Collecting Exquisitely Hand-Crafted High Value Dolls

A lot of the most expensive dolls in the market are those that are hand-crafted by Madame Alexander. Made of the highest quality and materials, their dolls are created with elaborate designs and exquisite accessories. Founded by Beatrice Alexander along with her three sisters in 1923, she hand-sewed and painted their first few dolls which were made of fabric and flat doll faces. Over time their dolls' faces have become molded and rounded which made it more appealing. She also based her creations on children's literature like the books of Charles Dickens, and Louis May Alcott.

By 1935-1939, Madame Alexander made an 8-inch doll collection which was composed of wood pulp and glue. This doll collection was the Tiny Betty series which depicted famous fairytale characters of Goldilocks, Hansen and Gretel, and Little Red Riding Hood. These dolls were marked with Mme. Alexander and the batch that came after that was already marked differently. The dolls also now stand 9 inches or 11 inches high and they are designed with side-glancing eyes. There was also a collectible set around the same era which was designed after the Dionne Quintuplets who were born in Canada and now it can fetch around $1,500 in value.

In 1948, the company introduced the Maggie face doll which was made of plastic that has sleep-eyes. These dolls are marked "ALEXANDER". The designs were patterned after the characters in Alice in Wonderland, Me and My Shadow, and Annabelle. Then the Wendy doll was introduced on 1953 which was named after Madame Alexander's granddaughter. This one is still made of hard plastic with straight non-walker legs. However, the subsequent versions of the Wendy dolls are made with walker legs which were designed after the characters in Gone with the Wind, The Bible, and Little Women.

By 1961, the international series was launched in which dolls were made to represent several different counties. It stands 8 inches and has a bent-knee walker designed body. This designed was used in the dolls until 1964. Around 1965 to 1972, the series did not have bent-knees and cannot make a walking gesture. There were several developments in the materials and designs of Madame Alexander's dolls over the years. Today, even recently released dolls are expensive and are highly valued. The earlier series of MA dolls especially those that were hand-crafted prior to the death of Beatrice Alexander are regarded today as the best collectibles. Nevertheless, the newer doll series available are still interesting but the value of vintage Madame Alexander dolls is astounding.

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