:/

[I do want to lead with what dolls I am primarily interested in, so that there is context for which spaces in particular I am active in and may bring up as examples for this kind of behavior: Monster High, Rainbow High, Barbie, BJD, and doll customization. I also want to lead with mentioning I am native Cherokee, so will have a hint of the Native experience mixed into this rant as well.]

I feel that doll-collecting as a hobby lends itself as a breeding ground for antiblackness. I've found the bulk of the issues that I have run into are related to white fragility, and what happens when that delicate balance of white feelings is upset. Regardless of whether it is the dehumanization or fetishization of black women, it can still trigger that white fragility.

For starters, people being emotionally attached to particular characters that, by the nature of dolls, are often being interpreted based purely off of a character design, sets up a scenario in which white people can easily feel fragile. I have seen more than once a white person get inordinately upset when a BIPOC brings up a popular headcanon, or even outright black-coding of a doll. 99% of the time, this sudden protectiveness over the whiteness of a doll that they like comes following a completely friendly comment from a black person.

Why is this? Because, to them, black is the worst thing that a person can be. A BIPOC expressing a colored headcanon for a doll is therefore read by some white doll fans as an insult. This results in torrents of microaggressions similar to what many black gamers experience in gaming communities: "why do they have to be black?" While masked behind the curtain of "artistic preference" and "just giving criticism," it really boils down to racism.

[examples to back up my point: the whitewashing of Delilah Fields (Rainbow High), who is black with albinism and upsets a LOT of white folk; and G1 Clawdeen Wolf (Monster High), who I have seen be put through the "she's not black, she's a werewolf. That's why she's brown" argument more times than I can count.]

Additionally, there is the issue of, should black doll collectors (or other collectors of color), want to carve out a space to discuss this without incurring constant comments from white folk, white people feel entitled to black spaces.

I was a part of the Rainbow High subreddit for some time, and, following the release of Delilah Fields (or thereabouts in that time frame), a woman of color from that subreddit made her own separate subreddit for Rainbow High collectors of color to discuss headcanons and opinions without white people adding antiblackness to the conversation. I'm sure you can guess what happened next: floods of hate on the subreddit whenever any conversations surrounding blackness would get brought up, ultimately leading to the subreddit being deleted. This is just one example from my admittedly very small doll-focused pond, but illustrates my point of white fragility leading to some people feeling defensive over their favorite dolls to the point of harassing POC.

And that is nothing to say of white collectors who, like you pointed out in your post, conveniently have a "preference" for white, light-skinned, or fantasy-tone dolls. I've seen white collectors who argue that the lack of textured hair in dolls (a problem that I believe has improved over the years) isn't rooted in racism, and it's just because producing textured hairstyles in dolls is more expensive from a manufacturing standpoint. I've seen it argued that dark-skinned dolls are more expensive and not worth it due to the dolls needing more dark-colored dye to produce.

Regardless of whether or not black dolls do actually cost more to make, the willingness of white fans to jump at the defense of white doll designers centering whiteness is again a symptom of pervasive antiblackness within this community. At its very worst, I've even seen a white collector argue that little black girls aren't as interested in dolls, and it's okay that there are more white dolls than black for this reason (which in turn relates back to the racist, antiblack idea that little black girls are "more grown" than little white girls).