Doll Heist : Arsons Fail to Hide Theft of San Diego Man’s $1-Million Collection of Barbies

Two fires at the same house were deliberately set last weekend to cover up the theft of an estimated $1 million worth of Barbies, in what was perhaps the largest Barbie doll heist in the nation’s history, authorities said.

Fire officials say the thief doused Glen Offield’s rented house with gasoline early Saturday morning after making off with his collection while Offield was attending a doll show in Los Angeles.

When the house did not burn completely, officials said, the thief returned Sunday morning and set another blaze to obscure the theft. But the complete lack of Barbie remains made it clear they had been stolen. Even at the center of a blaze, experts say, they would not have disintegrated.

Inside Offield’s gutted home, the burned torsos of his inexpensive Tammy dolls jutted from a heap of black rubble. But there was no trace of the 5,000 Barbies, which had been kept in the master bedroom.

“The only thing missing is every single bit of his Barbie collection,” said Jeff Carle, an investigator with the San Diego Fire Department. “Somebody knew exactly what they were doing.”

Offield said the thief took every Barbie, Ken and Skipper in his collection. Also missing were all their doll friends and related paraphernalia, from houses to Corvette. (Technically, all of the dolls count as Barbies.)

Offield says he is known worldwide for his collection, which he says contains every piece of Barbie paraphernalia made between 1959 and 1972, including about 200 prototype dolls. Every item is in mint condition and “never played with,” he says, and together, worth about $1 million.

Offield, 42, who described himself as an unemployed art director, says he isn’t wealthy and could not afford insurance. He has no family and, he says, not much of a social life. He was only “rich in Barbie dolls.”

Fifteen of his dolls appeared on the cover of Smithsonian magazine in December, 1989. The cover was so popular that Smithsonian created a museum poster of 31 of Offield’s most stylish Barbies.

Offield stood outside his house Tuesday and contemplated life without his Barbies.

“They meant everything to me,” he said. “I could do without eating. I don’t know if I can live without them.”