#tonnercon

The Tonner Convention began today. I'll be following along as each event is being photographed and videotaped thoroughly and posted on the Tonner Direct Facebook page.
You can join the fun virtually by checking this link often to see the pictures of the people and the dolls.

Click on the photo:

Robert serving drinks at "I want candy" con opener!

Photo above has been snatched from the TD FB page.

Italian Doll Convention 2013

This is the logo for the upcoming Third Italian Doll Convention. The dates are May 25-26, 2013 in Milan.

There will be a Monster High Event! Can you read Italian?

There will be a huge salesroom with the likes of Magia2000, Fashion Doll Agency, Ruffino Francesco, Inika for Blythe, Laurence Bellet and many, many others.

The popular Fashion Show takes place at the Gala Dinner. Guests are invited to participate by wearing their favorite Barbie or Ken outfit and to bring the doll along with them onto the red carpet.  The theme is IDC Goes Musical which should give participants a direction for their choices. I would love to see that!

Possibly the most important aspect of this event is the money for charity which will be raised. This year they have chosen Casa Oz.  www.casaoz.org

Charitable donations of magnificent dolls and in two cases, handmade wigs, have been posted on eBay for auction.

My favorite is from Superdoll. It is a OOAK Sybarite doll called "Gladrama." If I know Sybarite collectors, the sky's the limit as to how high the winning bid for this doll will be.

I like the Fashion Doll Agency "Sophia."  She comes with the complete fashion collection from the Noir line.

There are 16 items for auction. Click here to see them all. Will you be bidding?

Mama Jo's House of Dolls "The Doll Dilemma"

From the NY Times, here is an article that the majority of us can probably identify with in some form.  This is worth reading and the short video posted at the end of the article is very interesting to watch.

The 700-Doll Question

By JO MAEDER

Published in the New York Times on May 8, 2013

Ten years ago, when my mother was in the throes of dementia, I left New York, bought a home in North Carolina near my brother, and moved her in with me.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/05/09/booming/201305009-DOMESTIC.html?ref=booming

Mama Jo, as she was known, was a hoarder who had been living in Virginia with a collection of more than 700 dolls that she referred to as her “little people.” So I turned the largest space in the house into the doll room: 400 square feet of floor-to-ceiling dolls that rendered most visitors speechless.

After she died, a friend assured me that I’d get through the process of “liberating” those little people the same way I got through my mother’s harrowing decline.

“With a lot of praying?” I asked.

“No,” she replied. “With a lot of Ativan.”

As a child, I went from dolls to ponies to boys. By the time I was an adult, I thought the dolls were creepy. But when Mama Jo died in 2006, I had become fond of them again. Still, I wasn’t what you might call a C.D.L., or Crazy Doll Lady.

When a dealer offered me $35,000 for the collection, I turned it down and dismissed the idea that there was anything wrong with me. I needed to keep the dolls on hand while I wrote a memoir about my care giving adventure. Then my editor thought they might be useful in promoting the book, and when it was optioned to be a movie, the producer loved them. Unfortunately, the option vanished. But a new agent suggested I keep the dolls to promote the paperback. There was always a rational reason.

Or not so rational. Mama Jo and I had been estranged for more than 30 years. It wasn’t until I became her full-time caregiver that we fell madly in love. The doll room was a shrine to her, the dolls an extension of her. And I wasn’t ready to let her go.

Before she died, I videotaped her talking about her collection. “How do you feel about the dolls now?” I asked her.

She beamed. “I hope they all stay together,” she said.

Add that to the list of reasons to keep them.

Six years after her death, they were still with me, and I was still in North Carolina.

I had made countless trips to New York, staying several months at a time. I helped a beloved elderly aunt who lived there, saw good friends and hoped that a new love or job would appear to keep me there permanently. Back “home,” I felt like an interloping Yankee, and yet, unexpectedly, I discovered I was growing as attached to the South as I had to the dolls.

I couldn’t seem to make a decision about anything. And when I did, I immediately regretted it and blamed the dolls (a k a “the damn dolls”). Everything would be fine if I could move back to New York, I told myself. But how do you sell a house with a room that resembles the set of a horror movie?

“They’re holding me hostage!” I complained to anyone who would listen.

The doll collection spanned four generations of my family.

