Hooray for pink eye(s)!
Ah, the little things...I swapped out my demon doll's brown eyes for pink. Happiness.
April 09, 2008
August 13, 2007
Dolls: Tonner Mini Mood 2007 Convention BJD
I got my very first Ball-Joint Doll, except she doesn't really count because she's a Robert Tonner doll, so not Asian, and more fashion-doll influenced than a proper customizable BJD. But she's sweet, and while she's nowhere near as nice as the Elfdoll Hana I have on layaway at The Doll Peddlar, I do like her little pixie face. And I got her for a hundred bucks! Wizard World Convention deal, woo! Which is (for those who aren't familiar with the expensive world of resin dolls) WAY less than Elfdoll Hana or any other BJD.
I'll do a proper write-up with photos of her joints and stuff soon, but for now here she is on my book shelf, wearing an Only Hearts club outfit.
July 14, 2007
Doll Shops: Gigi's Dolls and Sherry's Teddy Bears
Gigi's is where I buy most of my dolls and doll stuff here in Chicagoland. They're a mom-and-daughter operation and they've been in business for ages. They're definitely an old-school shop, so you won't find much on their website, but they'll take care of anything you like over the phone, they have a strong presence at shows, and the shop itself is a dream.
The shop is up on Northwest Highway, in a nice area on (you guessed it) the northwest side of the city, right near the city limit. I get there by taking 294 to the Touhey stop, then heading east on Touhey to NW Highway, and then southeast down to the shop. From where I live in the southlands, it's about an hour's drive, and I cheerfully make this pilgrimage every couple of months (or more) because it's always a fun experience.
The shop is large, bright, and chock-full of beautiful things. When you arrive they offer you coffee and cookies, and they'll look after your coat or anything you don't want to carry. Whenever I've been there, at least two people were working behind the counter, and while they let you browse in peace they're always ready to help out or just to chat about dolls.
Going around the shop (in my head) clockwise, they have: Alex dolls; a case of Gene dolls; two wall-length bookcases full of plush toys and bears; a paper doll rack; a book rack; a glass case full of fancy barbies of various types. In the middle of this section there's a case full of large, pretty cool porcelain artist's dolls that are too expensive for me to bother looking at, so I don't really remember exactly what's in there, but if you collect the really exclusive stuff, they've got it. Anyway, moving around the store, there's a whole lot of regular barbies on an open shelf set along with various action dolls, planet-of-the-apes dolls, etc - all those 12" movie tie-in things. This is encircled by cases of dollhouse miniatures and dollhouses.
Next there's the nostalgia room, which is full of affordable, "as-is" dolls from the 70's and thereabouts -- Tiffany Taylor, Effanbee dolls of the world, Jem, Suzy Walker, Sweet Sue, Krissy, My friend Mandy, and so on. Then there's the clothing room, which has a zillion doll outfits on hangers. There are some particularly nice ones for older porcelain lady dolls--some of which will fit contemporary dolls, too, or can be altered to fit them. I got a nice vintage white petticoat and chemise for one of my Tonner American Models recently. Connected to the clothes room is the wig & shoe room, which also has new bodies for antique porcelain heads and other parts and pieces. Most of the wigs aren't for small dolls like Tyler or Tiny kitty, and a lot of them are in little-girl or baby styles, but last time I was in they had a couple very nice BJD wigs, too.
Moving along, they have a case marked "doll museum" that's full of all kinds of amazing stuff, none of it for sale, but tons of fun to look at. They've got a long case full of vintage alexanders, and another long case of contemporary alexanders--cissies and wendies and so on. In between the alexanders is a wall of ethnic dolls, including those odd silk chinese-lady ones that are more like statues, because they can't be posed. In the center of this area are cases with some amazing porcelain dolls, both contemporary and antique.
Then there's a section with all sorts of play dolls--inexpensive madeline dolls, some American Girls dolls, Ginny & Toni, Betsy McCall. There's a case full of those Franklin Mint-type bride dolls. And then there's a whole section devoted to Tonner dolls, from Tonner co. as well as Effanbee, plus a bunch of ready-to-wear outfits for Tyler and friends.
Here and there throughout the store are smaller displays with small collections of all kinds of different things, from porcelain half-lady pincushion dolls to R. John Wright felt dolls, to Pullips and Blythes. (And there are probably 50 other types of dolls I haven't described here, because I can only remember so much!) There are some things they don't carry - I don't recall seeing many contemporary porcelain baby dolls (which I personally find hideous, so I don't miss 'em), although they do have some terrific antique ones (which are much cooler). They're not eager to get on the BJD bandwagon, but they are going to carry Goudreau doll's "American BJD's" (if they ever arrive! I've got one reserved). Sometimes you'll find stuff they bought from collectors--I found some great Kitty Collier outfits there, that turned out to have come from someone who got them on Ebay.
They seem to have a good relationship with the doll creators, particularly Tonner and Odom, and are always sponsoring or hosting some event or other. They're very good about keeping customers in the know--you can have a note added to your file and they'll call you when they get new stuff from whomever you collect. And they have sales and discounts pretty frequently. Oh, and when you check out they give you a bag of candy!
So if you're in the Chicago area, and want to be dazzled, you should stop in.
May 21, 2007
We're going to Graceland, Graceland, Memphis Tennesee
We're going to visit family in Dallas for the weekend so we're planning to road-trip it and spend a day in Memphis on the way. Whee! Graceland! Also there's apparently a cool cemetery, so I'll get some photos of that. And we might stop at The Doll Pedlar in Little Rock, Arkansas as well, so I can check out some Asian Ball-Jointed Dolls in person...I've been looking at pictures of them and they seem very cool, but $500 is a hell of a lot of money. I want to see how much I like the look & feel of resin because all my current dolls are vinyl (and a couple porcelain). I'm working on a freelance art thingy in the hopes of pulling together a doll fund so I can eventually get a Korean or Japanese BJD...this one, if possible:
I'm already on the list at my local shop (Gigi's Dolls and Sherri's Teddy Bears, who are awesome despite their old-school website) to get one of the Goodreau dolls when they're available, but I'm getting the less-expensive vinyl version. Gotta start on the more reasonable side of things.
Oh, yeah, in case I never mentioned it? I'm a doll collector. I'll include some pics of my little crew in a future post.
Anyway, I guess right now I've got dolls on the brain more than anything else about the trip, but once we get on the road I'll be more focused on Memphis. If we get on the road...we're having another little family health crisis right now (which is why I'm not in bed yet, despite it being well past my usual bedtime). Hub and I are both the youngest in our families which means that our parents are all on the far side of 70. Everyone's doing pretty well, but life is full of the wrong kind of adventure once your liver or knees or whatever aren't on your side any more. So hopefully we'll get everything sorted and everyone can be comfortable and mobile and so on, and we can take a vacation!