6/21/2012

Last Doll Standing

All my dolls are packed. Sigh. These were the last three:


Now they are in their own special boxes waiting for their new home. 


Superdoll Moving Sale Markdown

Want to know where you can get an NRFB Sybarite doll for $315. US? Superdoll is having a moving sale on two of their 2009 basic Sybarites.  I do not have these dolls so I can't give more information than what is listed on their site. These two do not have the latest version body.

Venus BD_06
 Here she is a regimented glistening commander! Dressed in 'reflective blue' and sequinned gold tone corselette with red hose, heels and matching neck corset! Includes, strap on scarlet fake beaver and dollstand. applied glittering nipples and applied eyelashes.
Ivory BD_08

IVORY clone: 0902, BRAND NEW SCULPT sculpt, original skintone!
Here she is a vision in candy pink glitter and gingham! Dressed in 'matte pink' and and light reflective white corselette with pink fishnet hose, heels and neck corset! Includes, strap on toupee in blonde curls, gingham headscarf and dollstand. applied glittering nipples and applied eyelashes.
Images and descriptive text is from the Superdoll website.

Superfrock Ltd

Silkstone Elizabeth Taylor Dolls

Following in the footsteps of the popular Grace Kelly Silkstone dolls, Mattel is going to offer one Elizabeth Taylor giftset and an individual doll. Elizabeth Taylor is the only celebrity Mattel doll I own. Their vinyl ETs are excellent likenesses.

The giftset is called White Diamonds Elizabeth Taylor. It contains two white dresses, one with an AIDS red ribbon, several pieces of jewelry and what appears to be a bottle of White Diamonds perfume.

 Violet Eyes Elizabeth Taylor shows Liz in a sophisticated black ensemble.
 No word on pricing available at this time.



 This is the ET I have.

6/20/2012

How can you not know what dolls you have?

I take back everything I thought about other collectors who announced that they found a doll in their closet they didn't know they had.

In one of my smaller showcases I was using two Tiny Kitty boxes to create a higher level for a row of dolls standing in back of another row of dolls.  This showcase has been outfitted thus for at least a year and maybe more.

I have a lot of Tiny Kitty dolls and the ones I added to my collection in the past 9 months have remained boxed for the pending move. Imagine my surprise when I opened the two boxes and found brand new dolls inside. I have absolutely no recollection of buying them although from my records I see that I bought them at the end of March, 2011. I am surprised at myself that I would use boxes containing NRFB dolls to create a shelf. 

I am almost completely packed as far as the FR dolls go. Less than 10 dolls remain to be packed out of about 90 Fashion Royalty. Then it's the clothing and the accessories. I'm going to pack my Sybarites, too. I have to finish this and move on to the next packing area.

My house is a maze which winds itself through narrow paths of cartons. My living room furniture is all at one end of the room and I have a large folding table set up for operations. My right ring finger is swollen from the wasp sting two days ago. It's 104° outside. And we don't know exactly where we are going to live as we had to terminate the contract of sale on the new house due to serious inspection issues.  But I'm hanging on to a positive outlook. It will all work out for the best. And then I will have to unpack. Hahahahaha.

Does doll collecting cause insanity?



6/19/2012

Packing: Hoarders Lite Episode 2

Well the packing has finally hit the Fashion Royalty dolls. I was holding out until the last minute with these girls because I love looking at them. I decided to pack most of them dressed. There are so many of them that it would be a daunting task to have to redress them when I unpack.
I am obsessively snapping a pic of the dolls in each box before I close it so I have a record of what's what. I did that with my Gene dolls but I did not do it with my 16" Tonners, Tiny Kittys, Silkies, Cissettes or Cissys. It just got too overwhelming. I haven't packed my Sybs yet. They will be last.
There are odd combinations of dolls around these days. I thought that even though this is not a "good" photo, it told a story.
Here is what some of my box pix look like:






 They all get wrapped in tissue paper and taped to the inside of the box in order to keep them from shifting.



 No, I have never redressed this Kyori. She's nearly the most perfect doll ever.



All the above dolls plus a box of Monster High, several plastic divider boxes, a box of 8 headless bodies and two bags of clothing fit into this "Lay down" wardrobe box from U Haul. This is only the beginning.
I plan to photograph the cartons of my packed dolls, if possible, before they go on the truck.

6/16/2012

Personal Update

My husband has named the packing experience "Hoarders Light." He's not kidding. It's not surprising that this underscores what I have known for a while. I have been completely immersed in the doll world to the exclusion of the rest of my life for the past 7 or so years. Packing the dolls is the easy part - except for the props. The furniture for the 16" dolls is a nightmare to pack except for the items whose original boxes I saved.
The real problems are dealing with the equipment and tools from the arts I've been involved in for the last 25 years - outside of the doll world - darkroom photography, painting, woodworking, miniaturing, jewelry making, enameling, faux finishing, sewing, embroidery, casting...you wouldn't believe it.  I should have been trying to sell this equipment but I didn't and it's all nicely packed up waiting to come along to the next location. OMG.
Craig's list is going to be very familiar with me soon, I hope. Or will I get obsessed with something else and ignore the need to divest myself of these things that have become burdens?
I have lately been enjoying and participating in Pinterest which has inspired me to get back to the other arts. Even doll collecting has opportunities for me to create. I've tried my hand at repainting and that is not something I can do successfully other than retouch or enhance but I can make wigs. I can create instead of accumulate. I love my dolls and I get a great deal of pleasure from looking at them and touching them and posing them but it's gone too far. They keep coming and then what? Thank goodness I've been selling all along or I'd have to get Rudy a job.
Inspiration is what has been lost but it's temporary. And it's the season of change. All is well.

Back to packing.
 You've got to keep your sense of humor.