By Jayrel Tye
When you visit Elizabeth Chrisostom’s condominium in Petaling Jaya, the first thing that you will notice are some few thousand pairs of eyes, greeting you with a warm welcome!
Although placed in glass cabinets, they all look gorgeous, in different sizes, colours and countries of origin. They have all been featured in newspapers, magazines and television channels.
“Each of these dolls is so different,” said the 63-year-old Grand Collector of dolls. “I have different categories of dolls, including Barbie dolls from Mattel, costume dolls, celebrity dolls, beachwear dolls, wedding dolls and porcelain dolls.”
Some cost only 50 cents, others can cost up to a few hundred US dollars, but she treasures all of them. “I have my heart in each of these dolls,” said the former girl from SMK Air Panas in Setapak.
Some of her dolls are given by family and friends. Her first doll, Fergie for example, was given to her as a birthday gift when she was only seven years old.
She now keeps Fergie in a glass box because Fergie’s leg was broken once, when someone accidentally dropped it onto the floor. “A friend helped me fix it back,” she said. “After that, I would not let anyone touch Fergie ever again.”
However, she does not keep all kinds of dolls. For example, the scary doll from the movie, Annabelle!
Although Chrisostom does not believe that Annabelle has a soul in it, nor is she frightened by the movie, she would not keep it, she said.
Whenever she has a chance to go overseas, she would buy different types of dolls. “That’s why I have costume dolls from different countries,” she said. “Whenever I have a guest asking for the costume of a particular country, I would show them the doll. I have dolls from different countries, including the USA, China and the United Kingdom.”
All the dolls in her collection have unique features that give them a different personality. For that reason, Chrisostom can pick up a doll and tell you the name of the doll.
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