Integrity Legendary Convention: Virtual Bloodbath Recap

Well, it's been a minute.  (Deep breathe). In the midst of a world filled political chaos, a pandemic, the righteous Black Lives Matters protests and the urgent need for all to thoughtfully consider our role in the systemic racism and social injustice all around us....it feels a little silly to get all dramatic about dolls. Yet, doll people, in general, love some drama.  This time only some of it was our own making.

Sidenote: If you want to see some SERIOUS drama...go do some snooping on the Barbie 2020 Convention Thread because that was/is some NUTTINESS.  Good luck and God Speed and NOPE!

So lucky for us (IMHO), Integrity opted to cancel their in-person convention (originally taking place in Texas in October) because they would prefer their customers, family, and staff to actually...I don't know...STAY ALIVE. Shocking. It is now a virtual convention but with the original limited number of 575 attendees.  This meant that while it was still happening, the fact that it was virtual would allow for way more people to potentially take part in the convention.  Now many asked why they could not just expand the convention attendee number to meet the obvious demand. Good question.  But the convention dolls are already well into production.  The coronavirus has already caused havoc on the global production process and adding additional dolls would likely mean no one would have anything.  I get it. Also, a certain amount of exclusivity is definitely what makes convention dolls more desirable. So there is that as well.  However, being the smart and understanding company that they are, Integrity has opened up the W Club Luncheon and Centerpiece to all W Club members in addition to two upgrade dolls.  Along with these opportunities to get these dolls, they are also giving members who purchase one of these options to view the convention programming.  This is a generous move to be more inclusive of all members around the world. Bravo. I also wonder if this will be something that they continue to do in the future. To be honest, it would mean more money for the company...so why not. To those that want all convention dolls to be special and exclusive: too bad. There will still be plenty of dolls that are exclusive and limited (convention collection, style lab, centerpieces)...so these would only be two less dolls to scalp *cough*...I mean sell. Let's spread the love around!  

And this brings me to the gut-wrenching, tense, horrible experience of attempting to register for the 2020 Legendary Convention. It was a legit horror movie. First, with only 575 slots...and the fact that there are A LOT of W Club members, AND many of those members have more than one membership. So hypothetically, the bulk of the convention slots COULD have gone to a small handful of members and doll dealers IF they were able to register the fastest. While unlikely, the threat of this made people super nervous and there was lots of talk about wanting IT to limit registrations to one-per-account and not one--per-membership. The problem with this is that many international collectors elect to form a W Club "super squad"...where multiple people will get together to buy memberships with one collector being the boss of the account.  That way, all dolls ordered will be shipped to the Boss who will then ship them out to the rest. This saves on shipping costs quite a bit. Under the one-per-account rules...those collectors would be shafted. Yet the whinging whinged on.  Le sigh. Wingers gonna winge. Integrity also requested in the registration info letters that members with multiple PERSONAL accounts only register for one.  According to subsequent club emails, this was respected for the most part. I guess we won't actually know until the FS threads/ebay listings for multiple con dolls come out. 

Additionally, the very notion that the convention was now virtual opened up the possibility of attendance for a crap-ton of people who cannot attend an in-person convention for a variety of reasons (travel costs, health and mobility issues, timing, work/family obligations, etc). Without the travel and hotel costs, this will definitely be one of the 'cheapest' cons in a while. (But the least fun!) Though yet again, people LOUDLY complained when the cost of the convention remained $575 despite being virtual.  They thought it should be less because there would be no meals or hotel expenses.  However, I am guessing IT still had to pay a hefty charge to cancel the event and was on the hook for a large part of that bill. And yes, those charges are still being passed onto us. But it is not as if there aren't charges for doing a virtual event either.  I get it.  It would have been nice to see a slight reduction in the fee but I was definitely not expecting it.  Honestly I would PAY Integrity to never have to eat the onion salad again.  

When you consider attendees will likely get at least four dolls from the convention package...that breaks down to roughly $143.75 a doll. Recent doll releases have been priced at $145 or more so this actually is a slight discount off retail. When you also consider that the Saturday gala doll is a Jason Wu doll which typically has the velvet touch body and those dolls are closer to $175 or more...you get quite a good deal all in all.  People also bitched about paying for shipping...but that happened at convention anyway. You either had to pay to ship your dolls home or do some crazy kung fu packing to get all your dolls back home on the plane without paying (or you drove there...and everyone was mad at you about it because you did not have to deal with it...but then you spent way too much because of it :). I believe that anyone not in Maryland will also not have to pay taxes...so that will be a nice perk as well. 

So, now that the long ass back story is available.  The day has arrived.  I have prepped by checking my store account multiple times to be sure everything is in order.  I have told my family that they are to be out fo the house and/or not speaking to me or using the internet during the appointed time.  I might have even done some Santeria rituals in anticipation. (j/k...maybe).  The link is active.  I have signed the agreement (why don't they send those out BEFORE registration because it is not like anyone actually READS it...because if they did they would not have gotten in). I get the thing in my cart and then.....nada. Dead dead deadski. 

And here is where I started drinking heavily that day. After 45 minutes of trying...they finally shut it all down.  Some people got confirmations. Many, like me, never got to the payment stage. Many more did not even get to the cart. Spectacular failure. We then hear from IT that they have to go through by hand and confirm registrations and then will be sending payment links to the rest of the potential attendees based on their time stamp of the agreement. So thus begins days of interminable limbo. I was the Schrodinger's cat of the doll world.  I was neither in the convention nor out of the convention. It was the worst. I was legit a wretched person for a couple of days and should buy my family flowers or something because I was unhappy. 

But I got in. Deep breathe. Relief. Joy. Thankfulness. Many more did not.  I decided to partner with a newer member of the board who did not get in and vowed to offer them the first right of refusal on anything that I don't at the retail cost and shipping.  I encourage others to do the same. It's good karma. I am a firm believer in that.  There is no reason not to with this convention.  Without travel costs...this is the perfect time to spread the wealthy of dolls around.  Okay...off my soap box.

Now, what could have been done better.  Obviously bigger better internet server computer stuff. Maybe a lottery for registration? I don't know. I think the agreement could have been sent out in advance. Hopefully this will not happen this way again. It was not fun and really pooped on my rainbow for a couple of days.

Now onto the dolls in the next post.