The beginning

Where did you get the idea for the Doll Finder?

I can’t take credit for the idea. Years ago, there was a website called dollection.fi that hosted a small but useful database of dolls. You could search for specific features like vampire fangs or open mouths, but the selection was pretty limited.

What made the site truly special, though, was its size comparison tool. You could select doll photos and place them on a virtual canvas, dragging and dropping them anywhere to see how their sizes compared.

The photos came from doll owners all over the internet and from meet-ups, making it a collaborative treasure trove. I mostly used it to check if certain hybrids would be proportionate. By lining up the images with the built-in scale, you could get surprisingly accurate comparisons. And when the database didn’t have what I needed, I’d just layer in my own images using Photoshop.

★

The magic was never just the database

The real spark was the collaborative size-comparison canvas: a practical, community-built tool that let doll collectors test ideas visually instead of guessing proportions in the dark.

The resurrection attempt

The long, messy timeline of bringing Dollection back

Here’s the full version: shutdowns, false starts, accidental platform archaeology, and a frankly unreasonable amount of persistence.

An alternating history of hobby grief, technical improvisation, and several products that eventually demanded money like cartoon villains.
Phase 01

Dollection Dies

The original owner lost interest in dolls, and the site quietly went dark. The tool that inspired everything simply stopped existing.

Phase 02

Den of Angels Attempt

Someone on Den of Angels briefly tried to take over the codebase, but that rescue mission fizzled out too. Another door closed.

Phase 03

Flickr Hail Mary

A desperate Flickr-based version was assembled using old instructions and sheer optimism. Nobody contributed, and the whole thing collapsed under its own awkwardness.

Phase 04

SQL Attempt

There was a sincere attempt to learn SQL and become the kind of person who could build this properly. It ended like many ambitious resolutions: with enthusiasm, confusion, and very limited results.

Phase 05

Airtable Discovery

Airtable showed up as the first platform that felt remotely workable. Hundreds of dolls were poured into it, one record at a time, like a handcrafted monument to bad boundaries.

Phase 06

Weebly + Iframe Era

The Airtable base got embedded into a Weebly site through an iframe. Technically functional, aesthetically unforgettable, and elegant in the same way a potato wearing lipstick is elegant.

Phase 07

Pory.io Upgrade

Pory.io arrived and finally made the database look like it had dressed for the occasion. For the first time, the project felt less like a workaround and more like a real website.

Phase 08

Airtable's Price Hike

Then Airtable slashed the free plan and turned continuity into a bill of roughly $300 a year. A hobby database suddenly came with the energy of setting fire to a grocery budget.

Phase 09

Pory.io's Betrayal

Pory.io also shifted from useful free tool to deeply unrealistic paid product. The betrayal was not only emotional, but impressively expensive.

Phase 10

Baserow Discovery

Eventually Baserow appeared: cheaper, more flexible, and equipped with a built-in app builder. At last, one platform seemed capable of carrying both the data and the public-facing site.

Phase 11

Baserow App Builder

A functional doll database was rebuilt inside Baserow’s app builder. It could be slow and temperamental, but it worked, which is often the most romantic thing software can do.

Phase 12

Resin Matching Database

Scattered resin matching photos from all over the internet were gathered into one central location. Because apparently collecting niche reference material from the internet’s dark corners counts as a hobby.

Phase 13

Hybrid Database

Then came a dedicated database for doll hybrids, because one giant unpaid archival project clearly wasn’t enough. New work was invented with all the confidence of someone refusing to protect their free time.

Phase 14

Dollection.fi Reborn

With better tools finally available, the original Dollection.fi experience could at last be recreated. It only took years of platform drama, experimentation, and entirely avoidable suffering.

Next Up

Future: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

The likely next chapter is a rebuild from scratch using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript connected to Baserow’s API. In other words: a totally normal plan for someone who definitely values rest.

The short version: the project survived not because the path was smooth, but because quitting kept being more annoying than continuing.
Database Icon
From doll dreams to data dumpster fire

Airtable worked… until it didn’t

After stumbling onto Airtable and pory.io, I managed to rope in a small cult to add dolls to the database. The small group of contributors eventually lost interest and drifted away. Adding dolls is less a “fun hobby” and more “data-entry purgatory.” In the meantime, around 700 dolls were added personally because apparently suffering counts as project management.

Then Airtable cut the free plan down to roughly 1,000 records. Since the database already existed, that essentially translated into being asked to pay about $300 a year to keep a personal obsession alive. Pory.io also shifted from useful free tool to deeply unrealistic paid product. The betrayal was not only emotional, but impressively expensive.

Donations and ads were considered, but that sounded suspiciously like running a business, and I have the entrepreneurial instincts of a confused squirrel. So, in true tragic fashion, the project was shoved back onto the dusty shelf of abandoned dreams.

✱

File uploads hidden behind paywalls, record limits shrinking, and the familiar realization that platform pricing can kill a hobby faster than lack of motivation ever could.

Rocket Icon
A newer chapter

Baserow became the next hopeful home

Years later, Baserow appeared as a cheaper alternative to Airtable, with a built-in equivalent to pory.io. That meant fewer moving parts and less juggling two platforms like an underpaid tech circus act.

It’s still young and quirky, which is a polite way of saying it can behave like a toddler with a sugar high. But features are slowly being added, and there’s hope that the database can keep evolving, even if the Doll Finder ends up being the most elaborate, unused passion project in internet history. I like working on it, even if no one ever clicks.

Baserow lacked a file upload feature, which is essential for this database. Images aren't optional here. When Baserow finally added file uploads, they locked the feature behind their top-tier plan. Which, frankly, is a deeply irritating choice when even Airtable includes that for free. Now that the database has grown, I am forced to subscribe.

What improved

Cheaper platform, fewer integrations, one place to manage the database and public-facing structure.

What still stings

Missing features, occasional instability, and a premium lock on file uploads that inspires immediate bitterness.

D
Meet the mascot

Who is Doffee?

Mascot illustration of Doffee

Doffee is the site’s mascot. The website felt like it needed one, and drawing a mascot sounded fun, so Doffee came into existence. He appears around the site offering help to anyone using the Doll Finder.

How to say it

DOFF-ee

It rhymes with coffee. The alternate pronunciation was rejected for sounding weird.

The name came from the first two letters of Doll Finder. So yes, it is deeply original, obviously.

Copyright and use

Doffee, the Doll Finder mascot, is not available for use outside of this website. Doffee’s character, design, and artwork belong to the owner of this website. Any unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Copyright © Deadra Kolker 2025.