Facebook

Ada and friends...

It is with great pleasure that I can announce that our first DollObservers.com Superstar Member of 2012 is the beautiful,  talented and generous of spirit, Ada. Ada has been with us since the very early days of DollObservers and has always inspired and advised other members of the site.

Ada also has her finger firmly on the pulse of the Barbie world and was generous enough to design our site logo and look of our site for our first birthday last year. Ada you are a Superstar indeed!

Here is our interview with Ada and I hope you enjoy at much as me…

What made you join Doll Observers?

I love doll related websites! I saw the link on Facebook, I think, and when I saw that it was a doll lover’s community I was like: this is the place to be! LOL

When did you start collecting/playing dolls?

Playing with them… I think it was ’87 or ’86 when my mom bought me my first Barbie. Sun Gold Malibu Barbie. I still have her. She always wanted a Barbie when she was a kid but because we were a communist country it was impossible to get one. So she got one for me with the help of a friend of hour who used to smuggle things in and out of the country. My collection grew over the years until I became a teenager. As you may have guessed I started being more interested in boys than dolls by then, so I stopped buying dolls. ) And then, one day in 2008, I saw some Collector Barbies online and my addiction was back!

Tell us about the dolls in your collection.

Well first of all don’t ask me how many I have. I stopped counting after 200. Mostly I have Barbies from the 70′s, 80s, 90s and some Collector Dolls. Besides them I have a growing collection of 80s and 70s dolls such as Maxie, Tuesday Taylor, Candi, Jem, Sindy etc. Now I really am into Darci dolls and I plan on getting some of them.

You are DollObservers’ unofficial Barbie expert. How do you keep up with all the Barbie news and developments?

) I love the unofficial title. ) Well I read a LOT of doll blogs and websites, I’ve joined a lot of Barbie groups on Facebook and I also have a lot of doll collector friends on Facebook so I read their updates every day.

Your love of Barbie is certainly no secret. Even your recent marriage and engagement had a Barbie related elements. Tell us about that?

Well first of all I must thank God for the Marian. ) Because he understands what a collector is and he loves and takes care of my collection. He doesn’t love the bills that come with this collection but he still loves it. That is why he proposed to me, on the 29th of December 2010 with a custom Ninimomo Barbie called The Ada is Getting Married Doll that was made to resemble me in my Marie Claire spread I had done a few month before. He came up with the idea during a trip to Amsterdam where he saw Teresa Barbie Basics 1.0 and he thought to himself: oh, she looks just like Ada! As he already knew my love for Ninimomo’s creations he got in touch with Nik and Marie and they came up with the amazing doll that was given to me as a Christmas present AND a marriage proposal. I had no idea he was going to do that so it was a TOTAL surprise for me.

You are a very talented graphic and web designer (thanks again for our wonderful site design!). How do you combine your skills in these fields with your love of dolls?

Dolls inspire me. The same is with old cartoons. When I don’t have inspiration I look at my doll collection or search through my cartoon collection and watch some episodes from a classic series such as Jem or Saber Rider.

What advice would you give members who are thinking about starting a doll related website or blog?

Get someone to help you with a nice design. If you also want to make some money for your dolls from ads on your site you have to make it eye pleasing. Content is VERY important but the look also plays a big part in the success of a blog. Oh yes…you can email me!!! )

Other than playing with dolls what else do you do to relax?

As I have said before I love watching old cartoons from the 70s and 80s, looking at classic movies and reading books. I love books! Take me to a book store and I’ll spend everything I have there. ) And also spending time with Marian and our 2 cats, 2 hamsters and the neighbour’s dog, talking on the phone with my parents and going to the gym.

How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

Barbie loves cats. )

Related articles

• Interview with a doll lover, September 2011 (dollobserver.com)