Collectors..you know the drill..biting my nails here!

[sweetpee_1993]

So I know there's plenty of y'all who "collect" something specific. As Disney fans I know you understand "passion" for what you "love". I'm coming to vent my nerves before I POP!

There's an eBay auction, found it this morning, for a killer....I mean show-stopper.... of a doll in the realm of the dolls I have collected for well over 10 years now. He's very old, original, he's super valuable. He has my late grandfather's name! I'm in looooove with him and want him sooooo bad so I did the unthinkable and threw out a great big horkin' bid in the hopes his price would run up high enough, fast enough that the seller would be compelled to not close the auction and take a private offer. That seems to happen a lot these days on the super-rare, super-valuable babies. It's been a subject of much heated discussion amoungst collectors in recent years. It seems other collectors will message these unknowing sellers who don't realize just HOW valuable these rare dolls are. They offer them what seems like a lot of money (a thousand or more) when actually the doll is worth a whooooole lot more than that. To top it off, they send these crazy sob stories how this is their suffering-n-dying mother's final wish, etc. to have this doll. It's crazy. So I put this crazy bid out there (yes, I can afford it...not going to have to sell a kidney or anything...LOL!) then messaged the seller explaining that I'm not making an offer, only imploring that what he has will bring him a lot of money if he'll please just let the auction run it's course. Seems the seller has done some homework and knows where he stands. He assured me he has no intention of pulling the auction or taking a private arrangement. Yay! I have half a chance!

So I'm currently the high bidder and crossing my fingers. I've watched the high bid jump over $700 in the last hour. I realize I'm likely to be outbid. As it gets closer to the end I may or may not increase my max. Not sure. But for the time being I'm totally biting my nails...freaking out!!!!

And I think I'm losing my miiiiiind!!!!! LOL!

 

[ddbowdoin]

thats a lot of coin for a doll... but we all have things that float our boat

 

[sweetpee_1993]

thats a lot of coin for a doll... but we all have things that float our boat

Yeah. I know I could get my money back out of it if I had to so I'm good. It is a lot of money that I don't typically spend. I know. Still high bidder.

Ooooh...but the collector boards are a hummin....

((chewing my nails))

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Aaaaand outbid!

I'm sad but also relieved. I could pay off the next cruise for what my max bid was. And THAT is why I don't have any of the Holy Grail dolls in my collection.

 

[dave&di]

Aaaaand outbid!

I'm sad but also relieved. I could pay off the next cruise for what my max bid was. And THAT is why I don't have any of the Holy Grail dolls in my collection.

Oh nooooooo! The fact relief was one of two emotions you felt means you were unsure to begin with!!! Congratulations on still having $700 in your bank account!

 

[flynnibus]

when people try to outrun the auction, they make an offer to the seller directly (not via bid) to try to get them to sell outside the auction and then just end the auction. It's against the rules, but happens ALL the time. People throw money 'right now, no fees..' and hope to entice the seller to bite.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Oh nooooooo! The fact relief was one of two emotions you felt means you were unsure to begin with!!! Congratulations on still having $700 in your bank account!

More like still have $2250 in my bank account. LOL! The doll will likely go over $3k. I'm just not willing to spend that at this point in time. Maybe in the future but not right now. Too much other stuff I'd rather do with that money. I'm sad because it seems I'll never find AND obtain my "ultimate" piece for my collection but then I also think that when the time is right it will happen. I know in the end I can't be truly happy if I felt like I overpaid. And, unfortunately, there's tons of collectors out there with a lot more money to throw around than me so if/when it happens for me it'll be largely luck. LOL! Thanks for the congrats, tho. Definitely a bittersweet day for me.

when people try to outrun the auction, they make an offer to the seller directly (not via bid) to try to get them to sell outside the auction and then just end the auction. It's against the rules, but happens ALL the time. People throw money 'right now, no fees..' and hope to entice the seller to bite.

Yep! With these dolls it happens a LOT. Almost every time one of the super-rare earliest editions appear it happens this way. Usually the crazy high behind-the-scenes bid is accompanied by a sob story like my sister is terminally ill, about to die, she wants this baby, and this is all I have left after helping her pay for her medications. But then the doll appears with a proud collector who we're all familiar with, who has no siblings, no children, etc. It's that sort of thing. So underhanded. I contacted the seller straight away, explained what the doll was, alerted the seller that he'd likely receive these messages with big offers and sad stories, then begged him to let it go all the way. We exchanged messages a few times. Nice guy. He knew what he had but wasn't aware of how cut-throat doll collectors could be. You'd be shocked! LOL! Within a few hours he had updated the listing with a statement that he would NOT be accepting any offers or stopping the auction early. I lost the bid today on this doll fair and square. I can stomach that without any issue. It's sad, yes. Frustrating because I'm 90% sure who the person who outbid me is and know she's already got hundreds of these rare dolls so this one will just be another that gets lost in the sea of them. Sad that it wouldn't be going to a home where it'd be cherished as the ultimate prize. But hey, such is life. Right?

 

[maryszhi]

ok this outbidding reminds me of the great missoni at target fiasco. I stood in line because i wanted the luggage so badly. By the time the store opened, people stuffed their carts and put a majority on ebay. I was bidding like crazy and still lost in just a few seconds. and then i thought to myself scratch this, i am not paying more than a bit more than retail price.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Ugh! In the end it was the same lady who won the doll that always gets the old valuable ones. Basically, she has more $$ than the rest of us so she always gets them. Poor little George Arthur, amazing little thing, has to go live where he's lost in a sea of old babies. That lady has hundreds of these super valuable dolls. Another collector once asked her where she keeps them all. Her response? "I bought a house for them." Honestly, it's incredibly discouraging for so many. I'm trying to keep the faith, that someday my time will come when I can bring home THE one but its tough when you see the rare opportunities slip away, always in the same way. Ugh! I'll quit whining. That's so unattractive...which totally es me off even more...

 

[luv]

I was going to be snootily shocked over someone paying $700 for a doll...then I thought about how much I've blown on pins and...

Well, enjoy your dolls!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I was going to be snootily shocked over someone paying $700 for a doll...then I thought about how much I've blown on pins and...

Well, enjoy your dolls!

LOL! I understand. I was pretty much shell-shocked the first time I held 2 of these dolls worth an estimated $20k each. All I could think was " This is 2 cars!!!" LOL! I know people think how is it possible for a doll to be worth that. These are not molded plastic production toys, tho. They are handmade pieces of folk art / sculpture. The fact that they drove such a following later that created a frenzy phenomenon for their toy versions made the artist who created them a household name, thus making his earliest pieces that much more sought after and valuable.

Cabbage Patch Kids as most know them are toys bought in toy stores. They're just another doll. Most people do not know that the name printed on them, Xavier Roberts, is a real person. He's an artist who grew up the youngest of a large, very poor family in the foothills of the Apalachian Mountains. During college he created these homely, quirky little soft-sculpted dolls and sold them at little flea markets, booths in malls, and in the gift shop at the local state park for like $30. He called them Little People. Xavier also entered one of his dolls into art competitions and actually won awards for his sculpture. Those homely little souls from all those many years ago that some thought were insanely priced at $30 or $35 are now worth many, many thousands. And Xavier has lived the quintessential American rags-to-riches story. I've not personally met him but most of my collector friends have. They all say he's just as kind and down-to-earth as can be. That's pretty cool, really!