By: Kellie Williams | Product Development Manager
I started collecting as soon as I was born. I wasn’t the kind of girl to open up and play with all her toys. Certain dolls I received would never leave their boxes. I loved the look of displaying dolls in their original packaging and keeping them like new. My favorite Disney items are my 1999 porcelain princess dolls from Disney land. Once I got older, I saw my mother’s collection of precious moments and developed a passion for collecting. My collection went from what my mother was passionate about to my interests.
When I was born, my mother started collecting Kelly dolls for me. My mother had always been a collector. Precious Moments are her most significant collection piece in our home. My mother started collecting Precious Moments in 1979 and hasn’t stopped since. She began with a Precious Moment from her aunt for her 18th birthday. Her collection started in 1979 Precious Moments Loving Is Sharing and now spans over 200 figurines. I add to that collection every year.
Everyone in my family has a collection ranging from baseball cards to boxes of unopened Pokémon cards. My father always had a big plastic bin in our furnace room filled with baseball cards. They were more into storing their collection for resale value. I prefer displaying mine and seeing it all the time. My mother and I are the only ones who like displaying our collections in our home. I will receive at least one figure from an anime I love watching every birthday or holiday.
That changed over time as I now display all my figurines on shelves and my desk in my room. Fast forward to now, and I have my own collection of anime figures and plushies. I have over 100 figures within my collection. My favorite figure I have currently is my ARTFX Hawks scale figure. He was my most expensive figure, and the level of detail was so worth it. My favorite part is the joy I get from unboxing a new figure and looking at all the details.
My passion for collecting dolls has led me to my current job. Since I started art school, I have been developing products for collectors like me. When she was younger, my mother had a Mrs. Beasley doll that sadly got thrown away by strangers. Seeing her face light up and cry once I bought her the Ashton Drake Mrs. Beasley doll is why I do what I do. Through my many years of collecting, I now apply my passion to the products I create.
