How do you Collect? Part 1

As I continue to go through my doll collection and separate the keepers from the must-find-another-homers, I can't help but notice what makes keepers, keepers. They are all dolls that I love! Whether purchased 25 years ago, or just last week, whether the price was exorbitant, or found at a yard sale for a quarter - I love them. Conversely, the dolls looking for new homes, were either gifts, prizes, emotional purchases, or frenzied purchases. The "frenzied" purchases are of greatest concern. This is when a company creates a frenzy for their product. MGA did this with their Moxie Teenz dolls by delaying the release, and limiting the number of Bijou dolls. People were furiously hunting for her, and when some found her, they bought up as many as they could to sell on the secondary market. All this Bijou buying lasted until someone finally de-boxed one, discovered her poor articulation, and posted their findings on the internet.

By the time I actually de-boxed one, I had already purchased 2 Bijous, an Arizona, and a Tristen. All but one of them will be looking for a new home! Another frenzy that I fell for - and only beginning to recover from, is that of Monster High. Mattel started to cast their spell in 2009 with articles and blogs all over the internet about this new franchise of dolls, books, videos etc which were on the horizon for the coming year. I saw pictures of the dolls and fell in love almost immediately! I confess to being a bit on the odd side, and these dolls made being odd - cool! My first mistake was to pre-order 2 of the dolls from an online store whose name shall remain nameless but their initials are AD. I paid my money and waited. Soon, I start to see posts in online forums about people having found the dolls in their local stores - and the prices were much lower than I had paid at AD! My patience flew out of the window, I made a mad dash to my local Target, Walmart, and TRU stores. Found them at Target for $5 less than AD, and I did not have to pay shipping. Because I knew I could not get a full refund from AD if I cancelled my order, I just purchased one doll - Clawdeen Wolf at Target. A few days later, I found a Draculara at Walmart for a few dollars cheaper than the Target price. My AD dolls arrived several weeks later, but I still wasn't through! People kept posting pictures of new characters that I just had to have. Then there were new "waves"! These were just the same characters in new clothes! On and on it went until at last count, 19 Monster High dolls were living here! This does not include the 5 Create a Monster sets, a few clothing packs, Lagoona's Hydration Station, Clawdeen's bunk beds, or the Coffee Bean play sets. In my own defense, I was going through trying times with my family, and confess that these were stress induced purchases. About half of the Monster High madness is, or soon will be looking for new homes. I have now committed myself to no more frenzy buying. Methinks a bottle of wine shared with friends is a better way of combating stress, cheaper, and takes up less space than new dolls.

Sewing again - YEAH!

It has been too long since I did any serious sewing for my dolls. I tried, but the stress of caring for my mother, home renovations, and grieving my mother's passing made it all but impossible to do anything remotely creative. Well. it's been about 5 months, and the fog is finally starting to clear. Last weekend, I actually made a couple of outfits that I am proud of, and finished a few that had languished too long in the UFO (unfinished object) box.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tea-Party-Pretty-for-14-Betsy-McCall-and-Hearts-for-Hearts-dolls-/271057562406?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f1c4a2b26 I made this one for Hearts for Hearts dolls, but it surprisingly fits 14" Betsy McCall and Dru perfectly! I have it listed on Ebay, but am having second thoughts about selling it.....

Time to Purge....

I saw a show on the Syfy channel today called Collection Intervention. They showcased a woman who was a "passionate" Barbie collector. The woman was not a hoarder, but she did have more dolls and accessories than she could enjoy. Much was stored in her sons' closets and her husband's workshop! Though my doll collection doesn't even come close to hers, there is a common factor: I have more than I can display and enjoy. As I am determined not to become like my late mother (who was a serious hoarder), and I do so want to enjoy my dolls, I have come to the realization that it is time to purge.

I am starting with Monster High dolls. I started collecting them after my father passed away, and while watching my mother's health steadily decline over the following 2 and a half years, I bought more! I have way too many duplicates - same character in different outfit, so these will be the first to go! If you collect Monster High dolls, or know someone who does, please direct them to my listings. http://www.ebay.com/sch/allthegoodgone/m.html?item=271057424228&_trksid=p2047675.l2562&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&rt=nc Thanks!

squarepeg's misc musings: Why I won't Purchase Another MGA (Bratz) Product

squarepeg's misc musings: Why I won't Purchase Another MGA (Bratz) Product: It is a fact that I have never been a Bratz fan. I was not one of those who thought the dolls were trampy or anything, they just did not re...

