I can relate. I grew up very poor and all my money I earned and every gift I asked for was for my Kirsten collection. It took me until this month to finish her collection except the trunk. I'll be getting the trunk at AGPLA when it opens.

For years and years I only had Kirsten and Felicity (Felicity was my sister's childhood doll, but she's not really a doll person now), and though I had a lot of stuff for them it had taken me since I was about nine to acquire it all. Then, after I was about 25, I got a very large collection going. I sold it all last summer to pay grad school tuition when times were tough, except for my childhood things. They have a great deal of sentimental value to them and I remember a lot through them... the Christmas Grandma gave me Kirsten's table and chairs, the year Santa brought me Kirsten's bed, and the best year of all... when my mother skimped and saved to buy me Kirsten. And the little clothes and accessories I bought with money I earned and saved for months and months.

It's no wonder that the rest of my collection, aside from my childhood stuff, I will sell if I ever need the money. But I really value the work, love, and years of dedication I've had to Kirsten, as well as the lovely gift of Felicity's collection from my little sister after she determined she no longer wanted her.

My house finally sold last fall and my collection is now bigger than it ever was. At 27, I have the collection I always dreamed of as a child. I enjoy it a lot. But my real loves are those things I bought a little bit at a time for my precious Kirsten, and remembering playing with my little sister when I look at Felicity. I will never enjoy the rest of my collection that I acquired rapidly for fun the way I enjoy those remnants of my childhood that I painstakingly collected over nearly a decade. [img]smile.gif[/img]