NRFB Dolls:  Necessary Evil or Overkill?

Never Removed From Box dolls ("NRFB") have become a permanent fixture on the landscape of modern doll collecting.  Dolls from this century (especially dolls from the 1960s onward) are often collected NRFB.  There are many solid reasons for collecting dolls this way, but there are also many valid reasons to avoid NRFB doll collecting.

Vintage Dolls

For vintage dolls, especially dolls produced prior to the 1970s,   NRFB dolls are rare!   Many vintage Barbie doll collectors, for instance, consider NRFB 1960s Barbies to be the prize pieces of their collections, since very few Barbie dolls and outfits from the 1960s have remained NRFB.  In the 1960s, when Barbie was a toy and not a "collectible," children took out the toys and played with them, usually throwing out the box in the process (think millions of children on Christmas morning ripping their Barbies from the packaging).  Therefore, when you collect a NRFB vintage Barbie or other 1950s or 1960s play doll, you are preserving a piece of history--how the doll was packaged, the information on the box, the graphics, along with a usually pristinely mint doll.   These are the reasons--rarity, condition, and history--that NRFB (and mint in box, or "MIB") vintage items cost so much more than the same items out of the box, and are so desirable.  Other dolls and doll clothing which are very desirable NRFB and MIB are all the fashion dolls of the 1960s--Tammy, Tressy, Littlechaps, and 1950s and 1960s, Madame Alexanders, and play dolls--everything from Ginnys to Little Miss Revlons to Dancerinas.  Really, almost anything prior to 1970 NRFB is a wonderful addition to any collection.

Currently Produced Collector Dolls

However, with modern collector dolls, such as modern Barbies, EVERYONE is stashing them away still in the box, and, therefore they are NOT rare like a vintage play doll in the box would be.  In the future, when everyone goes to sell their NRFB collector dolls, in my opinion they will not command a huge price premium.     Now, it is true that because of the ingrained NRFB mentality in the collectible doll world, if you take a doll out of the box (especially collector Barbies) the doll loses up to 50% of its value.  But, it is ALSO true that such value is book value, and that most of the NRFB collectible Barbies and other modern collector dolls sold in the last three years are only worth book value (or less, in the case of such dolls as the Star Trek, Gone With The Wind, and My Fair Lady Barbies) due, in part, to overproduction by Mattel, and high initial retail prices.

Currently Produced Play Dolls

Current play dolls is an interesting topic vis a vis the NRFB question.  Assuming that most of these dolls have their packaging ripped off and tosses aside by eager children, just like the play dolls of the 1950s and 1960s, there may be some future historical and collectible value to these dolls kept in package. 

Reasons to Liberate Your Dolls From Their Boxes!

First and foremost, the packaging material for dolls is not archival quality and not acid free.  It is very possible that over time, the packages will irrevocably damage dolls and doll costumes kept NRFB.  For instance, old vintage doll clothing still in package have creases that by now are permanent.  I have seen vintage "mod" Barbies with the plastic wrap still on the box where condensation has gotten in the box, and mold has formed on the legs of the doll.  As for modern dolls,  I have seen indents in vinyl doll wrists and ankles caused by the rubber bands holding the dolls in place in their boxes, and also ruined fabric from tape used to hold the costumes in   place.   And we can only imagine over time what the acids in the boxes will do to plastic dolls and fabric costumes.

Another reason to take your dolls (especially the modern collectible dolls!) out of their boxes is that they can be better enjoyed!  Out of the box, you can arrange dolls' costumes and accessories, change clothes, and display the dolls free of their boxes (have you ever seen a collector display of only NRFB dolls--looks like Toys R Us annex!).   It would be a shame and a waste of collector energy to keep you dolls in boxes for 30 years, at the end of which the dolls will be ruined by the packaging, never enjoyed, and possibly with no increase in value over dolls that were displayed carefully and not ruined by packaging.

Do you keep your modern dolls NRFB?  Why?  Or, do you dislike collecting NRFB?  Share your thoughts in the  Dolls Forum!

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Photos:  Foreign Edition Bead Blast Barbie NRFB.   Vintage MIB Bubble Cut Barbie.  Bubble Cut Reproduction Barbie removed from box.

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