How to Avoid Being Scammed

 The infamous scammer from one of the islands southeast of Florida surfaced again on the Show & Sell pages last week. He almost got away with his game. This person posts very desirable dolls and very fair prices which is, in itself, a giveaway. There are always those who will jump on great deals even when they scream "too good to be true." Luckily the gal who sent him money was warned - almost too late - and got a refund from Paypal. Whew! Close one. I'm sure he's not finished. Neither are the others. They're out there. They change names, lie about references and keep coming back!

If you are the buyer:

1. Ask for at least 3 recent, checkable references and then contact the references and ask them for information about the transaction to make sure that the seller isn't making it all up.

2. If the seller won't answer you or gets pissy, RUN and tell the rest of us what happened.

3. Ask the seller to take a picture (or pictures) of the item with a piece of paper that has his/her name printed clearly with the date. Scammers will not hesitate to sell stuff they don't have and will also steal pictures of merchandise that doesn't belong to them. (They do that even when they have the stuff to sell because they are too lazy to take their own photos.)

4. Do not pay with a money order, cash, personal check or non-credit Paypal unless you are absolutely positive you know with whom you are dealing. You have no recourse at all if the transaction goes wrong when paying thus.

5. Post questions asking for references on the doll boards. Contact those who respond. 

6. If the seller balks at any question, that is your red flag. If the transaction makes you uncomfortable, you can live without the doll and you can certainly live without losing your money.

If you are the seller you can be scammed, too, if you're not careful.

1. Insure everything you ship if you don't know the buyer well.

2. It's not a bad idea to get eBay references for buyers. Look at the feedback they leave. Some are never happy with anything.

3. Don't ship overseas without tracking and insurance unless you know the buyer and they are willing to pay you via the Personal tab on Paypal. (I do not endorse this method as it is illegal to circumvent Paypal fees. That's my public opinion.)

4. Do not accept any type of payment that makes you uncomfortable.

5. If you list Buy it Now items, make sure you require immediate payment. Otherwise, those without money to pay will just be stopping your auction by bidding.

6. NEVER ship before you have cash in hand.

7. If you are asked to ship to an address other than that of the person paying, you may be scammed. They finagle getting dolls by having sellers send a doll to someone who sends them money and then they claim they didn't get the doll and on and on. An exception to this is if you won't ship overseas and the buyer asks you to ship to their shipping buddy. Get that person's email address and confirm in writing who they are and what they intend to do. You have to hope they are not in cahoots. You can avoid this by learning how to ship overseas.

If you can think of anything to add to this list, feel free to post it in the comments section. I will put this post in the sidebar in a few days for reference in the future.

Modern Doll Convention Souvenirs @ Tonner Direct

Party of the Year ANDY 2011 Modern Doll Exclusive LE 50

 I don't understand why this character was created to look 12 years old. I know the back story, but he looks like a cute adolescent boy.


Tonner Direct is selling him for $159.99 but you can get him for only $150. directly from the MDCC. Didn't anyone buy him at the convention? I don't know if the free shipping on new Tonner products applies to these dolls. It might be worth it to find out and then compare prices.

Party of the Year FRANKIE 2011 Modern  Doll Exclusive LE 125

She's $159.99 at Tonner Direct and $150. from MDCC. You can buy the set from MDCC for $275, a savings of $44.98 off Tonner Direct's price of $319.98 for both dolls.

I have to admit that I will be very wary of buying any centerpiece dolls at the upcoming Halloween Convention. Why? If I had waited to purchase the Ellowyne luncheon dolls, I could have saved money by ordering them when they were posted just 4 days after the event. Ugh.

Convention and event dolls are supposed to be special, a little harder to get and somewhat costlier if you haven't attended. If only they waited two or three weeks it would have preserved a little of the exclusivity of the dolls. I wound up selling one of my purchases for less than I paid! That never happened to me before with a convention doll.

Party All Night ANDY, a UFDC Exclusive, is available for $149.99. I love his outfit.

From the same UFDC event and for the same price, Party All Night JON, is offered. Her outfit looks like something designed for Ellowyne. I see Jon as more sophisticated.

UFDC = United Federation of Doll Clubs
MDCC=Modern Doll Collectors Convention

Sale Alert: Theatre Da La Mode, NOIR #9

Tonner Doll Co., Theatre Da La Mode, NOIR #99
If you hesitated to purchase this doll because of her high price, original retail $240.99, you can buy her now for $169.99.  I should have waited as I paid $210 for mine. I was so excited that Robert continued the TDLM series, I had to pre-order. Never again. Famous last words.

Angelic Dreamz is having a sale on in stock Tonner items. Click on the photo to go to AD.

