Club Night—Monster High Madness

I know little about Monster High dolls, so I took opportunities to learn about them when our local doll club hosted Monster High Madness event. we had a fun night, we even had a phone conversation with the original MH  illustrator Glen Henson   he explained how the production line was created &  developed. the idea was conceived in 2008, it took 3 years to creat & develop the production line.

let photos tell the story of our freaky night:

Clawdeen wolf, Frankie Stein, Draculaura

some boy dolls, oh, pls dont ask me about  who is dating whom, I have no idea!! Just my opinion, high school students should never be on the Dating Scene.

Cleo De Nile

They say this is a rare doll,  her name? C.A. Cupid?  Whatever….  I have told you before, I m having poor memories

Toralei Stripe & Operetta:

Spectra Vondergeist &  Operetta

Abbey Bominable

Not only I made a t-shirt  for myself to wear, I also made a travel doll to go with me, she is God Daughter of the Spider Queen:

 

Isnt she the coolest?  lol

I do not collect Monster High dolls,  I am only interested in the marketing lessons these dolls teach me.  I wondered  how Mattel knows these dolls would be popular, and why these parents were up against “secret Spell” Barbie dolls back 10 years ago,  Mattel was forced to recall all the Secret Spell dolls.  Now these Monsters seem to be  worse than “witches”, arent they? But parents have no problems with them — its beyond my understanding. but if I knew, I’d be the one whos making money, not mattel. lol

A day for Barbie 2/19/2012

some photos from our  last “Barbie Day” gathering:

Our Meeting place, FAO Schwarz nyc, its a busy store, you get lost in the crowds.

The store has had lots changes, the ownerfship changed, the display changed, so are the products… these FR dolls, Gene dolls were long gone…  but Barbie manages  to secure  a nice plce there, so congrats to Barbie! I think Vintage lovers would love this one:
(well, people told me the Barbie was not #3, but #4,  I have no idea)

From the Swimsuit to Monster high, how far mattel has traveled?

FAO always has some fancy Barbie Items:

The Romance

more dolls & dolls…

 

Pink Pantone:

Another couple fits our “Barbie Day” Theme:

here comes the bride:

Our Travel Dolls:

My Winter Blue:

“fairy Tale” wedding:

There was a Hope Diamond doll, I didnt Catch a picture of her.

A great Goodie Bag I received (from  Romona):

 

 I gave each attendee  a set of Cards & a t-shirt, everyone got different styles & designs, since I didnt take any pictures of my giveaways, I just Borrowed 2 pictures from Carolynn:

Cards

T-shirts

Doll I gave away (photo by Romona)

Now, how about some street theme?!

NYC is full of fashion & style, you can easily pick out some great outfits for barbie just by doing some window shopping:

besides fashion, there are plenty toy stores in the store, next to “Amercian Girl Place”  is the  ”Build a bear”:

if you have not yet visited NYC, its time to make a travel plan, maybe you can catch us on next Barbie Day:

 

Adopt a pet

My dolls have tons of Doggies and puppies from “Birthstone Beauties”, “my Scene” and other Collections,  I even gave each tablemate a Barbie Pet at last Barbie convention.

  these 3 are my dolls’ favorite pets:

1)  Dalmatian from Michael’s

2.   French  poodle  came from a Barbie purse.

3. Nameless Cat from a discount store,  its a part of the “Farm animal” collection

The cat can either sit  or stand,  many collectors have asked  Mattel to add a Cat in silkstone collection,  why not picking up one  at your local store?  there are tons of them,  you can  buy  variety pack,    a dozen  per pack.   all 1/6 scaled,  very lifelike,   Mattel can not make them better or cheaper…

Step into Spring

Barbie Says “I long for spring & green Grass in this cold raining day”

Tonner dolls at FAO

once upon a time, all the Gene dolls, tonner dolls, Fashion Royalty dolls disappeared from FAO… I was surprised to see Tonner dolls are back to FAO (NYC) last Sunday, but no Genes & FRs..

A glance at FAO’s choices of tonner dolls:

“Mood” T-shirts

I had a post about my Barbie’s fun t-shirts:   http://dollsaga.wordpress.com/2008/08/10/barbies-fashion-statement/

I have not made Barbie t-shirts recently, but if I feel depressed, I make T-shirts for myself.   I call them my “Mood” t-shirts.  I have made more than 1 dozen t-shirts for the past 2 weeks, the styles depend on what mood I am in.   on this Sunday I wore a red t-shirt with large roses for our “Winter Romance  Barbie Day”.

here is a new one I made yesterday evening ,  it was an extra  large sized t-shirt,  I took it apart and re-made a small one out of it, which perfectly fits me.  you may wonder why I didnt buy jersey fabric but buy large sized t-shirt instead –as a local store  sold these quality (high thread count ) t-shirts for $2.00 each  before it ran out of business, much  cheaper but better quality than the jersey fabric in the current market.  its sad,  more and more stores are going out of business, “space for rent” sign is everywhere.  

after finish the sewing work,  I painted some Monster High  Skulls on it, it feels like these skulls help me to scream when I need to yell out  loud…   I will be wearing it for our doll club’s “Monster High Maddness” Event on next Monday.  just  being silly … 

the beaded large pink bow took quite some time to make.   the smaller ones  were painted in pink.  it would be better if its a black t-shirt with white skulls. but grey fits my mood just  fine…

 

 

 

 

Tangled ever After Wedding Doll

Disney store released a new doll today, “Tangled ever after Rapunzel Wedding doll” .

This time these eBay sellers are one step behind—an amazon Seller put her up on Amazon.com for $299…  some people are faster than shooting stars!  “time means Money”, isnt it? 

Anyway, you have your chances, if you are interested in her, here she is:

http://www.disneystore.com/mp/1302011/1000259/?CMP=KNC-DSPCharacterGoogle&s_kwcid=TC%7c12111%7ctangled%2520ever%2520after%2520doll%7c%7cS%7cb%7c11121515112

 

Limited Edition Tangled Ever After Rapunzel Wedding Doll

Dolls of the World

I dont think I have posted the new dolls of the world before, here they are:

 

 

 

the details…

I praise  doll-makers who put efforts to make detailed doll dresses

Poppy Parker as Sabrina by Integrity Toys:

Limited Edition: 450 pcs, $150/set

It is a  simplified pattern: the density of the flowers are  less than  the original,  but its more than good enough to beat any Mattel’s recent Barbie Collector Dolls ….  look at the Barbie & Ken  Royal Wedding set, the bridal gown that made out of a  cheap lace from mass market just can’t justify the $100.  Lets say:  it serves different customers. when Mattel degrades a royal Bride to a poor peasant’s daughter who has to rent a 2nd handed bridal gown,  it loses good customer base.

watch youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B1cDlaq3_E

Princess in Red

Red is so uplifting…  perfect for Valentine’s Day:

Notice the bodice of this Dress? it fits perfectly, this time I am smarter than Mattel’s patern maker, the simplified pattern saves the Sewers lots of work and it fits so much better: