The Curious Collector

The Curious Collector

By Stuart HolbrookLeisureHobbies
Download on the App Store

The Curious Collector episodes

  • A Conversation With Bill Greening, An Iconic Barbie Designer: Part Two

    For over 25 years, Bill Greening’s unique designs and fashions brought Barbie into the new millennium. From Play to Collector lines, his passionate work helped shape the world’s most famous doll for new generations. Known by every Barbie collector, not just because of his designs, but also his passion as a collector himself, he has embraced every facet of the Barbie world and been supportive of collectors around the world as well as at shows and conventions. In Part Two of this conversation with Theriault's President Stuart Holbrook, Greening takes us further on his journey with Barbie and Mattel as he rose to become Principal Designer, how he balanced his career while also being a collector and he takes a look at his future path ahead in the world of fashion and figurative art.






    Keep up with Stuart at curiouscollect.com and check out Theriaults.com as well where you can learn more as to the exciting auctions held throughout the year at Theriault’s, the world’s leader in the auction of dolls and figurative art. 


    53 min
  • A Conversation With Bill Greening, An Iconic Barbie Designer: Part One

    For over 25 years Bill Greening’s unique designs and fashion brought Barbie into the new millennium. From Play to Collector lines, his passionate work has helped shape the world’s most famous doll for new generations. Known by every Barbie collector, not just because of his designs, but also his passion as a collector himself, he has embraced every facet of the Barbie world and been supportive of collectors around the world and at shows and conventions. In this first of two episodes chatting with Greening, he takes us on a journey from his childhood in California to his early days at Mattel, fulfilling a lifelong dream of designing for Barbie. 

    Keep up with Stuart at curiouscollect.com and check out Theriaults.com as well where you can learn more as to the exciting auctions held throughout the year at Theriault’s, the world’s leader in the auction of dolls and figurative art. 


    47 min
  • The Future of Collecting - Millennials?

    In this new episode of The Curious Collector, Theriault's President Stuart Holbrook delves into the future of collecting to identify potential upcoming trends and what the emerging generations will think about the protection of objects past. There are some surprising predictions that will hopefully be reassuring to today's collectors  that the items they passionately gather today will continue to be appreciated and protected well into the future.

    Keep up with Stuart at curiouscollect.com and check out Theriaults.com as well where you can learn more as to the exciting auctions held throughout the year at Theriault’s, the world’s leader in the auction of dolls and figurative art. 


    35 min
  • A Conversation with Florence Theriault - A Paradigm Shift in Collecting 2000-2025

    Theriaut's President Stuart Holbrook chats with Florence Theriault in this deeply personal and candid look at her 55 year career in auctions, dolls and collecting. Spanning the early 1970’s until today this three-part Podcast allows Florence to recount with humor and sentiment the rise of Theriault’s from its humble beginnings along with the stories, characters and adventures that she's experienced along the way.  While a beloved figure in the world of dolls, we see a human side of Florence that few have come to know, especially a new generation of collectors who may only know her through her popular YouTube video channel. Part Three explores the current generation of collecting and the dramatic changes in not only how people collect in the marketplace but how they engage the hobby as a whole. Florence gives her thoughts as to these changes, what she loves and what she misses from the past. The episode finishes with Florence “writing a letter” to her younger self, what she would tell her. As well, her thoughts for new collectors or those just starting - offering sage advice for the future. 

    Keep up with Stuart at curiouscollect.com and check out Theriaults.com as well where you can learn more as to the exciting auctions held throughout the year at Theriault’s, the world’s leader in the auction of dolls and figurative art. 


    43 min
  • A Conversation with Florence Theriault - The Wild Times of the 1980s-1990s

    Theriaut's President Stuart Holbrook chats with Florence Theriault in this deeply personal and candid look at her 55 year career in auctions, dolls and collecting. Spanning the early 1970’s until today this three-part Podcast allows Florence to recount with humor and sentiment the rise of Theriault’s from its humble beginnings along with the stories, characters and adventures that she's experienced along the way.  While a beloved figure in the world of dolls, we see a human side of Florence that few have come to know, especially a new generation of collectors who may only know her through her popular YouTube video channel. Part Two takes us through the growth of Theriault’s in the 1980’s as Florence Theriault navigated the firm from the “old world" of the doll market into the new age of media and information. This led to  her transformation into collaborating on research projects during the 1990’s that worked to uncover much of today’s evolution of knowledge which she discusses in great detail. 

    Keep up with Stuart at curiouscollect.com and check out Theriaults.com as well where you can learn more as to the exciting auctions held throughout the year at Theriault’s, the world’s leader in the auction of dolls and figurative art. 


