DOLLS Magazine Sends Out "Winner" Notifications for I Love How You Love Me Poppy Giftset

Earlier today, DOLLS Magazine sent out emails to the 60 lucky people who got the chance to purchase a Poppy giftset. Sighs of relief were heard but there is a great deal of vitriol on the DOLLS' site right now.

Carie Ferg, DOLLS Associate Publisher, wrote:
"We sincerely apologize your Poppy Parker ordering experience was so frustrating. Basically, our server became so overwhelmed with activity at noon, that we couldn’t activate our store as planned. After increasing bandwidth and trying to activate for several hours, we decided the best thing we could do given the circumstances was to take orders via the e-mail form. The quantity then did sell out in just over five minutes. We’ve learned for the future that we need MORE bandwidth. Sorry for any inconvenience this caused. "

Several collectors responded harshly:
 "Carry [sic], I think that's crap....you should have sent an email out through the w club about how you we're going to give the 60 out since your server couldn't handle it, so everyone had a fair shot.... Or picked from the names that weren't picked in the lottery.  Jones publishing has bad customer service and bad business practices!!!"

"To Txxxx and Cari [sic],
In a nut shell - BAD form.
You DO NOT change the rules of the game in the middle!
It's cheating. Plain and simple.
Thanks for absolutely nothing, but a frustrating waste of 2.5 hours. "

Collectors are attacking each other as well.  You can read it for yourself and be amazed at the intensity of the anger.

http://www.dollsmagazine.com/manufacturers/integrity-toys/491-p-is-for-pretty-pure-and-poppy-parker.html

I was not at all surprised at the disaster yesterday. This has happened before and will happen again. DOLLS Magazine was not prepared in advance for the onslaught. They should have been informed by those in the know at Integrity Toys what to expect. They were left hanging in the wind.
I saw their offer to take emails not as a switch midstream that was done without regard, but as an attempt in an emergency situation, to help potential buyers.

I also understand the depth of disappointment of those who did not get to buy the set. I suffered at the hands of FAO during the AFL Platinum 'sale.' That debacle was handled even worse than this. Some collectors were confirmed by FAO personal shoppers and then two weeks later told there was no doll for them. It was terrible!

It's becoming rather unsafe to post opinions on the doll boards these days. I have read that people are afraid to post opinions for fear of being attacked or ridiculed. I think they have a rational fear. 

 NOTE:
 Sic – generally inside square brackets, [sic], and occasionally parentheses, (sic) – when added just after a quote or reprinted text, indicates that the passage is just as it appears from its original source. The usual purpose is to inform readers that any errors or apparent errors in the copied material are not from transcription – i.e. that they are reproduced exactly from the original writer or printer.

The W Club Takes Down Another Website!

Power to the W Club Members! In an attempt to order the remaining Poppy gift sets, collectors (not just from the W  Club) charged onto the Doll's Magazine website at precisely Noon CST. Almost immediately, the site crashed and stayed crashed for several hours.
People have been leaving comments; here are several:


-I too tried for two hours and even spoke to someone on the phone and was never able to get on to the site. 
 -I would like to thank Dolls Magazine for this wonderful opportunity I was given not being able to buy anything, it was magical and I am grateful.  
-I've also been at working trying to order since 1PM EST time
which is noon CST. Either I get under maintentance or overloaded. 
-Poorly handled. Why offer something for sale if the website to order it can't be used? Now it's sold out? Ridiculous. I'm extremely disappointed in the whole thing. I won't be back here for any more offers. 
-sorry, but the link to WClub members never got online and the doll is sold out? how can that be possible? I heard you took some emails here in this page. it NOT FAIR AT ALL as it was not addressed to all members and once this site is open to the public, anyone could have purchased the doll. please revise it and open the opportunity to ALL MEMBERS to purchase the 60 dolls left to make this thing right.
-This was so poorly handled, it's a disgrace. I wasted two hours on your stupid site waiting for your stupid link to come active, and then you sneakily put up a note to let people know that they can email their order! WTF? What about the rest of us who were using the link YOU provided for us. I will never read your magazine again. 

The liaisons had previously posted that they have nothing to do with how Dolls will be selling the remaining sets. They are a separate entity. So why did the W Club offer any for sale at all? Did Dolls magazine think they wouldn't be able to sell the giftsets. I'm perplexed.


This happens over and over when an outside source sells - except Bergdorf Goodman. That worked seamlessly.

DOLLS Magazine Exclusive Poppy Parker Gift Set

A new Poppy gift set has been announced called "I Love How You Love Me."  This item contains one blonde Poppy doll and three complete outfits - inlcuding footwear for each fashion. The set will cost $150., payable directly to DOLLS Magazine and will ship mid-March, 2011.  All of the photos below are the property of Integrity Toys.

The W Club held a lottery; however, non-members or those not chosen in the lottery may purchase the giftset directly from DOLLS Magazine online shopping cart on January 10, 2011.

"...the dolls and the show turn back the hands of time, but they can’t handle a real-life hourglass figure!"

In a piece written by Stephanie Finnegan in Dolls Magazine, the author tells us that many men who identify with the era of anti-feminism and steno pools are collecting these dolls and adore the show. But...the real life Jayne Mansfield hips, thighs and chest of several of the actresses are not appreciated. These "men" want the good old days of women in shirtwaists pushing a carpet cleaner around the living room in the Levittown ranch home. However they are fixated on the current trend of skinny girls being the idealized figure for a woman.

Don Draper et al. remind me of my father, his brother and their 5th Avenue office. The hairstyles, the skinny ties, the suits, the drinking and the smoking are over-the-top accurate. It's painful to watch.  I do, however, appreciate how well the show is done and the look of it is amazing. I guess that's why it is able to tap into the memories for me.

"“Mad Men” takes place back in the days when “men were men,” and a combo of chauvinism and arrogance were the necessary ingredients for a young executive’s rise at the workplace. (Women on the show, by and large, are left to languish in the stenographer pool, hoping that a well-turned leg and a nice neckline will land them a hubby and a happy home in the suburbs.)"

 Here is the link to the rest of the article.  It's a great read as she ties the dolls in with social issues of the past and current. I recommend it.