MetroDolls Event Part II

As I posted yesterday, the main speaker at the event was Robert Tonner who talked about the design and evolution of the Deja Vu line. Unfortunately, the new dolls from that line were not ready in time for display. It was the second time I heard this presentation but apparently every time Robert tells the story, he gets funnier. I love his sense of humor.

Small selection of the Tonner display.

Sandra Stillwell Presents showed off her fashions from the recent Every Day's A Holiday convention and several fashions from prior conventions. These are all for sale or pre-order - dolls not included.

Paul Pham brought four stunning Numina dolls with him and was offering for sale a few accessories.

Angelic Dreamz - JamieShow displayed their resin BJD line and attendees could see the newest resin Gene on display as well. The exclusive Grace from the Madrid Fashion Doll event is in the black hat.

MetroDolls themselves offered many fabulous items for sale, two of which came home with me. (Smoking and Eventail)

Facets by Marcia had one of her "I want everything" displays to drool over...wigs, shoes, miniature books, jewelry, pins, furniture, accessories.

Shannon aka Flutterwing Designs showed some of her beautiful work. Not shown below, her auction contribution scored quite high on the bidding list.

Laurie Lenz displayed a few dolls.

Ed of Happily Ever After in Philadelphia brought a nice selection of merchandise including Integrity Toys, Tonner and more. You can see him and Marcia's husband (taking pictures) around the back of this sales table. I'm sorry, I did not get the name of whose table this top one was.

Another sales table.

Robin Atwell and Monica Cooper

Several MetroDolls club members displayed their Cholo Ayuyao fashions in a mouth watering display.

------------------------------------------------------>>>  Go To Part III MetroDolls

My First Doll Club Meeting; Dealers vs. Manufacturers; Eclectic Doll World

About 1-1/4  hours into the drive, I was tempted to turn around and go back home. I left my house at 5 PM for the 41 mile trip to Philadelphia. Under 'normal' circumstances, the drive takes 50 minutes. Last night the traffic and weather were anything but normal. But I forged ahead, sometimes at 5 miles per hour and sometimes at 25 mph, finally arriving at my destination after 7 PM.  Philadelphia is a beautiful and interesting city seen through my touristy eyes as I barely know it. Every time I see the facade of the art museum or the clock tower in Center City, I am enthralled. Anyway, next time I will head into the city in the afternoon, not during rush hour in a storm. Duh.

Happily Ever After is one of the last remaining brick and mortar doll stores anywhere. It is tucked into a charming part of Philly which (I believe) is part of Antique Row.  Like so many other small businesses they have suffered from the massive movement to buying on-line. Ed, the owner, told me that there were once quite a few doll and toy stores in the area. Another devastating blow is being dealt to these stores by those manufacturers who are now selling directly to collectors, in some cases selling goods at the same price the dealers would be paying. For example, yesterday Tonner Doll offered some amazing deals on Basic Cami dolls. A collector could purchase a Cami for about $45. with free shipping. If that is what a doll dealer pays for the doll, how can they possibly sell it to a collector and hope to make money?

It is a serious conflict of interest. Why would you compete with your dealers? As a collector who shops for the best prices, I'm going to avoid a dealer who is selling a doll for more than I have to pay elsewhere. I may also wait to buy a product if I see that the price always drops. No one runs a business solely to have fun. Businesses exist to make money. I see both sides of the issue. Of course the collector benefits from lower prices but we lose dealers. How many of us have doll stores near home where we can go and see the dolls in person? Very few.

Back to the club meeting...
The theme was the Swinging 60's. We were asked to bring a doll that was either manufactured during that period of time or one that was dressed in an appropriate fashion. I brought a Somers and Field Willow doll called GoGo.

I have a neat collection of these Mod British Birds but they are all in boxes as I'm planning to sell them. I've been planning this for a few years but every time I look at them, I find a reason to put them back and wait. At least one of the girls got out of her box last night.

The presenter dressed as a hippie and also brought along a load of dolls manufactured in the 1960's, most of which I had never heard of before.

We ate pizza and cheesecake and had Show and Tell. That was fun.

Chew and Tell

 I took only a few photos as I was more interested in listening. There were many more (and larger) dolls presented.

A point I want to emphasize is the value of seeing the broader picture of the doll world. You may know that my collection is quite eclectic but doesn't include any vintage dolls. A good percentage of the attendees who were there last night are vintage collectors. The benefit of the mix is you realize that your little world of modern fashion dolls is but a tiny fraction of the doll collecting world. I've come across collectors wouldn't spend a minute of their time looking at dolls they don't collect. I admit to sometimes being one of those collectors. I laugh at the reborn dolls - they do freak me out. I've only seen vintage French dolls from 18th and 19th centuries in museums.  I put down the cheap Barbie dolls without articulation. I don't care for vintage Barbie and know nothing about them but I appreciate the love others have for these dolls. There's a place for all of them. My dolls aren't better than your dolls; they're just mine.


