Inside the Collection: Meet Lisa

1. Crissy Doll

Lisa Whelchel also had one of these dolls growing up! Crissy dolls were known for their "growing hair" gimmick, where hair could be pulled out to a longer length, and then wound back in. This one is Lisa's original from childhood, complete with the original dress. Lisa also found all of Crissy's friends!

2. Medusa Barbie

When a member of Lisa's doll club won a ticket for a trip to Ellis Island featuring all the Barbies of the world, she invited Lisa to go along with her. The designer of this Medusa Barbie was there, and Lisa brought along her certificate of authenticity and got a signature! There were only three of these Greek goddess Barbies released, which makes them a rare commodity. 

3. American Girl Dolls

These American Girl dolls are unique; they were made by the original maker of American Girl dolls, the Pleasant Company, which only produced three models. Lisa stumbled across these at a thrift store, and restored them herself. 

4. Fashion Royalty Doll

This isn't a Barbie! It's a Fashion Royalty doll called Poppy Parker. This particular doll was a convention exclusive, with only 600 released, and it took Lisa a long time to track one of them down, and even then she had to find the outfit separately!

5. Riley Doll

This is a Helen Kish doll. It's especially valuable to Lisa because of the personal connection. She was very close to one of the members of a doll club, who taught Lisa a lot about dolls. When this member passed away, Lisa was given her Riley dolls, since Lisa was the daughter she never had. This particular doll was the member's favorite. It's worth about $100, but to Lisa, it's priceless.

6. Violette Barbie

This is one of the only platinum label Barbies ever created! It comes from the "Silkstone Line", a discontinued line of Barbies created by Robert Best. In order to get Violette, you had to be on a dealer's A-list. They're an expensive item to collect, easily going for over $1,000.

7. The total value of Lisa's doll collection: