Meet Singapore’s doll collector: The man living in a Barbie world with more than 9,000 dolls

Jian Yang in his home surrounded by dolls. Photo: Eszter Papp
Jian Yang in his home surrounded by dolls. Photo: Eszter Papp

Meet Singapore’s doll collector: The man living in a Barbie world with more than 9,000 dolls

Video and story: Fraser Morton
Photography: Eszter Papp

Jian Yang is passionate about collecting Barbie dolls, and has been since he was a kid. Now in his late 30s, he has amassed a huge collection and shares his Singapore home with more than 9,000 dolls sourced from 50 countries. And he has no plans to stop.

Jian Yang started his huge collection when he was five years old. ​

 

Pride of place: the ladies looking good in the living room.

 

Just one doll out of over 9,000.

 

Collection perfection. A place for every doll, kept in immaculate condition.

 

“We fell.”

As one of the world’s biggest Barbie collectors – first place goes to a German woman with 15,000 dolls – he purchases most of the dolls online and displays them proudly in his house, where Barack Obama shares closet space with Osama Bin Laden, while Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe fight for attention with Cambodian princess Barbie. With an estimated value in excess of half a million dollars, Yang says there are “no limits” to how big his collection can grow.

The late actress Grace Kelly is just one of the many famous faces of the collection.

 

Front door security.

 

Even the shoe rack has some pretty panache.

 

“Listen up, we’ve got something to say.”

 

Yang in his happy place.

All rise for Singapore’s undisputed doll-collecting king.




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