—I don’t like dolls either and find them absolutely creepy. When I was a kid,
I always told everyone not to give me dolls as gifts… unfortunately, not everyone always listened ;)
So I definitely wouldn’t buy one for myself.

The only dolls I often find cute are the little crocheted ones :)

@Tina
haha :D yes, we're on the same wavelength *laughs* 

Hi everyone, on the topic of “collectible dolls”: these new dolls may be very beautiful, but unfortunately they aren’t really worth the money they cost. You can’t make any profit reselling them—in fact, you really only make a loss. Even with genuinely old dolls, things have become very difficult by now. The great era of doll collecting is over. I know what I’m talking about—I collect teddy bears, and it’s very similar there.
So if you buy dolls like these, do so only for your own enjoyment.
I hope I haven’t made myself too unpopular#
Best regards, Biggie

Yes, that’s true. Selling collector’s dolls is practically impossible, so to speak. I’m so happy just looking at them when I walk into my sewing room. It’s the same with Schildkröt dolls—they used to be valuable, but now they’re hardly in demand anymore.

Jana

I was already a doll fanatic as a child; during my school years, I knitted and sewed entire wardrobes (including a backpack). My daughters then got a Sasha girl, and I later bought the boy for myself. Besides their special expression, I’m also fascinated by the story behind these dolls. I also own two real-life babies (Reborn). My love of knitting and crocheting doll clothes has remained, but unfortunately at the moment I don’t have any little doll mums around me.

Collectible dolls... a relic of a bygone era for me. I have no idea what I saw in these things back in the ’80s and ’90s—by the mid-’90s, I’d sold them all off: two large and four small beanbag babies, plus three sitting or standing toddlers. Back then, it was still easy to get rid of them... For me, they were a substitute for my passion at the time—one I couldn’t afford: antique dolls. Today, I restore these and various other dolls. Whatever is reborn from a pile of shards and loose limbs—that’s always “my baby” :) It’s a special bond. The accessories, too—either antique or handmade replicas.
I’d never even heard of these Morgenthaler dolls until just now… even though I’ve been a doll fan for at least 50 years. Käthe Kruse, on the other hand, is very familiar to me. My mother raved about them to me back in the ’60s. However—I only like antique dolls. And I still can’t afford them if they’re in good condition.
The Morgenthaler dolls… aren’t my taste. I’d much rather have Waldorf or Kruse dolls… or ones I’ve made myself :)

@BigiBausH
Welcome to our forum and to the site.
I hope you have a great time here with us.

By the way: I don’t like Barbies at all!

I have my dolls standing in the corner; I got them from Lidl or Aldi a long time ago. Great dust collectors
I wouldn’t buy any more.