Alyrenee's Copious Spare Time

Sorry it has been FOREVER since I have blogged.  I have been working my fanny off at my new day job (professor at UW-Madison) and had little time for anything else. And, I have to say bluntly, I have been feeling a whole lot less enthusiastic about a lot of things lately, but dolls especially.  Don't get me wrong, I still love them and have still bought more than a few over the last year. But I have only managed to unbox a few of my purchases in the last year...so I've got a big pile up waiting for me. I finally have a bit of time off and I am hoping to spend some more time with the collection. Also, I want to do some serious purging.  I am registered for the 2024 convention and planning to do room sales. So I am considering bringing a serious checked bagged filled with dolls. I think pairing down will let me focus and enjoy what I actually have more. So planning a brutal "no mercy" purge. But there are always lows and highs with a hobby right? Of the dolls released i...

  It is that time of year again...to join the W Club.  I will definitely be getting a membership.  In previous years, I had gotten more than one but since they got rid of the coupon, I don't see the need.  Club membership gets you access to several made to order dolls and then right to buy lottery opportunities for others. Club members also get first access to new doll lines dropping so that they can potentially secure preorders before the general public.  Onto the upgrade dolls: I am WIDELY UNDERWHELMED by the upgrade dolls. Not just one, but all three of the dolls are color variations. And variations that possibly no one wanted. I don't even have words really. Just meh.  The only thing giving me hope is that Poppy will be mod again. That will be great. I am hoping that the Poppy "rewind" moment that David mentioned is a companion piece for the Alien Poppy or Black/White Poppy from Stay Tuned...or a friend sculpt for the Palm Springs line.    You...

  The 2023 Club year was a bit of a sloppy drunk.  Let's call her Sheila. Sheila is generally good fun, but occasionally she takes FOREVER, says the wrong thing, over-serves herself, and then spends a lot of time apologizing. Get a hold of yourself, Sheila! Here is a photo showing what I ordered from this year (though it is missing the Wildflower Misaki doll which I did order. This is easily the least amount of stuff I have ordered in a club year. I really liked all of the True Industry line up but was trying to be good. I already have versions that I love of all of those characters and don't want to repeat sculpts with them. I did not have a Jasper or an Auden though and I liked them both enough to enter in the lottery. I got Auden but not Jasper sadly (hoping I will find a takeover later). At the slightly reduced club pricing, the sticker shock of the new high prices was not as bad for what is basically the same Dynamite Girls dolls we used to get for like $60 back in t...

  Dolly days has come and gone. I am a little behind because, well, life.  But here is one of the offerings from that week. Desert Dazzler is cute...but I somehow managed to resist.  I think if the fur had not been a color that I already had, then I might have been swayed.  However, I have two in this same color actually...one from Hold That Tiger and another slightly shorter one from the recent Doll's Life gift set. I do like her face and this skin tone but don't really need the ariana ponytail hair. Had this come with some cocktails, I might have caved.  I will be keeping an eye out for the outfit and shoes for a good price though.  Item # 77210 Desert Dazzler Poppy Parker® Dressed Doll Poppy Parker® In Palm Springs Collection 2021  W   Club  Exclusive Doll Edition Size: TBD Expected Ship Date: Late Summer 2022 Retail Price: $160 (Only $30.00 Due Now to Pre-order!) Head Sculpt: Poppy Parker Body Type: Poppy Parker Foot Sculpt: High-heeled ...

Just realized I completely skipped talking about the Poppy 'lunch' dolls.  I was so not interested in them so I nearly forgot. Both girls are very pretty....but I don't do brides and don't really do lingerie either.  The bride doll itself is really pretty though and Ginger in the strawberry blonde is also cute.  I passed on the Bride doll to another collector at cost.  I traded Ginger's outfit for the Milan poppy fashion (squeeee!) and will likely be trading or selling the doll as well.  As for other news, the Palm Springs Collection obviously did not materialize this year but will hopefully appear in 2022. As a result, there were no new research looks presented for what they next collection would be. However,  there was mention of another big project that David has been planning for some time and something pop star related.  Sort of vague. Many are speculating that we might finally get a trunk for poppy (I MEAN COME ON ALREADY) and/or maybe get a trun...

The final gala event gave us a swell centerpiece Adele, an interview with Jason Wu, and another miniature Wu fashion on a doll...this time Elyse! Jason discussed his history, drag queens, food, cats, his design work during covid times, and a little look into future things. There was discussion of the Net-a-Porter dolls (groan) and the potential to do another Wu doll for the club instead. Hopefully that might happen as the recent Wu Aymeline(s) offered via Net-a-Porter was an unparalleled torturous disaster for the majority of people who wanted her (still ongoing mind you).   Item # 91529 Sovereign Adèle Makéda™ Dressed Doll The 2021 Integrity Toys Convention: Obsession Final Gala Event Centerpiece Edition Size: 1300 Special Convention Price: $180.00 Head Sculpt: Adele 2.0 Body Type: FR 6.0 Foot Sculpt: High-heeled Skin Tone: Sunkissed Hair Color: Golden Blonde Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied Quickswitch: No Designed by Jessy Ayala and in keeping with the vaguely defined military ...

Yves St Laurent & Marisa Berenson I set time aside this morning to do a 2021 recap and then realized that I never finished covering the convention. Le sigh. It has been a month...and a year.  During the virtual convention, I was out of town doing dress rehearsals for a dance performance at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC.  So I was viewing convention shenanigans on Saturday either in a hotel on my iPad or on my cell phone. Then arrived back to roll into finals week at the university where I work and then holidays fa la la. Hence my lackadaisical blogging.  So here is the old news, for what it is worth... So lately my fashion interests have been very 1970s skewed.  I think, in part, this is because the fashion in the 70s has a great deal of retro inspiration in it but with modern updates.  The 'bohemian' flapper looks of Biba come to mind. Bill Gibb had some really swell 70's kaftans meets the Renaissance vibes. Halston was serving up 1930s sl...

 Carol's "eating workshop" began with the usual sharing of the rules and a new request for people to not yuck each other's yum. I appreciated that as, in general, I turn off the comments for any presentation so I don't have to see that nonsense and tend to block W Club users that just trash what other like.  It is fine to disagree and voice that opinion...but some people just have no class. Here is a run down of the information shared: The design talk commenced then with Vaughn Sawyers, Jessy Ayala, David Buttry, Chris Stoeckel, Alain Trembley, and Carol Roth. They all shared their IT "origin stories". Mark  is going back to Misaki. Excited to see it. Vaughn's obligatory 'pipeline supply chain issue' explanations.  David -Future of Poppy Parker...she will time travel back and forth...modern twist on vintage. Jessy- Working on new characters (in response to a question about more Asian representation) Chris - Victoire's husband...not in th...