As I mentioned last week the doll show was held over the weekend and Naomi and I went along on Sunday. Usually I go to the doll show on the Saturday but Sunday morning turned out to be quite good too. It was not as crowded and there was still plenty to buy.

The Hobart Doll Club runs the show primarily to showcase the porcelain dolls made by members so let’s look at those first. The theme of the show was “Children of the World”.Here are a few that I liked.

 

Of course what we liked best was the trade stalls selling both vintage and modern dolls, clothes, accessories and a fair number of teddy bears. Naomi was very pleased to be able to adopt some new teddies. Most of the vintage dolls on sale were labelled and the sellers were happy to chat. I think for people who are just starting to collect dolls a show like this is a good place to start as you will be amongst people who love dolls and know what they have. At least with a small club show like this. I can’t speak for big shows elsewhere of course. The Hobart Doll Show raises money for Cystic Fibrosis Tasmania through a raffle and admission to the show was only $5, cheaper than last year so it’s a cosy, friendly show to visit.

I didn’t take as many photos as I usually do because I had a little camera trouble. My battery ran out which was not a big problem as I always carry a spare but due to the lighting in the hall I was using my flash a lot so the second battery also showed signs of running down. I quit using the flash after that and luckily most of the pictures I took were fine, or fine after editing but I was worried about it running down completely so I didn’t photograph all the stalls.

I couldn’t resist this  group of vintage girls though. The baby doll in the next photo was taken when I first came in. She is made by the Hong Kong company OK Kader and Naomi and I both have one of these dolls. Not our childhood ones but replacement dolls we bought as adults. They are easy dolls to find fortunately and not too expensive compared to some sixties dolls. Our babies are both dressed as boys however.

I think I took some photos of this stall last year. I think the dolls are very pretty but definitely display dolls rather than play dolls.

Some cheery rag dolls who look as if they all have name tags.

The Hobart Dolls Hospital was in attendance as well. I did not have time to talk to the doll doctors this year as they were attending to minor injuries on the spot and were being kept quite busy. Naomi and I hope to visit them later in the year as we both have patients for them.

One of the busiest displays was run by Sue King. Sue had vintage fashion dolls and as well as selling she was also happy to point out the changing features of her vintage Barbies and Sindys. Sue was very busy but we chatted for a few minutes after I asked her if I could feature her stall on this blog. She was happy to agree and it turned out that we have emailed each other in the past so that was nice.

We particularly enjoyed looking at the dolls Sue had as there were many  familiar faces with Barbies from different era’s, Sindy, Tammy, Penny Brite and Little Tuppence all in attendance. I would love the outfit this bubblecut Barbie is wearing and I love the old suitcase too.

 

Naomi was pleased to recognise a Dollikins in her original outfit. We’ve featured her own dolls in a previous post as well as her Little Tuppence and Posin’ Penny like the ones featured below. There is also a very nice vintage Penny Brite with one of her little outfits.

 

In this photo you can see Grown Up Tammy, an early 1960’s Sindy and a 1980’s “smirky” Sindy . Not visible here is a Hasbro Sindy who is standing slightly behind them. The Sindy in Weekenders had apparently spent most of her life with her hair in a bun so Sue is still working on getting it back to its original style.

So all in all another good day at the doll show. I expect you would like to see what we bought. I will be photographing the dolls I bought today for a later post and Naomi has an upcoming photo story that will feature one of her purchases.