It All Started While Cleaning My Daughter's Room!

     It all started when I was cleaning my daughter's room a little over a year ago, and discovered that she had broken the top to my "Baby Go-Bye-Bye's" car!  I decided to go on Ebay and see if I could find a replacement.  I did eventually, but in the mean time I found a lot of other dolls to "win"!  That term is so relative, as you don't really "win" anything, but pay a price for it, sometimes a high price!  I can win any auction, I just place my bid, which is at least $30 more than I should ever pay for the item, fifteen seconds before the auction ends.  Then I not only hope that I won, but that the highest bidder before me was not as enthusiastic as I was.
     Another way to find dolls is Church rummage sales and flea markets.  My daughter and I found two very cute matching porcelain ballerinas, a cute blonde doll and a swing for my Pepper doll (Tammy's sister) at a very reasonable price at a Church fair.  The only problem with finding dolls at these rummage sales and flea markets is you may find quite a few dolls at a great price, but they aren't always the ones you are actually looking for. Yard sales are also a possibility, but unless a newspaper or online ad states specifically that they will be selling dolls, you can end up wasting an entire day going from house to house.
     Dolls shows and conferences are a great way to potentially find dolls and meet new and interesting people.  You may make friendships for a lifetime!  I recently attended a doll conference in the Spring. I had a great time and met a lot of very nice and knowledgeable people.  I also met one of my all time doll "idols", Cindy Sabulis, who has written many doll books.  During the course of the conference, we were bused to a doll show and I still regret not picking up that Dracula doll for $111,  as the cheapest I've seen him on Ebay is $125!
     If doll collecting is your hobby, my advice would be not to rely too heavily on Ebay to round out your collection.  Give your self other options, you may be surprised at what you'll find and who you'll meet!