The Convention Conundrum

November 7, 2024

Greetings readers. I missed last week's blog post and I'm sorry for that. I have had the blues; about a few things I won't bring up here in my personal life and about this whole hobby of doll collecting in general, I guess. It was the convention. Or rather the conversations had during and right after the convention. Or really just how my heart feels about conventions. First off, I want to say this post is absolutely about something frivolous, it is not about a social issue or something that needs to be addressed for the good of humanity or anything like that. It's all just a silly part of capitalism that I choose to participate in because I like it.

If you don't know what I'm referring to Integrity Toys (doll club lines all seem to do this according to what I can gather) throws a convention or two for about 500 paying members each year who win a lottery and buy the tickets, travel to whatever location the convention is at that year, stay in a nearby hotel (or the convention picks a hotel, I'm not sure). If you're collecting multiple $175 dolls a year you have some disposable income, or you're a good budgeter, or you can afford to take a vacation to one of our beautiful national parks. My point is I don't think the argument that a convention financially excludes other members holds water.

Attendees of typical doll conventions go to doll luncheons, and to what are effectively little doll fashion shows, and they get to see the doll designers in person and hear them talk about what their thought process is like and what inspires them and how they work etc. They report that the best part is getting to meet other doll lovers, because you know everybody just thinks of us as crazy doll people but there, you're just normal. It is a dream vacation for a person who loves dolls. If my life circumstances were different, I'd have grabbed my daughter and gone to the one they just had and never even thought about a person in a situation like me probably. With things being how they are I think, no I know that not only are there other people out there in similar situations to me (single mom caring for an elderly mother and an autistic child) but the way conventions work, there is no way for them to feel anything but unfair because of the tiny amount of convention attendees and the large amount of club members.

IT has the most awesome designers working for it. I wish they had a woman on the design team or in to collaborate, but I haven't seen it. I'll bet creating and giving a little conference for 500 club members is the most fun part of the work year and they feel like they are giving the members a real gift, and they are. To those 500 members. But I'd guess the club has got to be about 10 times bigger than that.

I've looked around on my recent doll disappointment journey at other doll manufacturers, and there aren't really many that are even interesting to me that are in my price range. I'm not going up into the $600 per doll price range any time soon unless Matt Damon truly does become my boyfriend, and I think there are a lot of people in front of me in that line. But from what I've learned, all the doll club companies seem to be organized this way, even in other countries. So, this system may truly be a long-held tradition of our grandmothers and great grandmothers. Let us honor them.

But listen they didn't have internet, did they? Did they keep using coal stoves to heat their homes and SCRUBBING the soot off their walls every year once they had access to gas heat? Did they keep their wells out in the back field and keep hauling water in by the bucket, the whole family bathing in a big barrel at once after running water was invented? Not if they had the MONEY honey so I think that all of these doll manufacturers had better start adopting a new model for the doll convention. I SEE the charm of the old way. I don't imagine there's ever been any other way for a bunch of doll lovers who all have the same reference points and pop culture doll knowledge to be in the same room. Until NOW when they can do it VIRTUALLY on the INTERNET! This would involve making more than 500 of each of the dolls of course. Maybe that's the problem. Maybe production can't handle it. Well then, fix it. Invest in the company and fix it. They really put in all this energy and pay these designers to do all this work to put on this amazing event for only 500 people? You could make so much more money. A much larger proportion of your customers would be so much happier.

That's how it seems to me, but I guess these complaints have been around a long while now and no doll company has done anything. There were virtual conventions during quarantine, but people resist any changes when it comes to these things. Customers just don't like it, even if it is fairer. There's resistance, and no apparent interest in changing the system from the doll manufacturers.

So, I decided to stretch my proverbial legs and not be so devoted to just one doll company. I realized that this is just the way this business works and although I love the dolls that IT creates, that doesn't mean I can't buy elsewhere, especially when they are not offering any dolls for sale to me. I'm a grown-ass lady who has lived a whole life and it took me how long to realize that? That's embarrassing. That goes no further than this blog, understand? Dolls really do bring out the child in me, even childish devotion. I decided not every doll in my collection has to have RBF even though I do love that. And I started looking around in the same price range. Honestly it was looking kind of bleak but I came upon JHD dolls and I stopped my search for now. Everyone's seen them around and they seem somewhat interesting to me. They are the right size, they come from China, and they seem to be very carefully painted, like art pieces. They are a bit cartoonish, but still I like them, they're sweet. They're a bit less money too. I pre-ordered 3 and bought one on Ebay that I really wanted now. I think it's good. I love Integrity Toys and I'm not going anywhere, but we are no longer exclusive, that's all.

So, from now on, most of my posts will still be about IT dolls, but not all. I'm going to let another manufacturer who also holds conferences (even though I still say conferences suck, but I accept that it's not changing anytime soon) into my imagination for a while and see how that feels, and I'm not going to close my mind to other companies either. Except the $600 company, that one I close my wallet to.