Madame Alexander "Glinda" Doll

Madame Alexander Dolls at one time were one of the most collectible dolls ever produced. When I was in my early 20's I worked in the toy department at a major downtown store. For those of you under the age of forty; downtowns at one time had stores that you could actually shop at, unlike today's modern downtown districts that are full of empty buildings (oxymoron) and sports arenas where the big draw is the annual empty parking lot show. Anyway, on the days when shipments of Alexander dolls were received the employees were expected to go to their "call" lists to make sure that all of the potential Alexander doll buyers were notified of the new arrivals. The collectors would actually rush down to the store so that they could get the best picks from the shipment.

Great story, but what are they worth today? Well it depends. We need to answer some questions first.

1. Do you have a 6" or 10" doll?

2. Do you have the original blue box?

3. Is yours "vintage" from the 1970's or earlier or is it a modern McDonald's version?

4. Do you smoke?

5. Was the doll ever in a house where someone smoked?

6. Is the doll missing any of the clothing (including shoes)?

7. Is the original tissue paper present?

8. Does the box have any foxing?

9. Is there any musty smell to the box?

10. Has the doll been exposed to sunlight?

11. Was the doll displayed and exposed to dust?

12. Has it been played with?

These are just a few of the questions that you may have to answer before you can sell the damn thing.

O.K. here are the answers to the basic questions above:

1. 6"

2. yes

3. yes, 1960's

4. no

5. no

6. no

7. yes

8. yes

9. no

10. no

11. yes

12. no

Good now we know all of the pertinent facts. Your 6" doll in the original blue box with the original tissue paper that is a vintage 1960's piece from a non smoking home that has a slight amount of foxing (wear) that doesn't smell musty that was not exposed to sunlight but was displayed and was never played with (major run on but I am doing this to make a point!) is worth a whopping $15.00. STASH IT! PLAY WITH IT! GIVE IT AWAY AS A GIFT! But don't spend a lot of time worrying about how much it should be worth.

Check every Alexander doll out, there are exceptions! Some Alexander dolls are great. This one is simply too common.