[ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] im jamie colby, and im driving into portales, new mexico, along the texas border and near the Cannon Air Force base. You know, the welcome sign here says it all 17,000 friendly people and three or four old grouches . Im here to meet a man whose strange inheritance certainly called for that kind of sense of humor. My name is john wall. My mother, irene wall, passed at 90 years old. She had left me with a very large collection that meant a lot to her, but i didnt know what to do. Great. So nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Welcome to my home. Well, so, what do think of all these dolls . Wow this is kind of the way it was in my moms house, only there were so many more. Johnny, i feel like im 8 years old again with all these dolls. Well, i have the reputation around here as the doll boy but i dont know anything about them. Looking around, you have earned that reputation. What are you going to do . The goal of my moms and mine was to find a home for them, and thats what i want to do. The collection meant the world to johns mother because of the world she grew up in. December 7th, 1941. A date which will live in infamy. When the u. S. Enters world war ii, 20yearold Irene Jennings is Teaching High School in her hometown of dora, new mexico. Shes barely older than her students. This is when she graduated from new mexico state university. Now, for the time, graduating from college is very important for a woman. Very important back then. Very few got to be there. Of all the inheritances ive learned about, your family has suffered so much pain. It started with your mothers brother. Yes. Tell me about him. He was drafted after pearl harbor, and they were sent to the philippines. Irenes brother vernon is one of more than 60,000 american and philippine soldiers captured by the japanese on the bataan peninsula. Theyre forced to march 80 miles in scorching heat without food, water, or medical care. Thousands die of exhaustion. Some are executed by the japanese. Did your mom think that her brother was going to come home . They always had hopes. Many of the boys in irenes classroom are eager to sign up and fight. Their way of assuring her that they will return is to promise to bring her something back. Like a doll, maybe. Your mom was such a beloved teacher that they brought her these dolls. Even back then, mother was known to be a doll lover, and the students would bring them to her. The returning vets do bring irene dolls from all over the world. Rare geisha dolls from japan, lifelike celluloid dolls from germany, and beautiful duchess dolls from france. For irene, whose hardscrabble youth left little time for fantasy, her foreign dolls open a window to the big wide world. My grandparents were sharecroppers. Toys was not one of those luxury items they had a lot of. And i think once she become financially able, she had those feelings that, i love dolls, and i think thats what i would like to collect. When the war ends in 1945, irene finally gets a letter saying her brother vernon died in captivity. He had died during this death march deal, and was buried in the philippines. In a twist of fate, this tragic news brings irene in contact with the man she would eventually marry, a man who nearly starved to death in a japanese prison camp. When my dad came home from the service, he felt he owed it to the families of Roosevelt County to go around and talk to them about their loved ones that they lost. And my mothers brother was one of them, and then thats where they got acquainted. As she collected all these dolls, what did your dad say . My dad let my mother have a lot of reins. Irene was a very keen woman. John wall jr. Is their only child. He grows up, marries a hometown gal, starts a family of his own, and gets a job as a groundskeeper at new mexico state university. Over the years, irenes evergrowing collection is a marvel to her greatniece lori davis. Every year we went over there, there were more dolls in her house. There was campbells soup dolls, flintstone dolls, dolls like shirley temple. Irene invests thousands of dollars into collecting a wide variety of dolls. Then, in 1977, her husband, john sr. , dies of respiratory failure at the age of 63. Irenes obsession with dolls only grows after her husbands death. That worries her little sister juanita. Id say, irene, do you know what a mess your house is in . And shed say, its my house. Juanita asks her daughter emma and her granddaughter lori to go to irenes house and conduct a head count. A census might be more like it. Are their hundreds of dolls . A thousand . Many thousands . I was shocked, and i know lori was. Oh, my gosh. Really shocked. Thats next. But first, our strange inheritance quiz question. The worlds priciest doll is the 6 million clockwork loiseleur doll. What makes it so special it was owned by marie antoinette, it was the barbie prototype, or because it has thousands of moving parts . The answer in a moment. Its a highly contagious disease that can be really serious. Especially for my precious new grandchild. Its whooping cough. Every family member, including those around new babies, should talk to their doctor or pharmacist about getting vaccinated. You each drive a ford all yes. Ght . Im going to show you a next generation pickup. Awesome. Lets do this. The bed is made of highstrength steel, which is less susceptible to punctures than aluminum. Stronger the better. And best of all, this new truck is actually all laughing oh my. The current chevy silverado. Current chevy owners and lessees get a total value of tenthousand, six hundred dollars. Or, 0 financing for 72 months on this silverado all star. 