Expert: Anne Hoffmann - 11/29/2007

Question
QUESTION: I have searched everywhere to find out how much the Cracker Barrel American Classics Rosemary porcelain doll is selling for.  Can't find anything.  Any ball park figures?

Also have a Lissi Fashion doll with a salmon orange/pink long sleeve dress with lace and a white satin bow in her hair.  Hair is dark brown.  Can't find her either.  Wanto to sell them but have NO IDEA of pricing!

Thanks
Sandee

ANSWER: The American Classics collection of porcelain dolls made for Cracker Barrel seem to have a current market value of about $40.00-$55.00 for discontinued issues, depending, of course, on height and condition. $55.00 would represent a mid-sized (25") doll in mint condition with box, identifiable as a Cracker Barrel collectible. A 36" doll MIB might command as much as $75.00. A realistic starting bid on eBay would be about $20.00 for the mid-sized dolls. These are not artist dolls, so value is to a collector of the specific series.
The Lissi doll requires more information to identify. The dolls made in West Germany by Lissi Batz are just some of the dolls called "Lissi". If you want, send your question again with some more identifiers: baby, child or lady doll; height; construction and material(s), i.e., vinyl or vinyl limbs and cloth body, etc.; markings (check head and back and limbs); hang tags and/or box; hair type (rooted or glued wig); condition. Are the clothes known to be original or not? Is the doll mechanical or a "soft" doll? With a little more to go on, I would be happy to assist in assigning a "ballpark" value for your doll.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: THANKS!!  Lissi is in the box and made in W. Germany from the old German Toy Factory.  Sunshine Toys is the producer.  Dress designed by Anneliese Batz.  There is a blue ribbon in the box that says Doty 1 Winner.  Doll Reader Magazine's Doll of the year winner 1989.  On the back of the head it has the #126.  The hair may be glued since I see some type of cloth type band around the hairline.  The cert. says the doll # is 58100.  193/4" high and was produced on Apr. 1990.  (That's confusing about being produced 1 yr. after it got a ribbon for doll of the year??) Anyway, that's all I have...

Answer
Thank you for the very complete information on your Lissi doll!
Your same issue doll (a reissue of 10,000 of the 1989 doll) MIB was sold in October, 2007, on eBay for $9.50. However, the shipping for the doll to the Canadian buyer was $29.50, so I would factor the shipping cost into the value to the buyer. The doll sold on eBay has a long white dress, which was a puzzling difference until I found a Lissi number 126 doll with a peach-coloured original Lissi dress. It is offered for sale at a discounted $79.99 by C&G Collectibles.com. This particular doll seems to have a darker skin tone. Darker-skinned dolls often command more because they generally have a smaller release in countries with a predominantly Caucasian population.
Stores, actual or online, have an overhead markup, so generally charge more than actual value.
Ultimately, the price you set on your doll is determined by what you are willing to let her go for, within current market value boundaries. I'd say you could realistically price your doll at $40.00 at this time. An effective way of selling that often realizes more than auction price is an ad in your local newspaper or little paper. There are more doll collectors out there than you know!
The best of luck to you in finding an appreciative buyer for your Lissi!