Dolls

Happy Mother’s Day

~ writergal42 ~ 3 Comments

Today more than any other, I think of my own dear mom. She is still physically with me, but Alzheimer’s has essentially taken her away, as she no longer recognizes me or anyone else. Today I’d like to celebrate her the way she used to be. Mom and I started collecting dolls together 21 years ago, and our mutual love for the hobby brought us together in a way nothing else had before. We traveled to conventions, played together, and made new friends all over the country. Some of my best memories of mom are dolly memories. So here’s to you mom–my best dolly friend and the best mom ever.

The 2015 WTF Doll Awards

~ writergal42 ~ 14 Comments

Individual fashion dolls can elicit strong reactions from seasoned collectors. Like everyone else, we are set in our ways, and we know what we like. New fashion dolls, especially ones that differ stylistically from the ones currently in vogue among most collectors, can face rapid rejection—or eager acceptance. The history of doll collecting is littered with fashion dolls that never made it past their first issue or two. Among those who do gain a following, few vinyl fashionistas manage to hold on beyond five to ten years. Modern fashion dolls that have remained on the market beyond a decade or two can probably be counted on one hand. There is a reason Mattel proudly celebrates Barbie’s birthday.

Fashion doll collectors are an enthusiastic bunch. When they like something, they tend to really, really like it. And when they don’t, they often do not budge in their opinions. And there is very low tolerance for fellow collectors who speak ill of—or “trash”—one’s favorite vinyl plaything. Critical opinions about a specific doll expressed in online doll communities—even those stated in the most diplomatic of ways—are not well received by said doll’s “defenders.” Flame wars on dolly boards can ignite quickly, and they may smolder for days, weeks, months, even years. Sides are taken, alliances are made. Whenever this “insult my doll, insult me” culture raises its ugly head, doll boards can resemble a school yard sandbox in which today’s “best friends” are tomorrow’s potential rivals.

So what gives? A friend who has made the same observation once suggested to me that fashion doll collectors are either artists, wanna-be artists, or patrons of artists—and artists, of course, are famously temperamental people. I don’t think that accounts for all of it, but perhaps it does in part. I’m no artist, but I consider my dolls art, and I see myself as a patron of artists and a curator of an art collection. When confronted with a new doll that challenges my preconceived notion of what is “pretty” and what is not in the fashion doll world, I’m more likely to label that doll “hideous” and reject it outright than I am to quietly and politely pass on it.

But there are exceptions. I rejected resin FBJDs outright when they began to gain traction in the US fashion doll industry about a decade ago. They were too pale, too fragile, and too awkward with those ugly, open joints, I self-righteously declared.

I now own three, and I am saving for a fourth.

I don’t mean to paint the entire doll collector community with the same wide brush. Plenty of us who collect radically different dolls do manage to keep our most inflammatory opinions about doll aesthetics to ourselves, and we manage to maintain friendships with fellow collectors in spite of such significant barriers. So today I’m going to test the limits of my relationship with you, dear readers, and list a few dolls issued this year that have—for one superfluous reason or another—either rubbed me the wrong way or made me laugh out loud. When a doll makes me laugh the first time I see it, I most often think to myself, “WTF was that artist/company thinking?” And so I present to you my 2015 WTF Doll Awards.

One small disclaimer: This list contains examples of the dolls with which I am most familiar—especially Tonner and Integrity. My choices, therefore, are not meant to imply that these companies’ dolls are any more laughable than any other. If I were most familiar with Superfrock, I could easily dedicate this entire post to them. (And don’t even get me started on those Inamorata atrocities.) But before you start showering me with the hate mail for that last remark, please read on…

Brooties

1) Worst Doll Name Award: “Brrooties” Ellowyne

I have no problem at all with this doll. She is very cute, and the coat is darling. I do have a problem with her name. “Brrooties”? Seriously? Yes, it’s likely no doll sales have ever been lost based only on the name an artist gave his/her creation, but, as any marketer (or politician) can tell you, language is a powerful tool in the art of sales, and, in skillful hands, it can go a long way toward enhancing an item’s desirability.

I’m a writer, so this may bug me more than it does others. But Tonner’s marketing team needs to step up its verbal presentation. Last year they even started recycling names. It’s a big language, Tonner Doll Co. You’ve been around for a long time, but I assure you there are words in the English language that you haven’t used yet.

2) Most Insanely Overpriced Doll Award: Cissy as Elsa

Much has already been written about this latest Cissy incarnation, which can be yours for a mere $5,000. Even in a community where it’s not unusual to dish out $600 for a limited-edition resin FBJD, this doll’s price tag is eye-popping. Well-preserved antique dolls can command this much and more, but there is no comparison between an exquisite, original 19th-century French bebe and a vinyl Cissy that depicts the latest Disney princess in vogue.

Who is Madame Alexander marketing this doll to? The grandmas who collect their cute seasonal Wendy dolls? My mom collected Wendy, and she was happy to fork over $40-$50 for one of the dolls she found particularly endearing. But $5K for a doll wearing a dress covered in blue crystals and plastic snowflakes? I think mom would have a good laugh at that one.

Perhaps Madame Alexander is counting on its collectors saving up their Social Security checks. Cissy-as-Elsa is apparently made-to-order, so there’s no danger of her eventually making an appearance on the clearance aisle of Tuesday Morning.

3) Most Inappropriate Boxing Ring Attire Award: Jacqueline O’Rion

And in this corner is Integrity’s Jacqueline O’Rion, wearing, in the words of Integrity’s marketing copy writer, “her sexy and mysterious hooded dress!” Now it’s possible that feminized boxing ring attire is all the rage at New York Fashion Week. I have no idea. There have been many sillier trends. But the second I saw this photo in my in-box, I started looking for the boxing gloves the doll had to come with. And I seriously doubt she could win any rounds with that long hair bouncing around her face. Maybe she could use it to blind her opponent while she throws a left hook, though.

Just use your imagination.

4) Doll Most Likely to Never Make an Appearance Award: Caine

In addition to death and taxes, there are two other certainties in life: 1) Each year, Robert Tonner will introduce one or more new doll lines licensed from a movie studio to depict the characters from a film that no one has ever heard of, and 2) The release will include at least one doll that will not be approved by the movie studio until the movie itself is a distant memory. This year, “Caine,” played by Channing Tatum in the sci-fi flick, “Venus Rising,” is thus far a no-show, and the film—mocked for its acting, lauded for its special effects—is well on its way to a second life via DVD.

5) The Dukes of Hazard Meets Marvel Award: Bombshell Wonder Woman

If my remarks on this doll sound uninformed, I assure you that they are. I have never read any comic book other than one about Archie Andrews. I have never watched a comic book movie—unless it starred Robert Downey Jr. (For his sake, I make an exception for the Iron Man flicks.) I have never watched any TV show or movie starring Wonder Woman. Even Lindsey Wagner annoys me for some reason.

So I do not know if this incarnation of Wonder Woman is supposed to be adapted from a specific artistic or film rendering. All I know is that she’s a pretty accurate cross between Wonder Woman and Daisy Duke. With that yellow hair bandana, Daisy Duke short-shorts, and mid-calf country boots, she looks like she’d be quite at home in the driver’s seat of the General Lee. Not what you should be aiming for with a superhero doll.

6) Doll Most Easily Confused With Your Dog’s Favorite Chew Toy Award: Periwinkle

When it comes to WTF dolls, Madame Alexander is the company that keeps on giving. Each year, its Cissy, Cissette, and Wendy dolls get weirder and weirder, and I continue to wonder who the hell is buying these dolls. I personally know no one (outside of my Mom, who used to buy the occasional Wendy) who collects MA dolls. This may come as a shocker to my non-doll-collecting readers (Are there any out there?), but we doll collectors are a pretty diverse crowd. In fact, depending on what we collect, we may not have anything in common with one another at all. Put a Sybarite aficionado in a room with a reborn fanatic, and I guarantee there will be an endless amount of awkward silence.

According to the Internet Gods, Periwinkle is Tinkerbell’s “twin sister.” I find this hard to believe, as poor Periwinkle looks more like the misshapen sister abandoned at birth. That horrible white fuzzy wig, thrown-together, poorly-stitched piece of blue felt that passes as an outfit, and pom-pom bedroom slippers make for one pathetic-looking fairy. And she can be all yours for the low, low MSRP of $159.95.

7) Most Obvious Tonner Doll Rip-off Award: Madame Alexander Dorothy and Toto Steampunk

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, Madame Alexander must be wildly in love with Tonner’s aesthetic. In 2012, Tonner applied the popular steampunk treatment to Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz—to great effect. I don’t particularly like steampunk myself, but I had to admit that the detail and execution of this doll was terrific. I even bought one.

Two years later, along comes MA with their steampunk Dorothy—with an interpretation awfully similar to Tonner’s. I’ll let the photos above speak for themselves. Sadly, MA is not very talented at stealing, either. Tonner’s Dorothy leaves their Dorothy in the tornado dust.

 8) The Past Is Best Left in the Past Doll Award: Ollie Lawson, Vice Effect

Integrity loves to commit all kinds of fashion atrocities with its male dolls, and collectors can’t seem to get enough of them. Not calling this doll Don Johnson probably saved Integrity a lot in licensing fees, but there can be no doubt who this guy is modeled after. I remember Miami Vice well, and even then I thought that the only thing worse than Don Johnson’s acting skills was his ever-present pink, blue, and white suit. Please, Integrity, let the past stay in the past. There is a reason men don’t dress like this anymore.

9) Most Likely Skin Cancer Candidate: “Second Skin” Vanessa

I suppose this doll is called “Second Skin” as an acknowledgement that the character of Vanessa is, in fact, white—not black. Darkening her skin tone this much has the same effect as when Mattel first made “Black Barbie”—by simply giving her a darker vinyl. It looked like crap then, and it looks like crap now. You have plenty of beautiful black dolls with beautiful black features in your lineup, Integrity. Stick with them.

 10) Trashiest Doll Award: Sybarite Solitaire

I’m probably going to lose some readers over this one. Yes, I know I am clearly in the minority here. She sold out in literally minutes – if not seconds, and she is highly coveted on the secondary market. But for me that does not change the fact that she looks like a mannish prostitute who just rolled out of bed after a hard night on the job.

Note that I would have given this award to the more-deserving Inamorata, but that would mean cutting-and-pasting her image onto my blog, and that doll scares the shit out of me.

zombie11) 2015 WTF Doll Award Grand Prize: Madame Alexander’s Wendy as “Zombie Cheerleader”

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during the MA creative meeting that resulted in this monstrosity. I can just imagine the conversation that took place:

Creative Director: The people upstairs want one more Wendy idea, guys.

Designer #1: How about zombies? They’re big right now.

Designer #2: But aren’t zombies kind of scary? Don’t they eat flesh?

Designer #3: I somehow don’t see Wendy as the flesh-eating type.

Designer #1: We won’t actually decompose her. Just mess with her makeup a little.

Designer #2: But won’t an undead Wendy be a little scary for the little old ladies who buy these dolls for their granddaughters?

Designer #1: Naw, zombies are cool. Grandma can show that she knows what the young people are into these days.

Creative Director: Whatever. I can’t tell the damned things apart any more, anyway.

Personally, I think she looks less like a zombie than the victim of a makeup session gone terribly wrong. I guarantee that any little girl getting this Wendy will develop a life-long hatred of dolls. Especially if she was also gifted the Lizzie Borden Wendy.

***

So there you go — my highly unscientific, erratically random 2015 WTF Doll Awards. As these opinions are purely the product of my own idiosyncratic aesthetic preferences, you will likely disagree with some, if not all, of them. Which is great, as variety is of the spice of life. Unless, of course, you are a fan of Zombie Wendy. Then you just need professional help.

Profiles of non-collectors

~ writergal42 ~ 7 Comments

At some point, it has likely become obviously to each of you, dear readers, that we doll collectors must bear the burden of sharing this earth with non-doll people. You’ve also noticed, no doubt, that this is no easy task. The vast majority of the world’s people—if they know that doll collectors even exist—suffer under gross misconceptions about who we are and what we do. Rather than imaginative, creative, and playful people, we are labeled hoarders, money-wasters, obsessive-compulsives, and just plain touched in the head. Not once in all of my 22 years of doll collecting has a non-collector recognized me as a collector of “legitimate” art, much less a curator of a beautiful collection assembled with love and care over multiple decades. Robert Tonner’s doll art is part of the Louvre’s permanent collection in its Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris. What more legitimacy can an art form possibly have?

As a long-time doll collector, I have fielded nearly every outrageous and thoughtful question about my collection, and over the years I’ve come to recognize that there are different types of non-collectors. While some enrage me with their self-righteous condescension, others flatter me with their genuine interest and desire to learn more about my collection—and, by extension, me.

Although many doll bloggers over the years have sought to identify the different types of collectors, there are different types of non-collectors as well, and their attitudes toward us as collectors are generally indicative of their overall characters. When I was still single and dating, I had no compunction about showing off my collection to my various dates, as their reactions generally told me something about who they were. I used my dolls like many people use their dogs’ reactions to people as a barometer of their characters.