One of the dolls, a Ludwig Greiner, was made before the Civil War. There were antique bisque dolls and modern plastic ones, in various colors and nationalities. They ranged in size from one-inch Frozen Charlies to three-foot-tall Playpals.

My plan was to hold onto the ones that had been made and costumed by gifted family members. I would keep a few that were made of wax (my great-aunt Gladys MacDowell was renowned for them) and cloth (my grandmother had made them during World War II when dolls stopped being produced), and some that had coconuts for heads (made by my great-grandmother).

That seemed reasonable, didn’t it? After all, they were heirlooms. And maybe I’d keep a few more. Could I really let go of Sonny and Cher?

I knew this was a ridiculous thing to agonize about when there was real suffering in the world. But when I mentioned it to others, I often heard echoes of my own dilemma. One man told me that after spending a long time grappling with what to do with the Hummel figurines he inherited from his mother, he had finally decided to display them. Someone else admitted that although she was desperately in need of money to care for her disabled husband, she couldn’t bear to sell her late father’s valuable tool collection. “I built a shed for them,” she told me.

I watched “Antiques Roadshow” and wondered how many people ended up selling their valuable treasures, and how many more couldn’t bring themselves to part with something so special. How many marriages had been strained by the problem I was struggling with? (Sell it. Keep it. Sell it!)

My memoir went out of print as I worked on three other books my agent couldn’t sell. I was living Hemingway’s famous words about going broke two ways, “gradually and then suddenly.” My I.R.A. was evaporating.

And then one day I looked at the dolls and saw $35,000 flashing in bright green neon.

Think again.

Thanks to the recession, dealers and auction houses were no longer scooping up collections the way they had before. Not only that, but people tend to buy the toys of their youth in their 30s, 40s and 50s, and Mama Jo’s dolls, I was told, were “aging out.” Our local doll museum, like others across the country, was on the verge of collapse.

One doll lover came for a look. “Honey, you should have taken that money,” he said. “You were standing on the edge of the ledge of the canyon.” He made a karate-chopping motion in the air with his hand.

I prayed. I saw a therapist. I consulted an astrologer. Finally, after a shamanic healing, I became unstuck. Maybe I was just ready to let go of my grief.

My first step on the road to recovery was to have the entire collection photographed. The dolls will stay together forever, Mama Jo — in four photo albums.

I opened a shop (really more of an adoption service) on the collectibles site Ruby Lane and began listing the dolls one at a time. It was far more involved and emotional than I anticipated, but it also infused my life with a certain girly fun I hadn’t known was missing.

The dolls are now scattered across the globe, from Russia to New Zealand. I’ve made a few bucks, but I am far richer for the new friendships I have formed. My brother has been selling some of the dolls on eBay, and we’ve grown closer too.

And Mama Jo’s House of Dolls has its own Facebook page, where new “moms” post photos. So the dolls are staying together virtually.

A year after my shamanic encounter, I’m too busy for long visits to Manhattan, much less to consider moving or to be confused. I have reissued my memoir under my own imprint, and suddenly it’s a Kindle best seller. More books are on the way. My I.R.A. is growing again.

Once I’m free of most of the dolls, I hope a real person will take their place. One I can talk to, who won’t just stare back at me.

But most surprising, I’ve joined the local doll club. I tell myself that would make Mama Jo even happier than if I had kept the dolls together.

I had no idea how much more I would come to love her and learn from her after she was gone. And for that I have the dolls to thank. 

Jo Maeder is the author of “When I Married My Mother” and “Opposites Attack.”


 The Doll Dilemma - Video:

DollObservers.Com Interviews Me

The owner of DollObservers.com, Simon Farnsworth, interviewed me and the results were published today. Here is the interview:

Interview With a Fashion Doll Lover: Terri Gold, Blogger Extraordinaire

For most of you, our latest member to be featured in an interview needs little introduction. For Terri is possibly one of the most prolific and well known fashion doll bloggers on the Internet, with her blog Collecting Fashion Dolls by Terri Gold. I'm sure all of us at one time have read one of Teri's insightful reviews or been in adoration over her stunning photography. So it was a special treat to see that Terri become a DollObservers member and even start a group dedicated to her blogging pursuits.
Recently Terri also kindly agreed to an interview, giving us a real insight into her creative process, collection and life in general. I hope you enjoy it!


DollObservers: What made you join Doll Observers?
TG: I had seen it on Facebook and I think a specific doll was featured that interested me.

