DUESSELDORF (Germany): Where do all the broken, balding Barbie dolls go?

Bettina Dorfmann, a German housewife from Duesseldorf who has never outgrown her love for the long-legged, long-haired dolls, has saved hundreds from ugliness and possible rejection over the past 12 years.

From her kitchen table she runs a business rejuvenating worn-out Barbies. She replaces broken limbs and blonde nylon locks lost in playground tugs-of-war and mends torn ballgowns and nurses’ uniforms.

Her services are advertised on a sign on her car which reads: “Barbie Clinic: We buy or repair your dolls,” and by word of mouth. “People send me dolls from America, Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, and a whole lot from Canada,” Dorfmann, a petite blonde 45-year-old, told in an interview. “It is a worldwide operation.” It is also an obsession which began in her childhood. Instead of parting with her dolls, Dorfmann started buying more and today has possibly one of the world’s biggest Barbie collections with some 4,500 different models.

Dorfmann buys the impeccably preserved, which can go for up to $1,970 a piece, but also large numbers of broken dolls which she uses for spare body parts and clothes. She gets paid not only for her repair services these days but for addressing toy fairs and has held a successful exhibition on Barbie’s emancipation.—AFP