While he did not understand my fascination with fashion dolls—and still doesn’t—the man who ultimately became my husband had a generally playful attitude toward the growing collection that took up the majority of my bedroom in my Washington, DC apartment. He even posed the dolls in “naughty” positions while I was out to see if I would notice when I returned. (I always did.) This revealed a man who, although he was totally unable to relate to my hobby, nonetheless could derive some enjoyment from it. So I married him.

Other people in my life—from judgmental relatives to scoffing coworkers—have displayed a level of disdain for my hobby that has generally served to alienate me from them. Their wide spectrum of reactions has led me to compile this list of categories into which non-collectors generally fall. This is no exact science; they may fall into several categories at once, sometimes both positive and negative. See if you recognize your friends and relatives as:

The Condescender: This person’s gauge of their own character seems to depend on the depth of their condescension of yours. Pretty much nothing you do will convince this person that your pursuit of beautiful fashion dolls is a manifestation of your own creativity and that brings you joy as an aesthetic art form. A true condescender probably made up her mind about your pursuit—as she does about most things—long before actually seeing your collection. So don’t waste your breath trying to convince her otherwise.

The Silent Type: This person is usually struck dumb at the sight of your collection, which, for most of us, can admittedly be quite overwhelming. Their eyes grow big as they take it all in, as if they’ve never seen a doll in their life. This could either be a manifestation of admiration or judgment. But for now, they simply cannot say a thing.

The Reminiscer: I think I like this type of non-collector most of all. This is the person who immediately grows enthusiastic about your collection upon hearing about it, and she cannot wait to tell you about that special doll that she or her mother had as a child that meant so much to her. She’ll want to hear all about your dolls and will immediately understand why they appeal to you. These people are often collectors just waiting to happen.

The Questioner: These people generally mean well, but they can drive me insane, and I rarely have as much patience with them as I should. These curious types want to know everything and anything about your collection—right now. Before you can even answer their first question (Who makes these?), they are on to their second (Where do you buy them?). Sometimes these questions can border on the inane (Is that real hair?), but these people mean well, and it’s nice to see true curiosity rather than abrupt dismissal.

The Housecleaner: These are almost always husbands (although one lesbian I knew fell into this category as well). They are the ones who will immediately ask upon seeing or learning of your collection, “Hey! Can I give you my wife’s dolls?” This is done in a weak attempt at humor, as the husband goes on to tell you about the “spooky doll” that was his wife’s when she was a child and now sits in the spare bedroom. Feel free to ignore these people. Giving the wife an understanding hug might help.

The Psychologist: To this person, every collection is a pathology, so you really shouldn’t take it personally. Because your collection consists of dolls, be prepared for questions about your childhood and your mother. If you really want to have fun with this person, tell her that you were an orphan who, as a child, decapitated dolls for fun. That should give her some food for psychoanalysis that will keep her occupied for hours.

The Cheapskate: This person violates all rules of decorum as soon as he sees your collection and immediately asks you how much it is worth. There is no point in telling this person anything whatsoever about your collection and how much it means to you, as he likely cannot see past its monetary value. A subsequent value judgment about your moral character will soon follow.

The Joker: I have the least amount of patience for this non-collector. As soon as he sees your collection, or just hears about it, it becomes an endlessly amusing joke to him—and, he assumes, to everyone else. This person inevitably starts with the “Chucky” jokes—sure that he is the first person to have thought of this. This is usually followed by questions about whether “they stare at you” or “talk back.” If you can stomach sharing a room with this person for a while, it can be worth a laugh to tell him in as deadpan a voice as you can muster that “your little friends” come alive at night help you rob banks—which is how you finance your collection. The more unintelligent this person is, the more likely he will be to actually believe you—or at least be spooked enough to shut up for a while.

The Appraiser: This person often falls into the “Cheapskate” category as well, since he immediately reduces your dolls to their monetary value. The first thing this person will ask is “how much they are worth.” I generally reply that they are “priceless,” to which I get a scornful look and the follow-up question, “Do you have them insured?” If you answer in the negative, you are likely to be told about the horrible death your dolls will suffer if your house catches fire, or (if you live in Florida, like I do) if your home is demolished by a Category 5 hurricane. If I really want to mess with such a person, I like to respond with a tearful look and the soft words, “But how do you insure a broken heart?” This will lead to a bewildered look and an extended, awkward silence, as even the most steadfast Appraiser is at a loss to monetize emotion.

The Seamstress: This is the person who truly enjoys sewing for people and often is quite good at it. The first thing he will see upon laying eyes on your collection is the tiny scale of the tailoring required for the dolls’ clothing and the impressive amount of talent it takes to accomplish that. “How do they sew that small?” he will ask in wonder. He will want to examine the outfits in detail and lovingly pour over each stitch. This is when you bring out those OOAK gowns by your favorite artists and really blow his mind. If you are not careful, this person will stay in your home and examine your collection all day. I generally let him, as it is often a gratifying change to have my collection appreciated rather than mocked.

Anxious Annie: The only thing this person can see upon laying eyes on your collection is the inevitability that she will be responsible for breaking one of them—which she is sure will cost her millions of dollars. If this person has a child with her, she will put the fear of the Lord into her by exclaiming, “DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING!” Explaining the Power of Play to this woman will mean nothing to her—so don’t even bother. Her main goal is to leave the room as soon as possible, lest her very breath knock one of your fragile playthings off the shelf.

The Over-enthusiast: I should probably have more patience for these people, but I just don’t. These are the ones who are thrown into a state of euphoria as soon as they see your collection, and you often can’t shut them up about it. “They are so beautiful! Where did you get them? Where are they made? What are they made of? Where did you get this gown? Is that green or blue? This one is smiling at me! Where can I buy one?” If you had to answer each question, you’d be there all day. So just smile and nod and let her get it out of her system. She’s probably like this about a lot of things.

The New Best Friend: This person shares a lot in common with the Over-enthusiast, but she’s not nearly as annoying. She takes time to truly listen to the answers to her questions, and she asks intelligent follow-up questions. She is enchanted, and you can tell she’s just itching to get one of your dolls into her hands and look it over. You can tell she wants to redress it and pose it, but she’s too shy to ask. If you open the door to that, she is likely to stay all day, swapping outfits and experimenting with different looks. This person is your New Best Friend—and a possible collector in the making.

The Artist: This person is an artist in his own right, and he immediately recognizes your collection for what it is—a form of interactive art. He is generally quiet as he purveys your collection, and you can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he compares this art form to others with which he is more familiar. This is one of the most interesting non-collectors to talk to, as you often have more to learn from him than he has to learn from you. Your mind may be open to avenues of artistic expression you’ve never even considered before.

