My current home in San Diego is tiny so I don’t have the space to have the entire collection out on display. Our second bedroom serves as both a guest room and as my office. Here I get my Barbie fix. I have five shelving units dedicated to my favorite vintage dolls. The arrangement of dolls on these shelves is always changing. I guess that’s how I “play Barbie” because I really enjoy rearranging them.

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Here are my Barbie dolls currently on display (that's my dog Alfie in the photo)... 

Buy What You Love.​💗 ... and HAVE FUN! 

​~ David 

This is Shelf #2. It displays the dolls from the Mod Era of the late-1960s and 1970s, like the Twist 'n Turns. This is my favorite shelf because these were the Barbie and Ken dolls I played with as a kid. 

​​​​​Shelf #1

My Collection 

​​​​​Shelf #5

​​​​​Shelf #3

​​​​​Shelf #4

Publicity shot of me with the collection, 2023. 

This is Shelf #3. It displays the dolls of the late-1970s and 1980s Superstar Era, Barbie & the Rockers (the dolls that put me on the path of Barbie collecting), a selection of Cali Girls and Fashion Fever (bottom shelf), and topped with favorite pop culture dolls, like Scooby-Doo and Wonder Woman.

My advice for the new collector is simple. "Buy what you love." 💗

Don't buy a doll because you're supposed to, or because everyone else is buying it. These days, it's so easy to get caught up with Instagram and YouTube. Before you know, you've spent a lot of money and are looking at dolls in your collection wondering, why did I buy that?

I started out buying Barbie and Ken dolls that looked different from one another, and didn't always buy the complete Barbie line. 

Take the dolls out of the box, or don't. It's your privilege to do what you want with your own dolls, including switching their fashions. Those who object should mind their business. I personally take every Barbie out of the box, including the vintage dolls, because that's how I roll...

Most importantly, ENJOY and let your doll collection be a reflection of you. 💗

This is Shelf #5. It's topped by the classic Malibu Barbie lines, and features other beach lines such as California Dream, Tropical Barbie, and Beach Blast. Also included are Barbie's younger relatives: Francie, Skipper, Tutti and Todd, along with many of their friends. 

This is Shelf #4. It displays a mix of favorite Barbie and Ken dolls from the late-1980s and 1990s. There's also the "Shelf of Misfit" dolls, supervised by Weird Barbie and showcasing a few of Mattel's most controversial Barbies. The bottom shelf holds a library of books about Barbie and other toys.

Finding a 1970 New Good Lookin' Talking Ken for $35. at the Metcalf Antique Mall in Kansas City last summer.I brought this handsome doll home to San Diego! 

​​​​​Shelf #2

​​​​​​​Behold The Valley of the Dolls

by David James Mansour 

The pivotal moment of Barbie collecting for me took place on September 21, 1987. I’m a newbie hairdresser, first year in a salon, living in the university town of Lawrence, Kansas after my family’s relocation to the Kansas City area. It's my birthday and as a present I received the Barbie and the Rockers, a new wave band comprised of six neon-fashioned dolls. Needless to say, I was totally enamored.


This birthday gift reignited a love for Barbie I hadn't felt since childhood. Overight these dolls grew into an addiction, an obsession, a collection numbering close to 2,000 today.

When I started collecting Barbie in the 1980s there was no pressure of the internet to buy dolls, nor were there eBay or Amazon to do so. Collectors like me found our dolls at brick and mortar retail stores, such as Toys R Us, Children’s Palace, KB Toys, Walmart, Target and Venture (these five were my go-to stores). 
If you were into vintage dolls, you’d scout out antique malls, flea markets, yard sales, and doll shows. It was so exhilarating to enter a store, head to the Barbie aisle wondering, what new dolls are here? And they were there! It was all about the search, and we all had an equal shot of acquiring the doll. 

What I miss about Barbie collecting today is the lack of actual stores to buy them. It’s seemingly mostly on-line, you have to be quick to purchase the new dolls, particuarly the collector dolls, or they’re “sold out” within hours of release. And if you’re late to the game, you'll find them on the secondary markets at double the price or higher. Now some important advice in regards to that matter...

Patience is key when it comes to Barbie collecting. One thing I've learned over the 37 years of collecting is if you just wait, the doll you want will come around and at original price or an affordable price. I'm always happy I didn't pay double or triple the price on eBay or other doll seller venues. 

My how the collection grew! Me, among Barbies and other toys in 2008.

February 3, 2024

First of all I'd like to thank you for visiting my Behold the Valley of the Dolls website. As you can see, Barbie collecting is fun! It appears the phenomenal success of the Barbie movie has given rise to a new legion of Barbie collectors, and what they will discover is collecting is an exciting hobby. It can also be competitive and expensive (the price of vintage dolls have skyrocketed since last summer's release of Barbie). 

As a long-time collector I'd would like to share some advice...

I didn't acquire my collection overnight. I started in 1987, and it grew one (or two) dolls at a time. 

“Hot Rockin’ Fun!”  Barbie and the Rockers: Ken, Barbie, Dana, Dee Dee, Diva and Derek 

Take for example, the beautiful Disco Barbie from the Barbie movie doll line (above). She sold within the first hour upon release in June 2023 on Mattel's Signature Barbie site (creations.mattel.com), the most common place for collectors to buy dolls in current times. She was already pricey at $50 but by the end of the day, secondary sellers were selling her for $100 and up. I missed out—I really wanted this beautiful Barbie but refuse to pay higher dollar so I put my patience at play. I knew I'd have her one day. Last week Mattel rereleased Disco Barbie and now she stands in my collection, purchased at original cost.  

Social media sites like Instagram are a great way to connect with fellow collectors, share your collections and make friendly connections. In the past, we didn’t have that outlet. For many years, I felt like a Barbie collector on my own, "the lonely doll collector," not knowing there were many collectors out there just like me (and a lot of male collectors too). 

Barbie collecting has been a love of my life! My favorite pastime! I’ve enjoyed every second of Barbie and imagine I’ll be collecting until the end of time... 

Buy What You Love.​💗

Early photos of me and my Barbie collection, circa 1990. 

 I used to have all my dolls on display when I lived in a more roomy house in Kansas City, in fact I dedicated a large room to an extensive toy collection where my Barbies stood beautifully in the center on a set of shelving units I dubbed "Barbie Island" (as you can see in the two photos below). 

This is Shelf #1. It displays the classic first dolls, such as the iconic Ponytail Barbie, Bubble Cut Barbie, and original Ken. It's topped with a mix of fun dolls and toys.