I could definitely fall for these Mignonettes:

http://www.antiquetoychest.com/category/dolls/german-bisque-dolls/page/2/

http://www.rubylane.com/item/405753-572/All-Original-Mignonette-Presentation-box78

Sigh...look at this on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Old-little-box-with-French-Mignonette-and-accessories-/300919212231?pt=US_Dolls_Bears_Toys&hash=item46102ec8c7

I'd definitely have to play with these. Why did I look?

Back Again with More Stardust Stuff

Stuff...it's what our lives are filled with. Coming home from a convention goes beyond instant gratification of dolly desires; it exceeds the MDR and quickly becomes overload. I have to photograph the spoils of war in order to grasp what greed really means.

Top - bagged outfits purchased in the Integrity store at very low prices. The boxed fashion was also a 'steal.'

These two fashions I could definitely live without but at the price, why should I? Purchased in a room sale.

From Happily Ever After, this DAE fashion will fit Trent (at least that's what they told me.)

In addition I picked up three wigs from Marcia and a sweater from Dayle in the vendor's room. I swooned over a gorgeous gray silk dress with ribbon embroidery from Pam Seeman of Paintbox Designs. It became mine.

I got so tired of shopping that I actually forgot to buy something I wanted. Don't tell my husband you heard me say that. I will deny it.

Stardust ~ Friday, June 4, 2010

Reporting live (but only partially) from Philadelphia at the end of day 2 of the final Gene convention. Mel did say that if people were to hold a Gene party, he would come if invited so calling this the 'final' Gene event may not be accurate. He also said that contrary to some of the dioramas, Gene is not dead. In the competition room, there are several dioramas (that are just spectacular) that depict a funeral for Gene and the people in mourning. In one diorama, Trent is shown dejected and about to shoot himself. These are pretty amazing and amusing as well. Back to Day 2: My day was supposed to begin with a class taught by Denis Bastien but, as some of you may already know, he was denied entry into the US because some nutty border guard demanded that Mr. Bastien produce a work visa which he did not have. He did not need one as he was putting on a demonstration and as far as I know, he was not being paid for his participation but I don't really know all the facts. On the surface, it appears that the border guard had a stick up his ass and demanded things that were above and beyond reasonable. Denis was threatened with a 5-year entry ban if he attempted to cross the border into the US in the next few days. Unbelievable. I spent part of the morning doing more shopping in the vendors' salesroom. The line for the official store was ridiculous so I never made it in there. At 11:30 the doors of the dining room opened for lunch. The centerpiece was a Madra entitled "Love, Madra." Mel told the story about how Madra came to be called Madra and why a female character was added to the line before a male character. We got the second part of our big giftset and were all given an Ivy doll as well! The "Fashion Sleuth" has provided this image of the original Dior designer fashion: After lunch, I attended two workshops. The first was with Alain Tremblay who demonstrated a unique flocking technique using positive/negative electrical current to cause flocking fibers to stand up straight on a glued surface. The results are so much more attractive than shaking powder flock onto a glued surface. We got a Trent doll who had been previously flocked by Alain. Some of us had him apply beards and mustaches to our dolls. It was a fun group of chattering, joking collectors. I am very pleased with my Trent!

My next class was called Taming Her Do. We had the option to purchase a Madra head which had a beautiful mane of black hair.

The Before View of Madra

My doll came out looking like a cross between Princess Leia and Pippi Longstocking. Luckily for you, I did not take an after picture. When I got home, I had the last laugh and took out the pins and bands and rinsed out the gel. Much better.

Several of my tablemates and I went to the famed Jim's Steaks on South Street in the Waterfront District.

If you ask me, it was kind of a dive and although the food was decent, I didn't see the thrill. The rest of South Street was pretty seedy but we had fun - especially in Condom Kingdom. No description is necessary. We walked to and visited Happily Ever After and stopped in to chat with Ed for a while. We arrived back at the hotel at about 7:30. All I wanted to do was go to bed but not wishing to miss anything, I showered and changed and went down to the cocktail party. Some guests were really into the entire thing with their period fashions and poses but the ballroom was dark, very noisy and not my scene. I stayed in the surrounding area with a bunch of people and had fun. I am falling asleep as I write so I'd better end here.