The Undertaker: This person is generally obsessed with death in all other aspects of her life, so she naturally applies it to your collection when she sees it. Her main concern is what will happen to your collection when you die, and her goal is to help you make the necessary arrangements before your inevitable demise. The vaguer you are with your post-death plans, the more irritated this person will become. So just assure her that you’ve provided for your vinyl friends in your will and that their existence will not unnecessarily tax your family when you ultimately give up the ghost. Her work there will be done.

I’ve found through the years that collecting dolls gives me the opportunity to gauge the true characters of people sooner than I would be able to otherwise. It can be a fun pastime to try to predict a specific person’s reaction to your collection based on the things that you know about his/her personality. Of course, you should not expect everyone to share the zeal for art in doll form that you have. But it’s always fun to introduce something new into their universe.

Robert Tonner, artist and collector extraordinaire

~ writergal42 ~ 2 Comments

Sweet Sue

If it isn’t already in your hot little hands, the Summer 2015 issue of FDQ (Fashion Doll Quarterly) is on its way to your mailbox (if you are a subscriber, that is). This issue of FDQ marks my first publication in a doll magazine. I’ve been writing about the business of healthcare for more than two decades as a journalist, but it wasn’t until this year that I decided to use my way with words to explore the world of fashion doll collecting through my blog and industry magazines. Pat Henry, editor of FDQ, was kind enough to give me space in her terrific magazine to talk about my experience of coming to own a couple of vintage fashion dolls from Robert Tonner’s personal collection.

As I wrote in an earlier post, Robert decided to auction off a large part of his massive vintage doll collection through Theriault’s auction house last November, and I placed two winning bids online. Afterward, I talked with Robert about his own journey as a collector. During my attendance at various doll conventions over the years, nearly all of the questions I’ve heard fans ask of Robert have to do with him as an doll artist–never a doll collector. But Robert himself never tires of saying that it is precisely his perspective as a collector that shapes his vision as an artist. So I thought it was time someone explored what makes Robert the Collector tick.

Robert’s doll, now in my collection: Sweet Sue (1957)
Robert’s doll, now in my collection: Betsy McCall (1958)

My interview with Robert forms the basis of the FDQ article, “Robert Tonner: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Collector.”  Although the only place you can read that article is in the pages of FDQ, below is a partial transcript of my conversation with Robert that examines a bit of the interplay between doll collector and doll artist. (For the full article, check your mailbox. And if you’re not a subscriber, find out how you can become one here.)

Is there a doll or dolls that first inspired you to begin collecting?

Robert: Back when I first moved to New York, when I went to school and started working, I often went through FAO Schwartz while walking home. It was on 57th Street, on the ground floor. I had walked through it many times; I always liked toys, and I liked looking at them. I stopped one day when I saw a Sasha doll. To me, it looked like art. It was sculptural—it wasn’t like a cutesy doll. I looked at it, and looked at it, and looked at it. And I finally bought one. That was really the doll that started me off.

I wasn’t thinking about collecting, but I then I saw a flyer in the city for a doll show. I think it was in a church auditorium or something. I took a friend, and we went together. I was blown away. I had no clue there was such a thing as doll collecting. I had no idea there were mint-in-box (MIB) examples of dolls that I had seen on TV as a kid.

The thing that really got me were the Barbies. I hadn’t seen those MIB dolls since the day they came out. My interest immediately turned to Barbie, and I became a Barbie collector, which I think is what a lot of collectors do. There are all kinds of different quality ranges and price ranges for Barbies, allowing people to amass a large collection for not a lot of money.

Sasha doll
Sasha doll

How did you first become interested in the business of making dolls?

Robert: I became obsessed with collecting and read as much as I could. By then, I had met Glenn Mandeville, who was a long-time doll dealer, and I remember going through the doll stores with him. That was when Macy’s and Gimbels had big doll selections. And Glenn pointed out to me that people had sculpted those dolls for toy companies. I didn’t understand what he meant at first. He said to me, “Where do you think the heads come from? People have to sculpt them.” And something clicked. I thought, “Oh, I have to try that.”

Do you remember your first doll?

Robert: When I was a kid, my sister was a year younger than me. My parents were kind of progressive at the time, because I remember that all four of us children got a Tiny Tears doll one Christmas. I thought that was pretty cool, probably because I wanted one. I do remember that when Mary got her Miss Revlon doll, I thought that was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It was the “Kissing Pink” doll. I remember the outfit and everything. Mary renamed it “Janet.”

During my collecting years pre-Internet, I picked up a Miss Revlon doll whenever I saw one MIB. They didn’t come around that often, so I didn’t have very many. And then when eBay came along, forget about it. I just went crazy. It became fascinating to me to learn why manufacturers made the choices they did, what dolls had which features, and what rarities were out there. I think I had a representation of at least about 95% of the styles that Revlon put out.

“Kissing Pink” Miss Revlon (circa 1957)
“Tiny Tears” (circa 1950)

Where did you put all of those dolls?

Robert: I often joke with people when they ask about storage, and I ask them, “What do you mean you have trouble storing your dolls? Why don’t you put them in your factory like I do?”

I literally did that. I do not keep dolls in my house—I do not have a doll room. I live with them all day; my office is filled with dolls. My life is filled with dolls, so I don’t need to go home to them.

I had two storage units at one time, and I stored more dolls in the factory. When I got new dolls, I’d look at them and live with them for a while, take them out and display them. And then at a certain point, I’d pack them up and think, “I’ll get back to that.”

How did you come to decide to part with so much of your collection?

Robert: UFDC (United Federation of Doll Clubs) asked me to do a display of my Revlon dolls a couple years ago. I was able to display beautiful examples of many of my favorite dolls. That finished the collection for me, in a way. I felt that I didn’t have to have every single one. I felt that this was, to me, a finished collection. But I didn’t know what to do then. I had had every intention of keeping my dolls before.

Then one of the doll magazines asked me to do an article. I was working on it, and there was a doll I wanted, and I knew I had it. I thought I knew where it was. I don’t remember much, but I usually do remember where I put my dolls. So I went down to the basement, and I was digging for it, and there were dolls there that I did not remember that I had purchased. And I thought, you know what, this is enough. I have got to let other people enjoy these. This is hoarding, and it’s unfair to other Revlon collectors, or to people who have never seen some of these dolls. So I decided I was definitely going to let some of it go.

Theriault's action catalog
Theriault’s auction catalog

Why was the auction entitled, “Inspiration”?

Robert: Florence Theriault (founder of Theriault’s auction house) and I were talking, and I told her that these dolls are the inspiration for a lot of the work that I do today. They are many times removed, but there is a spark there that leads me in a specific direction. These dolls are the inspiration for the dolls I do.

