WHAT HE SAID - I've collected 12,000 Barbies - this is how my hobby changed my life

Jian Yang's 40-year journey as a Barbie collector has not been without its challenges, and he's learnt the importance of defending his choices and embracing his individuality.

- JIAN YANG

I’ve been playing with Barbies since 1984. She wasn’t just a girl’s toy to five-year-old me. In my mind, she was He-Man’s girlfriend. A giant in the world of G.I. Joe. Optimus Prime’s sidekick. The toy box soon had five Barbies. Then 10. When I was a teenager, a journalist wrote an article about my “collection” of 250 dolls in my Barbie Dreamhouse.

It was newsworthy at the time, because in 1996, boys didn’t play with dolls. I have since amassed 12,000 Barbies, and was featured in the Asia Book of Records for owning Asia’s largest Barbie doll collection – a collection that keeps growing today, because Barbie’s relevance and beauty continue to bring me joy.

Eventually, I became part of a fan-driven Barbie enthusiast group in Singapore. Around 20 of us would gather at each other’s homes and spend hours discussing intricacies – like how Norwegian Barbie came in two colour variants, or how Saran doll hair curls better when set in a boil perm (best done with McDonald’s straws).