When explaining why he chose to use Tatung Co’s anniversary dolls to court his wife 10 years ago, 37-year-old Lee Chun-wei said that the commemorative dolls are one of his wife’s happiest childhood memories. Upon discovering that his girlfriend was so fond of the dolls, he immediately started collecting them in hopes of winning her hand in marriage. Starting with the doll from 1980, that his wife still treasures so dearly, the couple has already collected 80 dolls. They also collect imitations of the dolls, which have Common Era years painted on the doll’s chest. His wife sometimes gets jealous because he cherishes the dolls so much. Someone once offered Lee NT$100,000 for the entire collection, but he adamantly refused to sell.
Lee said his wife has liked Tatung dolls ever since she was a child, and that she still laughs out loud every time she spots one in a TV commercial and cries as soon as the commercial ends. A bunch of the dolls released in 1980 are stacked on their TV set. Always close to them, the dolls in the end became part of the family after they were wedded.
Lee said that Tatung Co started producing the dolls in 1969 to celebrate the company’s 51st anniversary. The company releases a new model of the rubber-made doll each year, and the only thing that noticeably changes is the number painted on the doll’s chest which represents how many years the company has been in operation. Everything else about the dolls stays about the same. The only time production of the dolls has ever significantly decreased was in 1982 during one of Taiwan’s worst economic recessions. For the following two years manufacturing of the dolls ceased entirely, and only resumed in 1985 for doll no. 67. Due to the minuscule production during those years, the 64 and 67 dolls are the most valuable, each doll worth between NT$30,000 and NT$40,000.
Photo: Wang Hsiu-ting, Taipei Times
照片:自由時報記者王秀亭
In order to expand his collection, Lee often visits places in the countryside or military dependents’ villages, where they are usually easier to find. He also frequents flea markets and antique dealers, and never passes up a chance to peruse the Tatung service stations, which every small town invariably offers. It was not until Lee finally opened up his own shop in Taitung that he started putting the dolls on display for others to see.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Taijing Wu)
三十七歲的李俊緯解釋十年前為何選擇大同公司週年慶玩偶,用來追求他太太的利器時,他表示這些紀念玩偶,是太太兒時最快樂的回憶。發現女友這麼喜歡這些玩偶時,他便開始蒐集它們,希望藉此贏得美人心並結婚。從一九八零年,太太直到現在依然珍惜的那尊玩偶開始,夫妻倆至今已蒐集了八十個玩偶。他們也蒐集胸前印著西元年份的仿冒品。太太有時會因為丈夫太珍惜玩偶而吃醋。曾有人向李俊緯出價新台幣十萬元,購買整組收藏,但他堅決不割愛。
李俊緯說,他太太從小就愛大同寶寶,每次看到電視上的大同寶寶廣告就開心地笑,廣告一結束就哭了起來。家中電視機上的一九八零年版撲滿一直陪在身邊,最後這個大同寶寶也於婚後成為家庭的一部分。
李俊緯表示,大同公司從一九六九年的五十一週年紀念起,每年出版一款軟膠大同寶寶撲滿,只有胸前號碼有明顯改變,代表公司營運的時間。玩偶的其它部分則大同小異。寶寶撲滿產量大減的那年是一九八二年,當時台灣面臨最嚴重的經濟緊縮,接下來兩年完全停產,直到一九八五年的編號六十七才又「復出」。由於這兩款產量稀少,編號六四與六七的玩偶目前叫價最貴,一個可賣到新台幣三、四萬元。
為了收集大同寶寶,李俊緯不時往鄉下或眷村等容易找到的地方跑。還踏遍跳蚤市場及古物商,也不放過仔細研究各鄉鎮一定設有的大同服務站。直到在台東市區開店,李俊緯才將寶寶們擺在店內與大家分享收藏。
(自由時報記者王秀亭專訪)
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