Of course, there’s direct correlation when I do a reproduction of a 10” Little Miss Revlon. It’s hard to explain, but it’s the feeling you get when you open a box and look at a doll for the first time. I try to capture that, although if you put the two dolls together, they look nothing alike. It’s very hard to explain – it’s part of the design process for me – it’s a very personal thing.

What dolls did you choose to keep?

Robert: I of course held on to all of the dolls that I have made. I don’t keep everything I make – I have to pick and choose, because we just don’t have the storage space. As far as the vintage ones, I kept an example here and there of dolls that really appeal to me for some reason or another. For example, there is a 22-inch Revlon I have that is really beautiful. It was a gift, and I would never let it go, because it’s part of a story. I like when dolls have a background to them.

When I see that someone has loved a doll, I love that. The “mommy-made” dolls that I have, I hold on to. It doesn’t matter that they aren’t worth anything on the market.

I sold off my Barbie collection 25 years ago, but, in 2009, Mattel came out with all of these reproduction dolls, and they did the most beautiful #1 reproduction. So I bought up a whole bunch of those. And then I found repro and vintage outfits, so I have mint #1s in all of these mint outfits. They aren’t worth much, but I love them. If a repro outfit I bought didn’t fit, I’d take it apart and make it fit. I probably have about 40 Barbies now.

Pullip
Happy to be Me
Lammily

Do you still collect modern dolls?

Robert: Yes, I do. I like the Pullip dolls; they are very quirky. I have a couple resin BJDs. There are a lot of people out there making wonderful fashion dolls, but we do too. So I don’t really collect those.

My collecting is taking a new turn – I now look for odd things that have never been seen, or things that had a very short life span. I like dolls with an interesting story behind them. I just bought a “Happy to be Me” doll. There was a Kickstarter campaign recently, and this guy produced a similar doll called “Lammily,” and I bought one of those. I just think these things are very interesting. I like the quirky and “interesting to me” things. I’m not looking for anything particular at this point.

Robert Tonner
Robert Tonner, doll collector extraordinaire

Shopping for my “daughter”

~ writergal42 ~ 14 Comments

We’ve all shopped for our dolls. And, when we do, it’s usually no mystery to anyone who the dresses, skirts, pants, hats, and jewelry we purchase are for. No one I know would fit into the gown I just purchased for my Tyler Wentworth doll, since no one I know is 16 inches tall. Likewise, the retailers and fellow collectors we purchase from know we are buying for dolls. They are selling for dolls. Duh.

Except when your doll is three feet tall.

I used to collect the dolls created by German artist Annette Himstedt. I say “used to” because I purchased my last Himstedt doll in 2009, when Annette’s factory fell victim to the recession and she ceased production. Over the years, I amassed 15 of her dolls. There are still many available on the secondary market I’d love to have, but lack of space and a limited dolly budget have prevented me from adding to my collection in recent years. Which is fine, really. My doll room looks like it doubles as a preschool classroom as it is.

himmie
My space-saving way of displaying some of my Himstedt dolls. They’re the tall ones almost touching the ceiling.

For those unfamiliar with Annette’s work, she creates incredibly lifelike representations of young children. And they are huge, typically ranging in size from two to three feet. As such, store-bought children’s clothing fit them quite well. Retail stores offer an endless variety of toddler clothing, and it can be very inexpensive. Much cheaper than the custom-made Himstedt clothing you’ll find on eBay and Etsy.

It has been at least five years since I redressed one of my Hinstedts, but I recently took several of them out of storage (I don’t have enough space to accommodate displaying them all at once), and my interest in them was revived. Since I had to go to Target this weekend for some household items, I made a stop in the children’s clothing section, and I selected some cute pink spring outfits. This was especially fun for me, since I have no daughters–my four-year-old son is my only child. And I’ve come to learn that boy’s clothing is boring as hell. Being able to pick out pink dresses and frilly tops with butterflies on them was a nice change.

Ai Lien
Sina
Jogona
Greta

When I went to pay for my items, the cashier lingered over the pink dress I selected. “This is so cute,” she said. “How old is your daughter?”

I was daydreaming about redressing my dolls when she spoke to me–I had barely noticed her at all. So I had no idea what she was talking about.

“My daughter?’ I asked.

“Uh, yeah,” she said.

“I don’t have a daughter,” I told her. “I have a son.”

Silence.

Oh. I finally got it. She thinks the dress and frilly clothes are for my daughter. I laughed.

“Oh, no,” I said, “Those are for my dolls.”

Silence again. She quickly checked me out without another word.

And thus I think I did my part last weekend at Target to confirm the widespread belief that doll collectors are creepy people who have make-believe conversations with their vinyl friends when no one is looking.

I know I do.

Arinda in her new Target dress
Arinda in her new Target dress

Antique dolls, little old ladies, and the best pulled pork ever

~ writergal42 ~ 8 Comments

[Note: My apologies to those of you who received an email about this post yesterday. I had not yet finished it, and I hit the “post” button too soon.] 😦

Last week I ventured to Lakeland, Florida, a small town about an hour from my house in Tampa, to attend a doll show. I’ve always thought that “doll shows” were misnamed, as they are actually just a gathering of second-hand sellers offering their wares to collectors in pursuit of a good bargain. I’d been to this “show” before. It is held in a city municipal building in a large room reserved for community events, and it is sponsored by The Tropical Doll Study Club. This doll club is comprised mostly of older ladies who shy away from modern dolls in favor of child vintage and antique dolls, and the offerings at this show reflect that. I’d last attended the annual show two years ago, and the slight attendance made me fear that this event, like many other doll gatherings, was on its way out due to waning interest.

My experience this year was quite different, as I was barely able to get into the door just one hour after the event began. I’d previously been on the younger side of the other attendees at this event, but this time I was the youngest by at least 25 years. I found myself shuffling around a room crowded with ladies well into their 70s to 90s sporting perfectly coiffed snow-white hair, many with canes, walkers, and motorized wheelchairs.

Politely holding back from the crowd of hunched backs weighed down by years of osteoporosis, I waited my turn to examine each table’s offerings. There was a huge range in doll quality and price. The dolls ranged from beat-up vintage child dolls that vendors were trying to liquidate by nearly giving them away to high-end, well-preserved antique dolls selling for thousands of dollars. I know nothing about valuing vintage and antique dolls, so I don’t know if there were any “deals” to be had. There was a handful–and I do mean handful–of modern fashion dolls along the lines of Tyler and Gene, but the vendors obviously hadn’t priced them on eBay lately, as they were asking two to three times of what the dolls currently go for.

My personal “find” of the day was located at the back of the room, where I found box upon box of hundreds–perhaps thousands–of old doll magazines. Since I myself hold on to every doll magazine I have ever acquired and occasionally enjoy looking through them and reminiscing, I immediately started going through them. There was everything from Doll Crafter to FDQ, and some of the magazines went back to the early 1980s. I plopped myself down beside the boxes (no easy feat, as I was wearing a dress for a wedding that I was to attend later in the day), and I began combing through them. In about 45 minutes, I had put aside about a dozen magazines to purchase. I walked up to the nearest person–who I assumed was selling the magazines–and asked her how much she wanted for them. She replied that they were placed there by several vendors who wanted to get rid of them and so were “giving them away.”

“And I have a couple boxes of doll books,” she added. “Would you be interested in those too?”

Holy shit.

Needless to say, I spent the next hour or so assembling pile upon pile of doll magazines and books, and then I made several trips to my car to transport them all. Standing at the back of my small SUV, I observed my find and reflected on the reaction of my husband—who had just recently went on a rant about how I never throw anything away and how our garage is filled to the top with doll crap—upon seeing my haul.

And then I closed the door with a shrug.

I had a bit more time before I had to leave for the wedding, so I ventured back and looked over the items in a charity auction. They were pretty sad—mostly small, worthless dolls and teddy bears that people obviously wanted to get rid of. Still, it was for charity, so I bought a few tickets.

At this point, all of the jostling among elderly doll collectors and leaning over heaps of old magazines had made me hungry. Several ladies were selling pulled pork sandwiches, scooping the fragrant meat from well-worn crock pots. I ordered one, and I have to say that it was the best damned pulled pork sandwich I’ve ever tasted. I followed it up with a couple homemade cookies being sold by a benevolent-looking grandma, and I made it to the door, satiated by dolls and home cooking.

It was a very, very good day.

show5

Adding my opinions to the mix…

~ writergal42 ~ 9 Comments

The Tonner Doll Co. released images of the remainder of its spring 2015 line yesterday, and, like every other fashion doll collector on the Internet, I have an opinion about it.The fashion doll items were limited; out of 37 dressed dolls and fashion-only offerings, only 12 could properly be called “fashion dolls,” and that includes those from Tonner’s “Re-imagination” series. There were also four female superheros, although only one of those was ready for photography.

Does this mean that Tonner is moving toward primarily becoming a designer of child dolls and superheros? Patsy and Patsyette have been generously represented in the past few lines, and Tonner’s new child doll line, “My Imagination,” seems to be set up as a clear contender for American Girl fans, especially since the outfits appear to be designed to fit the AG body. Like many long-time Tonner fashion doll collectors, I yearn for the days of yore when Tyler and Company ruled the fashion doll market, and each line brought a bounty of different sculpts and fashions to choose from. Collectors rushed to get their orders in before editions as high as 1,500 sold out overnight. The stock market was up, times were good, and money was flowing. Of course, that was before we were all laid off in 2008.

That said, this line does see a return to the venerable House of Wentworth, although Tyler, Sydney, Esme, and friends appear to have faded into the annals of fashion doll history. Yesterday we were re-introduced to Marley Wentworth, Tyler’s all-grown-up sister. She has a strong angular profile and a colorful sense of fashion. One basic, two outfits, and three dressed dolls are being offered. I must admit that my first reaction to Marley’s sculpt was “What the hell pissed HER off?” She has a stern expression, with eyes set wide apart and lips that appear slightly pursed. But my reaction to new sculpts is often unfavorable at first–even with sculpts that I end up adoring. Even Sydney rubbed me the wrong way in the beginning. And now I have about 60 of her.

Rose Rouge Marley Wentworth

So I revisited the images of Marley throughout the day, and she did grow on me a bit. It does appear that this doll is still early in the manufacturing stage, as the sculpts appear a bit inconsistent. We probably won’t have a truly accurate representation of her until she is in stock.

Marley bears no resemblance to her 12-year-old self, but that matters little to me. Out of the four fashions pictured, two really appeal to me. My personal fashion taste favors bright, bold colors, and Marley seems to share the same aesthetic. “Skyline Blue” is a bold dress-and-skirt sleeveless ensemble that is a new, refreshing take on Tyler’s classic outfits. “Rose Rouge” has a colorful ’50s vibe with its full circle skirt and contrasting colors. On the other hand, I could do without the gowned doll “Positive Negative.” Other than its nod to No. 1 Barbie, I see nothing new or innovative–just a tired old one-shouldered gown. “Cool Chic” also does nothing for me. It seems recycled from past Cami designs, although it’s hard to really tell without being able to see what is underneath the coat.

My biggest problem with the Marley line is that it is presented in a vacuum. Clearly, these dolls are meant to be characters in an ongoing narrative–only, the narrative is conspicuously absent. There are plenty collectors who discovered Tonner’s dolls after the reign of the House of Wentworth. Who is Marley to them? Without a backstory, she’s some new doll with a weird name. I can’t understand why a company that goes to such pains to give backstories to some of its characters (Deja Vu came with her own book! Ellowyne keeps a diary!) completely ignores this vital element in other lines. I recall the days of Tonner’s portfolios, neat little booklets tucked into each doll box, describing and giving a backstory to each character and fashion. I understand that such little touches may no longer be economically feasible in today’s market, but how difficult would it be to write a little vignette on the website, filling us in on what Marley has been up to during the past ten years?

I can’t make the same complaint about Tonner’s most recent “Re-imagination” line, an enchanting reimagining of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Although this line is not to my personal taste, I certainly appreciate the artistry and creativity that went into it. Casting Alice as a male character with Lewis Carol’s given name is very imaginative, and the new Mad Hatter and White Rabbit are colorful and expressive. Sometimes I think that Robert Tonner is at his artistic best when conceiving and executing Re-imagination characters. One doll that I do possess from this line is “Sheehee,” a half-man/half-woman in the Sinister Circus. I love the playfulness of this doll, and it is executed flawlessly.

Charlie Dodgson
Haddy Madigan (The Mad Hatter)
Bianca Lapin (The White Rabbit)
Tweedle DeDe
Sheehee

So that’s my take on the fashion portion of Tonner’s 2015 Mainline Release. I anticipate purchasing Skyline Blue Marley and perhaps Haddy Madigan. Take a look for yourself and see what appeals most to you. I’d love to hear your feedback!

New Tonner line to debut tomorrow!

~ writergal42 ~ 4 Comments

For all you Tonner fans out there, the Tonner Doll Co. will debut the remainder of its Spring 2015 line tomorrow, March 18. Tonner previously announced that March’s release will include dolls from the Patsy, Patsyette, American Model, DC Stars, Sindy, Déjà Vu, and much-anticipated Marley Wentworth lines. And, lest I forget, I hear that there will be new Wizard of Oz dolls. Again.

