Angela - Story Time - My Most Influential Dolls #1

Hello everyone! Angela here, with another one of my long and somewhat random posts. This time I thought I'd give you another look into my doll collection. But this time, I'm going to do it as a series of posts spotlighting the dolls who have most influenced my collection/me as a collector.

And today, we're going to start with an old friend from my childhood. I was roughly two years old when Hot Skatin' barbie came out in 1994 and I don't remember where or when I got her, but she was my first articulated Barbie. She bent at the knees and elbows besides the usual hips and shoulders and I was too little to realize she was a roller skater, so she spent several years as a gymnast in her bright rainbow splattered jumpsuit.

Thing was, she spoiled me. After her, even the old click-knee dolls bothered me with their lack of being able to sit at the dining room table effectively and permanently straight or bent arms. I wanted more jointed Barbies like her.

When I was six or seven, the elastic in her legs finally weakened and gave out all the way, leaving her sadly legless and broken. I asked my brother to fix her for me, but he didn't know how to at the time and neither did I - I couldn't save my childhood Hot Skatin' Barbie, but I have since replaced her with another to keep an old friend in my collection.

Why is she so significant to my collection? Hot Skatin' Barbie's tragic accident (and later, my 1991 Disney Classic Aurora's accident) were part of my motivation to learn how to repair and restore used and broken dolls. I never liked having to throw away a broken doll, especially not if there might be a way to give her new life.

In my current collecting habits, I tend toward buying dolls second hand to bring them home and give them a second chance. Sometimes I can simply clean and restore, other times it takes a little bit more than that with reroots and repainting. But either way, the dolls I bring home do get a new lease on life.

Tune in for the next edition of my most influential dolls!
--Angela

Bay Update - Who came home with us from Girl AGain!

As promised, I'm back with the second part of our Girl AGain visit - Who came home with us from the pretty little American Girl boutique in White Plains, New York!

We had three new friends join us this trip. Two will be staying with us and the third will be going to live with a friend of ours when we fly out toward Washington State in a couple of weeks to spend some time with her.

Our first new friend is this Mini Emily doll, she stands six inches tall and she came with her original little blue and red dress. Her headband is just a red ribbon added after the fact since I don't have her headband and she is missing a pair of shoes but that's nothing we can't fix with a Lori or mini-OG fashion pack from Target, if need be.

Emily came home with us as a companion for our mini Molly (and because finding a mini Emily in any condition for purchase online can be a right pain in the rear end...she finishes our set of Molly and Emily since we do have both full size dolls and now both minis).

Our second new friend is Kirsten. Our Pleasant Company Kirsten was one of two on display at Girl AGain and aside from dry hair as dolls from the early years of American Girl are frequently known to have (and nothing we can't handle with a little clever styling) She's in beautiful shape, complete with her meet dress, apron, underthings, socks and her little leather shoes. The only thing missing was her hair ribbons for her braids and I happened to have a scrap of blue ribbon the same shade as her dress to replace those with!

Kirsten joined us for a couple of reasons - We already had the Pleasant Company edition Molly and Samantha, followed up by Felicity, Josefina and an early edition Kit - We're only missing Addy in our set of the "original" Historical girls. And the second reason goes with some friends - You haven't met Tasha yet, but Kit is her doll and Kirsten belonged to her mother. In her world, the two are fast friends despite being from different centuries.

Our third new friend is Girl of the Year 2012, McKenna. She's in her full Meet outfit down to the bow in her hair and her pretty little purple strapped flats. Aside from some dry ends in her hair, miss McKenna is in beautiful condition. And she will be joining our friend in Washington State when we fly over to visit her at the end of this week.

She fits into the story with Dusty and Maddie's little girl. Meaghan owns McKenna and Caroline both, but we could only bring one of them home and we chose McKenna this time. Isn't she sweet? Our friend will just love her!

So - Those are our new friends from Girl AGain! And we do wish we had time for another trip out to White Plains to have another look around and perhaps bring home another friend or two for our collection of American Girls.

