Katrina “Spring Flower” Smith was 8 years old when her mother gave her a baby doll named Amy-Lee.

Decades later, she still has her.

“My love of baby dolls started from childhood, from very little. My grandmother collected dolls and I always loved hers,” Ms Smith said.

“But one of the most special dolls that I actually still have is a baby doll that my mom gave to me when I was 8. Her name is Amy-Lee. She’s one of my most special dolls.”

Ms Smith never really stopped collecting.

“I would say I always collected them throughout my adulthood, but when I had children, I stopped. I still had my dolls and dressed them for the seasons, but around 2017, I started going deep into it. Buying new ones, collecting, it’s been an ongoing thing ever since.”

Just how many dolls she owns today is difficult to say.

“It’s so large now that I actually lost count. It’s over 100, and I’m being very modest by saying that.”

Baby dolls remain her favourite, but her collection extends far beyond them.

“My favourite types of dolls are baby dolls. I love a baby doll. Then after that it would be a Barbie doll and then fashion dolls. Then it’s everything in between. Cloth dolls, vintage dolls, anything that’s a doll that I like, I will get it. It could be a doll on a key ring. If it’s cute, I buy it. I have porcelain dolls.”

Her collection also includes reborn dolls, artist-made dolls created to look remarkably lifelike, as well as realistic silicone babies.

For Ms Smith, however, an expensive doll doesn't automatically hold more appeal than a cheap one.

“I look for realism, but I also look for what’s cute. I can go from a doll that will cost over $2,000 to a thrift store doll that costs $2. I have very lifelike silicone dolls that people will use in movies. I have all types.”

Her collection has grown large enough to have its own dedicated space.

“I have a doll nursery, a doll room. Many are on display, but I have a room dedicated to them.”

Two dolls have particularly special places in the collection.

“I have two dolls that mean the most to me. A silicone doll, Makesi Sage, a male doll. He’s my baby. I don’t even call him a doll.”

Then there is Keke.

“I actually got that doll made in resemblance to my own daughter. The colour of her eyes when she was born, her hair, skin tone. She doesn’t look exactly like her, but she’s very special and has a very high placement.”

Collecting has also become a social hobby for Ms Smith. She runs a doll channel, Spring Flower’s Amazing Doll Connection, and has connected with fellow collectors around the world.

“It’s a fun hobby. I have many doll friends who collect dolls overseas. I’ve been to doll shows and doll gatherings.”

Her love of dolls has even become part of the way she travels.

“I went to a doll show in Salt Lake City in Utah and bought a couple dolls back from there. I got dolls from Rome. When I travel, I try to get one from there.”

For particular dolls, she also connects directly with doll artists. But there is one part of the hobby Ms Smith wishes outsiders understood better.

“A lot of people misunderstand. They think that women or people who collect dolls have lost a child or are suffering in some type of way.”

For some people, she said, the explanation is much simpler.

“I do wish people understood that many of us just love dolls.”

Her own love of them has been there for almost as long as she can remember, beginning with her grandmother's collection and continuing through childhood and adulthood.

“Some of us have loved them from a small child and never gave them up. Some started collecting as an adult. Not because somebody died.”

For Ms Smith, collecting dolls has brought friendships, travel and a community of people who share the same enthusiasm.

But more than anything, it is something she enjoys.

“Hopefully people can understand that we just like to collect and play with dolls.”