OOAK Doll Festival–A Sneak Peek at Live Auction
Just a note of explanation to start of the rest of the blog posts from this amazing festival. Rogier and I work well together as a team. For the past year I have reported for him while he was at European conventions and he has reported for me while I was attending the events in the US. It is a brilliant system. We learned quickly that when we are both attending the same event….not so brilliant of a system. We apologize for the lateness of these reports as the festival ended less than a week ago but it was simply too busy to edit the images and report on events in a timely manner. Added to that….I had to go and catch the plague.
Now that I can breath again without hacking up a lung, We can finally report on events. Thank you all for being patient and understanding.
Now, at the opening gala of this festival, attendees were also able to view all of the amazing live auction items that would be available to bid on at Friday nights dinner.
Entry from Julia Lapshova of Julia’s Originals
From Judy O’Connel of Aponi Designs
From Matt Sutton
From Ninimomo
From Carlyle Neura of Mattel
From Magia 2000
And from the team of friends Rogier Corbeau of Dutch Fashion Doll World, Hilda Westervelt of Bellissima Couture and Rebecca Berry of Inside The Fashion Doll Studio… a diorama of one of our favorite places!
–More coming of the sales room sneak peek….
Hudson’s Bay Barbie!
Sorry to start this blog post out with some snark but here it goes. When you are a company the size of Mattel…and you say you are going to have something for sale on a certain date at a certain time….you would think they would honor that. Nope. But then again, this was the same company that advertised a doll for $50 then raised the price 50 percent an hour into the sale to $75. Snark over…for now. 
All this being said, Mattel released a highly anticipated doll today ( about an hour and a half later than they said they would but released it they did)…whaaaaat…how did that extra snark get in there?
Seriously though..Carlyle has a new girl to show off at Mattel and she is a beauty! Well done Carlyle!!! Also important to note…for once Canadian collectors can buy directly and get this one shipped to their homes. She is also available at Hudson’s Bay online.
Designer: Carlyle Nuera
Release Date: 10/5/2016
Retail: $49.99
She’s purrrrty. And…There is a poodle!!! The latte cup and cell phone are a bonus too eh?
-Rebecca
The Madrid Fashion Doll Show Convention–Day 3 The Salesroom
The last day of convention is full of lovely sales room goodies 
But before we get into those, I wanted to show the promotional images from two of the auction items displayed last night. These items will be auctioned off on Ebay in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to Rogier’s blog for information on when those items are up and available for bidding.
Carlyle Nuera released these images on his Instagram and FB page of the glorious design he did.
And here is one for the Magia2000 auction item.
Now on to the Madrid Fashion Doll convention sales room!
Artist Creations brought some beautiful dolls.
And Magia2000 brought some stunners as well.
I believe this beautiful lady went home with someone we know.
And many, many more talented people exhibited their wares
Amazing hats and outfits by Cisca Durieux
And so many more….
And with these final images, I pass the baton back to Rogier for Dutch Fashion Doll World. Rogier will be blogging for me in about a month as I travel to Chicago for the Integrity Toy Convention. Wishing you safe and easy travel back to your home my friend. It has been a pleasure and honor to sit in the editor chair these past few days.
-Rebecca
The Madrid Fashion Doll Show Convention–Gala Dinner
After presentations were over this afternoon, there was one workshop put on by the talented member of Artist Creations Guiseppe de Bellis
Then it was time for the really big party…The Gala Dinner!!! Here are a few images from the dessert table.
The centerpiece doll
“Bolliwood Diva 2.0”
She was an originally designed by Marcelo Jacob, now redesigned by Lewis and made by Joana Costa “Squistish”
And the tables themselves incorporated many of the beautiful colors of India.
Rogier’s table gift. Wish I were at his table!!!
Gorgeous!!
There were beautiful auction items as well. Here are just a few….
Here is beautiful image Magia2000 shared on their instagram
Mattel done by Carlyle Nuera
So, Gala dinner is happening right now. We should have images of convention doll very soon. As I write this, Rogier is sending me videos of some major dancing going on…Bollywood style. LOVE. What a fantastic party!!
-Rebecca
The Madrid Fashion Doll Show Convention–Day 2
The second day of festivities in Madrid began with presentations and an OOAK artist cocktail by Sebastian Atelier. Rogier took some great photos of these events!
Carlyle Nuera gave a presentation from Mattel. No photos were allowed at this event after the introduction. It looks like he was signing his fabulous sketches that people received in their registration bags before the presentation .
Ibrahim Ismail also gave a presentation on Bollywood cinema but sadly, I do not have any images of that. I’m sure it was fabulous.
Conventioneers were given option to attended the OOAK artist cocktail party given by Sebastian Atelier. There were some beautiful OOAK creations to look through and for a lucky few, purchase.
For those who attended the cocktail, there was a beautiful outfit given as a gift.
More info coming later and don’t forget…Gala dinner with presentation of convention doll!!!
