2. LEARN THE LINGO

If you're not familiar with terms like "bisque" and "flange neck," learn them now. Like any other hobby, doll collecting comes with its own secret language. Learn how to talk the talk so you won't be duped or befuddled.

Materials
Doll features
Abbreviations

Materials

  • Bisque. Many old, foreign dolls have heads and/or bodies made of bisque, which is an unglazed porcelain material.

  • Composition. Composition is a (surprise!) composition of wood pulp, sawdust, and glue. The mixture was used to make heads and/or bodies of dolls before plastic came along and took over the industry.

  • Celluloid. Before hard plastic came out, dolls were made of celluloid, a thin, highly flammable type of plastic. Don't smoke near your celluloid doll!

  • China. Besides the country. Many dolls that came out in the mid-1800s were constructed from glazed porcelain called "china."

  • Hard Plastic. A very durable plastic that was popular in constructing dolls in during the mid-1900s.

  • Vinyl. Vinyl was often used in dolls of the 1960s. It can be hard or soft, and it sometimes has that that yummy plastic smell.

Doll Features

  • Ball Jointed. This refers to the fact that the doll's limbs can be twisted and bent with the help of little wooden balls for joints.

  • Closed Mouth. Bisque dolls that feature closed mouths, with no teeth or tongue showing, are generally worth more than dolls with open mouths.

  • Flange Neck. This term describes the part of the doll head where the edge of the neck flares out so that it can be attached to the doll's body. It's a little scary to think about so try not to picture it.

  • Flirty Eyes. Eyes on a doll that move from side to side.

  • Googly Eyes. These are large, round eyes that usually look to the side. They were very popular on dolls made in the early 1900s.

  • Intaglio Eyes. Eyes that are molded onto a dolls head and painted.

  • Inset Eyes. These are eyes that are set in a doll's head. They don't move…or they're not supposed to, anyway. (Insert scary music.)

  • Mohair. Sounds funky, but mohair is actually the very soft hair of an Angora goat. It is used to make antique doll wigs (and it's very expensive).

  • Open Head. Don't take the description too literally, even though the term refers to dolls that at one time had the tops of their heads taken off so that their eyes could be inserted from the inside. A wig is usually used to cover evidence of the lobotomy.

  • Sleep Eyes. This refers to eyes that open and close, depending on the vertical or horizontal positioning of the doll's body.

  • Voice Box. This is the thing in a doll's body that allows it to call you its Mamma.

Abbreviations

  • BTE (Breveté). French for "patented."

  • GES (Gesch). German for "patented."

  • DEP. This mark is often found on French and German antique dolls. It's short for a word that means "patented."

  • HTF. It stands for "Hard To Find." You'll see this abbreviation a lot in descriptions for dolls being sold online and in ads.