var contactData = [ {firstName: 'John',lastName: 'Doe',phone: '1-111-1111'}, {firstName: 'Jane',lastName: 'Doe',phone: '2-222-2222'} ]; //create a collection from model constructor and data var contacts = new Backbone.Collection(contactData,{model:Backbone.Model}); console.log(contacts.toJSON()); /*above logs: [{firstName="John", lastName="Doe", ...}, {firstName="Jane", lastName="Doe", ...}]*/