DollObservers: When did you start collecting/playing dolls?
TG: I began playing with dolls as a child. My first dolls were Toni, Little Miss Revlon and Ginny. By the time Barbie hit the scene I was outgrowing dolls and I never got involved with them. Many, many years passed during which I did not play with or collect dolls but I never got tired of little things. I built scale model furniture and created rooms - which I still have - although some of my dolls have now stolen items from those miniature rooms.
My first experience with a Barbie doll ended badly. She was a skier. (Ski Fun Barbie?) My young son got a hold of her and brushed her hair. She looked awful after that and I threw her away.
One Halloween weekend a bunch of years ago, my husband and I were in Manhattan for a photography convention at the Javits Center. While wandering around Toys-R-Us in Times Square and I saw the Bratz dolls. I don’t know why they appealed to me so much. I started collecting them. I discovered a Bratz group on Yahoo. From there I found other doll groups and doll boards, one of which led me to the Tonner Doll Company. The wild coincidence is that I lived only 11 miles from Tonner’s offices. I went to what they called a Trunk Sale and bought my first Tyler dolls. I had already been buying Tiny Kitty dolls. The doll doctor, Noreen, predicted that there would be no going back. Who knew she was right?

DollObservers: The dolls in my collection:
TG: The most numerous dolls in my collection are from the Tonner Doll Company. I have a very large collection of Tiny Kitty dolls, their furniture, cases and props. My other Tonner dolls are the 16-inch Tyler types and Antoinette dolls. I love Tonner’s fashions and often buy back items that I sold years ago. I can gaze at my showcases every day and not get tired of the dolls inside. The next largest group of dolls are those manufactured by Integrity Toys. I had at least 100 of them at one time but in the last three years, I’ve whittled them down to my very favorites.
I got into Gene for a while and currently have a nice selection.
I love props and the Tonner Doll Company and Ashton Drake have made wonderful furniture for the 16 inch dolls. It takes up a lot of room but it’s worth it.
 I have a lovely collection of Silkstones and Madame Alexander Cissettes. The Monster High populates a big shelf and there are several boxed vinyl Barbies. I have a few big Cissy dolls and a collection of Somers and Fields Daisy and Willow dolls.
Rounding out the collection are my resin BJDs. They range in size from 4.5 inches to 17 inches and are from different manufacturers namely Soom, Fairyland, Jamieshow, Ficon and Superdoll.

DollObservers: You write an incredibly successful fashion doll blog. What made you start the blog and what is it that you most enjoy about owning a blog?
TG: I just looked back at my first post, which was 10/20/06. It shows two pictures of the first re-root I ever did and was written during the Fashion Royalty convention, which was held in Baltimore. I suppose I needed to connect to the doll world in a more complex way than just being involved on doll boards.
Two years later I moved the blog from Yahoo to Google Blogger so there are two dates on those early posts. Approximately a year ago, I changed photo servers and many of the images on the blog are blank. Other than the work involved in ‘housekeeping’ a blog I like being able to do research and give background information on dolls. For a few years I did a popular weekly “Photo of the Week Award” in which I featured a great picture and the collector who created it.
One of the best things about writing a blog is the people who write to me - usually off the blog - about all sorts of issues. It’s amazing who’s out there and the feedback I get is really great. I love it. According to many people I am the only blogger who is willing to tell the truth about certain products. This has also created a group of haters. Do you know what they say about how to start an argument? Post an opinion.
Having written for so many years has created a wonderful diary. I do recommend it.

DollObservers:  Any tips for members who might want to start their own blog?
TG: Make it personal but create boundaries; it is the Internet and your personal family issues, economic situation and very personal problems do not belong in a blog.
Put yourself into the blog with your opinions and feelings. Give people a reason to keep coming back. Develop a style uniquely yours. Be a reporter and develop a certain distancing diplomacy because if you are honest and post opinions the haters will come out of the woodwork. Don’t slander people and don’t break the law. Post great photos and edit your own to show only one or two of the same doll. It is unnecessary to post 10 pictures of the same doll in slightly different posts. Pick the best and store the rest.

DollObservers: Your doll photography is phenomenal. What top tip do you have for budding doll photographers?

TG: Read your camera manual. Put your camera on a tripod if your pictures are out of focus. Comb your dolls’ hair. Simplify the settings. There are many how-to pages on the Internet. Read a few.

