'I'm the world's biggest Barbie fan - but I never play with my 18,500 dolls'
Recovering from a broken leg at the age of 11, Bettina Dorfmann was given Barbie dolls by her family to keep her entertained.
The young German did not know it then but the gifts would start a life-long love affair with the toy and lead to her having the world’s largest collection.
Bettina has 18,500 Barbies ranging from 1950s models to current ones - and she is not done yet.
The doll is back in the headlines with the release of Greta Gerwig’s film Barbie on Friday, starring Margot Robbie.
But Barbie has never been out of Bettina’s life. It took a year to recover from her broken leg due to complications and she says of her beloved doll: “I could choose outfits for her, or to play. In the time I had to stay at home my friends came over and we played together.”
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Bettina has more than 18,000 dolls (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)Now, the 62-year-old’s modest house in Dusseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, is overrun by the Mattel dolls, standing on their tiptoes on every surface. It feels as though they are watching me, as I meander upstairs trying my utmost not to knock anything, or anyone, over.
But it is her Barbie Kingdom, a room on the first floor, that is the real treasure trove. Thousands of her prized Barbies live here, where they are arranged according to release date and style.
Looking in the crammed cabinets is like gazing through a keyhole into decades of history. The tailored demure outfits of 50s Barbies, with matching hats and gloves, and perfect hairdos.
The 60s Barbies with flower power frocks, long hair and short hemlines. The 80s Barbies with big dresses and even bigger hair. Bettina got her first doll, a Midge, who was Barbie’s best friend, at the age of five. She now has a few of these 1963 models.
She also holds repair workshops mending and looking after her dolls (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)The former office worker began seriously collecting when she was 34. Her interest was renewed after unearthing her childhood collection of more than 30, hoping to give them to her daughter.
But sports-mad Melissa, now 31 and a Paralympic table tennis coach, was barely interested in her mother’s plastic treasures.
Bettina explains: “Her Barbie dolls only did sports. Basketball Barbie and football Barbie.” Yet seeing the dolls again made Bettina think about all the Barbies she had wanted to buy in her youth, so she began collecting and attending conventions.
Her most valuable is No1 Barbie, the first one ever released by Mattel, in March 1959. It has a black and white swimsuit, a high blonde ponytail and white cat-eye sunglasses. This is one of the outfits Margot Robbie wears in the movie.
Among Bettina's collection are the first ever Black Barbie dolls brought out (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
Great Gerwig's Barbie movie comes out this week (Warner Bros)Bettina reckons hers is worth around £8,500 although some can reach even more, depending on condition. Bettina says: “She’s a heavy doll because she’s not hollow. The colour has gone away because of the light, she should have darker skin.”
Her favourite Barbies are the ones from her youth, especially the Twist and Turn dolls from 1967, including the first ever black Barbie doll. They get their name because they could be moved at the waist.
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The collection also includes many limited-edition Barbies such as Sandy from Grease and Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly.
There are houses, cars, boats and more accessories and amenities than any billionaire would own.
Asked if she ever plays with her dolls, Bettina cries: “No, no, no, no. I’m a collector and they must be in original outfits and complete.”
Her husband Goag, 67, a retired electrical engineer, is well used to the abundance of dolls in the home. Bettina says: “I have been with him since I was 15, and collecting Barbie dolls from the age of 34, so he has been there since the beginning. He has grown up with the Barbies.”
Bettina's treasures are not for playing, as she insists they are collectors' items only (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)She has also turned her love of the dolls into a career. After teaching herself to repair her buys, she now runs a makeshift “Barbie hospital” from her kitchen table.
Collectors and doll owners from all over the world send her their toys to mend, using original parts.
Bettina adds: “Often the make-up has worn away or the hair has been cut. Sometimes also the neck has split because with the early Barbie dolls you could actually change the heads on them.”
She also offers valuations and works with museums and galleries to put on displays. Bettina adds: “There are around 10,000 in exhibitions right now.”
Plus Bettina has written books about her obsession, including Barbie, the First 30 Years.
She shows off her official movie Ken doll, which bears at best a passing resemblance to actor Ryan Gosling, but a better prize is on its way. Bettina says: “I am waiting for my movie Barbie. I have ordered her but I am still waiting.”
Vowing never to stop collecting Barbies, she adds: “I will keep going forever, there is no limit.”
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