As a fashion doll collector, there is limited appeal to me in this list. American Model, Deja Vu, and Marley are all nods to the fashion collector, and it’s nice that Tonner is still making dolls for us. Over the years, he has replaced many of his fashion doll lines with his so-called “character figures,” which I assume have larger appeal. Although I miss his numerous fashion doll releases of yore, I’d rather see the company reap more profit elsewhere if it means keeping the fashion lines alive, which I suspect are nearest to Robert Tonner’s heart.

I do not collect Deja Vu (just can’t see beyond her stoned, vapid stare), and I stopped collecting American Models a while back, given the limits on my display space. I do have high hopes for Marley, though. Just the fact that Tonner is revisiting the Wentworth line and breathing new life into it is exciting to me. Collectors did get a glimpse of the grown-up Marley and her fashion sense in a recent doll magazine sneak peak. I was struck at how much Marley resembled Aunt Regina 2.0. The second Aunt Regina always seemed to me to capture the spirit of Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. She’s not conventionally pretty, per se, but she oozes sophistication, contempt, and an intimidating beauty.

Aunt Regina 2.0
Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly

Given that, I’m on the fence about Marley’s sculpt. I like dolls with character sculpts (think Miss Gulch), but, for me to purchase them, they also have to incorporate a degree of softness. We’ll see what Marley has matured into tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

The young Marley Wentworth

Wanna spend some money this weekend?

~ writergal42 ~ Leave a comment

My in-box has been filling up with new doll announcements and some super sales, so I thought I’d share as we count the minutes down ’till the weekend.

Integrity released photos this week of its new batch of Color Infusion girls. The CI line is supposed to be a more affordable line of fashion dolls with fashions and accessories that are a grade below Integrity’s top-line girls. But CI girls generally hold their own quality-wise, and they can be a very good buy.

That said, the latest girls will cost you $100 each–no small amount. And here they are:

Nyasha Lauder™
The Color Infusion Collection
Limited Edition Size of 450 Dolls
Estimated Ship Date: Approximately Late May/Early June 2015
Suggested Retail Price: $100.00 US
Jacqueline O’Rion™
The Color Infusion Collection
Limited Edition Size of 500 Dolls
Estimated Ship Date: Approximately Late May/Early June 2015
 
Zara Wade™
The Color Infusion Collection
Limited Edition Size of 500 Dolls
Estimated Ship Date: Approximately Late May/Early June 2015
Suggested Retail Price: $100.00 US
You can pre-order these dolls at any Integrity retailer. None of them tempt me very much, so I am passing. If I had to choose one, it would probably be Nyasha for her groovy hair and outfit. The sausage-curl bangs on Jacqueline spell disaster, and I don’t know what Integrity is thinking with that boxer’s robe she is wearing. I like Zara’s dress and high ponytail, but her sculpt doesn’t appeal to me.
In other notable doll news, a few sales popped up today that caught my attention. The first is from Happily Ever After, which is offering two Victoire Roux dolls (Depart Pour L Orient and Victoire Roux) for $149 for BOTH. This is a terrific deal on two gorgeous and unique dolls. I am particularly fond of Depart L Orient.
Victoire Roux – Depart Pour L Orient
Victoire Roux – A La Maison

Samantha’s Dolls is offering its customers 20% off all in-stock dolls produced up to 2014, and their inventory is huge. Many of its doll lines are very expensive, so if you are a collector of any of them (from Kish to Tonner to Zwergnase to Plusckok and more), this can be a good deal. Use the coupon “MAR20.”

And finally, American Girl is offering free shipping on orders over $100 and 20% off select items. This is of particular interest to 16″ fashion doll collectors, as many of American Girl’s high-quality but pricey accessories and diorama pieces are perfectly scaled for 16″ dolls. Most notably, this sale can get you a great deal on “Caroline’s Parlor.” This diorama piece is huge, heavy, and high-quality. I saw it in person last week when I was able to visit an AG shop. If you’ve got the room and you like to photograph your girls, it’s a terrific piece. Originally $300, it is on sale for $135. No shipping with the sale, but you will be charged $20 for this “extra bulky” item and the applicable sales tax. For me, that came to $165.85. I haven’t pressed the “buy” button just yet. I’m sitting here trying to talk myself out of it.

So enjoy your weekend, and don’t burn up that credit card too much!

How to shop for dolls

~ writergal42 ~ 3 Comments

In an age in which brick-and-mortar doll stores are—with a few preciously rare examples—a thing of the past, the vast majority of doll collectors worldwide have been left to navigate the often-confusing world of online sales. I do a great deal of my personal, non-doll shopping online, and never have I come across a commodity that varies so drastically in price as collectible fashion dolls. At any point in time, the exact same doll may vary in price from $50 to several hundred dollars on multiple websites. For a new or unschooled collector, this can be more than confusing.

Twelve years ago, when I made the move from Barbie to 16” collector dolls, most dolls were sold by brick-and-mortar doll stores or online retailers for a modest percentage off retail price. Dolls offered on the secondary market via eBay could be had for a bit less, but many dolls by highly regarded artists were in high demand and either held their value or increased in price—sometimes substantially. If a collector purchased a doll and found that she did not care for it, it was not difficult to recoup her costs—or more—on eBay. And in those days, eBay still stood by its sellers, so they were generally protected from dishonest buyers. And, as is the case now, doll boards were also generally safe marketplaces to buy and sell to other collectors. Shopping around among retailers, eBay, and doll boards was always advisable, but, in general, prices did not vary substantially.

And then came the Great Recession. I think I can safely say that within the span of several months, my collection decreased in value by about two-thirds. Even now, it isn’t worth a great deal more. I doubt it will ever regain its former value. It was painful, to be sure, but I ultimately bought those dolls to keep. They were not my livelihood. They were my hobby. I couldn’t bear to part with most of them anyway, so I didn’t lose much.

The same cannot be said for the brick-and-mortar doll retailer. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, far fewer people were able to buy dolls that cost in excess of $100, so retailers were forced to drastically cut their prices and offer deep discounts to unload their inventory. Their already-small margins got smaller, and their rents went higher and higher. And so, one by one, store-based retailers disappeared from the physical landscape. Some store owners moved to solely online sales, and others simply left the retail business altogether. Many will tell you that today, seven years on from the painful fiscal memories of 2008, being even an online retailer does not pay the bills. One by one, doll retailers are disappearing from the marketplace altogether. Manufacturer direct are slowly but surely cutting out the middleman, and I believe they will soon be the only option for buyers outside of the secondary market. Independent artists who produce their art in small batches generally have no need for a middleman at all.

