Dolls
Buy and sell dolls in Panama.
In Panama a doll can mean a child’s Barbie or a small figure in a hand-sewn copy of the national dress, beaded ornaments trembling in her hair, kept on a display shelf, and both have a place here. So do baby dolls that drink and wet their diapers, Bratz and Disney princesses, and reborn babies that collectors pay real money for. Pre-owned dolls mostly come from homes where a daughter has moved on, often with a bag of clothes that may or may not fit; new ones arrive sealed. Before you go to see one, ask for a photo of the stamp on the back of the neck or the lower back.
A doll to feed and a doll to dress:
that is the first split, and children rarely want both at the same age. Baby dolls are carried, fed and put to bed. Plain vinyl and soft-bodied ones are simple toys, while Baby Alive drinks water, eats from a spoon and wets its diaper. Reborn babies sit at the far end, weighted and hand-painted to look like a newborn, bought by adults as often as for children. Fashion dolls are for changing outfits and making up stories. Barbie fills most of that shelf, Bratz stand shorter with big heads and feet, and Disney princesses are chosen for the character, so a child who wants Elsa will not settle for Rapunzel.
Barbie’s body shapes and the wardrobe that fits them:
there are four, original, curvy, petite and tall, and the clothes are cut for each. A dress from an original doll will not close on a curvy one, and petite trousers stop at a tall doll’s shins. Before you buy a bag of used clothes, ask which doll they came off. Bratz clothes and shoes do not swap with Barbie’s at all.
Costume dolls and the work in the dress:
the Panamanian doll a collector looks for wears the national dress in miniature. The ones worth keeping show real needlework, lace and embroidery on skirt and blouse, and a headdress of beaded, trembling ornaments wired into place. The ornaments and lace are the first to work loose or yellow, so check the head and the hem. A doll by a known artisan carries her name in the price.
A Fashionistas Barbie on the shelf and loose in a bag:
new, a Fashionistas doll is around $15 to $20 in a Panamanian toy shop, and a small cloth doll in the national dress, of the souvenir kind, about $10. Out of the box, a Barbie drops to a few dollars, because the outfit, shoes and accessories are what a parent pays for, and they are what go missing. Reborns and handmade costume dolls work the other way: they were bought to keep, so condition and maker set the price, not lost shoes.
The stamp on the neck and the water inside a Baby Alive:
turn a used doll over before anything else. Barbie carries a Mattel mark on the lower back and the back of the head, Bratz are marked MGA, and princesses read Mattel or Hasbro. The 1966 on many Barbies dates the body mould, not the doll. An unmarked fashion doll is a generic, whatever the listing calls it. On a reborn, part the hair at the nape: genuine kits carry the sculptor’s name moulded into the vinyl, and an artist-finished doll usually comes with a certificate. Factory dolls are passed off as reborns all the time, and a blank neck gives them away. A Baby Alive needs a different check. It is meant to be rinsed after feeding and cannot go under water, so one given real juice or left with food inside can grow mould where nobody can reach. Look into the mouth, smell it, and if you can, give it water and watch it reach the diaper.
A doll listing with the shoes counted:
photograph the doll front and back in daylight, the stamp close enough to read, and every outfit, shoe and accessory laid out together, and the box if you kept it. Say which body a Barbie has, whether the doll was played with or displayed, and mention any marker on the face or haircut a child gave it. For a costume doll, name the maker and photograph the head and lace up close; for a reborn, give the kit and sculptor and include the certificate. Then go to the handover ready for the test every Baby Alive buyer asks for: a bottle of water and a dry diaper, so they can watch it drink and wet before they pay.