Philadelphia Black Doll Show Recap, Vendor's Perspective

Real, life-sized doll photographed at a  past Philadelphia International Black Doll Show and Sale

The following recap (first paragraph below) was posted to my online doll group by Linda Hayes who was a vendor at the May 26, 2012, 23rd International Black Doll Show and Sale in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Linda granted permission for me to share her recap here.  When asked if she would like to add additional comments, she elaborated on the show even further (see subsequent paragraphs).

Hi All,

Just a note to say the the doll show was great! I am blessed to have done pretty good in doll sales! My tables were consistently busy. I had a lot more men buying from me this year. And alas, I finally sold TUPAC, SLADE and DR. J! There were a lot of photos taken of us, so hopefully I will get them soon. I always forget to take pics myself. And Debbie, I had your books out as usual, mostly for reference, and got a lot of requests. I directed them to order online. It was nice to see my old customers coming back from all over the country. Some folks didn't recognize me because I lost 25 lbs. and do look a little different especially since I cut off my dreads.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I would like to add the following. When I arrived, I was a little surprised to see that there were fewer vendors this year. But after the shock, I was too busy to even care. We had a pretty good turnout. I was busy most of the day. But, I personally brought TOO MUCH this time! I always try to do a different spin, so to speak, because I like to excite my loyal buyers. This time, I brought with me two additional smaller tables to accommodate the overflow. My focus this show was on doll furniture. I had every type of chair, from a hanging wicker basket chair from the 70s to wood/rush seat, wood/straw seat, solid block wood rockers, a large Kingstate black/white zebra striped divan, to a solid wood Barbie-size roll top-type desk! I also had my usual celebrity dolls, this time with added Tiger Woods, Shaq, Obama Hope doll, and Star Trek Samuel L. Jackson Windu. Also the usual Barbies, with added PopLife, and Kimora Lee Simmons, to name a few. I also brought doll clothes. I set up one table with only celebrity dolls, entertainers with women first, then men, then sports figures, which were all men. It did my heart good to see so many men this year! Some were with their mates, others with their children, but all stopped at my table! If you could have seen the smiles of joy and curiosity on their faces as they checked out Run DMC, Tupac, Will Smith, Shaq, M.C. Hammer, etc., as if they were remembering special moments. Some were unconsciously saying out loud, "Oh Wow," "This lady got everything!"  Or, "What?" as if it was too hard to believe.

I also started a new policy. For ANY child that wanted to purchase ANY doll, I would give a $5.00 discount to encourage the practice of doll collecting and play with our young people. It went over well. The parents were very appreciative. I also lowered my prices even more on dolls that I could, because of the economy. But most of all, I really enjoyed the interaction with all my customers. From educating to celebrating the joy of collecting Black dolls.

My only disappointment was that I never got to really showcase my surprise addition, the West Indies World Championship 2007 male doll, which has over 30 points of articulation! But there's always the next show, which for me is the  Back Doll and Art Show in NY, on July 21, 2012. Hope I see you there.... Linda H.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for sharing this wonderful recap, Linda.  I am glad sales were successful for you and wish the same for you at the NY show on July 21, 2012.

To view images taken at this year's show and to read an attendee's overall show assessment, read D7ana's post, which is part 1 of her assessment, and Ms. Leo's post. 

 dbg   Follow my Dolls for Sale blog