There is no market for a collectors item that is too easy to obtain, which Mattel learned to their sorrow. Until this year, Mattel made no promises about the number of dolls that would be produced in any category. All we know for sure is that Limited Edition Dolls are produced in numbers under 35,000, Collector Editions are produced in numbers over 35,000. Prior to the year 2000, the magic number was 100,000. This reduction of 65,000 dolls makes a tremendous difference to collectors, in more ways than one.
Dolls are harder to find.
The collector response to the Victorian Tea Porcelain Barbie Orange Pekoe doll shows just how important lower numbers can be. Within weeks of learning that there were fewer than four thousand available, the doll was sold out. Many Limited Edition dolls sell out in preorder, just as they used to do in the early nineties. New collectors may not know how it used to be, and promises to be again. Most shops require a preorder deposit which ranges from twenty to fifty percent of the expected retail price.