DOLLS WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 7, 1999
NEWS
MAIL BARBIE TO A FRIEND!
Barbie was left out of the Classic American Dolls stamp series
in 1997, since, although created by an American (Ruth Handler) Barbie was actually made in
Japan and other countries. Now, Barbie gets her chance--A vintage bubble cut Barbie,
dressed in Red Flare, will appear on a US Postage Stamp to be released as part of the
"Celebrate The Century" series of stamps, on September 17. See the stamp in the Christian Science
Monitor.
BEANIES MARKETING PLOY: Doll
Collectors are Smarter (Aren't We??)
Last week, Ty, Inc. (the maker of the ubiquitous Beanie Babies)
announced that all Beanie Babies would be retired effective December 31, 1999. They
left the future of Beanies very vague, whipping Beanie collectors into a veritable frenzy
of worry and stocking up on the little bean-filled creatures (ok, ok, you can all laugh at
them, but, hey, I caught bunches of you running around with Beanies in your shopping bags
at doll shows in Washington DC!). This leads to an interesting question--could doll
collectors fall prey to similar marketing ploys in the world of doll collecting?
What if Madame Alexander made a similar announcement? Or, Mattel regarding
Barbie? Would we all run out and stock up on that doll, or behave in a more measured
manner? Lets discuss in the Doll Forum,
but consider this: the doll collecting community often falls prey to false shortages
of modern dolls--remember the 35th anniversary Brunette Barbie doll? For more on the big
beanie announcement and the big beanie brou-ha-ha, see Beanie Babies: Is it the
End? from our Collectibles Guide, Barbara Crews;and also End of a Craze, or Just Sales
Hype?" from the Bergen Record, and "High
Anxiety on Beanie Street".
THERIAULTS DOLLMASTERY WEEKEND;
THERIAULT'S ONE OF TOP 10 AUCTION SITES
First, congratulations to Theriaults!
Their online Doll Auction site was named one of the top 10 online auctions by this
month's Country Living magazine! This
weekend, the fourth Dollmastery seminar will take place in Seattle on September 9 and 10.
Dollmaster seminars consist of numerous classes on dolls (from antique to hard
plastic) in Seattle, and instructors include Florence Theriault and Stuart Holbrook
from Theriaults, French doll scholar Francois Themier and Raggedy Ann expert Andrew
Tabbatt. The two-day seminar will be followed by a catalogued auction on
Saturday "The Lady of My
Delight" and an uncatalogued Discovery Day auction on Sunday at the Hyatt Regency
in Bellevue, WA.
DO YOU HAVE NEWS FOR DOLLS THIS WEEK?
Do you have a doll event to promote, a new doll to announce, OR do you have a
review of a doll event? Please e-mail me at collectdolls.guide@about.com and
put "Newsletter Event" in the subject line.
DO YOU HAVE DOLLS FOR SALE OR TRADE?
Did you know that you can place FREE classified ads for your dolls for sale or
trade (or, dolls wanted) in the Dolls Forum? Unlike AOL and other services, we DON'T
charge for ads for dolls over $100. Visit the Dolls
Forum to find out how to place your ad; if you are not yet a member, click on
GUEST, but you will need a free Forum ID to place your ad.
Previous Weeks in Dolls:
More on Ebay Reserve Policy; Jack Johnston Prosculpt Contest
Ebay Change Reserve Policy
Barbie Slugs it out with Sindy; Toy Design Industry; Arab
Doll Leila
Barbie as a Computer; $1 Million Doll Auction
Dolls of Color e-mail list; TRUs buys Imaginarium; New
eBay look
eBay Book on Internet Collecting; Beanie Barbie
More eBay Outages; Top Dolls of the Summer
Summer Festival in Billings; Doll Summer School at Crafty
College
Austin Powers Doll, Barbie Legs as Amputee Fingers, Jill Barad
LA Times Interview
The Tarzan and Butterfly-Art Barbie Controversies
The Year 2000 DAG Convention is Announced
Theriault Duet Auction
Loss of ODACA Artist Kathryn Williams Klunsman
Review of Anaheim Dollmaking Show
