Disappointed

So the 2010 Madame Alexander Doll Collection is officially on the web at the various sellers, such as Matilda Dolls and Two Day Dreamers. However I was not impressed with last year’s collection and I am disappointed with this year’s collection as well. Many of the dolls are now the cloth dolls and many of the collections are being re-done. Like the new Mad Hatter, which looks like Johnny Depp’s Hatter from the new movie.

And there’s only a few new international dolls. Storyland is mostly Fancy Nancy, Ramona and Eloise cloth dolls… Maybe I’m just growing out of it, but the new dolls do not impress or interest me. I guess I’ll wait until the Fall collection comes out to see if there’s anything I want this year.

My Dolls

I know that all the posts up to this point are about writing, but today I am introducing a different topic. My Doll collection.

Since about high school, I have been an avid Madame Alexander collector. I’m not entirely sure if avid is the right word, but I mean avid in the sense that I buy several every year. But I do not always collect the most expensive and keep them in pristine condition. I take them out of the box, file away their cards and eventually throw the book away because I have no more room to store it. I fully believe that the dolls should be dressed up and displayed.

And currently, I am running out of room to display them, but I’m working on solving that.

Some people believe that I am insane for not saving their boxes, but I don’t intend to sell any of them. The reasons that I bought them were because I liked them- not because of their value or rarity, although I do have several dolls that are limited editions. And some that are nine years old and still in perfect condition (out of the box).

I actually have some very nice dolls. From the History of Fashion collection I have Lady Godiva, Veronica Franco, Grace O’Malley and Helen of Troy. I’m going to buy Marie Antonniette soon. I have the Sleeping Beauty collection from 1999, Alice and the Mad Hatter (I’m getting the March Hare for Christmas) the Wicked Witches of the West and East, Christopher Robin from Winne-the-Pooh and the Blustery Day, Cinderella and a bunch from her International Collection (3 Italys, 2 Irelands, Germany with her stein, a French Can-Can dancers, Poland, Scotland with bagpipes, and I think they’re adorable.)

And they’re all out of the box for everyone to admire.