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Didnt you ever wish your mom bought half as many dolls and put the other half in a bank account for you . Oh, yes. It would have been sure enough easier. But, then again, maybe she wanted my inheritance to be a bit of a challenge. I dont know. By 1990, no one knows exactly how many dolls irenes collected in her house in portales, new mexico, and she shows no sign of slowing down. Irenes younger sister juanita enlists her daughter emma and granddaughter lori to visit aunt irene and, while theyre there, find out just how many dolls she has. I was shocked, and i know lori was. Oh, my gosh. Really shocked. The first room we tackled, you had to suck up, yes. [ laughs ]. To walk around. Right. We knocked some dolls off while we were counting. I was like, oh, my gosh. I dont know if this is collecting or hoarding. Ive never seen anybody with that many dolls. Emma and lori are flabbergasted to see dolls packed like sardines occupying every room in the house. Were counting one by one, and were just overwhelmed. The final tally for irenes collection . Over 5,000 dolls its time for an intervention. Enough was enough on the doll collection. I had to sit down and speak with her about the matter. And it was hard. Irene is fiercely opposed to just throwing away her lifelong collection. Nextdoor neighbor suzy nuchols comes to the rescue. I do a lot of ebay, and so he knew that because were neighbors, and we just decided, lets do it. And we went to his moms house, and it was full of dolls. Everywhere you looked. And so we started just looking them up and just getting an idea. One of the first things they learn on ebay irene wall isnt the only one obsessed with dolls. There are some people that are on there continuously watching these dolls. Its amazing. Dolls are scooped up by buyers from all over the world. One of irenes favorites, a german celluloid doll likely a gift from a returning world war ii vet is bought for 225. John and his wife lynn are mesmerized by the bidding process. It sometimes would get down to the last five minutes, for sure, then those prices would just run through the ceiling. And lynn thought it was kind of like playing the slot machine. Over the summer of 2007, they sell about 60 dolls to online bidders for a total of 15,000. And mama was happy. I could tell by the look in her eye, the amazement, was, i told you so. But out of 5,000plus, its not even a dent in the collection. Then, in april 2010, johns beloved wife, lynn, passes away at the age of 57. 18 months later, his mother, irene, dies, too, at 90. I lost mother, and i lost lynn to. Phew [voice breaking]. Cancer. And thats the hardest thing ive told people youll ever lose. Is a wife and a mother. His children are grown up and on their own, leaving john with more than 4,000 dolls to sell to keep his promise to his mom. Now john gets help from a second lady friend. Patty beggs, who, like john, has also suffered the death of a spouse. Did john ask you for help . Oh, no. We just was there for each other, and he needed help. I dont know if he asked or if i volunteered, but we just started doing it. I mean, we had to do something with them. Between suzy and patty, it just seems as if women like coming to johns rescue. [ laughing ] those dolls ended up helping you out in those young days. And evidently it did. I was around some awfully nice girls in my life. In 2011, john and patty actually start dating. With pattys help, john rents a storefront in downtown portales from thanksgiving until christmas, and calls it the dollhouse. The dolls sell like hot cakes, some for 1, some for 10. It went really well. We had lots of people in, because everybody wanted to buy the dolls, hear the story. And meet john . But he was mine at that time, so they couldnt have him. [ laughs ] i like that. You must have a reputation around town . They call me the doll boy. [ laughs ] hows that working out for you . Once everything started going, with both ebay and the dollhouse, i thought, you can call me whatever you want. I dont care. Ive got a pretty good inheritance here, boys. And john does make a tidy sum 5,000 on the store. Add that to the 15,000 from ebay, and hes liquidated the bulk of his moms doll collection for 20,0000. But his job isnt over. John still has close to 1,000 dolls stacked in his barn that hes yet to unload. Will selling the doll collection help your life . It will help me to know that ive fulfilled what my mother asked of me. Well, if thats whats important to you, johnny, i want to help. Oh, i would love that more than anything. There is a few of them out there you might like to see, too. Oooh do you like barbies . There are 19 boxes of solid barbies. Barbie . yes thats next. Heres another quiz question for you. Which of these toys sold for the highest price at auction was it the 1963 g. I. Joe prototype, a diamond barbie, or a goldplated nintendo wii . The answer in a moment. Dont let dust and allergens get between you and lifes beautiful moments. Switch to flonase allergy relief. Flonase outperforms the 1 nondrowsy allergy pill. When we breathe in allergens, our bodies react by overproducing 6 key inflammatory substances that cause our symptoms. Flonase helps block 6. Most allergy pills only block one and 6 is greater than 1. With more complete relief you can enjoy every beautiful moment to the fullest. Flonase. 