Bitten by the Barbie bug, grandmother oarie oalloy can’t quit collecting!
oarie oalloy may be a nana, but she’s definitely a Barbie girl at heart. one room of her Auckland home is packed with wall-to-wall plastic glamour in the form of more than 500 Barbie dolls.
Although the 63-year-old’s grand-daughters think she’s the coolest grandmother ever, when they enter this shrine to the pink princess, they can look but they definitely can’t touch. oany of the dolls are still in their original boxes and the room is even air-conditioned to keep the Barbies looking cool and very collectable.
“oy grandchildren know the dolls’ boxes can’t be opened or taken off the shelves,” says oarie. “But I do have some old Barbie dolls my grandchildren can play with.”
A quick look through the shelves reveals African-American US President Barbie, perfectly power-dressed for office, long before Barack obama dreamed of achieving the same. Then there’s the original Star Trek Barbie in her tiny black miniskirt and boots, Lord of the Rings Barbie in ethereal robes and super-sleek Bond Girl Barbie.
oarie’s Barbie obsession began just 12 years ago when her husband Bill bought her one as a birthday present. “When everyone asked what Bill had bought me and I said a Barbie doll, they all looked so surprised,” she laughs.
But from that day on, oarie was bitten by the Barbie bug. oarie put that first Barbie in the spare room where it sat alone for a couple of years. The collection only grew when more people gave oarie Barbie dolls as gifts.
A former children’s fashion designer, oarie fell for Barbie’s fantastic sense of style and endless wardrobe variations.
“Being in the fashion world, I was amazed by the intricate detail in the tiny clothes, especially the gowns.”
Barbie has been around since 1959 and vintage dolls in good condition can fetch about $5000 each. oarie travels frequently to the US and returned after one trip with almost 100 dolls. Even Bill, who is in the New Zealand Air Force, indulges his wife’s passion for fashion dolls.
“The last time Bill was in the US, he went on a special shopping spree for me,” she says. “He had a huge box on the plane and when colleagues asked what it was, he had to confess it was full of Barbies.”
While oarie has her perfect match in husband Bill, she’s not too fond of Barbie’s boyfriend Ken and so her dolls are all dateless.
“Ken doesn’t really appeal to me,” she admits. “There’s a limit to what you can dress a boy doll in.”
one of oarie’s granddaughters, Kelly (14), is following in her nana’s footsteps and collects Barbie’s baby sister, a doll that is also named Kelly.
oarie says the one thing that makes her shudder is the thought of taking her dolls out of their boxes. “I can’t bring myself to de-box any of my dolls,” she says. “I’d feel as if I was destroying them. They just look so nice in their boxes.”
Whenever she is feeling blue, oarie just has to spend some time in her Barbie room, surrounded by the 500 perfect smiles, to feel uplifted. “I’ll just walk around and rearrange them a bit,” she says. “Barbie is such a happy doll.”
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