アネッテ　ヒムシュタットドール　
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２００８年アネッテドール（Annette Himstedt)
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２００８年秋　新作ドール（Annette Himstedt)
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Annette Himstedt　最終の御提供！！
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最後の手紙（原語のまま全文）
Farewell from the Annette Himstedt Puppenmanufaktur

 In 1986 I introduced my very first vinyl collection. Now 23 years later I will close my 
manufactory towards the end of the year 2008.

There have been tremendously successful years, but there were also very tough ones. 
Either way, one thing was always of utmost importance to me: the joy and the ambition to 
always create increasingly better dolls. 

Through the years I’ve gone through a lot of changes, partly deliberate, partly because I 
had to. The world of dolls is constantly changing, for which I’m in part responsible. To get 
better, to work more elaborately and to achieve higher quality standards, has made 
collectors and retailers alike more and more demanding as a result. The dolls became more 
and more expensive in the making, due to the material and wig costs on the one hand and 
the need to employ more and more members of staff on the other. In the last few years I 
employed between 50 and 80 members of full time staff. 

In addition people’s financial situation has got more difficult in the last two years. Economic 
problems the world over, rising energy costs, and more recently the credit crunch, the 
crashing property market and many other factors have contributed towards people 
becoming less inclined to spend their money as easily as they could in the years before. 
Times got harder and the unfavourable US$ exchange has not helped the situation.

 For the five years between 2003 and 2007 we have unfortunately experienced very big 
losses as a result of this. Because we have compensated for the bad exchange rate by 
charging a much lower rate to our American collectors. But with the dollar getting weaker 
and weaker, in 2007 the losses were so enormous that we simply couldn’t sustain them 
anymore. We had to increase the doll retail price in the US this year to get closer to the 
real exchange rate. For our American collectors this meant of course a lot of money. But 
we just couldn’t keep calculating our dollar prices based on an exchange rate of $1.15, 
where in fact it was closer to $1.60 to the Euro.

The simple truth is that to sustain a company like mine that produces high quality dolls in 
Germany a set amount have to be sold each year. Unfortunately the orders we’re getting 
aren’t enough any more.

As a result I have no choice but to close my manufactory by the end of 2008. We will fulfil 
all orders of the Sommer Kinder, the Club Minis as well as all orders that will get to us by 
mid November.

I think that the last collections will become as popular as my first collection in 1986 was at 
the time. I am sure that they will increase in value.

I have spent nearly a quarter of a century in my manufactory and worked there with 
passion, much discipline and a lot of idealism. 

I have enjoyed working with my team, whom I would like to thank once more for their hard 
work and commitment. Some of them have been with me since the very beginning. 

I thank my collectors and retailers for their faithfulness over the years. 

I have experienced many highs as well as a few lows during this time but the pleasure I have 
been able to bring to collectors worldwide has always been the central driving force for me.

I hope that Himstedt collectors will continue to cherish all the different dolls that were 
created and lovingly crafted from the manufactory here in Paderborn.

I am sure that I’ll remain in the world of dolls in some shape or form, but how exactly I don’
t know yet. One thing is certain though: it won’t be with a manufactory.
 

I wish you all the best.


Take care,

Annette Himstedt

事務的に淡々と綴られているのが、彼女の無念の思いが、より一層鮮明に




１９７９年、人形作家としてアメリカでデビュー。同年、マテル社（米国の玩具会社、"バービード
ール"で有名。）より発売されたアネッテド−ル（アネッテのデザインによる限定アーティストドー
ル。）は、７０年代初めから人気の出始めた新進の人形作家が作るドールの中でも異彩を放
ち、大人のドールファンやドールコレクターに爆発的に売れたのです。
その成功を期に、１９８５年、アネッテ・ヒムシュタットは、ドイツで７人の仲間と工房を立ち上
げ、世界のファンのために、限定生産のより高品質のドールを世に送り出しています。以来、
世界の子供達をテーマに、毎年独創的で意欲的な作品群は、ドイツはもとより世界中のドール
ファンの注目の的で、毎年、ドールショーの時期になると、バイヤー達の争奪戦が始まるので
す。
近年の人気の加熱ぶりは、２０００年、スペインの人形会社が余りにもアネッテドールと酷似し
たドールを作ったとして、告訴（結果、勝訴）にまで発展。２００４年には、アメリカのネットオーク
ションで、発売前の新作のドールが出展（現物ではないため、出展停止措置。）されるなど、ま
すます入手困難になってきています。
日本において、弊店はアネッテドールのオフィシャルショップに認定されています。
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