NEWS:  TWO IDEX Shows

First, stunning news was announced: IDEX 2004 will held on both the West Coast and the East Coast, In Orlando, Florida and a new location near the San Francisco Airport. Its great to see the show in Orlando, but its sad to see the show leave its downtown San Francisco location, where event goers could enjoy San Francisco during the show's off-hours. 

THE DOLLS!!

The good news is that the 2003 dolls that were at the show were fantastic and the retailers and collectors that attended were thrilled.  Ashton Drake showed their whole line of Gene this year at IDEX (as opposed to debuting it at Toy Fair), and in spite of some collector reservations about such a drastically reduced line, the new dolls were detailed, high-quality and well-received by the collectors there.  Tonner showed their first Effanbee dolls.  These dolls were VERY limited (generally, under 1,000 pieces) and they used fantastic fabrics and new vinyls.  The new Brenda Starr was outstanding, with a great, clear vinyl and detailed, delicate clothing.  Also outstanding were the new Patsy dolls, including some new dolls with rooted hair!  As usual, plenty of surprises with the basic Robert Tonner line, including a new, larger Mary Englebreit doll, and the fantastic and ultimately jointed Tyler and Kitty basic dolls--they can turn the torso realistically and even cross their legs!  Tiny Kitty is so delicate--a desk-top fashion model--keep her and her trunk and fashions next to your computer! The new Goetz line continues with price-consciousness but quality.  Ashton Drake also showed the new younger teenage fashion doll, Seventeen and her fashions.  The doll artists had, as usual, stunning offerings, and some of their exquisite one-of-a-kind offerings were showcased to best advantage at the museum-quality Friday night reception, "The Art of the Doll Gallery Show and Sale" at the Sir Francis Drake hotel.

SPEECHES AND IMPRESSIONS:  Economy On The Mind

One of the great, underutilized aspects of IDEX are the free seminars, panel discussions and events (underutilized unless a celebrity like Richard Simmons or Mel Odom or Robert Tonner shows up....then, the house is packed).    One panel discussion in particular was fascinating--on Friday, there was a panel discussion on "Television Shopping Shows: Can They Hurt or Help Your Sales?"   On the panel were doll artists Rustie and Virginia Turner, Chari Tennant from HSN, and several prominent retailers.  Because of small attendance (a crime, really--every doll retailer should have been at this discussion) the panel discussion became a group discussion, and it strayed from the Television Shopping Show//Retailers theme (which was discussed at length) tothe state of the economy and its effect on the doll collectibles industry, retailers, and collectors.  Suggestions were made about what can be done to attract new collectors and keep the collectors we have interested and involved--some of the concerns and suggestions were similar to those found in my column last week:  Collectible Dolls Market:  What Does the Future Hold?.  More on the interesting aspects of this seminar will follow.

Other seminars included a very well attended seminar held by the very generous Ashton Drake--ALL attendees, collectors and retailers alike, got a FREE directors chair for the Trent doll,  plus refreshments!  At the Ashton Drake event, Mel Odom showcased the new Gene line, Robert Tonner the new Seventeen doll there was introduced.  Richard Simmons gave an emotional, and upbeat keynote address on Friday that focused on the multi-faceted faces of dolls and their multi-faceted creators.  There were also special breakfasts and teas, with very limited dolls and very happy attendees (several of these were sell-outs!).

Much more to follow about IDEX and the Art of the Doll Show,  plus info and photos on dozens of new dolls!  Until then--

Denise

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