Hmmm...lots of things!

I was once again at Target (okay, okay, I am there every week. LOL. Sometimes twice!) and they now have Bratz styling heads! I want one. Infact, I covet one. LOL. These are the size of the styling heads I remember having as a little girl and not the size of the puny Barbie styling heads that they make today. They come in the original four characters. I regret to say I do not know the price.

Diva Starz also made a big impact at Target as well with a whole endcap prominently displaying them. I think I will have to have one of these soon.

And it was announced at Expo East (which is happening as we speak) that the Tonner Doll Company has aquired the Effanbee Doll Company. This may mean great things for Brenda Starr!

I have started a Yahoo! Group devoted to Bleuette a French doll produced between 1905 and 1960. She has a wardrobe any young girl would envy. Clothes were available for her commercially as well as patterns available to her in the weekly La Semaine de Suzette. Bleuette was actually a premium you received when you subscribed. Bleuette has a fascinating history that is just coming to light here in the US. I hope that the Group, called Le Salon de Bleuette can serve as a tool for collectors to meet, mingle and share information. If you would like to join click on the Yahoo! Groups button on the left of the screen.

I have also started a WebRing devoted to Wendy Lawton dolls. If you would like to join, there is a link here that will take you through all the steps. I also tweaked The Attic on my main site. It has links to all of my Lawton pictures as well as my trip to the Lawton Doll Factory in March.

And in case I forget to mention, Fascination Violet is my new favorite doll and I don't even have her yet.

While researching the French doll Bleuette, I came across this site on the Theatre de la Mode. It has some wonderful pictures, including the inspiration for my favorite Gene, White Hyacinth.

My Mother says I don't update enough, so this post is dedicated to her. ;o)

Okee...I was at Target to today to pick up my DVD copy of Lord of the Rings and I saw all types of cool stuff. If you are a Bratz fan there are a whole bunch of non-doll liscensed products including tempory tattoos (4 different designs at $4.99 each), a light-up necklace (4 different designs, $5.99), my favorite: a lipgloss necklace pen (4 different designs, $4.99) and 150-piece puzzles (4 designs, $2.99). Also a spot was set up for something called "Glo Gear," however these weren't in yet. I am sure there are four different designs, and they were priced at $5.99.

Spurred on by the popularity of the Bratz I am sure, Lisa Frank has dived into the doll market as well. The dolls look very similiar, although they do not have the same type of shoes, the Lisa Frank dolls have actual feet. They were called Fab Friends and were priced at $12.99. There are three friends, Cassie who has lemon yellow blonde hair, Mara an African-American doll with purple hair, and Lisa with orange hair.

I was also impressed with the new 11.5 inch Diva Starz. These are from Mattel. They have Barbie bodies so can wear assorted Barbie clothes I am sure. When you press their head, they say different things. They were priced at $19.99 and there were four different outfits available for them ($5.99 each). There's Alexa, who's blonde, Tia an African-American, Nikki (my fave) -- a red head, and Miranda another blonde although I think she has more colored streaks in her hair.

In case you haven't seen her, Katrena made her debut at the National UFDC convention. She's a winter-time blonde in a Russian ensemble made by Wendy Lawton exclusively for this event. Pop over to eBay and do a search for UFDC and you will see several for sale. You might even see Dimitri the companion piece. Two extra ensembles were also available for purchase. These were sailor outfits. I am lucky enough to have one of Katrena's on its way to me. I will post pictures as soon as I am able. From all the reports I have heard, much fun was had by all attendees and Wendy Lawton dolls stole the show!