What does your family make of your love of dolls?
TG: My husband is very supportive. He attends conventions and other doll events with me. The young children in my family love the dolls. The rest don’t care. The only questions I’ve ever been asked by a family member is, “How many dolls do you have?”

DollObservers: Other than playing with dolls what else do you do to relax?
TG: Yoga, gardening, reading, cooking and TV. We’re a few months into a new home so there is a load of stuff to do. It’s not exactly relaxing but it’s necessary.

DollObservers: Lastly how would you describe yourself in 3 words?
TG: Irreverent, hungry and fun-loving.

Terri and Robert Tonner at IDEX 2013

Integrity Toys' "Mommie Dearest" Gift Set Debuts

Well, I wasn't going to do a review of this item for a variety of reasons but reading the interesting comments on the doll boards and reproducing them here was just irresistible. Heads may roll.

"Mommie Dearest" Gift Set is being produced in a surprisingly large edition of 800.  The price is $150.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mommie Dearest is a memoir and exposé written by Christina Crawford, the adopted daughter of actress Joan Crawford. The book, which depicts Christina's childhood and her relationship with her mother, was published in 1978.
In the book, Christina Crawford claims that she was a victim of child abuse during her mother's battle with alcoholism and that her mother was more concerned about her motion picture career than the well-being of her four children, suggesting she may have adopted them for publicity purposes. She also suggests that Joan had a long list of affairs with men whom Christina was required to call "Uncle" and rarely "Daddy", and claims Joan also had many affairs with women.
Christina recounts several evenings where Joan's behavior was unbalanced, and at least one encounter with her mother where Crawford attempted to strangle her. In another, Joan reportedly discovered Christina's clothes hanging in a closet on wire hangers, instead of higher-quality padded hangers, and launched into a violent tirade on the subject.

In  Mommie Dearest, Faye Dunaway plays a chilling role as Joan Crawford. I can barely watch the hanger scene without cringing. It's terrifying.  The outfits are the outfits that are reproduced in the gift set. 

The woman portrayed in the movie was a raging, obsessive-compulsive, alcoholic, abusive, egocentric person. The doll is a sweet, pleasant faced thing. 

With this doll, IT introduces their "Quick Switch" system:

...a new, ultra-convenient neck post that will allow collectors to switch between head sculpts without the need to pre-heat the vinyl first! Simply pull, switch and click on a new head for a dramatic new look!

 They note, however: 

The QUICK SWITCH system will work best at room temperature or slightly higher. If you live in a colder climate, please wait until your doll has reached room temperature or slightly higher before attempting to switch heads.

How do you make something higher than room temperature without heating it?

____________________________________________________

Here are a bunch of positive and negative comments made by collectors. The negative outweighs the positive by far but some of the remarks are hilarious. (I highlighted my favorites in purple.) 

-the doll doesn't really look like Joan Crawford, either with blond hair or darker hair. She doesn't look like Faye Dunaway playing her either.

-the doll just doesn't seem right, its a bit off and I cant put my finger on it, perhaps its the face

-the extra head and the hanger is a riot.

-Not one single thing about her thrilled me - can't believe I'm saying it - but I'm going to pass as well. I didn't like her clothes, her shoes, her hair, the additional crazy head...nothing.

-I will pass on her too. Not buying any old movie thingies any more. I don't relate at all and worse, don't want to.  

-love the new neck system

-wish it came with the can of Ajax and a Brillo pad

-I have no interest in the extra head, (the whole "Mommie Dearest" thing does nothing for me)

-LOVE Joan Crawford! Both the real actress and the character Faye Dunaway played.

-the whited faced face is actually the prettiest of the two

-Recently we got footspeak, we now have Headspeak!

-I guess as great as this series is I also want to recognize the characters. I want to see Joan with her iconic lips, why are they not there?

-I  like the headless swap idea

-I am amused by the two heads, and actually prefer the head with the beauty mask, but still not buying her. I was surprised at the edition size of 800 dolls.

-if only her second face wasn't this white.  

-I think I like her...but then the dolls don't capture the drama of the character.

-Interesting doll, but not my taste. Don't think she looks anything like Joan or Faye.  

-it was Bon Ami powder...I will only clean my bathroom with it!! 