-Bay-

Bay Update - Dolly Road Trip!!! Girl AGain Boutique!

Hey all! So, today was an interesting day and since this doesn't really fit under anyone else's parts of the blog yet, I'll do it myself. We went on a dolly road trip today! Two and a half hours in the car each way to visit Girl AGain!
Girl AGain Boutique is an American Girl boutique in White Plains, New York...all of the dolls there are donated, each one hand cleaned and refurbished by the girls of Yes She Can. It's part of a program that helps girls with varying levels of autism learn workplace skills and the profit made on the dolls goes back into the program.
What's cool about Girl AGain Boutique for doll collectors is that they tend to have some of the harder to find dolls - Retired Girl of the Year and Just Like You dolls, original Historical dolls like Kirsten, Molly etc. from before the BeForever rebranding; a lot of their clothes and original accessories and furniture.
They even have some "DIY" dolls, dolls who would need significant repair to be playable again...for those of us who enjoy customizing and restoring AG dolls on our own or needing spare parts to fix someone we already have waiting for new parts at home. 
I'll do a second post for our dolly haul tomorrow, but in the meantime, let me show you what our little friend Luciana looked like when we brought her along for the ride - 

She decided to put on her Galaxy gown, which I might add was handmade for her by a friend of ours last year, along with her Starlight accessories - So it would be easy to tell she was with us and not one of the Boutique dolls. 
The displays at Girl AGain Boutique change with the wind depending on which dolls they have on hand at the time and whose birthdays are in that particular month. Currently featured inside the door when you first walk in is a group of Samanthas, a Felicity and a Caroline or two-

These Samanthas were on sale, as were the outfits hanging beside them - the bargain area is just inside the door as you walk in, along with a small basket of assorted mini dolls who might possibly be missing shoes or clothes but are otherwise in great condition.

As you move further in, on your right is a display of various TrulyMe/Just Like You/My AG dolls along with various scenes and accessories for them - Today, there was a bike and someone's snack cart, if memory serves, alongside half a dozen dolls.

On the left, the start of the Historical doll displays, beginning with Addy and Molly on the end shelf unit - There are multiple of each doll, most in Meet outfits, although some wear their holiday, school and other outfits - some of it depends on what's on hand and some simply to show off alternate outfits. The second shelf unit held Kirsten dolls and more Samanthas, the first of which made me smile since Kirsten has been retired for a while now.

 The third of these historical doll shelves held an assortment of Kit and Felicity (with her friend Elizabeth), each with accessories and furniture setting the scene. The final shelf of Historical dolls on this wall held Josefina and Kaya, although it's not clearly visible in these photos for some reason.

Across the room, with their backs to the large front window, an array of Molly, Emily and Julie (this amused us because our Molly, Emily and Julie are all very good friends with each other) and a few oddball others, a couple of TrulyMe/Just Like You and a Felicity who crept in there somehow to hide among the Molly dolls.

And hidden off in the corner just beyond the Molly and Emily dolls in the window, there were our Girl of the Years. This time, the display featured Kanani, Marisol, Mia, Saige and two McKenna dolls, all grinning at us from the shelves.
There were some Bitty Babies at the bottom of the shelf that housed Kit and Felicity on the other side of the room and a large section for Historical dolls' outfits and one for the MyAG/JLY/TrulyMe doll clothes as well as a shelf unit lined with various American Girl books, from the advice books to the character books that match the dolls and including a row of brand new mini dolls in their boxes, just awaiting someone to take them home.
Girl AGain is a paradise for the AG doll collector, and aside from a few particular dolls who seem to be harder to come by, their prices were worth paying for dolls in the condition most all the dolls were in.
I wish I'd had more time to explore the collections and accessories, but it was still a complete blast to visit Girl AGain Boutique!
Check back later/tomorrow to see the girls we brought home from our visit to the boutique!
--Bay--