... to buy a doll today. Honestly and truly I didn't. But I had no choice.
Husband and I went to Walmart to pick up some household things, specifically, replacement fluorescent bulbs for my doll room/office. I worked in extremely dim light most of the day as a result of the other bulbs' unexpected end of life.
At Walmart, on the way to the hardware section, we had to pass the toy section. After slowing my stroll, I said to Husband, "Go ahead and look at model cars while I look at dolls." Model cars are his passion. He said, "I sure will."
On the first doll aisle, I briefly glanced at the Monster High dolls and quickly moved to the next aisle and stopped dead in my tracks. There she was, the 18-inch Madame Alexander poseable doll from their Friends Boutique collection, dressed in an updated, summer fashion.
This past winter, I began looking for the original AA Friends Boutique doll after a fellow collector shared images of hers. Walmart had the blondes and the brunettes but not one African American in stock, not one. After I read a blog that includes live images of the AA doll, I wanted her even more and continued to check Walmart periodically but without any luck.
After exhaling today, I examined the doll and was about to leave the aisle, with the box cradled in my arms, to head toward the model car section, when I stopped and asked myself, Do you really need another play doll? I put the doll back on the shelf after answering myself, No. She has the same face as Passion and you don't need two dolls with the same face. (Passion is my non-poseable 18-inch Madame Alexander doll from the Friends 4 Life collection.). Proud that I maintained enough willpower to replace the doll on the shelf and leave without buying it, I attempted once again to head toward the model car section, but first decided to see how many African American Friends Boutique dolls were on the shelf. Thinking this: If the quantity is sufficient I can always come back and get one later.
Of the 19 dolls on the shelf today, the doll I purchased was the only African American doll there! There were three brunettes, one Asian, and the remaining 14 had light blonde and honey hair with blue eyes. Unbelieveable! I grabbed my doll and then went to the model car section.
What is really going on? Why in the world would either Madame Alexander ship the dolls in this quantity or why would the store's buyer order them in this quantity? I should have demanded an answer before I left the store.
Will this doll-stocking disparity ever end?
Passion's twin is now home where she belongs. She and their other sister, Gabbi, an earlier 18-inch Madame Alexander doll with a different face mold, happily greeted their new sister, who remains unnamed for now. I took several photos to illustrate her pose-ability and her union with her sisters.
She needs a name... any suggestions?
dbg
Husband and I went to Walmart to pick up some household things, specifically, replacement fluorescent bulbs for my doll room/office. I worked in extremely dim light most of the day as a result of the other bulbs' unexpected end of life.
At Walmart, on the way to the hardware section, we had to pass the toy section. After slowing my stroll, I said to Husband, "Go ahead and look at model cars while I look at dolls." Model cars are his passion. He said, "I sure will."
On the first doll aisle, I briefly glanced at the Monster High dolls and quickly moved to the next aisle and stopped dead in my tracks. There she was, the 18-inch Madame Alexander poseable doll from their Friends Boutique collection, dressed in an updated, summer fashion.
18-inch poseable Madame Alexander Friends Boutique doll
After exhaling today, I examined the doll and was about to leave the aisle, with the box cradled in my arms, to head toward the model car section, when I stopped and asked myself, Do you really need another play doll? I put the doll back on the shelf after answering myself, No. She has the same face as Passion and you don't need two dolls with the same face. (Passion is my non-poseable 18-inch Madame Alexander doll from the Friends 4 Life collection.). Proud that I maintained enough willpower to replace the doll on the shelf and leave without buying it, I attempted once again to head toward the model car section, but first decided to see how many African American Friends Boutique dolls were on the shelf. Thinking this: If the quantity is sufficient I can always come back and get one later.
The back of the box illustrates the poseable dolls from winter: the AA doll in the lower left-hand corner; a blonde ballerina (above her), a brunnette above the ballerina, and the Asian doll is on the far right.
What is really going on? Why in the world would either Madame Alexander ship the dolls in this quantity or why would the store's buyer order them in this quantity? I should have demanded an answer before I left the store.
Will this doll-stocking disparity ever end?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Passion's twin is now home where she belongs. She and their other sister, Gabbi, an earlier 18-inch Madame Alexander doll with a different face mold, happily greeted their new sister, who remains unnamed for now. I took several photos to illustrate her pose-ability and her union with her sisters.
Seated like a perfect little lady, her legs bend at the knees, and arms at the elbows.
I removed her pants to illustrate the legs. There aren't any visible joints. The vinyl is soft with a bendable armature within. The vinyl flattens when the knees and elbows are bent, which looks a little weird.
We are family... I've got all my sisters with me.
She needs a name... any suggestions?
dbg
She's adorable. If you want ot stay in the G's I like Gizele. Other than that Sierra Sienna
ReplyDeleteSweet doll! I can see why you succumbed. Gigi? I just finished making a little back felt doll that I am particularly happy with - if you want a peek, go to my blog http://susiemcmahondolls.blogspot.com and scroll down a bit - it's a few posts back.
