A 33-year-old Singapore man is aware he has doll fetish, but he says he can’t help it. His 6,000 Barbie dolls make him happy.
“Incongruous is kid of me,” said Jian Yang in a Reuters report showcasing the pink living room floor and collection of 6,000 Barbies that oddly contrast with his home’s modest and spartan exterior. “When you meet me outside of this, I’m not that kind of guy. I’m not what you expect from a guy that collects dolls.”
The dolls — 6,000 Barbies plus another 3,000 of different kinds — take up most of his home. And though his profession is toys and tracking consumer trends as director of strategy at Omicom Media Group, his Barbie obsession started way before his work years. At age 13, he bought his first Barbie — the “Great Shape” model dressed in turquoise Spandex and striped leg warmers.
“Before I knew anything about social norms,” he said in the Reuters article, “I was a boy that watched this on TV, liked it and wasn’t allowed to have one. As I grew older, got my own allowance, that’s where I started getting the freedom to buy whatever I wanted.”
He admits: His interest quickly turned in “crazy obsession,” and he admits he’s a “toy nerd.” But what might be even stranger is that some of his girlfriends have viewed the dolls as competitors.
“I’m very into collections, I’m very into amassing,” he said in the Reuters report. “I’ve also got the ex-girlfriends who get insecure about this kind of stuff. … They look at dolls and go, ’ok, that’s the competition,’ which is quite troubling but it’s a reality.”
Mr. Yang guesses he’s spent at least $392,000 in 20 years on his collection.
Other favorites, besides Barbie: Bratz Girls, Monster High, and Jem and the Holograms.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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