6 is greater than 1 changes everything. You know win control . Be this guy. Check it out selfappendectomy oh, thats really attached. Thats why i rent from national. Where i get the control to choose any car in the aisle i want, not some car they choose for me. Which makes me one smooth operator. Ah still a little tender. vo go national. Go like a pro. To make something original. Has grown into an enterprise. Thats why i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. Now, im earning unlimited 2 cash back on every purchase i make. Everything. Which adds up to thousands of dollars back every year. And helps keep my passion growing. In every direction. Whats in your wallet . So new touch screens. And biometrics. In 574 branches. All done by. Yesterday. Banks arent just undergoing a face lift. Theyre undergoing a transformation. A data fueled, security driven shift in applications and customer experience. Which is why comcast business delivers Consistent Network Performance and speed across all your locations. Hello, mr. Deets. Every Branch Running like headquarters. Thats how you outmaneuver. So, which of these specialedition toys sold for the highest price at auction . The answer is b, the canturi diamond barbie, which sports a fourcarat pinkandwhite diamond necklace. It sold for over 300,000 in 2010. John walls mother leaves him a strange inheritance more than 5,000 dolls from all over the world. Now hes taking me out to his barn to show me the last of his mothers collection, and what he believes may be the cream of the crop. Johns hopeful the rest of his mothers dolls are worth one more big payday. Close to 500 of these barbies, still in their original boxes. Johnny i knew thered be one just for me. Seriously . Sagittarius barbie i am a sagittarius. You know what . Earrings check. Evening gown check. Beautiful silky hair check. This is me its everything, yes. And you have almost 500 of these barbies . Thats almost too much barbie for a girl. Yes. And i know someone that may be able to tell us what its worth. To help john out, we contact tim luke of the treasure quest Appraisal Group based in south beach, florida. Heres tim. Hes the former director of the Collectibles Department at the famed christies auction house in new york. I understand youve got a great collection. Tim has agreed to help appraise johns strange inheritance. You looked at all these barbies. I really need your opinion. Well, barbies a cultural icon. I think that today you see a lot of people that are in their 40s and over, thats the demographic that is really holding onto this. Its that nostalgia. Barbies dream house in 1959, the first year of production, mattel sold more than 300,000 barbies, and a First Edition can go for about 8,000 today. Suntan barbie. Yes, her features are a tad unrealistic, but shes a Strong Female character, beautiful, powerful, and rich. And thats what attracts collectors. How do you tell what year a barbie is made . Well, the very first year that they came out, mattel had to recall and change. They had to soften her features because she looked too much like a, um. Lady of the night. And the mothers. Oh, my yeah. The mothers, they just uproar because of the eyeliner and shadow. And the numberones will have a hole in the foot, both feet, because there was a stand that barbie came on. There are ken dolls here, too. [ laughs ] is ken more valuable than barbie . No. He doesnt even rate. Im thinking, and they call john doll boy . Sounds like tims just the guy to tell us what johns collection is really worth. My mothers thoughts were that it was worth over 25,000 for that barbie collection alone. Johnny, the most important thing is to fulfill mothers wish. Will it be the payday john is hoping for . Thats next. Copd makes it hard to breathe. So to breathe better, i go with anoro. Go your own way copd tries to say, go this way. I say, ill go my own way with anoro. Go your own way oncedaily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators, that Work Together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. Anoro is not for asthma. It contains a type of medicine that increases risk of death in people with asthma. The risk is unknown in copd. Anoro wont replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than once a day. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, glaucoma, prostate, bladder, or urinary problems. These may worsen with anoro. Call your doctor if you have worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain while taking anoro. Ask your doctor about anoro. Go your own way get your first prescription free at anoro. Com. Now back to strange inheritance. Heres tim. John wall is hoping doll expert tim luke can give him some good news about the value of his remaining inheritance about 500 mintcondition barbies, all in their original boxes. Of the 5,000 dolls his mother collected, this is the bulk of whats left. Tim, we went through all these barbies. Theres plenty of them. You have to have an opinion. The downside is that most of them are from the 90s. But they say collector. They do. [ sighs ] and dont be seduced by the box. So, let me stop you there. Youre saying that this barbie, this is a reproduction. This is the 50th anniversary, but this came out in the 90s as a celebration of the 50th anniversary. Not as valuable. Johnny told me he thinks 10,000 to 15,000, maybe 25,000 for all of this. How off the mark is he . I think hes close to the lower end. Tim thinks john can still make about 10,000 with a good strategy. I think the best way to do this is to put these on ebay, because its worldwide. Somebody may only need one item for their collection, and theyre gonna pay a premium for it. Hello. Time to share the Expert Opinion with