The Winners, The Biggest Loser and The Sleeper

This is just a short post after a long, tiring weekend. Someone counted up and listed all the dolls that were available either for purchase and/or as convention gifts including helper gifts. That number came to 38.  I believe it may actually be 39 because there is a variation Eugenia giftset that I learned about a little while ago.
I have not seen the Dynamite Girls but they wouldn't be in the competition for my favorites anyway.
The winner is Evermore Vanessa with Exceptional Tatyana following as a close second. Next is Victoire Roux (pictured in the previous post) who is tied with Most Wanted Elise FR2. (I don't have an official picture of Elise that I can post and I'm not using anyone's pic without their permission so you will all have to wait to see what she looks like if you haven't already.)

I think I'm going to love the Eugenia giftset as well. Five out of 38 ain't bad. In prior years I would have kept most of the dolls I came home with. I'm quite relieved.


I think that Sunset Rave Ayumi's outfit is hot and it's a keeper. I never liked Ayumi's sculpt and still don't.

The outfits from the Adele and Veronique giftset are also going to be calling my home theirs.

The biggest loser of the convention was Brightness Calls Isha. What a disastrous face this doll has. She must be an error the factory made because I can't believe anyone would design such awful facial screening. After the last Isha that was so beautiful, someone had their eyes closed on this one. She looks like a kid who borrowed mommy's makeup and put most of it on all at once.

Vivid Impact Agnes is the sleeper of the Convention. She will go up in popularity once collectors start to work with her. The initial photos of her were really bad. Her facial coloring is wonderful and I don't even like Agnes. But I can see that those who like the morose version of Agnes, that this one is not to their taste. Well it appeals to the rest of us. Her hair needs styling but otherwise, she's a good-looking doll.

More to come.

The Cost of Attending A Convention

I've been asked many times how much it costs to attend a doll convention. So I'm going to attempt to put together an outline. There are many  unknowns because each person's costs will vary according to what they buy and participate in.  I am taking the costs of the convention and the convention collection from the 2011 Wu Convention list.

Convention Attendance $380.  You get the souvenir doll and several other dolls and accessories.
Early Bird Welcome Cocktail (Optional) $15.
Transportation
-Airfare: This depends on where you're coming from.
-Taxi-Shuttle Service to and from hotel.
-Gasoline and Tolls if you are driving.
Hotel $139. plus tax per night for up to 4 guests. After taxes are added, the cost per night for a room is probably about $160. If you share, you can reduce your costs by a great deal. $320 +/-
Excursions away from the hotel. (Optional)
W Club Luncheon (Optional) $60.
Food  You get 4 meals. You may want to have other meals and drinks. $50 +/-
Tips (Bellhop, Housekeeping, Porters, etc.)$10 +/-
Table Gifts (Optional) $20 +/-
Lottery Tickets (Optional) $20 +/-
Room Shopping (Optional)   $200 +/-
Souvenir Store (Optional) $200 +/-
Souvenir T-Shirt (Optional) $18. - $20.
Convention Collection (Optional) $890.  Add 9.5% IL tax if buying at convention for $974.55. (Shipping about $20.)
Centerpieces (Optional) $125. - $150. each. No tax.  $300 +/-
Dynamite Girls Design A Doll:  $50. per doll.  Everyone gets to attend. No Lottery Required

Workshops  Workshops are free but attendance is via lottery.
Workshop Kits & Dolls are an Optional Purchase. $175 for 2? +/-
_Flocking
_Styling
_Doll Process
_Royal Hair
_Poppy's New Groove
_Back to Our Roots (Free Practice Kit)
_Fashion Illustration
Postage  If you are not driving, you will probably want to ship some items home.



I'll throw out a figure which doesn't include transportation or excursions away from the hotel: $2774.55.  It includes some of everything and 4 nights at the hotel sharing with one other person. It could go lower or higher depending upon how many centerpieces you buy and what you spend room shopping and in the store.
The numbers in red above are the numbers I used to get to that figure.

Optional Mudslide Workshop

Tonner Doll Convention and Superstar Laura Domholt

Another successful Tonner convention has ended and I've heard about frenzied buying, gorgeous centerpieces, insane resale prices (what else is new?) and so much more. Many mentioned missing Tom Courtney's pictures and the flavor he added to the events in the past. It's true that there was a noticeable lack of photo coverage and we had to desperately scrounge for pictures or suffer waiting.

I think I will send Robert an email offering my photographic and video services at all future events and the only recompense I will ask for is attendance at the event, a seat at a table and a room at the inn.  That's fair, isn't it?

