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Are Antique Doll Reproductions Collectible?
This week a consignor brought a very beautiful doll to me. It turned out that the beautiful doll was an antique doll reproduction made by artist Claire Wade in 1964. Claire Wade is a known antique doll reproduction artist who worked with Emma Clear at one time. This beautiful doll, for me, raised the question about the desirability and collectibility of antique doll reproductions, which I explore in An Antique Doll Reproduction By Doll Artist Claire Wade - Are Doll Reproductions Collectible? Are Antique Doll Reproductions Collectible? originally appeared on About.com Doll Collecting on Thursday, August 12th, 2010 at 13:17:23.
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New American Girl Store to Open in Washington D.C. Area!
American Girl has plans to open its first Washington D.C. area store. The store will be located in Northern Virginia, at the popular Tysons Corner Center. The store will be 23,000 square feet and two levels, and it will offer the full line of American Girl dolls, clothing and accessories. In addition, the store will have a Bistro for dining (with dolls, of course), a doll hair salon, and a "Creativi-Tees" boutique where girls can design their own doll t-shirt. Get more information in American Girl to open store in Washington, D.C in Playthings Magazine.
New American Girl Store to Open in Washington D.C. Area! originally appeared on About.com Doll Collecting on Thursday, August 26th, 2010 at 11:47:37.
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Antique German Baby Dolls Are Often Overlooked
I was playing with some new doll photography backgrounds today, and I sort of absentmindedly picked up a Kestner JDK Baby Doll, and plunked her down just to take some test shots. When I sat down at my computer to take a look at how the photos came out, I really noticed the baby doll..the modeling and painting on this doll is quite lovely! I immediately felt bad about ignoring that baby, and I think many collectors do. Antique baby dolls are finely made, espcially some of the baby dolls made by Kestner. Find out more about Kestner in my new Kestner Dolls article.Antique German Baby Dolls Are Often Overlooked originally appeared on About.com Doll Collecting on Friday, July 16th, 2010 at 16:15:55.
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Madame Alexander Dolls Will Be In McDonald's Happy Meals Starting August 20th!
I just found out that the very popular tiny Madame Alexander dolls will again be in McDonald's Happy Meals starting August 20th! The meals will introduce eight new tiny Madame Alexander® dolls featuring "Storybook Couples." The pairs are Cinderella and Prince Charming, Little Red Riding Hood and Wendy as The Big Bad Wolf, Alice in Wonderland and The Mad Hatter, and Hansel and Gretel. Although aimed at children, I know many adult collectors collect these tiny dolls to complement their larger Madame Alexander dolls. The tiny dolls feature sleep eyes, and joints at the arms, legs and heads, plus tiny cloth costumes. Madame Alexander Dolls have been in Happy Meals since 2002. Prior sets of dolls have had themes such as the Wizard of Oz and other Storybook and contemporary characters. Madame Alexander Dolls Will Be In McDonald's Happy Meals Starting August 20th! originally appeared on About.com Doll Collecting on Thursday, August 5th, 2010 at 10:50:44.
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9th Circuit Court of Appeals Overturns Mattel Verdict Againts MGA
In a stunning verdict, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today overturned the 2008 verdict that gave Mattel rights to MGA's Bratz dolls. In December 2008, a jury found that Carter Bryant, the designer who created the Bratz Dolls was working for Mattel when he conceived of the idea and the names and made the initial drawings for Bratz. For more information on this breaking news, read Mattel Loses Bratz Doll Appeals Court Ruling to MGA by Bloomberg. It looks like Mattel will be forced to retry the entire case due to this ruling.
9th Circuit Court of Appeals Overturns Mattel Verdict Againts MGA originally appeared on About.com Doll Collecting on Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 at 18:55:22.
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Dolls and Society
Several articles and blogs regarding dolls and their place and importance in society have come to my attention this week. One, from the ParentDish blog, discusses how American Girl dolls, through their books, have a liberal bias. Another, from Anderson Cooper's 360, revisits a pilot study based on the 1940's doll test which explores children's attitudes about skin tone. Both the blog and the study are thought provoking and worth a look.
Dolls and Society originally appeared on About.com Doll Collecting on Thursday, August 12th, 2010 at 11:36:08.
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Dudes and Dolls
I've maintained for years that action figures are simply dolls for guys. Well, John Devore at CNN has, in Men may travel light, but some pack teddy bears now vallidated my opinion, stating "...most guys I know who won't admit to having a stuffed animal have a desk adorned with action figures, which are just dolls with muscles." Of course, there are men who collect traditional dolls as well. In fact, the myth that all doll collectors are women, is my third myth in Top 10 Doll Collecting Myths. Yet there are always neanderthals like my husband, as you can see in Why You Should Never Let Your Husband Sell Dolls on eBay. Well, theses days maybe you shouldn't let anyone sell dolls on eBay, but that is a story for another day!
Dudes and Dolls originally appeared on About.com Doll Collecting on Thursday, August 26th, 2010 at 11:34:18.
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Perplexed by the Upcoming Doll Photography Exhibit at V & A Museum of Childhood
So, here I am in London. And usually, I would run, not walk, to any temporary exhibit involving dolls that I heard about while in London. I found out today that indeed there is such an exhibit in London right now, at the Victoria and Albert Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood (a few years ago, for instance, I was completely intranced by the Viktor and Rolf exhibit at the Barbicon). Unfortunately, I'm not sure that the exhibit is worth going out of my way for.
The exhibit, Doll Face (running from Friday, September 3 throgh January 2, 2011) features photographs of doll faces by photographer Craig Dean.. The exhibit came to my attention via an article in The Guardian newspaper. I think that I've seen so many amazing photographs of dolls by so many amazing doll photographers that it is hard to impress me with stark face photographs of dolls of the type presented in this exhibit. In any event, I many have to head over to the Bethnal Green museum anyway, since they do have a superb permenant display of dolls taken from their immense collection of 8,000 dolls.
Perplexed by the Upcoming Doll Photography Exhibit at V & A Museum of Childhood originally appeared on About.com Doll Collecting on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at 18:48:07.
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Toy Story 3 - Not To Be Missed!
It's not too late to see Toy Story 3! Absolutely the best movie featuring dolls ever. Really, ever. There's Ken and Barbie, of course Woody and Jessie, and the oddly creepy but very important Big Baby. And, I will admit it...the movie made me cry. The movie really understands connections that children and parents have with childhood toys, in a way that doll collectors will recognize and relate to. It's still in theaters; don't miss it!Toy Story 3 - Not To Be Missed! originally appeared on About.com Doll Collecting on Sunday, July 18th, 2010 at 15:14:36.
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Alphabet Body China Dolls - Charming and Hard to Find
China dolls are popular not only with antique doll collectors, but also with decorators and others who don't necessarily collect dolls, but like the immediately recogonizable "antiqueness" of china dolls. One of my favorite types of china dolls are those with alpahabet-printed bodies. These dolls are hard to find, especially with bodies that are bright and unworn. Unlike most other china dolls, alphabet body china dolls are preferably displayed without clothing, to better show off the doll's body. The doll pictured at left also features numbered dominoes; the polychrome cotton prints used on the dolls' bodies were considered educational for children of the time period (approximately 1890s to early 1900s).Alphabet Body China Dolls - Charming and Hard to Find originally appeared on About.com Doll Collecting on Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 at 13:03:01.
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