I noticed that she portrayed women of leadership and empowerment. I enjoyed collecting the Barbies because they represent different cultures, different careers, different occupations. The diversity caught my attention.
EDINBURG — A sea of pink bows filled the room here Saturday at the Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library where little girls of all ages gathered around to celebrate Barbie Day.
Parents sat with their smiling daughters as each girl wore various shades of pink to match the character’s iconic color palette.
With eyes wide and curious minds, they admired each doll on display.
The library hosted these admirers in celebration of Barbie’s birthday, which was March 9, otherwise known as Barbie Day. Local collector Lidia Guerra lent her collection of dolls to the library Saturday for all to admire.
The collection will be on display until April 16.
Although about 31 dolls are on display at the library these are not the only Barbie dolls in Guerra’s collection. In fact, she estimates owning about 150 dolls that she has collected for more than 20 years.
She often buys one or two dolls a month totaling about 20 a year, she said.
Guerra began collecting the dolls in the early 1990s, starting with the Pilgrim Barbie, after seeing advertisements showing her in various colorful costumes.
“I noticed that she portrayed women of leadership and empowerment,” Guerra said. “I enjoyed collecting the Barbies because they represent different cultures, different careers, different occupations. The diversity caught my attention.”
For Guerra, Barbie is more than just a toy; rather, she is a role model for children who motivates and “inspires them to become somebody.”
She added that the dolls represent what she hoped to accomplish throughout her career.
“I used to be a psychotherapist and I used to work with women and children, so my background is about empowering women, young girls, because I did groups and counseling,” Guerra said, adding that she saw the Barbie doll as a toy that accomplished that feeling.
Although she doesn’t know how much she has spent over the years while building her collection she explained that each varies in value. In fact, the value of some of the dolls can range from about $5,000 to $9,000.
They’re all my favorites. I love every one of them.
This is one of the reasons she treats each doll delicately. She stores each one in boxes to preserve their quality.
“They’re all my favorites. I love every one of them,” Guerra said with a tender tone, adding that she couldn’t pick a favorite.
She hopes to add the Sun Barbie which is a golden doll, a Catrina version and the Scarlett Barbie, representing the famous character Scarlett O’Hara from “Gone with the Wind,” to her collection.
Collecting these dolls is not unlike starting a stamp or coin collection, as each doll represents a period of time in American history and culture, historical markers if you will, or snapshots in time.
Others have more personal attachments, as in the case of 35-year-old McAllen native Mayy Duran, who passed down her Barbies to her daughter.
Duran attended the event with her 4-year-old daughter Valentina on Saturday to observe someone else’s collection. The Duran mother-and-daughter duo have also amassed as many as 200 Barbie dolls, and counting.
“We just keep buying dolls and dolls and we have so many,” Duran said with a laugh.
Valentina doesn’t mind. She expressed her love for an old doll that belonged to her mom, carrying it around with her throughout Saturday’s event and holding it close to her.
Valentina, who takes after her mom who also started her Barbie collection at age 4, dressed the part Saturday and wore a colorful blouse with purple and pink hearts and a pink tutu.
“She wanted to match pink and pink because Barbie wears pink,” Duran said.
The library is located at 1906 S. Closner Blvd. in Edinburg.
To see more, view Monitor photojournalist Delcia Lopez’s full photo gallery here:
Photo Gallery: Barbie collector who has amassed over 150 dolls opens exhibit in Edinburg
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