    47 min
  • A Conversation with Florence Theriault - The Early Years 1970-1980

    Theriaut's President Stuart Holbrook chats with Florence Theriault in this deeply personal and candid look at her 55 year career in auctions, dolls and collecting. Spanning the early 1970’s until today this three-part Podcast allows Florence to recount with humor and sentiment the rise of Theriault’s from its humble beginnings along with the stories, characters and adventures that she's experienced along the way.  While a beloved figure in the world of dolls, we see a human side of Florence that few have come to know, especially a new generation of collectors who may only know her through her popular YouTube video channel. Part One takes us back to her youth, the founding of Theriault’s in the 1970’s, and the growth of doll collecting, auctions, and a business that has been dear to nearly her entire adult life. 

    Keep up with Stuart at curiouscollect.com and check out Theriaults.com as well where you can learn more as to the exciting auctions held throughout the year at Theriault’s, the world’s leader in the auction of dolls and figurative art. 


    40 min
  • Love Shirley Temple - Ten Years Later - Part 2

    The Love Shirley Temple auction was an event that became one of the defining moments of Theriault President Stuart Holbrook’s career in showcasing the entire childhood of one of America’s great icons of the 20th century. All through the treasures that Shirley Temple personally preserved for decades.  In Part Two of this journey with Shirley, Stuart takes us from the conclusion of months of exhibits towards that final day in Kansas City in July of 2015. It was here that the world would see all of the pieces together as one and the progression of ownership and progression begin at auction. It took nearly a year to get there - but in just thirteen hours a thousand more stories would be told as each lot was offered to a global audience. Finally, Stuart shares a few thoughts of the ten years since as interesting stories emerged over this time on many of the items. Reaching the final conclusion, that still today, ten years later, and undoubtedly for hundreds more, the Shirley Temple legacy will live on. 

    Keep up with Stuart at curiouscollect.com and check out Theriaults.com as well where you can learn more as to the exciting auctions held throughout the year at Theriault’s, the world’s leader in the auction of dolls and figurative art. 


    47 min
  • Love, Shirley Temple: Ten Years Later - Part 1

    The Love, Shirley Temple auction was an event that became one of the defining moments of Theriaults' President Stuart Holbrook’s career in showcasing the entire childhood of one of America’s greatest icons of the 20th century. All through the treasures that Shirley Temple personally preserved for decades.  In this episode of The Curious Collector, Stuart takes you on a journey from the first time meeting the family of Shirley Temple through to the exhibits that traveled acrossed America in 2015. He captures the emotions of the multi-generations that came from far and away to pay homage to an American legend. He vividly describes many of those exhibits and the touching moments he witnessed as people shared their connection to Shirley and what it meant to them. This is an intro to Part Two which will talk about the auction event in 2015 to the now of the takeaways ten years later. It is an emotional tour through a year that many in the collecting world will never forget. 

    Keep up with Stuart at curiouscollect.com and check out Theriaults.com as well where you can learn more as to the exciting auctions held throughout the year at Theriault’s, the world’s leader in the auction of dolls and figurative art. 


    44 min
  • What the Hell Were They Thinking?

    In this episode, Theriault's President, Stuart Holbrook takes us on a journey through doll history to share some of the oddest creations doll makers ever designed. As well, discussing the world of patents and how the scramble for the “next big thing” led to some very curious results. From the Bebe Bru Gourmand to the Ondine Swimming Doll, history has certainly provided some fun examples to reflect on. But not all were commercial failures. Stuart also ponders the why of how some of these, like Barbie, actually became massive hits in the end. 

    Keep up with Stuart at curiouscollect.com and check out Theriaults.com as well where you can learn more as to the exciting auctions held throughout the year at Theriault’s, the world’s leader in the auction of dolls and figurative art. 


    47 min
  • The Road of a Collector Should Never Be Straight

    A full life of collecting should involve numerous twists and turns. You start in one place with a few steps forward. Yet as you journey through this grand adventure you will find many back roads and detours to explore. Take them. Theriault's President Stuart Holbrook offers collectors not a map this time, but an encouragement to throw the map away and discover new aspects within collecting that you may randomly stumble on along the way. While doll collectors may start on one subject, the happy life of a collector is finding new categories to study and collect to stimulate a curious mind. He talks with Podcast Producer and Doll Collector Tammy Trujillo who is doing just that with the inclusion of several new types of dolls in her primarily all composition doll collection. With this goal of diversification, even when narrow, one will experience the true joy of collecting that can reward in numerous ways. 

    Keep up with Stuart at curiouscollect.com and check out Theriaults.com as well where you can learn more as to the exciting auctions held throughout the year at Theriault’s, the world’s leader in the auction of dolls and figurative art. 


    42 min

About The Curious Collector

From the publisher's feed

The world of collecting and collectors is a curious one….and it’s where I’ve spent most of my life. I’m Stuart Holbrook and as President of Theriault’s - the world’s leader in the auction of…

More shows like The Curious Collector

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

37,993 Listeners