Offering doll appraisal sevices is a lot like having Christmas every day of the year.  During normal store hours, customers can bring a doll to the shop for a $15 appraisal fee.  I never know what will walk through the door and am frequently delighted by what I find.  Ten years ago on my birthday, a New Jersey resident brought in a doll which had been in her family.  It was wrapped in a black garbage bag without the added protection of bubble wrap or tissue paper.  I was thrilled to discover that her family doll was a Bebe Modele by Bru, circa 1879-80, on its original articulated woden body and featuring the desirable Circle Dot head model.

This doll was so rare that it was chosen to be included in Theimer & Theriault’s The Bru Book (2001 revised edition).  This was a particularly lucky birthday for me, as I was able to negotiate a price with the owner, purchase it, and then later resell it to a lovely collector from the West Coast who later became a good friend.  Just two weeks ago, this rare Simon & Hailbig character, in completely original clothes, was brought into the shop for an appraisal.  I am hoping that it comes back to stay, as I would love to buy this doll or consign it for the owner.  Cross your fingers- maybe you will see it for sale on the character doll pages of my site in the near future.  If you have a doll and would like to find out the value and have it identified, be sure to check out the APPRAIALS page of our site.  Sorry, doll appraisals are only done in person, at the Mullica Hill doll shop, but it might be worth the drive and the $15 fee to find out you have a real treasure.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 6:03 pm and is filed under Antique Dolls, Doll Appraisals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.