I'm Addicted To American Girl Dolls | HOOKED ON THE LOOK
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KRIS is the proud owner of an American Girl doll collection worth over $50,000. Speaking to truly, he explained: "I started becoming interested in dolls when I was around six or seven. At first I was a little scared of them, but I realised that I actually had a deep love for them." Kris' aunt treated him to his first doll that Christmas and from there, his collection quickly began to grow. Kris admitted: "Before I knew it, it just became a really fast passion of mine. Collecting them, finding them, fixing them. Within the span of a couple of years, my collection had already amounted to over 100 dolls." But his doll purchasing hasn't slowed down and Kris currently owns 206. Dedicated to his hobby, Kris even got his dad and brother-in-law to build a giant dollhouse, where he stores some of his favourite girls. Kris doesn't plan on slowing down on his doll collection anytime soon. He revealed: "I'm enjoying the content that I'm creating and it's a way for me to engage with an audience that's passionate about what I enjoy. It's something that I'm so grateful for."
Follow Kris on Instagram @thedollstudiobykris and TikTok @krisamericangirl
KRIS is the proud owner of an American Girl doll collection worth over $50,000. Speaking to truly, he explained: "I started becoming interested in dolls when I was around six or seven. At first I was a little scared of them, but I realised that I actually had a deep love for them." Kris' aunt treated him to his first doll that Christmas and from there, his collection quickly began to grow. Kris admitted: "Before I knew it, it just became a really fast passion of mine. Collecting them, finding them, fixing them. Within the span of a couple of years, my collection had already amounted to over 100 dolls." But his doll purchasing hasn't slowed down and Kris currently owns 206. Dedicated to his hobby, Kris even got his dad and brother-in-law to build a giant dollhouse, where he stores some of his favourite girls. Kris doesn't plan on slowing down on his doll collection anytime soon. He revealed: "I'm enjoying the content that I'm creating and it's a way for me to engage with an audience that's passionate about what I enjoy. It's something that I'm so grateful for."
Follow Kris on Instagram @thedollstudiobykris and TikTok @krisamericangirl
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FunTranscript
00:00 My dolls are worth over $50,000.
00:03 Whenever a new doll is released, I am definitely buying it.
00:07 Every month I'm spending around $400 on dolls.
00:12 So roughly here in this house specifically,
00:15 I have around 150, but overall I definitely have
00:19 over 200 now at this point.
00:21 But I'm definitely far from finishing my collection.
00:24 I would be lying if there weren't times
00:26 where we were like, "Don't you just wanna sell this stuff?"
00:28 And like, "Do something else."
00:32 Hi, my name is Chris,
00:33 and I have an American Girl doll collection
00:35 that is worth over $50,000.
00:37 This is my childhood bedroom from when I was,
00:41 I wanna say seven all the way until I was 13.
00:44 And then my collection started to grow in here
00:47 after the following years.
00:49 These shelves that I have here,
00:51 they are all technically in the order
00:53 that I purchased them in.
00:54 Before I knew it,
00:55 it just became a really fast passion of mine,
00:57 collecting them, finding them, fixing them.
00:59 Within the span of a couple of years,
01:01 my collection had already amounted to over 100 dolls.
01:05 To be able to actually hold all these dolls,
01:07 we had to break down my closet.
01:09 We had to put up these shelves,
01:10 so that way all my dolls could actually fit
01:12 in the same room together.
01:14 Currently I have 206 dolls,
01:16 and I'm definitely on the search for more.
01:18 The collection of dolls that I have currently right now,
01:21 it's roughly around $30,000 just on the dolls themselves.
01:25 And then when you add on top of that,
01:27 the clothes, the accessories, the furniture,
01:30 it has amounted to well over $50,000.
01:34 So this is my dollhouse.
01:36 My brother-in-law built it with the help of my father.
01:39 A lot of time, effort, love, blood, sweat, and tears
01:43 was put into this dollhouse.
01:44 So my very first doll that I ever received when I was 10,
01:49 this is my doll Bailey.
01:51 She's my Y2K girl.
01:53 My second doll, this is Elizabeth.
01:55 I made her my girly girl.
01:57 She's very inspired by Sharpay Evans,
01:59 very inspired by Legally Blonde.
02:01 This is my doll Nikki's room.
02:02 She is my musical theater girly.
02:04 She's also a costume designer in my eyes.
02:07 Over here we have the living room.
02:08 We have the parlor, kind of like our dining room,
02:11 and then we have a bathroom here in the corner.
02:13 So on the three bottom, we have my doll Piper,
02:16 who was my last doll in my childhood collection.
02:19 We have my doll Molly, who is very much a Disney fanatic,
02:23 and she was my fifth doll.
02:25 And then we have my fourth doll, which is Kanani,
02:28 and she's all the way in the corner,
02:29 and she's definitely my down-to-earth nature girl.
02:32 These dolls are different parts of me,
02:34 different elements of my personality.
02:38 One of the first furniture pieces
02:39 that I wanted to make sure I got my hands on
02:40 was Kit's tree house.
02:41 I love this tree house with my whole heart,
02:43 and I'm so happy that I finally have it in my collection.
02:45 The most expensive doll that I purchased was around $2,000.
02:50 This doll, to get your hands on one
02:53 in practically mint condition is very hard.
02:56 Let me just gently take her out of here.
02:58 But she's definitely my prized possession.
03:00 She goes for a very pretty penny.
03:02 It took a long time, patience, energy
03:05 of constantly looking for her.
03:07 Never really wanna pick her up
03:08 'cause I do not wanna have a reason to damage her.
