Doll, Bear & Toy Show draws lots of collectors

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- For five hours Sunday, Turner Hall's upper floor was turned into a sales Mecca for 40 doll and bear collector-dealers from five states throughout the Midwest.

It was the 19th annual Doll, Bear & Toy Show, put on each year by New Ulm's Country Loft and Doll Haus, owned and operated for 21 years by Nancy Kokesch.

A highlight of this year's show was a collectible that was just released, Kokesch explained. It's actually a new release on an old standard -- the Brenda Star Reporter doll.

Another new doll just hitting the market and featured in the Country Loft's show display was the 26-inch-tall "John-John" Kennedy doll. It's a replica of the late president's 3-year-old son, John F. Kennedy Jr., in his famous pose of saluting his father's casket as it passed by the White House.

(As with many other dolls featured at the show, if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.)

While there are perhaps dozens of such shows in Minnesota and many more across the Midwest, the local show remains a popular attraction for collectors.

"We're only a little bit smaller than in previous years while a number of shows have come and gone," Kokesch said.

What sets the New Ulm show apart from many, much larger shows is the German connection, Kokesch believes.

"About 75 percent of all the dolls are European, and most of those are made in Germany."

Kokesch believes the Germans have become the prime producers because the dolls produced there have a more authentic look, and they are marketed better than dolls made elsewhere.

"The dolls in Germany are hand-sculpted, cast in vinyl and made to look like real children. They work off of pictures of actual children, and they use real human hair."

However, an even more important factor for most collectors, Kokesch said, is that the Germans aren't producing thousands of each doll. They will produce anywhere from 50 replications of a doll up to 100 or 500 pieces.

Over the years, Kokesch has cemented a relationship with one of Germany's larger doll manufacturers, Gotz of Coburg.

"In 12 years, we had Franz and Marianne Gotz over here 10 times signing their dolls. Franz has since died, but our little store here in New Ulm was the top seller of Gotz dolls in the world for four or five years. That's how popular the German dolls are here," Kokesch said.

JoAnn Reynolds, a collector-dealer from Oregon, Ill., agrees the Germans' limits on individual doll numbers has helped the collector market.

"Putting out thousands of any one doll just depreciates the value for a collector. As far as collectors are concerned, the fewer the better," she said.

Reynolds also believes the move from porcelain and other materials to vinyl was a good move because "it provides a more natural appearance and makes the doll more durable."

Reynolds should know. According to her and her husband Chuck's count, Reynolds' personal collection of dolls and Teddy Bears ranges well into the thousands.

"She could fill four or five trailers, and that wouldn't be the half of it," her husband said.

Reynolds then admits that they built a storage building 80 feet long behind their home in Oregon just to hold her doll collection.

"I guess you could say that I'm into collecting big-time."

While vinyl is taking over because it will last, Kokesch said it really doesn't matter to the serious collector what material a doll is made from.

"There are still people who collect porcelain dolls and look at the rag dolls, Raggedy Ann and Andy, and all the clothes and accessories," she noted.

"It's the hunt to find that one more piece to add to the collection that makes it fun."