Why I won't Purchase Another MGA (Bratz) Product

It is a fact that I have never been a Bratz fan. I was not one of those who thought the dolls were trampy or anything, they just did not really appeal to me. I did however purchase quite a few after they lost their first court battle with Mattel. I had read that the dolls were ordered off store shelves and thought I should get a couple in the unlikely even that they increased in value. Needless to say, that didn't happen.

At any rate, as the court battles went on, MGA launched a couple of "new" doll lines. Moxie Girlz and Moxie Teenz. The former bore an uncanny resemblance to 4Ever Best Friends dolls(2004-2005) which bore a striking resemblance to Mattel's Wee Three Friends line of dolls which were launched several months earlier, and the latter resembled Liv dolls.

Today, I see an ad for Bald Bratz. MGA supposedly launched these dolls to support children undergoing cancer treatments. According to their website, $1 from the sale of each doll(which retails for $19.99) will be donated to The Starlight Children's foundation. So why do I have a problem with this? This comes along only after Mattel announced they would be producing bald Barbie dolls! Mattel chose not to sell their dolls, but donated them to children's hospitals around the country. In essence, I think MGA stinks! I gave them the benefit of the doubt with that whole Carter Bryant/ who is the legal owner of Brats, yadda, yadda, yadda, thing, but not any more! After looking at their entire body of work, it appears that MGA has created a business from other people's ideas/businesses. Why not continue to mimic Mattel and donate the dolls to the children they are supposed to help? No only do I believe MGA to be copy-catting thugs, but also exploiters of sick children. They're like the folks who sell pirated DVDs in front of the grocery stores. I don't buy those bootleg movies, and I will no longer spend money on any MGA products.

Tim Gunn Styles Barbie - Be still my beating heart!

According to InStyle magazine, Barbie is getting a Tim Gunn makeover. Barbie is - and may always be my favorite doll, and for the past 8 years, Project Runway has been one of my favorite television shows. These 2 go together like peas and carrots! The $30 dolls and $25 accessory packs are supposed to hit BarbieCollector.com and Target stores on August 1st. I can only assume that these dolls will replace the now discontinued Barbie Basics dolls. I can hardly contain my excitement!

Monster High Create Your Own Monster

I can't believe this is my first blog post this year! Oh well, better late than never.

At any rate, I've been hearing quite a bit of buzz about the new Monster High Create your own Monster kits, and have been looking for them locally for weeks. I finally found what I thought was one at TRU last weekend.



Turns out, this is an "add-on" kit that has no torso. I searched and searched, but there was no "Starter" kit to be found. Oh well, I will just buy one online - so I thought. To my chagrin, the only starter kits I found online were on TRU's website, and they wanted $26.99 plus tax, plus shipping! So, I decided I could wait. TRU, Wally World, or Target were bound to get them sooner or later.



I didn't have to wait long as I found this starter set at TRU yesterday. I got all excited when I saw that it was half off - label said it was missing a dress, but that was okay since I intended to make custom fashions for her anyway. Upon closer inspection though, I noticed it was not the dress that was missing, but the torso! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised; from what I've read, the biggest complaint about these kits is that there is only one torso included, and people are selling torsos on Ebay for up to $40! Isn't that silly? Hell, you can buy a whole new kit for $25 eat TRU!

As you may have guessed, this was the only starter kit in stock. I bought it because of the clearance price thinking that I could perhaps buy a couple of the cheaper Gloom Beach dolls and use their torsos to build my own monster. Of course TRU had none, so off to Target I went. Target didn't have any of the cheaper dolls in stock, but they did have 1 lonely starter kit in stock - and it was only $19.99! I grabbed it, skipped to the checkout, and rushed home to build my monster!



She went together fairly easily, and I think she is adorable! I don't like the clothing, but that's not a big issue - I will make more. What I don't like is pretty much what everyone else doesn't like - only one torso! The kit costs as much as 2 Gloom Beach dolls, so why not include 2 torsos! At the very least,Mattel could sell the torsos separately - kind of like they do the heads for those crazy Swappin' Heads Fashionistas!

Though I love the Monster High dolls, I won't be buying any more of these create a Monster money getters!

What do you think of them?