Incepem saptamana cu bine. Am pentru voi un foarte dragut interviu cu Tiny, una dintre utilizatoarele frecvente ale forumului Barbie Mania, pe care o admir de mult pentru incredibila ei colectie de Barbie. Sper ca o sa va placa interviul pentru ca am toata intentia sa continui sa iau astfel de interviuri colectionarilor din intreaga lume. Aveti mai jos prezentarea ei si interviul atat in romana cat si in engleza. Enjoy it si astept intrebari pentru Cynthia, daca aveti.

Buna, sunt Cyntia, toata lumea imi spune Tiny, si sunt o fata de 29 de ani nascuta si crescuta in Argentina, dar care locuieste din 2005 in Spania. Sunt art director si programator si sunt casatorita cu cel mai expreaordinar baiat din lume.

1. Cand si de ce ai inceput sa colectionezi papusi Barbie?

Am inceput sa le colectionez in 1997 cand aveam 17 ani. De fapt iubirea mea pentru Barbie a inceput cu 10 ani inainte, cand am vazut o Crystal Barbie in vitrina unui magazin. Mama mea nu a putut sa mi-o cumpere insa pentru ca in Argentina, in anii ’80, papusile Barbie erau foarte scumpe. Incepand cu anii ’90 am primit multe papusi ca si cadouri de aniversari, Craciun, sarbatori etc si evident am inceput si eu sa investesc toti banii pe care ii aveam in aceste papusi.
La 13 ani am incetat sa ma joc cu ele, dar am continuat sa le admir prin magazine. Nu am mai putut sa le cumpar pentru ca trebuia sa-mi dau banii pe alte lucruri “importante”. In ’97 am terminat liceul, am intrat la arte si am inceput sa lucrez. Din primul salariu am cumparat-o pe Vicky din seria Generation Girl si tot atunci am decis ca vreau sa ma apuc serios de colectionat.

2. Ti-am vazut toate pozele minunate pe contul de Flickr asa ca trebuie sa te intreb cate papusi ai?

Nu mai stiu exact. Ultima oara cand le-am numarat erau peste 400 (collector si playline), dar asat era acum un an. Nu prea am obiceiul sa le numar pentru ca numarul poate cand mai cumpar, sau mai vand sau fac schimb cu alti colectionari.

3. Iti place o perioada specifica in istoria Barbie? Colectionezi anume papusi in special?

Cea mai nostalgica si draga perioada este cea a anilor ’80 pentru ca are legatura cu copilaria mea . daca e sa discutam despre papusile playline, imi plac anii ’80 si inceputul anilor ’90. Colectia mea insa este foarte variata.

4. Ce cred parintii si familia despre pasiunea ta?

Prietenii mei nu colectioneaza papusi, dar le place colectia mea. In general spun ca sunt putin nebuna pentru ca “imi irosesc” banii pe ea. Sotul meu este si el colectionar. El colectioneaza jocuri video vechi, dvd-uri cu filme si mai nou si Blu-Ray-uri. Mama mea colectioneaza vederi vechi, iar fratele mai mic robotei Gundam.

5. Ai copii? Daca da, iti impartasesc si ei pasiunea? Daca nu, iti vei invatat copii despre Barbie?

Nu avem inca copii, dar imi doresc o fetita care sa le iubeasca de asemenea si cu care sa pot imparti aceasta minunatata lume.

6. Care este papusa Barbie pe care ti-o doresti cel mai mult si mai mult?

Doar una? IMPOSIBIL! Am o lista uriasa, dar pot spune ca prima este Enchanted Mermaid Barbie din 2002.

7. Ai vreo preferata in colectia ta?

Da. Preferata mea este si prima mea Barbie: Barbie Fashion Photo din 1979 primita cadou de la verisorul meu care a fost si primul proprietar al ei.

8. Le scoti din cutie sau nu si de ce?

Clar le scot. Initial nu le scoteam pentru ca nu aveam o camera speciala sau o vitrina unde sa le pun. Cand mi-am aranjat prima camera de papusi am incpeut sa le scot. Nu le pot tine in acea “inchisoare de carton”. Imi place sa-mi eliberez papusile si de asemenea imi place sa le reconditionez pe cele distruse.

9. Ce parere ai despre noile papusi Barbie atat playline cat si collector. Crezi ca sunt la fel de speciale ca si cele vechi sau trece Barbie printr-o perioada mai nefasta?

