TV stardom for Hilgay's Mary
A HILGAY doll collector is receiving emails from around the world after her recent appearance on Channel 4's Richard and Judy Show.
Mary Flint was quite happy running her riverside bed-and-breakfast business in the village and sharing her hobby with visitors as they admired the collection, but then a documentary film shown on Channel 4 catapulted her and her dolls into the limelight.
My Fake Baby, made by True North Productions, has now been shown on Channel 4 twice, and it was following the second showing that Mary received an invitation to appear on the Richard and Judy Show, with two of her "re-borns".
"These are the very realistic-looking dolls, made in a very soft material, which are taken apart and customised – even the doll's hair is sometimes put in one by one," said Mrs Flint, explaining many of the dolls are made to order by gifted people who have become artists in their own right.
"The documentary featured various aspects of the re-borns, and I have a few of them in my collection," she added.
Mrs Flint has been collecting dolls for about 25 years and has about amassed about 120, which are placed around the house.
"It's all progressed since I first got into collecting when it was mainly porcelain figure dolls that were displayed upright on stands.
"Then it went to the baby and toddler-sized dolls and now it's changed again to these re-borns.
"Richard and Judy were focusing on one aspect of the documentary but I am just a collector and it's my hobby.
"If you look on E-Bay now you'll see thousands of them – they are mainly what's for sale now," says Mrs Flint, who was surprised to find lots of positive feed-back on two online dolls forums when she and her husband Bob returned home from the studio.
There have also been several approaches in Downham while shopping and there's a Radio Norfolk guest spot on the cards too.
"I haven't bought any new dolls yet this year, but then it is only February," said Mrs Flint, as her husband cast his eyes to the heavens although the former show jumper concedes the dolls don't need feeding or mucking out like his horses!
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Weather for King's Lynn
Sunday 27 May 2012
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