MONTH IN REVIEW: March 2020

I've decided to go ahead with this month's Month in Review post, because my buying has basically stopped. As many of you probably know, I'm in the service industry. I've worked in kitchens on and off since I was 14. The virus has hit my industry hard. I'm lucky to still be going to work a couple mornings a week, as our restaurant is open for to-go business, but the cut in pay isn't pretty and the unemployment my state has set up for those of us with cut hours is likely going to take a while to start being paid out. So my buying is basically non-existent right now. I'm trying to honor as many of my pre-orders as I can, but likely some will have to be cut.

So I figured I'd round up this month's purchases and show them off, because I won't be showing much until who knows when. I might do some older overview-type posts, but those aren't easy for me either, because most of my doll collection is still packed up. One good thing though: I've ordered the last two bookcases I need to build for my toy room and I'll be working on finally getting that set up during my downtime. Maybe it will all be on display again by...mid-April? The shelves should be built and my book collection organized by the end of the week, but the dolls are going to take quite some time.

Anyway, it's...surprise surprise...mostly bears this month.

That bright orange hunk of fur up there is named Satsuma. He's an older bear that's been on my want list for ages and I finally got one! He's a big chunky boy with long fur and I just adore that color. Orange is actually probably my favorite color after black. (Yes, yes, make your Halloween jokes.)

This is another older bear. Her name is Asia. I got her on ebay from a fellow collector that I've bought from numerous times.

She's a gorgeous, simple panda.

On March 7th, I was lucky enough to attend two large gatherings, unknowingly the last of the foreseeable future.

In the morning, they had one of the annual doll shows. I brought a good chunk of money, but honestly didn't expect to spend much.

Boy, was I wrong.

I got this adorable needle-felted baby. She's maybe 5" tall? Probably more like 4.5". I thought she was the cutest little thing. It should be pretty obvious that I'm not really into baby-type dolls, but she won me over at first glance.

Also needle-felted is this freakin' ridiculously cute hedgehog. My mom fell in love with him and ended up buying him for herself.

The seller with the hedgehog also had a lot of her own work for sale. This blue bear was the first one I saw and I was smitten with him right away, although the decision to pick just one was very hard!

The hedgehog is not her work, but he is, and someday I hope to buy more of her pieces!

Mom got him for me as a super early birthday present.

My most exciting find though. Oh, my dolly gods, was I ever happy.

Angel Cake was actually the first thing I found and purchased. The lady had a bunch of SSC and she's the last common one I needed. She wasn't visible right away, but then I realized some of the doll boxes were being used as kind of a base, and there she was!

I bought the needle-felted baby next and then turned toward the biggest seller in the room, who had so much great stuff.

I'd seen some Jem already. A seller by the entrance had BaNee for $55 and the Only the Beginning outfit that I didn't see a price on, but I don't need it anyway. I wouldn't have minded an upgrade BaNee, but eh, not for $55.

The first thing to catch my eye on this new table was Ashley. I didn't need her though. Then I saw Clash. And Glitter 'n' Gold Jem. I could tell Rio was behind Jem, but behind him was...one...more...box.

I knew from the shape that I was dealing with  a 1987 doll. So I crossed my fingers it wasn't, say, Video or Danse or Synergy. A 2nd edition Hologram would have been acceptable, but dangit, I wanted a Misfit. So I was basically chanting "Please be a Misfit, please be a Misfit" over and over as I leaned forward.

AND IT WAS.

Not only was it a Misfit, but it was THE Misfit. Aja and Stormer were my first favorite characters in Jem, followed by Techrat, but once Jetta came along, she took over. I adored her. One of my biggest childhood errors was deciding to get BaNee when I'd come to the store for Jetta. But the Starlight Girls had just come out and little me did love BaNee, so she ended up coming home...and being my last Jem doll until probably 1998, when I finally got Roxy and my beloved Jetta. (I had Pizzazz and Stormer in my small childhood collection.) When I was first collecting Jem again as an adult, I always wanted a boxed Jetta, but ended up with boxed 2nd edition Misfits instead, which I eventually sold. So now after all these years, she's finally gracing my shelves and for only $50.

The top of the box was mostly open, so I did sneak a peek inside, wipe some dust off her hand, and turn her face more to the front before sealing her in there.

I'm really glad I had a good day on the 7th, because it was my last good day for about a week. I got nailed with the worst allergy attack I've had in years.

It was so bad, I couldn't even really enjoy the arrival of my new old bears. And let me tell you how fun it was to be dealing with allergy symptoms while this virus is around. I cough and people freak out. I'm sorry, y'all, but it's spring!

I used to have Loulabelle, but sold her. I've recently wanted her back and the same seller that had Asia also had her, so here she is again.

Little Goosebeary tagged along with her, as they were a 2-for-1. He was never on my list, but I'll never refuse a green bear.

Those two were my only new arrivals from the 11th until yesterday.

I had already put a bunch of money on my QCard for the new bear show on QVC. I wouldn't have splurged on this many otherwise, but hey, it was already on there, so I picked out five from the Secret Collection. They arrived very quickly and I had fun opening them last night.

Speaking of green bears, here's tiny Kim, who goes along with Kay and Koko.

Moppet is both adorable and incredibly soft. I do love tyber fur.

Queenie is my first CB cat that isn't a big cat. I love her deep blue eyes. I don't think I'll be buying many of the cats, but she was one I really fell for.

Kate is an absolutely stunning panda with a bit of "bearliner."

She was my most wanted from the ones I figured we'd see on Wednesday's show and she does not disappoint one bit.

Dido was a surprise! I think we got her in the US before anywhere else. She was my most wanted from the entire Sneaky Peeks catalog, so I was thrilled to be able to get her. She's actually a deep chocolate brown. I had thought she was gray and she does photograph more gray or black, but that deep base color is indeed brown.

I have two new arrivals from an international plush line that should be here tomorrow. They should have been delivered today, but man, is the post office ever dumb sometimes. And next week, I'll have my last doll until who knows when. She wasn't supposed to be in until late April, so of course she showed up a month early during this virus fiasco, but I happened to have a paycheck from a more normal work week and I could fulfill my pre-order. So I'll have those two more reviews and then we'll see what happens after! I might do a third round of my Hairdorables rankings, as I've got all of Series 4 I'm going to get. No way I'll ever get butterfly Neila now when my hours have been so drastically cut and the only ones for sale are from scalpers anyway.