The date was January 29, 1999. It all started, just before the new millennium, on one cold morning in January. Rick had explored and experimented on the web before, but not like this. Rick had been  involved with his local Barbie® Doll Club called the "Circle City Barbie® Doll Collectors Club" or simply CCBDCC for quite some time now. His sister Mary joined the local Indy club, in 1997. Rick was a guest until the year 1999. Rick thought his local Barbie® doll  club was cool and thought everyone had something like this. He soon realize that this was not the case. He noticed that others were not so fortunate. As he talked with various people on the web, he noticed that not everybody had what he and his sister, Mary, had.

The problem was that they either did not have a local Barbie® Doll Club in their area, too far away from one, didn't have the time or didn't like the club that they had. For a long time there was nothing like the IBDC out there. Sure there was Barbie® websites, but nothing to connect with, nothing to feel at home, to make friends, to talk to other collectors and/or to make you feel good about collecting Barbie®. It is sometimes nice to know that others are as crazy about Barbie® as you are.

Rick wanted someplace to communicate with other doll collectors like him and his sister. He wanted a place that doll collectors could share their love for Barbie® and simply be a part of something. So Rick decided to create a website on the web and see who would be interested in an on-line Barbie® Doll Club. It was originally an experiment. Many told him that it would not amount to anything and it was a waste of time. But, Rick insisted that it was going to work. Even his sister Mary was a little hesitant about it in the beginning. After a lot of hard work and dedication things  began to pick up. He found that some people actually liked the idea and was glad Rick started the club. Rick realized that maybe this was going turn out just fine after all. He was right too! Just look at what IBDC has become today. It is one of the major Independent on-line Barbie® Doll Clubs Today.

Now, Rick has noticed a lot more on- line Barbie® clubs popping up, since Rick started the club, including the newly released "Official Barbie® Doll Collectors Club" Free On-line that Mattel started. It once was a postal mail club that jumped onto the internet just this year. But, many collectors think it doesn't have the homey and loving environment that IBDC has, it doesn't feel big or interactive as our club. Other clubs have been trying to copy some of the things that IBDC does too, but it is thought that IBDC has them beat over all.

Many things have happened since then, and Rick is very proud to say he likes where the club is headed. He is thankful to all his officers' who help him get this club rolling each day. Without everybody working together there would not be a club. He says he still sees more to come and great things to happen. Most new clubs don't make it past their 1st anniversary or birthday let along 4 wonderful years, now 5.

Our club's first website, was not under our own domain name. It was on a free web hosting service. This was the beginning of free services allowing you to create your very own, easy to use, webpage or website. There were only 2 pages! Can you believe that? The "club member's" site and the "Joining" website. When the club first started, Rick use to have members email him directly to join the club. Things like your name, where you were from, birthday, what you liked about the Barbie® doll and then your email address. This was once upon a time listed on the club's website, but was  found later to be too much to upkeep with the over turning and  increasing amount of members joining each day. It was also decided by the club that members wanted their privacy so the idea of having an IBDC Member list available to anyone was eliminated.

In January of 2003 we finally got our own domain name www.ibdollclub.com. We are very proud of that. It is a very big accomplishment for us.