A Brief Coverage of MetroDolls' 2019 "Savoy Affair" Luncheon Event

 Congratulations to the members of MetroDolls. Another one of their successful events took place on November 10, 2019 at the Oyster Point Hotel in Red Bank New Jersey. This was a new venue for their luncheons and I hope they continue to use it. The food was quite good as was the service. The room had one entire wall of windows looking out over the Navesink River.
One could go out onto a balcony for a better look. I took these photos through the glass.

We received a few goodies at registration including the lovely "Ship Savoy" fashion.

These program pages give a complete overview of the events.

We entered the ballroom at 10 AM and were greeted by a beautiful sight - tons of dolls and dolly goodness. I probably took about 300 pictures of the helper raffles, sales tables, fashion exhibits, auctions and table dolls. This was punctuated by meeting and greeting doll friends, getting hugs and kisses and making oooh and aaaah sounds. The noise level was intense as it always is when collectors get together. We have a lot to say! Most of us see each other once or twice a year. Some of us see each other more often. It's really a big family.

Many talented and generous artists donated creations for the auctions. These photos are from the open auction.  They are not necessarily presented in order. I had to borrow 4 photos from MetroDolls as some items did not make it into my shots.

The bidding for Robert's OOAK was wild. The price kept going back and forth between 2 and 3 people. It was so much fun. Congratulations are in order for all the auctions especially for the collaborative effort of Tom and Laurie on the Modsdoll. That fashion was extraordinary.

A copy of the list with the final prices the items sold for:

 

There was also a blind auction.

Raffles aka Helpers

There was an outstanding variety and number of items. Click any photo to enlarge.

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Robert Tonner was the first featured speaker. He talked about what he is doing now regarding designing. He is always fun to listen to. I have no idea about the computer programs he uses and I don't think I ever will.

No one noticed the misspelled word, happened on the slide. 

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Joshua McKenney was the other featured speaker. He talked about his path and getting to where he is right now in his doll art and photography. Joshua discussed the evolution of the Pidgin Doll, even explaining how he came to choose the name. 

In addition to the two gorgeous centerpieces,

Bleu as Dark Star

Silver Star

and his auction contribution of Chibi (see above under auctions,) he had a display of a new line which will debut soon. They are 1/6 scale Pidgin Doll Petite. These are prototypes but he was taking orders for one of them. You can find out more by going to

https://www.instagram.com/jdavidmckenney/?hl=en

Instagram has wonderful photographs of the dolls.

Packing up the centerpieces for the new owners.

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Random Photos of Stuff and People

Marcia Friend; Edward Frances; Bryan Marsee and Me; Sandra Stillwell and Collector (sorry I don't know her name;) Michael Basala; Group - Nancy, Tamara, Monica and Robbin; and Tablemate Rita Goldman enjoying one of her raffle wins.

  

I purchased this poodle handbag from its creator, Robbin Atwell. Another poodle lover took me over to her table to show me her doll's poodle-decorated dress.

Nakia Powell made the paper wigs on these dolls. They're fabulous!

Some vendors' offerings:

Lest I forget - the event souvenir is called "Savoy Affair" Sydney. Obviously, mine is still boxed.

There were so many collectors I wanted to talk to and so many dolls to look at that there wasn't enough time. I had that convention high when we left. 

Two days later and I'm not even done unpacking! 

2019 Integrity Toys Convention: The Gala Event Offerings

The convention ended with the Saturday night banquet at which the winners of two contests were announced. I wish the emails had photos of what the winners actually designed!

Diorama Design Competition:People's Choice: Lani Billitti
Judge's Choice: Kelly Rinaldi

Doll Design Challenge:People's Choice: Sinuhe Guzman
Judge's Choice: Osvaldo Vasquez (aka "Ovaz")

"The winners of the outstanding OOAK dolls designed by the team just for the raffle room were picked and the host city of next year's convention was unveiled- Dallas, Texas!
Finally, special guest Jason Wu joined the hosts on stage to unveil the convention doll, an absolutely stunning Elyse Jolie doll which he designed himself!"

I was thrilled to learn that Ovaz won the design challenge. He's been through a lot this past year but kept working on his designs and creations. He definitely deserved this award.

I thought it was funny that the text emphasized that Jason designed the Elyse by himself.  It cracks me up. We know that Jason is not involved in the designing of the dolls and hasn't been for a long time. However, occasionally his human designs are recreated (more or less) for dolls.
What I've read is that there was a mixed reaction from the crowd upon seeing that the character chosen for the convention souvenir was Elyse. The cry was "again?" Integrity does this. If it sells, they'll make it over and over until collectors have had it up to here. They're doing it with Poppy. They did it with Vanessa.

The centerpiece was Vanessa. I think she is quite pretty. I do not like the gown.

 The Convention Doll Elyse Jolie is beautiful. I love her raven hair and the embroided nearly sheer gown. She'll be coming to join my tribe of Elyse's, (yes, another one) this week.

Next year's convention will be held in Dallas, Texas.

For those of you who have asked questions on this blog, please be aware that for some reason Blogger isn't working well enough at this time for my responses to post. I'm looking into fixing that.