I am back amidst the greenery (and cold) of Maine, and am working on my next normal review, but I want to quickly share one other neat spot I found in Phoenix. Within walking distance from our hotel was the beautiful Heritage Science Park, home to both the Arizona Science Center and the Arizona Doll and Toy Museum. The park offered an excellent arrangement for my family--my son and husband made a beeline for the science center while I stopped in to check out the doll museum before joining them. Every...
Well, I tried to track down a place called JBS Dolls and Gifts. This shop advertised having custom porcelain dolls and doll making supplies, in addition to some collectable doll lines like Zapf and Madame Alexander. Sounded perfect. Unfortunately, I didnt call ahead or anything, and when we pulled into the shopping center where the store was supposed to be, there was no doll store. Just a donut shop (not a bad thing) and a few other miscellaneous retail spots. My second try was a few miles away in Sc...
Ive been pretty distracted lately--sorry. There was a week of complete pandemonium in my house as we helped my son prepare for a big science fair in Phoenix. Now that were finally in Arizona, I have some time to relax and write. I am so excited to be here--partly because of the science, but also because its neat to be in the desert. It looks completely different from Maine. I mean, I saw a cactus at the side of the road last night as we drove from the airport. A cactus. My internet searching tel...
I got a tip a while ago about the presence of a Funko POP! Cinderella figurine. This captured my attention for three reasons. First, Cinderella. Second, the name: Funko Pop sounds cool and is fun to say. Third, I had never heard about Funko before, and I love learning about doll and toy companies and their products. I decided to investigate. Funko is a 15-year-old Washington-based company that is best known for making bobbleheads. They also make a variety of pop culture items including action fig...
Over the last year, I have had several requests to review one of the Disney Princess Me dolls. I can understand why people are curious about these dolls. First of all, at just under 20 inches tall, they make impressive gifts. In addition, they portray the beloved Disney Princesses, and so collectors and enthusiasts of these characters will be tempted to own a large version of their favorite heroine. Also, these dolls are comparably sized to many slim 18 play dolls like Carpatina, Kidz n Cats and Mag...
For this post, I am thrilled to introduce an overseas friend who asked to write a guest review for the blog this week. She and I both have Skelita Calaveras, one of the new Scaris Monster High dolls. Since I am always bursting with opinions, Ill have to get my two cents in at the end, but Ill let our guest, known here as LagoonaLicious, tell you all about Skelita first. In fact, Id like to start the review with her wonderful portrait. I love this: Over to you, LagoonaLicious! Spring break had just ...
Juku Couture dolls are 9 inch articulated plastic fashion dolls with inset eyes. The dolls are named after a Japanese fashion trend called Harajuku that involves combining lots of mis-matched fashion elements into a personalized look. The dolls are dressed in multi-layered outfits with pieces in contrasting styles and colors. These dolls were released by Jakks Pacific in 2008 and, from what I can tell, were discontinued after only four waves: Series 1, Series 2 (called In the Wild), a 2009 re-release ...
It seems fitting that I stumbled upon China Girl while I was writing my post about antique dolls. I had crazing, cracking and bisque on my mind as I was wandering the aisles of Target, and I could barely believe my eyes when I saw a plastic doll made to look like she was made out of porcelain. Without knowing a thing about who she was, I handed over $19.99 and brought her home. The China Girl is actually a character from the new movie, Oz, The Great and Powerful. I havent seen the movie yet, but Ive ...
This is less of a review and more of a window into the life of an obsessed doll collector. The doll journey I have been on during the last few weeks is not really in keeping with my normal collecting habits, and yet it highlights some of the things I love most about this hobby--the rich history of doll-making, the incredible diversity of dolls available to us today...and a little bit of silliness. Let me tell you what happened and what I learned along the way. It all started with some friends giving m...