03:10 I am buying retired dolls that are no longer available,
03:14 and then I'm also buying newer dolls
03:16 as they're being released.
03:18 Growing up, I was definitely very susceptible
03:21 to being picked on, so I kind of always kept to myself.
03:24 I started becoming interested in dolls
03:26 when I was around six or seven.
03:29 At first, I was a little scared of them,
03:31 but I realized that I actually had such a deep love for them.
03:34 And before I knew it, I asked my parents for my first one.
03:39 They said no, but I decided to call up my aunt.
03:42 She, without hesitation, said yes.
03:44 And for Christmas of that year,
03:46 it was like the best gift that I could have ever received.
03:49 As a child, I was so inspired by their stories,
03:51 and now as an adult, I'm getting to heal
03:55 a part of my inner child for not having been able
03:57 to have them for so long.
03:59 I fund my collection a lot through the work
04:01 that I do online with social media.
04:03 A lot of it does come back to me.
04:05 If I do videos that do well,
04:08 I'm able to continue funding this hobby.
04:11 So for me, when it comes to comments on my videos,
04:15 a lot of the feedback is mainly positive.
04:17 When it comes to negative comments,
04:19 I don't really ever respond because I always focus
04:22 on the 10 positive comments for every one negative comment.
04:27 Hey. - Hey.
04:28 - Come on in.
04:32 So I am shooting B-roll for my TikTok
04:37 of my entire doll room.
04:38 I feel like these two would make more sense in there
04:42 'cause it's a little more like a formal-looking setting.
04:45 When I first found out about Chris's collection,
04:47 I think I just glossed over it.
04:49 And then one day, I was over, and he was like,
04:52 "Do you wanna see the collection?"
04:53 I was like, "Sure."
04:54 And I saw the scope of it, and I was like,
04:57 "This is a huge thing."
04:59 - Hi, you guys, it's me, Chris.
05:00 Welcome back to the doll studio.
05:02 So today, I felt like it was time for me to show you guys
05:05 an updated look at my dollhouse.
05:07 - We have this running joke in our friend group
05:09 that I'm the creative director
05:11 'cause I feel like I just help him achieve the vision,
05:14 and sometimes it makes me wanna rip my hair out,
05:16 but you know what?
05:17 It's all part of the magic, I guess.
05:19 - She's got the actual working little computer.
05:22 See?
05:23 I love this set.
05:26 It's like one of my favorite things in the entire world.
05:29 Growing up for me, collecting was always something
05:32 that I was aware of.
05:34 Oh, hey, there, man.
05:35 - How you doing? - Good, how are you?
05:38 Hi, daddy.
05:39 My father, he doesn't drink,
05:42 but he enjoys to collect different kinds of alcohols.
05:46 Between the two of us,
05:47 you've also spent a pretty penny
05:48 on your collection as well.
05:50 - I don't think it's a collection.
05:51 It's just very few.
05:53 Well, probably about 215 bottles.
05:55 [laughing]
05:57 - Whenever I look at my collection,
05:58 I'm always reminded of growing up,
06:00 and I always knew that I always had your support
06:02 for my collecting because of the fact
06:04 that you were so passionate about yours.
06:06 - Well, I have always supported you
06:08 because I help a lot building that stuff downstairs,
06:11 that dollhouse.
06:12 - My family has definitely done a full 180
06:16 when it comes to my collection.
06:18 When I first started out, times were very different.
06:21 A boy playing with dolls wasn't socially acceptable
06:24 the way that it kind of is now.
06:26 - When Chris was a child back then,
06:28 he had a little discomfort, I guess,
06:30 either coming out or playing with dolls.
06:32 Also, for us, because as Latinos,
06:36 I guess, sometimes a little,
06:38 it creates a little conflict in our social life.
06:42 But we were all for it, really.
06:44 - Growing up, they really had a protective guard
06:48 for me to make sure that I wasn't getting bullied
06:50 or picked on for liking dolls.
06:52 So in their way, they were trying to protect me
06:54 by not allowing me to play with them.
06:56 But over the years, once they saw
06:58 that I had a passion for it,
07:00 I definitely feel fully accepted by my parents.
07:04 My dollhouse would not have been built
07:07 had it not been for their support.
07:09 I feel like I'm more confident in myself
07:11 because I know that something I'm so passionate about
07:13 is not only sparking creativity in others,
07:16 but it's also inspiring people to live authentically
07:20 in who they are.
07:21 - Your creativity really shows,
07:22 especially from your theater side.
07:23 - Yeah.
07:24 - You're singing and dancing as a kid,
07:25 and now as an adult, looking at the dollhouse,
07:28 you just, you see all the creativity in the way you--
07:31 - Shaped it. - Yeah.
07:32 - Well, I'm glad I was able to support you,
07:34 and hopefully, we'll continue to support you
07:37 as much as I can.
07:38 I'm proud of you, mijo.
07:39 - I realized that a lot of people in childhood
07:41 didn't get to fully express themselves
07:43 because of societal views and the way things were back then.
07:47 And now we're having different conversations
07:49 about the way that children grow up
07:50 and the effects that has into adulthood.
07:52 I've been made aware of that,
07:53 and just how healing it is to really tap
07:56 into your inner child and be able to express
07:59 that part of you.
08:00 As of right now, I don't see myself
08:03 stopping my collection anytime soon.
08:05 I'm enjoying the content that I'm creating,
08:08 and it's a way for me to engage with an audience
08:11 that's passionate about what I enjoy,
08:13 and it's something that I'm so grateful for.
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