-I will have to be with the "this doll is not for me at this time" camp. I was so excited about Sunset Boulevard and was completely let down. Although I can't wait to get my hands on the new "neck knob" mechanism in a body, the BOD/Victoire body is my least favorite and I have enough black suits already. The one thing about IT is that something else is "right around the corner".  

-I am THRILLED with this set!  It's a dream come true!  I'm hoping the production doll doesn't disappoint me like the Sunset Blvd doll did... I ordered 2 sets so I can fully display both outfits and heads...

-I LOVE this doll! I love the movie Mommy Dearest -- unfortunately, I was raised by a woman just like this character. 

-All I really want are the nude doll and yes, the white face head! Maybe she's recreating an Al Jolson movie -- Mammy Dearest?  

-I'm waiting for a 'Mrs. Bates' gift set (dead and alive heads, a butcher knife, a little blood stained shower curtain and a gray wig) with a skinny Homme as 'NORMANNNN'...

-Love the Quick Switch head - yabadabadoo!!

-this doll should have been older OR in a scene from a younger years.

-I like the idea of interchangeable heads, though I have to say, the promo pic with the two of them looks creepy.LOL
-Went to You tube and watched some clips from the film... Gosh! It's awful, these wire hangers... Sorry, but this doll is a definite pass for me. 

-NO MORE HEATING PADS!!!

-... So long as the new neck fits the previous/current heads. Plus I'd like to know what's up inside the new heads that can clip on. Will there be a new obstruction that will make rerooting a problem?
As to the doll. I love this head sculpt, but there are better choices this year for her. Plus I'm not into black outfits anymore. I have too many already, and I no longer display them. They look like shadows in my doll collection.
I'd prefer that IT committed to the Joan Crawford makeup on this face.
I'll be passing on her too.   

- While I enjoy the movie as a camp classic, I don't have any interest in this doll not even for the head swap feature (Yes I'm going against the grain). I don't rebody my dolls unless it's a necessity...

-I´m a big fan of Faye, and believe me this doll is neither Joan nor Faye. If she would be I would buy her twice!
-She is pretty and I have to thank Integrity to realize a doll with character and a story which is not the typically "Doris Day" -Mr clean Image!
-I´m a big fan of Faye, and belive me this doll is neither Joan nor Faye. If she would be I would buy her twice!
She is pretty and I have to thank integrity to realize a doll with character and a story which is not the typically "Doris Day" - Mr. Clean Image! I think some dolls are, like eating to much sugary cake. Too much of Barbie-ish smile can cause sickness...I think this Joan doll will be like half bitter chocolate! 

-What will we see next? I'm hoping for "boobswap." I can't keep track of all the bodies and I'd love an adjustable bust so ALL fashions fit. Something inflatable/deflatable. Come to think about it, I'd like that for me, too! 

- Great to have on display as a conversation piece, but that's not really what my doll collecting is about. 

-It might be a little funny but it is uber-tacky in my opinion.

-I think it is inappropriate and done in poor taste.

-She doesn't look anything like Crawford; more like Vera Miles... Tonner's Joan was spot on.

-Sorry to be negative, but she looks just like any other Integrity doll.

-So campy! I don't think it is meant to be taken seriously, it's fabulous!    

-The movie was bad enough...the doll is even worse. The fact that they chose...where she beats the heck out of Christina is just plain wrong. 

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The 'hardcore" Integrity Toy's fans usually praise every product that is introduced.  They went beserk over the Jem doll and now pretty much every single other doll in that line is languishing in the dealers' stock.  Who is going to buy 800 of these unusual gift sets now that it appears that the reception is rather cool?  If you are among the fans of this gift set and wish to order one, click here here for the list of IT dealers who may be selling it.

 

Cocktail Dress and Mermaid Gown Barbie Dolls

Cocktail Dress Barbie

 Can you see that her head is a different color than her body? It's slightly tanned.  I'm going to have to contact them.  I wonder if this is what everyone got. Otherwise, she is as expected. Mattel is very good with pony tails and CD is no exception. The dress is pretty. The fabric under the black lace is the same as that used in the Nolan Miller Sheer Illusion gown under the lace.

 __________________________________

Mermaid Gown Barbie

 Mermaid's gown is beautiful and her hair is pretty much exactly the same as the promo-I think I was a little surprised. However, for the price, earrings could have been included.

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I have a few shelves displaying lovely Silkstones and I like looking at them but I think it's time to stop.  They don't evolve they just get more expensive.