Hello Dollect! Earlier this month I visited the Barbie In Holland fashion doll show in Nieuwgein, Netherlands. At this event, there are lots of tables with exhibitors selling fashion dolls and adjacent items. I wanted to document my experience at this event for Dollect because it was my first time going.
Some background: I’m originally from the US but now living in the Netherlands. I got into doll collecting a year ago. I mainly collect OMG dolls and MLP.
As the name suggests, Barbie In Holland is mainly geared towards Barbie collectors .The majority of items for sale are Barbies and Kens. I’m not a Barbie collector, but I decided to still check out the event because any doll related event near me sounds like something worth checking out! My goal was to hopefully locate some early 2000s Barbies from my childhood. I put aside 20 euros (22 dollars, roughly) as a spending budget to bring home a souvenir!
After a 2 hour train and bus ride, I finally arrived at the Fletcher Hotel. The venue was quite nice, with easy connection to public transport and clean bathrooms. The event itself was located off the hotel lobby in a large room. Entrance to the convention was 8 euros.
There were lots of boxed collector Barbies. Some booths had bins of loose dolls you could dig through. Many booths had binders of assorted doll clothes and bins of shoes and accessories. Some sellers exclusively focused on vintage dolls, others had a mix of eras all the way up to modern Barbie. There were also vendors selling dollhouse furniture and accessories. All booths seemed very organized, I was impressed! Most items were labeled and bagged.
The event was busy and well attended! Sometimes you needed to wait your turn to get a look at a popular booth, especially ones with many bins of dolls to dig through. I saw lots of people leave the event with several bags of purchases. If you have a doll collection you would like to downsize, this is a good event to bring your wares to. The main demographic of this event seems to be slightly older collectors, mainly those interested in vintage Barbie and collector dolls. However, I did see some younger attendees walking the halls with their G3 Abbey Bominable or OMG Wildflower dolls peeking out of their backpacks!
I think the main caveat of this event is that it is very Barbie oriented. Other brands I saw were mainly Monster High and Disney dolls. Two or three nude OMGs, practically zero Bratz. Obviously European doll brands such as Sindy and Steffi are present. I also saw a booth of Integrity Toys dolls! I believe its still worth going as a doll fan even if you’re not a Barbie fanatic, because it’s just fun to browse through all the dolls and be around other enthusiasts.
I ended up coming home with three dolls. Kitty Fun Barbie (5 euros), Secret Spells Barbie (5 euros), and Odette Barbie (10 euros). All early 2000s Barbies from my childhood. I guess I kinda collect Barbies now?
The nice thing about Barbie In Holland is that they hold two events per year, one in Spring and one in Fall. If you’re a doll collector living in the Netherlands or nearby, I recommend checking it out!
How lovely!! Thank you so much for documenting and posting your experience, these are one of my favorite type of doll posts. And great haul as well, love that Odette barbie. Glad you had fun <3
Thank you! I plan to write recaps of other doll related conventions/events later this year. I think I might have enough photos to write articles about places I went to last year too!
Oooh yay, I look forward to reading them whenever they get posted!! ^^