Mattel a avut niste momente foarte bune in trecut. Inca le are, dar sunt mai rare. Aici ma refer in special la calitatea unor papusi care nu prea este in conformitate cu pretul lor. Daca te uiti la papusile playline nsi collector din anii trecuti vezi imediat diferenta. Cu toate acestea in fiecare an Mattel ne surprinde cu ceva nou. Anul acesta, de exemplu, mi se pare ca papusa Mad Hatter este incredibila si ca raport calitate-pret. Barbie Fashionistas sunt si ele niste papusi minunate cu care te poti juca ani de zile.

10. In concluzie cateva cuvinte pentru colectionarii din intreaga lume, in special cei din Romania.

Uitati de prejudecati, pictati-va viata roz! Viata este prea scurta ca sa fim “adulti responsabili” tot timpul. Uneori este bine sa aducem un pic din inocenta si veselia copilariei inapoi in viata noastra. Bucurati-va, traiti, iubiti si…pictati-va mormantul roz atunci la inmormantare.

Hi!. I´m Cynthia, but everybody call me Tiny, I´m 29 years old and I´m from Argentina, but live in Spain from 2005. I´m Art Director and Programmer. I´m married with the most wonderful boy in a whole world

1. When and why did you start collecting Barbies?

I started to collect when I was 17 years old, in 1997. Actually, my love for Barbie dolls started 10 years before that, when I saw a Crystal Barbie in a toy shop window. My mother couldn´t buy it because in Argentina, during the decade of the 80′, its price was really expensive. Entering in the 90´, I received many Barbie dolls as gifts for birthdays, christmas…and, of course, I was “investing” all my money in dolls too XD.
When I was 13 I stopped to play with dolls, but still loved Barbie, so I spend a lot of time in toy shops, looking at newest dolls. But I couldn´t buy any, I had to use my money to pay “more important” things.
In 1997 I ended the High School and started to study Art Direction. Then, I started to work too. With my first salary, I decided to buy Vicky, from Generation Girls. At that moment I decided to start to collect “seriously” .

2. I have seen all your wonderful pictures with your collection on Flickr so I have to ask how many do you have?

I don´t know exactly. Last time I count it was around 400 dolls (collector and playline), but that was 1 year ago. I am not in the habit of taking a calculation, because the amount of dolls can increase or diminish, depending if I sell some dolls, or trade dolls with another owner.

3. Do you like a specific period of time in Barbie’s history? Do you collect some Barbies in particular?

Probably, the most nostalgic period for me was the 80´, because that is the barbie from my childhood . If we talk about playline dolls, I have a marked preference for the decade of 80´ until middle of the 90´. Nevertheless, my collection is very varied .

4. What do your friends and family think about your passion?

My friends don´t collect dolls, but they like it. They usually think I´m a little crazy because I “waste my money” on dolls . My husband has collections too, he has vintage videogames and dvd movies (and now blueray too). My mother and my brothers have collections too. My mother collects old postcards, and my little brother collects japanese robots called Gundam.

5. Do you have children? If you do, do they share your passion? If not, would you teach your kids about Barbies?

We don´t have children yet. I expect to have a daughter who loves Barbie dolls too, to share with her this wonderful “pink world”

6. What is the one Barbie that you don’t have and desire more than anything?

Just one?…IMPOSSIBLE! . I have a big wishlist, but the first place is for Enchanted Mermaid barbie from 2002.

7. In your collection do you have a favourite?

My favorite barbie doll is my first: Barbie Fashion Photo from 1979. It was a gift from my cousin (who was the first owner).

8. Boxer or deboxer and why?

Deboxer, of course . Initially I could not remove the dolls from boxes, I didn´t have a room or glass cabinet to put all the dolls. When I build my first doll room, I began to debox all my Barbie dolls . I can´t keep the dolls in boxes for a long time, like “prisoners in a jail of cardboard”. I like to liberate my dolls, so much I like to restore dolls in poor condition.

9. What do you think about the new Barbies both playline and collector? Are they as special as the old ones or is Barbie going through a not so special moment?

Mattel had big moments in the past, and still has them in spite of the fact that now it´s less frequent. I talk specifically about the quality of some dolls, that it doesn´t go in conformity with its price. If you look back to the collectors and playline of previous years you can estimate the differences. Nevertheless, every year Mattel has something to stand out. For example, this year I believe the Mad Hatter is absolutely great (good relationship between price and quality). And Barbie Fashionistas are the most beautiful dolls “for play” in many years.

10. Please say some words to all the collectors in the world esp the ones in Romania.

Forget prejudice, paint your world pink!. Life is too short to try to be ” responsible adults ” all the time. Sometimes it´s necessary to recover a bit of that happiness and that innocence we had when we were children. Enjoy, live, love…and buy a pink coffin for your funeral