Topper Dawn & Friends Doll Collection, ca. 1970
GUEST: I brought my Dawn dolls. I know that they were produced by Topper and they were supposed to be a competitor for Barbie. I was a Barbie girl, and my mother would go to garage sales, church sales, whatever, and bring home a case of dolls. And frequently, these were in there, as well. And I was disappointed because I wanted Barbie, but I got these. Also, they were inexpensive, and so I could buy them on my allowance.
APPRAISER: These six dolls here are Dawn dolls, and they are made by the Topper Toy Company, and they were made from 1969 to 1973, when the company went out of business. When these first came out, they were a competitor to Barbie, and they were able to surpass Barbie for a little while in sales, which was crazy to think about. Price for these dolls, originally new, was anywhere from a dollar to three dollars. Barbie at the time, for the same-era doll, was five to ten dollars. So, for affordability for a kid on allowance, you could afford these guys. Clothing, a dollar or under. The story with these guys is that Dawn is the owner of a fashion model business and all of her girlfriends were also fellow models. And all of these fellas were the friends. Dawn is made up of vinyl and hard plastic, and all of them are done similarly. The girls all had rooted hair and eyelashes, whereas the boys had molded hair and painted features, no eyelashes. They did have bendable limbs. They've got holes in their feet, which would hold the stands. All of them are like that. It was meant to go up in the shoes. You could have 'em stand out and hold positions, and they were a lot of fun. This is the original Dawn in her original outfit. And all the other guys are wearing different variations of outfits that were available at the time. Originally, when Dawn came out, you could get 44 outfits.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And part of what made them go out of business is because they started doing some specialty Dawn dolls. And then the outfits sort of repeated, and then people stopped buying them because there was nothing new. Now, I have never had the boys come in. I think it's sort of like Barbie and Ken. Everybody had one Ken. They didn't need all the other dolls, so the boys weren't bought as much. Little girls didn't buy the boy dolls. For sale at a doll show or retail, your boys average $250 apiece.
GUEST (laughing): I had no idea, I really-- everybody says that, "I had no idea." (laughs) Oh, my gosh!
APPRAISER: The girls that you have here are $150 to $200 apiece. Some of the outfits are worth more than others. So, total, with all of them, I would say a retail range is going to be anywhere from $1,300 to $1,500...
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: ...for just what you have right here with us.
GUEST: Wow-- oh, my gosh, thank you. I had no, I had no idea that that was, that that was anywhere near that value. Wow. Holy cow. (laughing) (laughs) I'm shocked. (laughing): I'm sh-- I'm really shocked. Especially for the boys.
$1,300 - $1,500 Retail
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Understanding Our Appraisals
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
