Former Princeton resident has huge Spice Girls doll collection

Jan. 22—CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. — Five hundred dolls isn't enough for a toy enthusiast who has the world's largest collection of dolls representing a popular 1990s girls band; now he wants to get the series into the National Toy Hall of Fame.

Princeton native Adam Weatherly, who currently lives in Christiansburg, Va., has shelves filled with rows of Spice Girl dolls.

"I'm a toy collector, but my favorite thing is the Spice Girls dolls," Weatherly said. "I have the largest collection in the world of them. I mean, there's not much that I don't collect. I like everything from the Eighties: He-Man, Thundercats, Strawberry Shortcake."

The Spice Girls were a British girl group that started performing in the 1990s. The band's members were Ginger Spice, a.k.a Geraldine Estelle Halliwell; Sporty Spice, a.k.a. Melanie Jayne Chisholm; Posh Spice, a.k.a. Victoria Adams, later Victoria Beckham; Scary Spice a.k.a. Melanie Janine Brown or Mel B; and Baby Spice, a.k.a. Emma Lee Bunton.

Weatherly said he started collecting Spice Girls dolls when he was 13. He became a fan of the girl band a couple of years earlier.

"The first time I saw them, I was around 11 and I had seen their videos," he recalled. "They just kind of hypnotized me."

Weatherly added that to young people like him, the Spice Girls' message was that "it was OK to be yourself and OK to be different. The Spice Girls stood out for everyone my age."

These factors made him want to start collecting the doll series.

"My very first Spice Girls doll was purchased at the Bluefield Kmart," Weatherly recalled. "You can google world's largest Spice Girls doll collection and I am the first thing that pops up. I have over 500. Yes, there are that many due to different sets and variants/bootlegs, and I'm still missing a few hundred."

He is hoping to get Spice Girls dolls an honor that has been granted to other toys.

"This year marks their 25th anniversary and they are still the best-selling celebrity dolls of all time," he said. "I'm trying to get them inducted into the Toy Hall Of Fame. I need people to nominate them to help get them inducted."

Putting the term National Toy Hall of Fame into a search engine takes users to the organization's website. Scrolling toward the bottom of the site takes users to where nominations can be submitted.

"The board of the Toy Hall Of Fame also said the more I can prove there is still interest, the better chances of them being inducted," Weatherly said.

He explained why he believes that the Spice Girls doll series belongs among other toys in the hall of fame. Inductees now in the Toy Hall of Fame include board games like Scrabble and Risk, rubber ducks and the teddy bear.

"I'm doing this for several reasons. One is to help add to the Spice Girls legacy, so kids who go there (Toy Hall of Fame) learn about them," Weatherly said. "They can learn how strong women are. How you can come from different backgrounds, be a biracial person like Mel B, prove everyone who doesn't believe in you is wrong, be anything you want to be and help change the world for the better when you believe in yourself. They represent so many good things like equality and equity."

Weatherly also said he wanted to make sure that the dolls' creators are recognized as well.

"Not only that, but I want to achieve this for the women and men at Galoob who made them," he said. "They deserve to be celebrated while we have them. Recently, we lost the lead sculptor. She made all their faces and so many other celebrity dolls like Britney Spears."

Nominations are being taken until July 31.

"There are so many reasons I need to achieve this and all of them are good," Weatherly said. "I'm willing to go any lengths to achieve this and I have until July 31 to do it."

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline. com

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com