My First Chewin Fashion

This year I'm focusing more on fashion than on accumulating more dolls. I recently purchased this fashion from Chewin who is well known not only for his extraordinary sewing skills but also for his wigs.  The model below is Tonner's Yoshio and although I ordered the outfit to fit a Jamieshow doll, it also fits the Matt O'Neill body perfectly!

What you don't see is the finishing on the inside of the garments. Every seam is finished! I love the teensy buttons, the collar that lays properly, the closures that don't show when they're in use. It's extraordinarily realistic. This is miniature tailoring at it's finest. I appreciate that no zipper fly was used as they are always too bulky. I've already ordered another fashion and I can't wait. I'm hooked.
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For anyone who might be interested:
-This photo was taken with a mini iPad under artificial light at night. I altered the color to be less yellow using Photoshop.
-The setting is a small corner of my doll room.
-Yoshio is barefooted because one of his ankles is cracked and I'm afraid I'll break his foot off. I need a new body for him.
-The two dolls seen in the upper left are Tonner characters. One is his 13" Simone Rouge and the other is 13" Artemis of Bana Mighdall. (Redressed.)

Save The Date! Facets Annual BBQ - Sunday September 8, 2013

An invitation to doll collectors from Marcia Friend (Facets.)

Hi all -

Summer's almost here and it's almost time for Facets by Marcia's 11th annual summer doll BBQ!   

I'm inviting area doll collectors (and any traveling ones) to come to my house in Matawan, NJ for a BBQ and doll party on Sunday September 8th starting at noon. 

Matawan is in central NJ, near exit 117a of the Garden State Parkway. It is easily accessible by NJ Transit trains from NYC or Newark.

It will be like the previous BBQ's with lots of people, food, dolls, sales, and more, but there are a few changes, so please read on...

I'll provide all of the food, and there is a cover charge of $13 per person and it must be paid in advance by PayPal (to applefrien@aol.com) or you can send me a check or give me cash if you see me beforehand. If you're going to do PayPal, I'd appreciate your waiting until a week or two before the BBQ so I have less chance of losing track of it :-) If you pay at the door, it is $15 cash - exact change required.

I'll have a sales area set up in my basement - space is on a first come basis and is limited. If you are planning to bring things to sell, please let me know so I can estimate how much space is needed per person and try to get enough shelving/tables to accommodate. If you've been here before, you know the set-up. If you haven't been here before and want to sell, email me for more info. Of course, Facets will be set up for shopping, too :-)

In addition to shopping, we'll have door prizes, the infamous "free table", and lots of dolls to look at.

The "free table" is a table of doll related items that are extras, slightly used, unwanted, etc... It's a good way to get rid of those items that you think someone might want and you don't feel like putting on Ebay. If you have some things you'd like to put in, bring them. However, if no one takes them, you have to take them back or throw them out - they can't stay here! If you want to mail donations, LMK and I'll give you the address. I've already gotten some amazing things mailed to me!

If you want to see what the Free Table is like, check out Paul's video from last year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0z9I8KbCiE&feature=player_embedded

Not exactly but close.

Feel free to bring a doll for display. I don't have a theme - bring a favorite, a new acquisition, something you want to show off, whatever.

Contributions to the door prizes are appreciated.

If you need a place to stay in this area, I recommend the Woodbridge Hilton. It's about 20 minutes north of here and is more reasonably priced and nicer than the few hotels in the immediate area. If you are looking for travel mates or roommates, LMK and I'll try to help.

I hope you can make it to the party - it's a day of great fun, great dolls and great people :-) Email me to RSVP or ask questions. When you email me, I would appreciate it if you could put "BBQ" somewhere in the subject so I can sort out those emails.

Marcia

www.facetsbymarcia.com

P.S. If you know someone who might like to come to the BBQ and that hasn't gotten an invitation, please let me know and I'll invite them.

Numina Devon Auction Announcement

Paul Pham, artist and creator of the Numina Doll, announced the following today:

Shade and Shadow, 2 OOAK pale Devon dolls will be auctioned off at www.thedollpage.com   

June 24-26 and June 28-30.

My utter Thanks to Rae and Steve for hosting these auctions, for their kindness, hard work, and fantastic attention to detail in creating the auction site and in every aspect of the doll community.

To register to bid, there will be registration buttons added throughout thedollpage.com site that will require the completion of a short application form.  Complete details for registration, explanation on bidding, and links to the auction pages will be at www.thedollpage.com by Sunday June 23, 2013.

"Shadow" auction will be held Monday, June 24 at 11:00 am EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) and ends on June 26 at 23:00 EDT.

"Shade" auction will be held Friday, June 28 at 11:00 am EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) and ends on June 30 at 23:00 EDT.

Resin BJD Nudes in Comparison by Liane Laughlin

The following photos and text are by Liane Laughlin who has granted permission to reproduce it here.

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Since so many have had questions about the differences between all the various resin fashion dolls, I decided to get my dolls naked for an in-depth comparison. I love each and every one of these brands for different reasons, so I have no hidden agenda. Below is a link to my FBJD Comparison Set on Flickr. I compared Ficon Denimish, JamieShow Angelina, DeMuse Doll Papillon, Deva Doll Nantha, Inamorata Inro, Numina Devon and Sybarite Dionysis. I have a Tonner resin doll around here somewhere too, but did not include her. Seems like there has been plenty of pictures of the Tonner anyways. I don't own a ModsDoll (yet). For holding a pose, the Sybarite won hands down. Others can get into the same positions as the Sybarite, but can't hold the exact same pose without support like the Syb can.

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-See the original Prego post HERE
-See the Prego UPDATED POST HERE
-See Liane's Flickr photostream HERE

Which doll do you think has the most attractive body? Please keep your comments either positive or constructive as the individual artists may be reading this.

Cherub and Seraph Teaser

Emilia Nieminen, designer of the Inamorata dolls, released this news today:

Here is a long awaited teaser for LE20 Nnaji dolls Cherub and Seraph. Seraph is a premium lingerie doll with PattaArt hard cap wig and her face up is based on a prototype doll featured in Haute Doll article that launched the Inamorata line. Cherub is a basic lingerie doll with flock hair. Cherub will be out first and will be released together with a loose LE30 gown called Vertebrata. Seraph will follow with a LE30 loose casual fashion called Röntgen. Can't give you the exact release date yet, but I have the dolls at hand now. It will take me a while to flock all the Cherubs and do the touch ups of each dolls make up and a general quality check. The fashions and wigs should arrive within a week or two. My website is being updated so don't panic if you can't access it right now. You don't miss the dolls. I will keep you updated and there will be more teasers soon!

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?