ReplyDeleteI want to make a doll depicting Mathinna a Tasmanian aboriginal child who was caught between two cultures in the 1830's - a desperate story, but I'm keep to make a piece.
Well, of course I mean "keen"
ReplyDeleteDollz4Moi and Susie - thanks for the compliments and for the great name suggestions. Since the newest doll is the twin of the doll on the far left, whose name is Passion, I wanted to stick with names that begin with P, but I love your name suggestions and have recorded them for future reference.
ReplyDeleteThis morning I awoke thinking about the name Paradise. That seems somewhat awkard for a name, but I may consider it. Someone else suggested Peyton and Piper. I like those names, too. The jury is still out.
Susie - your dolls are lovely. They have such sweet and innocent faces. I love the felt doll, too. I will post a comment on your blog with additional questions I have about her. Thanks for sharing the link.
dbg
She is beautiful. Not the leisurely stroll through the toy section. You know you would have regretted leaving that doll in the store. Then you would have been searchihng high and low for her, after returning to the store to find her GONE, GONE, GONE. Then panic would have set in. What did I do? I had her, in my hands, and I let her go. Will I ever find her again? Then store after store. Mile after mile. Sleepless night after sleepness night. You MAY have found her again. But the additional gas spent and the pain of kicking yourself, would have infuriated you. And you would say, Never Again. When I see it, I will buy it.
ReplyDeleteSorry that is what would have happened if I had left the doll in the store. You probably would have slept like a baby.
Want another awkward name? What about Patience?
No, that would have been me, had I gone back and Patience not been there. I love that name! Thanks, Vanessa!
ReplyDeletedbg
You're welcome. I guess my naming brainstorm exercises the past 4 days paid off somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI just love her outfit!!!! If you see my blog I have two babies Kerri and Claire they are twin and I just adore my babies. And they always argue over clothes LOL. If you have some comments on my baby please feel free to share.
ReplyDeleteMy granddaughter fell in love with this doll so I went back two weeks later and the store only had 1 left and the box had been opened, but I got it anyway. I stopped by my granddaughter's daddy place and gave her the doll on my way up the hill to my house. I never thought about the doll's color and how her daddy thinks. I told the little one to be sure to take it back home when she went the next day to her mom's (my daughter). Well long story short, she didn't take the doll and the *!* destroyed the doll because of her color and lied to the little girl and told her "it ran away!" We are having war and I have searched online everywhere to find one affordable and I can't!!! I am so mad and so sick that a grown man would do something like that to his 6-year-old daughter!!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know where I can find one online that is NOT "$64.00" like I saw on ebay and it is NOT "this" particular doll. She saw the horse today at the Walmart and cried for it but I told her we did not have the doll now and would have to wait on getting anything else for it. She had gotten the beauty shop chair for christmas.
I'm so sorry your granddaughter's doll was destroyed. It's incomprehensible to me that someone would do that, but as you've shared, it happens.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if Madame Alexander is still using this particular mold or if they are using it along with the bendable arms and legs feature. If not, the only way you'll probably be able to find this doll is on the secondary market through eBay, other online auction sites, or from an individual seller, hopefully for a price more in line with the doll's $29.99 or no more than $30 retail. You can try using Google.com's search engine to search for "18 inch African American Madame Alexander doll" for positive hits.
Sometimes stores like Wal-Mart will store "out of season" dolls and return them to the shelves later. This doll is dressed in springtime clothing. Perhaps your Wal-Mart has remaining stock in storage. It wouldn't hurt to ask.
Again, I'm sorry the original doll was destroyed.
dbg
I found this post through Pinterest. I understand your love of this doll. I tend to buy up any dolls with this head sculpt when they show up on Ebay and the cost for the doll & shipping isn't too high. I wouldn't try the posable feature because I think the internal wire will break & have no idea how many repeated bends the vinyl will take. I wish I could post a picture here because I just finally was able to get photos of a a set of bleachers I built that currently has 106 dolls with this head sculpt standing on it. I have quite a few other dolls despite giving them away quite often, but this particular doll is hard for me to part with. I have maybe given away only 3 or 4 of them. I have quite a few of the 3rd doll you have in one photo. That face sculpt is available in many skin tints. She is also used for Wonder Woman & Supergirl. For me, that isn't a good fit because that particular sculpt looks like a girl that needs a nap and super heroes don't get tired. So I think of them as a little girl dressing up as a super hero.
ReplyDeleteHi David. I'm glad you found this post through Pinterest. I still have only two of this head sculpt. My plan had been to collect at least one of the 18-inch Madame Alexander dolls that have different head sculpts. To date, I think I only have four different ones. I don't pose the poseable one at all. She and her sister stand together on display. There is another post about them which can be read here.
DeleteYour collection of girls sounds awesome. You can contact me through the contact link on the right sidebar of the home page of this blog. After I respond you'll have my email address and can email a photo of your girls to me if you'd like.
dbg