All this has resulted in a vast array of prices that can be quite confusing to the new or infrequent collector. Based on my experience (and I spend way more time monitoring doll prices than I care to admit), buying dolls has become an exercise in patient research. Below, I break down the five main ways collectors make their dolly purchases and my tips on getting the most doll for your dollar.

Online retailers. There are still some out there. Those that have survived have generally been in the business for a long time—often out of love as much as any financial reward (which generally gets less each year). Long-time retailers usually have a loyal following—customers who would not think of buying from anyone else. But as their pocketbooks continue to feel the pinch of a sagging economy, those customers are dwindling, and retailers must compete for sales with other sellers who often use deep discounts to unload their inventory. And retailers are increasingly competing with the manufacturers themselves, who are turning to discounted direct sales to sell their product.

The biggest rule in purchasing a doll—regardless of where you buy it—is NEVER PAY RETAIL. The second rule: WAIT. For almost all fashion dolls I know of, the longer a doll is on the market, the further its price will go down. There are some exceptions to this rule—some convention dolls and uber-limited-edition FBJDs—but not many. The days of skyrocketing secondary market prices are over. Even one month can make a difference. After retailers sell to all of the suckers with deep pockets who must be first in line and are willing to pay full price, they will discount their product. The longer you can wait, the cheaper it will be.

Impromptu sales are often the best times to grab those dolly deals. Make sure you are on the mailing lists of your favorite retailers AND your favorite manufacturers. Today’s sales can be frequent and generous—and it’s first come, first served. If it’s an announced sale, monitor that in-box often and make sure your Internet connection is a fast one.

Doll boards. Fashion doll collectors are continually attracted to the next shiny object, and, like most people, their pockets are not bottomless. So, when the next pretty dolly catches their eye and they don’t have the funds to purchase it, they rob Peter to pay Paul. Collectors generally recognize that, these days, they usually can’t sell a doll for what they paid for it, so they’ll offer attractive deals. Doll boards are an increasingly popular place to unload unwanted dolls as eBay continues to institute seller-unfriendly practices that put sellers at the mercy of dishonest buyers.

My general experience has been that doll boards keep buyers and sellers more honest than eBay does. People on doll boards generally know one another, and if a buyer or seller cheats a board member, you can be sure that person will never trade on that board again. Nothing—and I mean nothing—is scarier than a doll buyer scorned. And when she/he has loyal collector friends, watch out. (I once had a posse of angry doll collectors scare a person who had stolen a doll from my front porch so much, that person snuck back in the dead of night two weeks later and returned the doll to me. True story.)

Suffice it to say that, if you scam a fellow collector, your name will be spread so quickly across the doll community you probably won’t be able to conduct your scam twice. Doll collectors who have been scammed frequently spread the name and/or eBay ID or screen name(s) of their scammers far and wide, limiting their ability to run their scam more than once. In all of my 12 years of buying and selling dolls on the Internet, I have never had an unpleasant transaction with a doll board member. My history with eBay, on the other hand, is littered with deals gone bad with dishonest buyers and seller to which I have lost money, with eBay doing nothing to protect me.

One favorite site among collectors to buy and sell their ways has been the “Show and Sell” site of The Doll Page. For many years, Steve and Rae maintained this site out of the goodness of their hearts—never charging users any fees. Recently, the Show and Sell page fell victim to the relentless tide of changing technology, and Steve and Rae were forced to shut it down when their old software could no longer accommodate their needs. Steve and Rae provided an invaluable service to our community for a long time, and they deserve our deep gratitude.

In February, several collectors launched what they hope will become an alternative to Show and Sell. Mister Dollface aims to serve as a platform for buying, selling, and trading dolls as well as a community for collectors to share and learn from one another. Based on its current look and feel, I have high hopes for this site, and I encourage everyone to check it out and take advantage of its services.

The bottom line is, doll board sellers frequently offer incredible deals, and it’s first come, first served. Keep your eyes open, and you may find a long-sought doll for a steal of a price—offered by an honest person.

evilBay. So if doll boards are such a great place to buy and sell, why bother with eBay? The simplest answer: volume. eBay’s ubiquitous presence across the globe means that any items you place for auction or sale will be seen by a limitless number of people. And more volume means more cash. If your item appeals to more than one collector, you have the potential for a lucrative bidding war. Despite all of the transactions I conduct on doll boards, I am nearly always able to obtain a higher price on eBay. HOWEVER, the ever-escalating cut that eBay and PayPal take out of each transaction is giving me less and less motivation to use their sites. Add to that the aggravation of dealing with dishonest buyers and little or no seller protections, and those doll boards look more and more attractive.

An alternative auction site reserved just for collectible dolls called dollbid was launched last year to provide doll collectors with an alternative to evilBay. As with any David going up against a Goliath, it experienced considerable difficulties getting underway. Today, visitors to the site are greeted with a message saying the site is being “updated.” We’ll see if its owners take another stab at it.

IRL stores and shows. There is a handful left out there. If you are lucky enough to live within driving distance of one of the few remaining doll shops, GO THERE IMMEDIATELY AND BUY SOMETHING. Yes, you will likely have to pay more. Brick-and-mortar stores have overhead that online stores do not, and that needs to be taken into account. But you will not pay shipping, and you will be able to talk to A REAL HUMAN BEING about your purchase and hold it in your hands and examine it before you commit to purchasing it. If you do not live near a retailer, patronize a physical store that has an online presence. Remember, how we choose to spend our dolly dollars will determine the fate of the industry. The way we are currently purchasing our dolls means that the days are numbered for the few physical retailers that have been left standing.

Doll shows are another way to make purchases “in real life.” But they are few and far between. Check out this year’s schedule to see if there is one scheduled near you. They are great fun to attend. Even if you don’t find anything to buy, the novelty of actually seeing dolls for sale in person is more than worth the effort of going.

Manufacturer direct. More and more manufacturers are cutting out the middleman and selling direct to consumers. Some have been doing it this way for a while, and others are new to the practice. Whether this trend is good for the consumer is subject to debate. While many collectors like the personal contact and relationships they’ve cultivated with retailers, others appreciate not having to shop around for price. And going direct doesn’t necessarily mean higher prices. Manufacturers who have too much product on their shelves may offer deep discounts to liquidate their wares when necessary.

It can take the new collector a while to learn how to navigate all of these choices in order to come up with the best price. I’ve been at it for 12 years, and I still manage to overpay now and again. But if you follow the two Cardinal Rules of Doll-buying, you should be okay: 1) Never pay retail, and 2) Hold your horses. If you take time to shop around and wait for a bargain … Chances are you’ll find one.