Doll Show - Toledo, Ohio - April 27th, 2024

I see by one of Tam's latest posts that she was here too. We were hoping to bump into each other, but it was not to be this time. Fortunately for me, the photos that I took are almost completely different from hers, although I took a lot fewer.

This table near the front attracted me, because the dealer arranged some of her dolls in a holiday type theme. I took pictures of Easter and Independence Day displays. I know RagingMoon likes the red, white and blue, and I do as well.

 

 

This was technically a Doll and Bear Show (most of them are around here) and there were plenty of stuffed animals for sale. The adorable bunnies appear to mostly be Steiffs. I'm not sure who manufactured all of the cats, but I'm guessing that the Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood character Daniel Striped Tiger was a cousin of one of these felines. (By the way, Daniel's middle name is pronounced like bi-ped.) At least one seems to have the Steiff logo, so they may all be Steiff animals too.

When Mr. BTEG and I were in Hamburg for several weeks, one of our favorite places to visit was a local toy store. Mr. BTEG loved the LEGO and building toys, and I looked at all the dollhouses, but we each ended up with a Steiff animal too. The new ones at least are a lot cheaper there, although I suppose ours are vintage now, since they're over 30 years old. Yikes! I got a sweet stuffed lamb named Laemmchen, which literally means Little Lamb. Not very creative, I know, but it suits her. She measures around 7" inches long.

This dealer is building up her own Tammy army. Barbie, Midge and Ken are not very far behind, but no match for the wall of Tammy.

There were very few modern dolls compared to the vintage and antique dolls. There was one Ellowynne. I was tempted by the Mattel Teen Trends Gabby to the bottom right behind Ellowynne, but her white pants were badly yellowed.

I also saw my first Leeann doll in person. Leeann is a doll created by Canadian doll enthusiast and creative, Denis Bastien. He was mostly involved with doll sewing until he got the idea to create his own doll, a girl with endless energy and curiosity. Leeann was eventually joined by a whole group of friends. I have linked to his website, but there will be nothing on it until August 15th, as he has journeyed to France for the summer. Leeann is about 12" tall, if I remember correctly. Judging by her box, this particular doll was a UFDC convention souvenir.

I saw one My Child doll, a boy in a very pastel get-up.

I loved this doll, but also her outfit. When you get closer to her, you see that her jacket is a very tiny check pattern.

I took a few pictures of dolls to share with people. The Disney Fairies were for my youngest daughter, who loved the Disney Fairies series when she was a girl. I think these were Disney Store exclusives.

And the Terri Lee dolls photo is for RagingMoon, who shared pics of her own Terri Lee recently. My favorites here are the one in the blue velvet coat, and the one in plaid.

Unlike Tam, I did not buy any dolls. I don't have the money or proper storage space for antique or vintage dolls that I would consider right now, and antique and vintage were the huge majority of this show. I didn't see any newer dolls or clothes that I couldn't live without, either. I did buy three pieces of doll jewelry, though. Cecilia from Rainbow High will be my model, as she was handy and has appropriate clothes that won't detract from the baubles. I got a pair of blue teardrop earrings. Cecilia is merely holding one up to her ear. The posts are very long, and I'm not ready to trim them until I figure out which type of dolls will be wearing these.

 

The chain is also rather long on this necklace with the porcelain rose pendant. You can see it to Cecilia's right going down her back, if you look. This means a larger doll will probably get to wear this.

Lastly is this petit point pin. This is also a little bit large for a 1/6" scale doll, but I love petit point, so I had to get this. It will certainly look nice on a Tonner size doll. It's even about the same size as a petit point pin and earrings which are supposed to be for humans. My set is also vintage now.

Sadly, most of these dealers at this show seemed to be based out of Michigan or thereabouts, which is further west from me than Toledo, so I won't see many of these people in Strongsville at the next doll show there. It was an hour and a half drive from home, and I think any large area in Michigan might be a bit too far for a day drive. If I want to go to something badly enough, Mr. BTEG and I can always make a vacation out of it, I suppose. What would you most want to see/purchase at a doll show?

Makies Tea Set

Last week, the Evil Genius family was at CodeMash, a learning event for computer developers. Mr. BTEG's employer sent him, but as he was provided with a four-person room, the rest of the family was able to tag along. Family attendance is indeed encouraged with KidzMash, which is a learning track for the younger set. My daughters were too old to get much out of KidzMash, but they were able to do things with Mr. BTEG, including working on a robot, so that they really got a lot out of the trip. It also doesn't hurt that the event is held at the Kalahari Resort Waterpark in Sandusky, Ohio.

How does this relate to Makies? Well, lately, Mr. BTEG has been getting into 3D printing. There is a a 3D printer at the public library in downtown Cleveland, for which you pay a low price per hour. Mr. BTEG told me there would be a free 3D printer at CodeMash, if you could get an appointment. I showed him my Makie doll, and he helped me look around for 3D doll stuff that I could print. (No, I don't hide my doll purchases from Mr. BTEG, but he doesn't really have much interest in checking out the new stuff I buy.) Turns out, MakieLab has its very own design page on Thingiverse.com, a place to download 3D printed designs. The thing I especially liked among the Makies designs was this tea set. Mr. BTEG was able to grab some design time on the 3D printer, and had a set printed up for me. It's very rough and needs sanding, but I wanted to show it in its original condition. Keep in mind that it took three hours to print this set.

These were the bases where the items sat while they were printed.

The set in its entirety. Four cups, cream pitcher, sugar bowl, pot and two lids

The inside of a teacup

The sugar bowl and its lid

And here are two pictures of Meg holding tea set pieces, for an idea of the size.

I was planning on getting some pictures of Meg in the waterpark, but I actually ended up getting bored and coming home early. I did get some pictures of Meg lounging in our room; this is the one I like the best.

I wonder what "the next thing" will be with the Makies, since the company is moving to the US. In the meantime, I'm wondering if the 3D printer downtown will be good enough to print out some boots for Meg. She could use some more shoes!