My new favorite person is Laura Domholt. The first time I ever saw her was at a Tonner Store event. She was dressed as Wonder Woman. Laura is tall and she really carried it off so well. Since then, she's appeared in many costumes and in every one of them, she reigned supreme dressed as a Tonner doll. She is a living doll and I want to petition for a Laura Domholt calendar.

Here are few more pictures of dolls from the event.

Robert - Superhero

 

There were many other dolls but the photos of them belong to the doll owners. If Tonner releases promotional photos of the others, I will post them.

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Apologies to my readers for my absence. I've been ill for several days with severe upper respiratory combination of symptoms.  Doctor found no strep so I don't have to take antibiotics. Yay. Just have to give it time and rest. What's that?

I am about to do a big photo shoot as I received my new Ellowyne and some other goodies. Soooo...look for a pretty post later.

I want to mention that the person in charge of blogging over at Tonner Direct thanked me for the shout-outs I've given to the company over the years on my blog. She (he?) said it does not go unnoticed. That made me feel really good. I'm thinking of compiling a page of comments and email I've received from manufacturers since beginning my blog. The main reason is that I want my readers to see an email (from someone who works for one of the manufacturers) that I've kept to myself for a little more than one year. I have to give it some more thought though because it's pretty bad. There's always more than one side to a story.

Integrity Toys Releases Preliminary Registration Package for Convention

The Integrity Toys/Wu convention will be held in Schaumburg, Illinois on October 6—8, 2011 at the Schaumburg Renaissance Hotel.  This is the weekend of  Yom Kippur.



The theme is Jet Set.

There were a few notable things in the announcement such as the fact that the convention collection will be more limited to ensure it's value on the secondary market. Does that mean there will be less characters or fewer dolls? There has to be at least one doll per attendee so I'm guessing that the collection will be smaller - less characters. Either way wouldn't be a bad idea.

There will also be dolls offered at the convention that are not part of the collection. Grab bags will be limited to one per person. They were supposed to be limited to one per person last year, too.

Apparently, the disappointment of so many who were not able to get a good assortment of products in the Design-A-Doll Studio will be taken into consideration and they are going to try a new format. Would that format be having-enough-for-everyone? What a concept! If I sound a little snarky about that one, I am. I was one of the attendees who was scheduled for a late Saturday appointment in the studio. I thought it was nice until I saw the outfits that earlier attendees were able to choose. They were much better than what was available during my time slot.

The oddest change (I couldn't think of an appropriate adjective for this one) is that workshop attendance will be by lottery. This is very (insert appropriate adjective) because the lotteries are not held publicly and there is definitely hanky panky that goes on behind the scenes. Is that an accusation? Ahem. I said it last year, too. Think what you like but when the one person who loves to be loved is in charge of the outcome of contests, table host positions, stage games, treasure hunts and more, the opportunity for favoritism is rank.

Many comments were made last year about the requirement to put names on raffle tickets and the fact that they were drawn privately. I certainly hope that this practice which has the appearance of impropriety is stopped for the benefit of those who spend their money on the tickets.

The cost per person if staying at the hotel is $380. That includes four meals, lots of souvenirs and the convention doll.  In a later post I will go over how to calculate what attending might actually cost. 

  ______________________________

As you probably remember, Jason designed a line of dolls in the style of the famous illustrator called Monsieur Z. All of his work was ultra modern jet-set themed 1960's style. Everyone was rich, shapely, had a pool and a penthouse, flew everywhere and spent a lot of time in airports. The stewardesses were sexy, and everything had a forward movement - nothing static here.

Just for fun!
After the announcement the other day, many on the W board were speculating about the theme and I did a search for "jet set dolls." This is what I came up with.

Barbie Glam Jet

Takara's 2002 Kisara Calendar Girl and jason Wu's 2005 Monsieur Z Girl

Assorted Doll Luggage

Westjet Flight Attendant doll with Luggage - Brunette by Daron

Diane Von Furstenberg Barbie Doll-Mattel

 

Jet Set Jaunt - Tonner Tyler Outfit

Grace Kelly - Jet Set Chic - Mattel

Continental Holiday Silkstone Doll - Mattel

Tentative Plans: Sandra Stillwell Presents Convention for 2011

San Francisco here we come for "Golden Gate Glamour" on June 3-5, 2011.

Details are not finalized. More information forthcoming.

Please let Sandra know that you are interested in attending.  502 3775153

http://sandrastillwellpresents.blogspot.com/