Collectors, especially dedicated ones, aren’t exactly known for their reserved personalities so it’s no surprise that Stanley Colorite’s character appears to be as colourful as the multitude of dresses that adorn his massive Barbie doll collection.
Since 1997, the small business owner has become the singlehanded driving force behind the Mattel stock by amassing $80,000 worth of unrealistic female proportions in plastic form (on second thought that actually sounds like a promo for the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Barbie dolls. I mean Barbie dolls.)
More than 2,000 Barbies, most still in their original boxes, line the walls of his Hudson, Florida home. The collection requires four rooms and is punctuated by a series of additional Barbie accessories, like a $1,000 Barbie Dream Home with a working shower and elevator (!) and 3,000 additional Barbie outfits (including one designed by Oscar de la Renta) in case one of them gets bored of her summer wardrobe.
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Among his prized blondes: a 1992 Barbie worth $975 and a vintage 1962 model that he purchased at a garage sale for $6.
"I started with just one doll and my collection has grown and grown,” he told the Huffington Post.
"Barbie isn't just a toy for children, she's for adult collectors too. I can't stop collecting - it's like a drug habit, I just can't quit."
It’s true. Barbie really does inspire collectors to go the extra mile. Dusseldorf, Germany resident Bettina Dorfmann recently made the Guinness Book of World Records for her incredible 15,000-strong Barbie army, a number that exceeds the population of many small towns and all but dwarfs Colorite’s collection.
What Dorfmann doesn’t have, however, is a partner who brings a little Ken action into the fold. Colorite met Dennis Dennis Schlicker in 2000 and the two have since amalgamated their households – and doll collections. Schlicker has 1,000 Ken dolls and the two regularly attend Barbie conventions across the country.
"When I first met Stanley he only had 150 dolls. They were all in their cases on the walls and it had to be the most I'd ever seen in one place before,” Schlicker told the HuffPo.
"Then I started collecting Kens and helping Stanley with his collection and it's just got bigger and bigger."
Colorite, who owns a cleaning company, has approximately zero plans to ease up on his habit. He adores the attention he gets from people whose “jaws drop” when they first lay eyes on his floor-to-ceiling Barbie museum.
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"I won't stop collecting until I run out of rooms,” the 41-year-old avers. "I'll glue them to the ceiling or make chandeliers out of them if I have to - but I wouldn't move home.
Anyone with pediophobia, on the other hand, may want to steer clear of Colorite’s entire neighbourhood.
