A married man who has 240 human-sized fake girlfriends is believed to have the biggest love doll collection in the world.
Bob Gibbins, 60, is known to fellow collectors as the Hugh Hefner of the love doll world.
And even though Bob has just a small bungalow in Madley, Herefordshire, pals have dubbed the pad The Love Doll Mansion.
The father-of-two, who works as a mechanic, loves having afternoon tea with his dolls, posing them up for photo shoots, and dressing them in sexy underwear.
He has spent £100,000 on his collection so far and has even adapted one leggy gal so they can ballroom dance together.
Bob said: “I have a collection of 240 dolls – which I believe is the largest in the world.
"The former record holder is a man in Japan with 100 dolls.
“It all started ten years ago when I got a mannequin because I liked the way she looked. She caught my interest. But I wasn't satisfied.
"I wanted to find something more realistic and while searching for tips on the internet came across love dolls.
"I thought they looked fantastic and wanted to get one straight away."
And surprisingly Bob's wife Lizzie, 55, encouraged his bizarre hobby.
Bob said: "My wife helped me pick out my first doll in 2007 - which cost £2,500 and we called her Beverley.
"She was my first real silicone doll. I got her second hand. And my collection grew from there.
"Now I must buy a doll every other week."
The enthusiast spends anything from £30-£7,000 on the life-like dolls.
“My most expensive doll is a silicone doll, Jessica. She was made in Germany and cost me £7,000," he said.
“I also have a lot of blow up dolls, which are cheaper, they vary from £30 to £400 for the best ones."
But the expenses don't stop at buying the doll as Bob and Lizzie often treat their plastic brood to clothes, wigs and make-up.
“I've spent £80,000 just on the dolls themselves, plus probably £5,000 on clothes, £2,000 on wigs, and £1,000 on make up and jewellery," said Bob.
“They do take up a lot of space but we always find room for them!”
While some of Bob’s dolls are posed provocatively and have some very saucy outfits, Bob insists he never uses the dolls for sex.
“A lot of love doll owners do use the dolls for sex but I don’t. I’ve never been interested in them in that way," he said.
“I do dress them in sexy underwear but that is just for the benefit of the people who come on my online forum - I post photos of them. Myself, I like to see them in a 60s-inspired outfits."
“I just try and make them look as life-like as possible, and I love it if someone mistakes them for a real person. It’s a lot of fun,” he added.
Bob sees dressing the dolls and putting on wigs and make-up as a hobby similar to designing model cars. Some of the dolls he even makes from scratch – such as his dancing Dolly doll.
With Dolly, he installed a bendy metal skeleton with joints into a mannequin, and attached her to rolling shoes, so she moves as he does.
The plastic fanatic also enjoys posing his dolls playing instruments and says one doll, Charlotte, has become very good at the drums.
His favourite doll for taking on drives is curly-haired Patsy because she is easy to get in and out the car.
Bob also spends up to a month at a time making dolls from doll parts and mannequins. The materials cost up to £500 but he spend hours perfecting them. He has sold some of creations for £1,000.
He said: “Since I was a young boy I’ve always been fascinated by the mechanics of things and it’s the same with the dolls.
“Now I’m intrigued by the idea of making something that resembles a real, living human, and making them as realistic as possible.
“We like having woman dolls rather than male dolls because you can be so much more creative with how they look – with a larger variety of wigs and clothes.”
And he is more than happy to let his collection of dolls take over the two-bedroom bungalow he shares with his wife Lizzie - even their bedroom.
“They are everywhere,” he admits. “You can probably find a doll in every nook and cranny of our home.
“They’re in the kitchen, in the bathroom, the living room, the bedroom," he added.
“When we’re watching TV they sit there and watch it with us. We often sit down and watch Eastenders together. When we make dinner there’s often a doll sitting at the table with us while we eat."
The doll fanatic says he is so used to having the dolls around that he sometimes forgets they are not real people.
He said: “We are very careful with them and treat them as real people when we move them around as they are very heavy and I would be devastated if any of them got damaged.
“It’s easy to forget they’re not real – particularly when I bump into a doll, I always apologise!
"And because many of the dolls are made out of silicone they sweat and need to be washed in the bath."
And even though the dolls take up a lot of Bob's time his wife says she doesn't mind his bizarre hobby.
"People might think I am crazy, but I have no problems with the dolls at all - it is a hobby Bob and I share together," said Lizzie, who prefers to stay out of the spotlight.
"It isn't sexual, we just enjoy dressing them up. It's like having life sized Barbie Doll!"Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @effiongeton
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