I meant to get this post up several days ago, but it turned out to be more work than I thought it would, getting everything unpacked, sorted out and photographed. It didn't help that my sewing/doll area was in a shambles from deciding what I should take with me to the convention. Also, it didn't seem like I brought a lot home, but it seemed like an awful lot when I went to take pictures of all of it!
Let's start with the dessert event on the first night. In addition to a chance to buy the centerpiece, the doll I've already shown, everyone received a 17" DeDe Denton doll. Half of the dolls were fair with blond hair, and half of the dolls had browner skin, and dark hair. It was pure chance which doll you received, as they were wrapped in paper, and laid out on the tables. I got the blond one. She's already moved on to a new home, as I'm not fond of the DeDe Denton line. A lot of it, I think, is because I don't like her heavy black eyeliner. I'm also not in to rooted eyelashes.
That night the sales rooms were open after dessert. I was a bit disappointed, as they were rather small. Not only were there not a lot of tables, but there was not a lot of room to move around.
Marcia was there, and I bought two hair barrettes for my dolls from her, as well as a working umbrella, 6" tall. I was also interested in buying a tiara, but she didn't have the space to have everything on show, and I decided to wait until the doll show on Sunday to look at more.
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| Something told me that this star barrette would look nice on Meg. She loves it. |
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| This circle barrette doesn't look as good as I thought it would, using Basic Daphne as a model. |
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| It suits this Sydney better, with her thicker, curly locks. |
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| It will be difficult to get the strap around the umbrella, back through the buckle. |
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| Pretty much like a real umbrella! |
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| The more articulated dolls can even look like they're holding it! |
At another table, there was a basket of random Tonner clothes, which two women were already rummaging through. I waited for a few minutes, then got impatient and moved in a little to start my own search. I practically grabbed this dress out of a woman's hands when I recognized it! She was in the process of putting it back in the basket, though, so it didn't turn all Black Friday-ish. :) I got the dress, originally made for a Patsy doll, for $3. It was a fantastic deal!
There was another Patsy two piece outfit in the basket, but it was made of a rather thin feeling material, and I didn't love it, so I passed on it.
You already know about the Ann Estelle doll that I bought. Here's some decent pictures of her, and a picture of her next to her "older" sister, an unarticulated Ann from the first time the Mary Engelbreit line was produced.
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| Poor Ann-on-the-left's wig is just not as nice as Ann-on-the-right's. |
The lace-trimmed petticoat beneath Ann's dress was made with too much material, so that the fabric folds up on itself. I suspect that the petticoat was designed before the velveteen was picked to be the dress fabric. The petticoat just can't hold up the weight of that heavy material.
Oh, also, everyone had table napkins at the Ann Estelle luncheon that matched the print of 18" Ann's plaid skirt. I forgot to take pictures of those, but they're just pieces of fabric. I collected a couple from other people who didn't want theirs, and no, they hadn't used them. :) There were regular napkins at the table as well. I'll use the fabric to make something for my 10" dolls at some point. Here's the picture of 18" Ann on our table.
At the formal dinner event on the last evening, there was a small jewelry box at every place setting. This contained a necklace and a pair of earrings sized for the 16" dolls, or possibly the 17" ones too.
In the human sized silver tote bag that everyone received at registration, there was one doll accessory, along with a few other items like our name tag. I don't know if everyone got the same thing that I received. In mine was a red purse with white bows, made for the Ellowyne Wilde line.
And at last came the
Mid-Ohio Doll Show! Tam has explained how much bigger the show used to be, on
her blog. Here, I think there were only four aisles, with tables on either side. It took place in what had been the room where we had our meals at the convention, so if you've seen anybody's pictures of that entire place, you can tell how relatively small the room was. Not only that, but the aisles were pretty crowded. Plus, chairs for the vendors to sit on were not behind or next to the tables, but in front of them, which blocked some of the merchandise. Honestly, knowing that Marcia (see above) has an online store, I passed on buying anymore of her items. It wasn't her fault, but she was standing right in front of the tiara display, digging through a box for a customer, while a man was on one knee, stretched out to look at something, right behind her. And her chair was on the other side of her. I waited for a couple of minutes, but I didn't want to wait too long for something I can get at my leisure later on (and also when I've saved more money up!)