-Rebecca
The Madrid Fashion Doll Show Convention–Fashion Show
I may only speak for myself but I feel many would agree that the fashion show is always a fun part of any doll convention…or rather Barbie convention. I am always amazed at the skill of collectors and their ability to produce a doll design in real people scale. The attention to detail that many of these collectors go to is really intense. Here are some quick photos from this years Madrid convention.
And of course, each show has to have it’s own set of paparazzi…
Now, on to the show…
—Rebecca
2016 BFC Membership Renewal Open to Current Members…
…and I am honestly conflicted about it. I went ahead and purchased a membership ( and had difficulties doing it see story below) but I am conflicted as to whether this is something I would really recommend to a new or even seasoned collector at this point.
Here is what I am liking about this years club.
1) AA Silkstone in a blue suit looks scrumptious!! She will be a BFC exclusive so only available to the club. This may be worth the $25 alone and is perhaps the main reason I signed back up this year. Mr. Best, you get my vote…your tech department does not.
2) Soda Shop Barbie ( part of the Willows, WI line) is ADORABLE. Love the poodle skirt and love where Bill Greening has taken and seems to be taking this line. Well done Mr. Greening.
3) The Free gift is a chair! And it seems to be the same pattern as the gilt chairs in the dioramas we all love so much from BFMC. But…it’s black and not gold or gilt. Hmmmmm… see more on this below.
Here is what I am not liking about this years club:
1) The chair is black and not gilt or gold. I mean we can spray paint…no problem … but there is some work involved with that one. You need to make sure it’s the right gold…and does that white seat cover come off? Is it cloth or is it plastic? It’s totally doable…just wish they had sprung the extra buck and had them sprayed gold is all. I was kind of primed for the gold based on what was said in the promotional video about the articulated silkstone’s. But…free is free so guess I really can’t complain. Will take it and say “Thank you!”
2) The free gift doesn’t come until March? Why the three month delay? Yes, I say three months because I suspect this puppy won’t be mailed until late March. Oh and read the fine print people…in order to get said chair, you need to have signed up by 03/31/16.
3) NOT liking the troubles I experienced on the “improved” website. I had to sign in multiple times to get my account to recognize me as a BFC member and therefore allowed to purchase a membership today. Once that hurdle was jumped, I experienced the “waiting room” and once I made it out of the waiting room and had the item in my cart, I attempted to actually pay for my membership. Here is what I got
What!! My response to the screen was “ You have got to be kidding me! This was supposed to be the “improved system”. Do you want my business and money or not Mattel?!!
After about 4 minutes, I went back in and was able to re-enter all my payment info and successfully complete my transaction but for 4 minutes I contemplated whether or not it was worth it. This BC website is seriously affecting my love of Barbie and my collecting mojo. I am just not feeling the love from Mattel when stuff like this happens and the more it happens, it makes me question why I am giving my money to them. I hate to say it but there it is. Just expressing my concern and sadness. Oh and the graphic you see above…the nice one with the pictures and explanation of the club…it’s only visible if you sign out of your membership account and are looking at the BC site as a non -member. What?!! So members were not able to actually see the free gift chair on the product page when they paid for their membership but people who are thinking about signing up for the first time can see it? Can someone please, please explain this one to me?!!
So…here I am….conflicted because I am in essence advertising the Barbie Fan Club and including links in this blog post for people if they are interested and yet…I am really disappointed at how the roll out of this club has played out. Is this a harbinger for tough times ahead? Will I continually have problems purchasing? Will I have to log in and out of the website to see content that I am interested in? Will I ever be able to search the BC website and find what I am looking for? I remain hopeful but guarded. Mattel, are you hearing any of this?
I guess what I will leave potential buyers with is a big fat CAVEAT EMPTOR .
Caveat Emptor – let the buyer beware
If you are a current BFC member, you can sign up for the club now. If you are a new member, you can start signing up a week from now on 1/19/2016.
Welcome Carlyle Nuera
There is a new Barbie Collector designer in town… and his name is Carlyle Nuera. He knows how to make an entrance! His debut design for BC just had photos released yesterday and she is a beautiful homage to the rich culture of the Philippines.
Designed by: Carlyle Nuera
Release Date: 2/2/2015
Doll Details
Body Type: ModelMuse™
Skin Tone: Tropic Tan
Facial Sculpt: Kira
Fashion Sewn On?: No
Eyelashes: Painted
source: www.barbiecollector.com
source: www.barbiecollector.com
source: www.barbiecollector.com
This is not Carlyle’s first offering in the collector community. He has offered up some amazing OOAK dolls for charity in the past couple of years.
Noëlie Barbie for the 2014 National Barbie Collectors Convention
source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/42498300@N07/14544364228/in/set-72157645791148955
Who could forget his Adam Lambert OOAK for Project Angel Food!
source: https://www.charitybuzz.com/auctions/Barbie/catalog_items/3318012?ref=area
Also in the Charity Buzz auction benefiting Project Angel Food was his design of “Haute Hiver”.
source: https://www.charitybuzz.com/auctions/Barbie/catalog_items/331807?ref=area
source: https://www.charitybuzz.com/auctions/Barbie/catalog_items/331807?ref=area
Inside the Fashion Doll Studio 