A FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT OF RUNNING A SMALL BUSINESS

Joe Blitman and Kevin Mulligan spent eight years making a combined $50,000 to $70,000 annually writing screenplays and treatments that never found their way onto a screen. When the two received a coffee-table book on Barbie dolls as a joke Christmas present in 1987, the two started collecting the toys. Within four years, Blitman transformed the hobby into a full-time business called “Joe’s Barbies” from their Los Feliz home later shortened to “Joe’s” after Mattel’s lawyers demanded the doll’s name be removed.

“When you have a collector gene, you sort of amass as much of what it is you collect as fast as you can. Within a year, we had 200 figures and hundreds of outfits (from) flea markets, garage sales, classified ads and doll shows. We spent maybe $10,000.

“But in 1989, I miscalculated withholdings on our income tax for the previous year. We owed $5,000 and $10,000 I don’t remember the exact figure but it was a lot of money at the time.

“So we put together a small mail-order list which we sent out to other collectors to sell our duplicate Barbies and accessories. Everything sold within two weeks. We thought this was a great way in the future to pay for the hobby.

“This was just around the time that the hobby as an adult collectible was getting organized in terms of communication between clubs, conventions and a collectors’ magazine. We found ourselves riding the wave of this hobby.

“Barbie came out in 1959 and that period through 1972 is known as the vintage years. That’s what we were focusing on. There are maybe 100 different dolls of Barbie, friends and family and 600 or 700 outfits for that period as well. Today, values of those dolls range from $25 to $10,000, with most in the $25 to $100 range. The $10,000 is for the original Barbie still in her box, having never been played with. We sell thousands of dolls and outfits a year. The goal is to buy something for half the cost that you sell it for.

“Our business has since branched out to newer Mattel dolls, some of which are not Barbies (and) other dolls and action figures from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. We used to be out every weekend looking for this stuff. But through word of mouth and the Internet, people come to us. We’re well known for paying a very fair price and not taking advantage of someone not knowing (the value of) what they have.”

David Greenberg