One of my biggest priorities was shoes for Ann Estelle and the gang. Having bought so many nude dolls, several of the poor girls had bare feet! Clothes I can make, but shoes are more difficult. I ended up picking up a pair of white Mary Janes, a pair of black T-straps, and two pairs of sneakers. The shoes were not specifically made for the 10" Tonners, and are a little roomy. On the other hand, the shoes with buckles slip on easily that way, and I don't want to mess with tiny buckles anymore than I have to.
I also bought a couple of pieces of doll jewelry, only I made a mistake there. For some reason, I thought the numbers written on the front of the package were the size doll they were for. Turns out, it was the chains that were 6" and 11" long. Oops. I can put them on new chains, or something. I also need to do something about the earrings I bought. Both the hooks are way too long, and oddly shaped.
Lastly, I got to meet a real life fellow doll blogger! I met up with Tam, of
Planet of the Dolls, at the doll show, and then we had lunch before I had to head back north. It was so nice to talk to someone who likes dolls, as I do, and is a nice person besides! Here's the "selfie" that I took.
I've enjoyed sharing my experiences with you fellow collectors out there! Thank you for reading through my posts!
You got some great stuff!
ReplyDeleteI'd never thought about going to one of these events, but reading your posts has made me really consider it, especially if one ends up being local (I was just reading about their "Wedding" event in DC - if only I were still living there!).
I've toyed with the idea of going to a doll convention for quite a while, but the fact that this one was so close definitely pushed me into going. If you were still in DC, I'd definitely recommend you go to the Wilde Wedding.
ReplyDeleteWell, thanks for the compliment Barb.You're nice too. Was the sales room during the convention in another room than the actual show? Was it just vendors with Tonner stuff? It wasn't all the same vendors as the show was it?
ReplyDeleteThere were two sales rooms that were in separate rooms from the ballroom during the convention. The big room, the ball room, where the doll show was, was only used for meals during the convention itself.
DeleteEach of the convention sales rooms was about the size of, let's say a large living room, in a regular house. There were five or six vendors in each room, so no more than twelve independent vendors during the convention. I don't think all of the vendors there were also at the doll show. Facets by Marcia was at both, because she is a huge name in that part of the doll world. She also told me she was going to be at the doll show when I asked her about tiaras. Her space at the doll show was about twice what it was during the convention.
I know at least one vendor at the convention had various brands of dolls, like Kish dolls and Ruby Red Galleria.
Also at the convention, there was a Tonner Company sales room, that was about the size of two living rooms. The convention dolls, extra centerpiece dolls, etc. were for sale there, as well as stuff from Tonner and Wilde Imagination's current lines. The Tonner Company room was only open during the convention. As you saw, Tonner had a corner table of dolls to sell at the doll show.
Then, there were also separate rooms for a doll overview of Robert's career, the competition room, the raffle room, and two rooms for the workshops, and probably the seminars. It was confusing at the beginning figuring out where everything was!
That's a lot of rooms! So do you think you got your money's worth? I know it was pretty expensive.
ReplyDeleteI feel that what I paid for the convention covered my meals and the items that I received. We got four nice meals and a nice dessert during the convention. Tonner made money because of course they got the dolls and accessories at wholesale price. Often times, people also sell off items from a convention that they don't want, to recoup some of the cost.
DeleteSo that just leaves the hotel room. A hotel room is a given cost if you're going somewhere out of town, though, on a vacation or whatever. Unless you're going to a gaming convention. I'll write about that below, if you're interested.
So it's interesting how different my convention was from the ones Mr. BTEG is attending. Right now, he's at Origins. He and the Dancer will also be attending GenCon in August. If you volunteer, and you put in enough hours, you can get your admission and hotel room for free, although you do have to share it with strangers. Mr. BTEG and the Dancer are both leading games at GenCon as their volunteer work. That just leaves food. Mr. BTEG took bread and peanut butter for at least some of his meals. And of course you also don't have the many changes of clothes you can rack up at a doll convention, if you do all the costume things. I think at gaming conventions you're required to change your clothes at least once. :)
ReplyDeleteOf course, I'm not sure what Tonner's volunteers got, besides a very limited edition special doll only for volunteers. There were table hostesses, and also people who were "watchdogs" in the display rooms, and people who checked your receipts when you left a convention sales room. Would you believe, there was a "guess how many of these are in the jar" contest, and somebody just walked off with the jar?