Social Climes : All Dolled Up for Posterity

It takes a stretch of the imagination to visualize a sun-tanned Brooke Shields doll or a disco-dancing Andy Gibbs figure as “Smithsonian worthy,” which is the way MTV exec Robin Berlin facetiously describes her collection of nearly 100 plastic toy celebrity dolls. “If the Smithsonian won’t take them,” says Berlin, “I guess I’ll save them for my grandchildren. It’ll give them a taste of contemporary culture--or the lack thereof.”

Until the Smithsonian beckons, the dolls decorate Berlin’s Universal City office. The display might safely be described as one of the world’s finest collections of those celebs whose moment of fame has, through the magic of petrochemicals, become eternal.

Even if it’s not the usual museum material--how many dolls sold at Toys R Us are?--the sheer range of the collection might ensure its preservation.

Among Berlin’s cache are Vanilla Ice, Starsky and Hutch, John Boy and Mary Ellen of “The Waltons” (“I need Grandma and Grandpa,” she says), a Latino Fred Flintstone, Suzanne Somers, the cast of “Charlie’s Angels,” Mork (but regrettably no Mindy), Dolly Parton, Christie Brinkley, the cast of “Welcome Back, Kotter” sans Washington, Donnie and Marie Osmond, John Travolta, the New Kids on the Block, Menudo and a French version of “The A-Team” called “Agence Tous Risques, Les Soldats de L’Aventure.”

Among recent additions are Barbara Eden, the cast of “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Happy Days” regular Potsy. Of another new find, Berlin says, “There was immense satisfaction in reuniting Toni Tennille with the Captain. She’d suffered alone on the wall for years.”

Berlin says her calling as a collector began during a visit to a Napa Valley flea market. “When I first saw Martin Landau from ‘Space 1999,’ I was hooked,” she recalls.

The thrill of beginning what would become an enduring passion was tempered by the kitschy nature of the material. “As I carried the diminutive Mr. Landau home in my suitcase I was slightly humiliated,” she says. “I was glad I didn’t have to go through customs.”

Aside from the fantasy that the dolls might lead to the Smithsonian erecting an ego-gratifying Berlin Wing for Contemporary Culture, Berlin finds other side benefits to the collection.

“There aren’t too many occasions when you throw together a spontaneous meeting between Cher, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Jackson and Kevin Costner,” she says. “In plastic, I can set that up in about 30 seconds.”