Saskatoon Barbie collector's home a treasure trove for fans of movie

A prolific Barbie doll collector says interest in the new movie has brought people to her doorstep looking for their final Barbie fix before going to the theatre.

Andrea Katelnikoff has been collecting Barbie dolls since 1988, and said she has amassed more than 3,500 Barbies — one of the largest collections in Canada.

Three rooms on the second floor of her home and the entire basement are stacked to the ceiling with Barbies.

Greta Gerwig's movie Barbie hit theatres on Friday. It has already grossed more than $350 million worldwide and received high praise from critics — scoring 90 per cent on the film review website Rotten Tomatoes.

The hype around the film has caused movie-goers to embrace the Barbie aesthetic by dressing up in costumes or wearing pink to the theatre. In Katelnikoff's case, it's driven people to her front door looking for a tour of her massive Barbie collection. 

"They were coming to the movie — one was from Regina and two live in Saskatoon — and so they wanted to know if they could come and see them," said Katelnikoff. "And they were very happy to see them."

The last time CBC spoke with Katelnikoff was in 2019. At that point she only had about 3,000 Barbies.

Then, during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, she gladly spent her time organizing them.

"I went down into my basement, which I'll show you, and down there I probably have about 1,500 [Barbies]," said Katelnikoff. "I took them all out of their shelves and put them all back in alphabetical order."

Katelnikoff said her holy grail is probably the first doll she received. However, she pointed to some designer Barbies that had clothes designed for them by Bob Mackie as standouts.

While she hasn't seen the movie yet, Katelnikoff said she plans to go sometime this week. She said she believes people are so interested in Barbie as a concept because of nostalgia and fashion. 

"When I have people come, especially if they're a little older, they will say, 'This brings me back to my childhood,' and who doesn't want to go back to their childhood?"

Since the movie's release, Katelnikoff predicts Barbies will probably get more expensive — but when it comes to buying more, she said, "There's no stopping."

"I haven't looked, but I imagine they will, and it doesn't matter to me because I won't sell any of them anyway."