New Evangeline Ghastly: Dandy of Death

I don't understand the name but I've seen this doll in person and she's gorgeous. The ensemble is definitely collector-worthy and if I were still collecting EG, I'd get it.
The price for this vinyl doll raises by $15. the usual dressed vinyl EG price to $190.  Ouch.

 The description:
 It's our newest vinyl Evangeline with inset blue eyes,* applied lashes, and a changeable platinum wig. She's approximately 17" tall and completely ball jointed, with delicate hand painted features.  She comes dressed in a bodysuit, golden cravat and trim, lined brocade vest with golden buttons, pants, velvet jacket with ribbon ties, hat, pantyhose, and faux suede boots with laces and silver grommets.  The most fitting of looks for a day at the office, a picnic by the moors, or just writing in her diary.  LE 350 

The eyes on these vinyl dolls cannot be changed although there is one person I know of who can do it but it involves head surgery.
Stands should be included at these prices. It's not like she can stand on her own. Goodness knows she can barely sit properly. I've mentioned previously that the inability of EG's joints to move well into poses is the reason I will not buy them any longer. They look cool - like Barbies look in their boxes - but I play with my dolls and I need dolls that can pose and hold poses.

I predict that she will sell out as she is quite different from prior releases, she's wigged and the fashion is very cool. I hope she's not stained under all that black fabric!


BTW Shipping is free until October 8 for purchases totaling $75. or more. Use the code SMILE15. Wilde Imagination ships worldwide. Yay them!

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This 90 Million Dollar skull was created by the notorious artist Damien Hirst. This one-of-a-kind piece of art is titled “For the Love of God” and is the most costly piece of contemporary art ever made. This piece is encrusted with over 8,601 diamonds and has a total of 1,106.18 carats. It weighs 63 pounds and is made from a real skull and teeth. Damien is not planning to sell this piece of art and created it with his own money. Now all he has to do is stick this skull on top of a cane and become the ultimate Puff Daddy. -Trifter

Monaco Royale Fauxnessa

My W Club dolls arrived yesterday and looked exactly like their promotional photos. I never liked her face or hair but I wanted the outfit so I ordered her.

The gown is very well constructed and the fit is perfect. I did remove it to press the train. The shoes are fiddly and don't stay on well during the course of posing and handling. I tried to get the necklace on using jewelers pliers and I just ran out of patience so I took off her head to make it easier, though it was not necessary.

The 3 bracelets are ordinary and will need the hand removed to go on. Sadly, my doll's hands kept falling out. There is a way to fix that by putting a small piece of plumbers white tape on the threads of the hand prong. That is much better than gluing them on.

After working with this doll, I decided not to keep the outfit. The train just doesn't work for me. I would have loved a gown made totally from the beaded fabric. A long slim gown with a slit up the back or an inverted pleat using the charmeuse as an insert. I think the wrapped fabric's placement is awkward. It's lovely fabric and I'd like to see it used elsewhere.

Every Monaco Royale head I've seen has a different-looking hairstyle. The two dolls I got were different from each other. I sincerely hope they NEVER use this hairstyle ever again. Anyone with such a high hairline would absolutely wear some type of bang or have their hair covering part of the forehead.

When I redressed her a different doll emerged.

 

Black is definitely her color. She is wearing the blouse and pants from the Bergdorf Goodman Fashion Night Out doll. They fit wonderfully well. Actually, I like the fit of the blouse on her full-busted body better than on the FR2 doll's body. I love the double collar and keeping the top hook open allows the collar to be turned up to frame her face nicely. It's a great outfit without the puffy sweatshirt.

Barbie Wears Jason Wu

The lace trimmed $1200 sweatshirt was just hanging around my studio when a naked Model No. 4 Basic Barbie came along and decided to try it on. It looks great on her. Don'tcha think?
She's wearing her own jeans & rubbery boots. Glasses are FR. The sweatshirt needs to be ironed to remove the impressions the packaging made across the waist area where it was tied into the box.

I'd been trying to sell my NRFB Life on the Runway Fashion Royalty set for about a year. There were no takers. The Frank Sinatra Barbie came along and now it's hers.

Yes, the shoes fit. She can wear her own black and white checked pants with this outfit. It's perfect!
No matter how many times IT changes the body sizes, there are dolls that can wear the fashions that have been produced for FR the past 10 years.

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Obviously I've indulged a passing weakness for cheap, instant gratification type dolls.  With the Angelica Doll, the sculpt is cute but the fashion is low quality. The blouse may be useful in other outfits but the rest has to go. I had to wash some glue out of her hair and trim it. It wasn't easy to get it tamed. The same thing happened with the Sinatra Barbie.

I detest deboxing Barbie vinyls. It's dangerous. One runs the risk of wrist slitting and finger slicing. In this doll's case, I accidentally snipped a piece out of her pants while trying to get the body armor off.