Collecting Unicorns

Unicorn (noun): Something that is highly desirable and difficult, if not impossible, to attain.

Yesterday I found one of my all-time unicorns.

I started collecting with 1950s dolls in 2000 alongside my mom.  She had found a 1950s Cosmopolitan Ginger at Goodwill and grabbed it because it reminded her of her childhood dolls, which were mostly Madame Alexanders from the 1950s.  In researching the Ginger (which aren’t marked and are hard to identify) we got started collecting.

I ended up focusing heavily on Ginger, but had many other 1950s dolls, particularly Madame Alexander.  A vintage Cissy was always the ultimate collector’s doll, one that was perpetually out of my reach, as I never had the kind of money a Cissy would cost — especially then.

In the last 10 years I’ve started collecting more modern dolls such as American Girl and Gotz, but I’ve hung onto many of the vintage dolls I used to collect, including many of my Madame Alexanders.  I’ve even added to those collections a little here and there.

Yesterday we went to our favorite local doll and vintage shop: Super Junk Vintage in Monument, Colorado.  It’s a great shop with a large selection of Blythe and clone dolls and clothes, vintage dolls and toys, and lots of other vintage stuff.  Basically it’s just a really cute, fun shop.

I was browsing the back room, and there was Cissy.  She’s a bride with a complete or near-complete outfit (she has her ring but no garter — not sure if she should have had one or not), perfect hair, and gorgeous face coloring.  I thought for sure I wouldn’t be able to afford her, but at the price I couldn’t stand to pass her up.

I’m not normally much of a fan of bride dolls, so she’ll definitely need an alternate wardrobe at some point.  Besides, she’s been a bride for 70 years now — I’m sure she’d love to get down off of her pedestal, change out of her fancy dress, and relax a little!

What about you?  What are your unicorns?  How many of them have you found?