New Warehouse

We moved last month into a combined office/warehouse space in San Pedro. It is great to be able to combine the office and shipping functions into one location. If you live in the area and want to pick up your doll, just email.

Pardon Our Dust

I've been remodeling my site at CollectibleDollBargains.com, take a peek at the new look. With everything going on in the summer, my own efforts to redesign the site stalled. I enlisted the aid of a crack web designer to spruce it up. Thanks Amy.

What's new besides the design? Orders from the August ASD trade show are starting to arrive. I've been adding new products weekly, sometimes daily. I'm excited about the new line of Paul Frank Julius sock monkey by Fiesta. I'm also expecting a wide range of Linda Rick's Key to My Heart and Precious Moments dolls, more Groovy Girls items, more Fisher Price, more I Love Lucy and Betty Boop, more high end teddy bears, and more Barbie. I've added a new category for Clearance and Sale Items. I'm also promoting new arrivals and weekly specials at the top of the Home Page.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

e-Commerce Store Renamed Collectible Doll Bargains

I renamed my e-Commerce store CollectibleDollBargains.com to provide a more descriptive, content rich title. Check it out!

View From The Trenches -- ASD/AMD Trade Show Las Vegas March 2009

Twice a year, buyers and sellers stream to Las Vegas for a huge merchandise trade show, called ASD/AMD. The show spans several Vegas Convention Centers, and multiple categories of merchandise, including Value, Variety, Gift, Jewelry and others. This is a tremendous buying opportunity for the trade (no retail sales are allow, except at the Jewelry Show).The March Show started on Sunday March 15th and runs through March 18th.

How did ASD do this year in face of the economy? I don't have any stats on the number of buyers at the gate this year vs. prior years, but the general consensus on the floor was that attendance and sales were down. Some vendors that I visited expressed outward anxiety, but many maintained their equanimity and seemed upbeat. Tough to do when sales are slow.

Still, even in a challenging economy, desirable items priced right will sell. My area is narrow -- collectible and specialty dolls and some classic toys -- and in those categories I saw items that I bought early Sunday sell out before I left around noon on Monday. Some of those items include:

1. Gold Label Barbie Sets, including the Barbie Campus Spirit Set (selling at FAO Schwarz on the Strip for $122), and Barbie Campus Sweetshop (selling at select major retailers for over $100);
2. Groovy Girls dolls, clothing, furniture and accessories;
3. Fisher Price Real Loving Baby, various dolls and sets;
4. Learning Curve Play Town Wooden Action Figures, many items for sale, but desirable sets were selling out; and
5. Oversized Pez Dispensers.

Bottom line: Great merchandise at bargain prices sells. At American Artifacts, my philosophy is to sell quality, name brand dolls and toys at discounted prices. I purchased some of the above (except for the Pez), and will add items to the store as they arrive. If you're looking for any of these items, please check in from time to time at American Artifacts to see what's new.

Retired Groovy Girls Dolls

Are you a fan of the Groovy Girls by Manhattan Toy? Groovy Girls are 13" specialty cloth play dolls designed for girls ages 3+. Manhattan Toy introduced the Groovy Girls in 1998. Groovy Girls are soft dolls with contemporary, removeable clothing. They are multi-ethnic, and reflect a diversity of hair and skin tones. They are funky, but not too far out for girls to want to play with them.

Originally, Manhattan Toys just started with the "Girls" or dolls. Early lines used the same letter of the alphabet for a single series of dolls -- like Liza, Lucy, Lexi and Lupe in 1998. Other series started with other letters of the alphabet. Recently, the dolls' names start with different letters, even though they are in the same series. Some dolls stay in production for several years, and some dolls are introduced and then shortly retired.

After introducing the dolls, Manhattan Toy began introducing related items -- like separate outfits, pets, furniture and accessories. Many of these specialty items were produced for a short while and then retired. In addition, some special Groovy Girl items were produced for special occasions -- like the Olympics, or for specific retailers -- like Sam's Club -- for a short while, and then retired.

Estate Sale Theft Trend

Have you ever been to an estate sale? For the uninitiated, an estate sale is different than the garden variety garage sale, at which one of your over consuming neighbors lays out stuff that he never should have bought in the first place. It's hard to find anything decent to buy at the typical garage sale.

But an estate sale, that's a different story. At a true estate sale, the entire household is opened up. The general public is invited to wander through, inspect, buy. Multiple generations of furnishings, prized possessions, and the general detritus of someone's life are laid bare for your perusal.

I like to go to a lot of estate sales. Sure, I sift through a lot of junk, but I find amazing things -- vintage dolls, antique English transferware, silver, jewelry -- mixed in. A recent trend, probably exacerbated by the rotten economy, seems to be estate sale theft.

Last week, I went to a small, tightly controlled estate sale held in a garage. (The house was staged for sale and no one could enter.) The liquidator was distraught because someone had stolen a piece of gold jewelry right from under her nose. This week, I went another estate sale. The family had a collection of antique guns. Wouldn't you know it, someone stole an antique gun, again right under the watchful clerk's nose. The house was packed full, there were probably 50 or 60 people in a small space, it is really scary to thing of a light fingered bandit strolling around the crowd with the stolen gun. Luckily, no one would sell a loaded gun at an estate sale (we think). Have you noticed more theft at estate sales in your area? Is this a trend?