It was a dank, rainy Saturday in Philly. The kind of Saturday morning where you want to pull the blanket over your head to sleep just five more minutes. Had chocolate, tea, books to read, DVDs to watch, blog posts to write ... I did not have to go out. But I had something planned. Saturday was my second doll enthusiast meeting. I would get to talk dolls and action figures with others who knew the lingo. Bye bye rainy day routine. Checked that I had stuff I hoped to get rid of - doll clothes and accessories - and stuff to show - hello Opal and Rosa.
This time we met at the West Oak Lane branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. I entered and let the front desk staff and the guard know that I was there to attend the Doll Club meeting. They sent me to the librarian. The librarian introduced herself and then lead me to a good-sized room. The room had huge windows, several long tables, and those molded plastic and metal chairs. It was clean and scentless. I would recommend using that branch again.
Ms. Leo followed, and she had Dunkin Donuts and coffee. Oh and stuff to show and stuff to trade or give away. We pulled out two of the long tables - one for showing, the other for trades/giveaways. I had doll fashions and accessories that I hoped to give away. Limited Edition Rosa and First Edition Opal were there to be seen - along with their footwear and backpack. Ms. Leo brought a Kenya's sister, Keyshia, the new Hunger Games guys, and the Divergent guy. Also some accessories and fashions to trade.
My comments/thoughts?
I would rebody Keyshia. Her head is too big for that tiny body.
I would use the Keyshia body to age progress one of my kiddies.
Hunger Games Peeta is cute - his face is more spread out than the actor's.
Hunger Games Finn has a craggy face - no way he's a teenager. Bet he's at least 38. And I would kitbash him to become my Peter Cushing. I mean "my" playscale Peter Cushing. And he should have a castle or mansion. He gives off a horror movie vibe.
Next Miya and Kev came. Squeal and jump up. New doll enthusiasts. Playscale doll enthusiasts. Yippee.
They brought stuff, too. An almond pastry that I savored later that day and cream cakes that I passed on. (I try not to be greedy.) The pastry was not as sweet as Entenmann's, but it had a velvety texture, delicately crunchy almond slivers, and a subtle flavor. Good different. They came from a bakery called "Bread Top House." Are you screaming, "Shut up about the food! What did they bring?!" Okay, here goes.
Miya and Kev brought a tall suitcase. They laid it on the floor and oh the wonders that came forth. Doll clothes they made - tweedy pants, floral dresses, leggings, a mini mountain of fabrics and fashions. Ohhhh ... Then the dolls. Sakurana, Momoko, Daisy, Havoc, High School Musical characters, a Rebelde head, One Modern Circle Barbie, Fashion Royalty dolls including a new Black Kiyori, some Japanese fashion dolls I have seen online but NEVER in person, oh ... what else? These cool pop-apart fashion dolls whose names I missed.
And we talked dolls, we talked Internet Wayback Machine, difficulties of doing doll research when sites get removed, Sindy furnishings and those uber-Seventies colors like harvest gold, avocado green, brown and orange, Gayle, Japanese fashion doll book projects, sewing by hand vs. sewing on machine, doing a kitbash with a Disney Snow White doll, etc.
Darn, but that was the day that my camera's batteries died. I'm ducking. But not for long ... cause Ms. Leo will have photos up for her blog post. And I'll update this post later this week with photos I can show with the outfits I got from Ms. Leo and Miya and Kev. Promise.
I look forward to our next meeting. Date has not been set yet, but the month mentioned was June.
