Reflections on the IDEX Doll and Bear Show in Orlando 2013

IDEX is a yearly event with displays from doll and bear creators and collectors from all over the world.  This is the 23rd year of IDEX and although I've read it was greatly scaled down from previous years I found it to be as much as I could take in during the four days.  The displays were so beautiful I spent lots of time browsing and soaking it all in.

The first day of the conference, trade show, convention, or whatever you want to call it, there were workshops all day and a meet and greet reception with food and beverages in the evening.  The exhibitors were setting up in the main hall so guests couldn't go in to look at the dolls yet.  I attended the reception and stayed long enough to introduce myself to a few folks and listen to the guest speaker.  The speaker was Berdine Creedy of Berdine Creedy Originals.  She gave us an update on a trip she took to her native South Africa and took along some of her collectors.  It seemed like the crowd at the reception were pretty hard core collectors, and I was clueless about most of what I heard.

Friday morning the trade show floor opened and I went early to have a look.  There were dozens of doll and bear creators, companies, designers, and artists there.  Lots of booths to peruse and lots of visitors oohing and aahing at the exhibits.  Below are a few pictures I snapped with the artists permission.

My doll collection so far consists of mainly play dolls that I can buy at toy stores or on eBay such as Monster High dolls and Lalaloopsy dolls.  This was not an event for those types of collectors.  Many of these exhibitors are artists that make one of a kind and highly collectible dolls.  There were also a few Ball Joint doll companies represented.  BJDs as they are called, can go for thousands of dollars which is way out of my league right now.  The Tonner Doll company makes collector dolls and I happen to have one of them so I headed for that booth first.  Actually Tonner had about 8 booths all opened up into one big area. 

My Tonner Doll is an Ellowyne Wilde doll.  Ellowyne is sold by Wilde Imagination which is a division of Tonner.  My particular doll is a Grand Despair model, and not available anymore to buy, but there were a lot of new dolls and outfits on display. They are beautiful dolls and he writes stories about them that help develop their personalities.  Ellowyne had a few friends too and those dolls are equally beautiful and interesting. 

There were a few other types of Tonner dolls that were for sale at closeout prices and I purchased some to sell on eBay.  Here are a few of the Tonner Dolls at the show.

One afternoon I attended a tea hosted by Robert Tonner to show and talk about some of the new dolls in the Wilde Imagination line.  Each of the guests received a Lizette Doll at the end of the presentation.  She is one of the newest of the Wilde Imagination dolls. I had Mr. Tonner sign her and now I have two dolls from the collection. Robert Tonner spoke and we saw lots of slides.  There were also dolls as centerpieces that were door prizes but I wasn't a winner.  Here are a few photos. 

One of the workshops I registered for was learning to needlefelt.  I've been curious about this art form for a while and this was my chance to try it out.  The class taught by Irene Heckel.  She was funny, informative, incredibly sharing, and it was a great experience.  I made my own cute-as-can-be gnome in less than two hours.  My shoulder was sore afterwards from the stabbing repetition movement but it was worth it.

Sunday morning I attended a Tonner Doll breakfast, once again hosted by Robert Tonner.  This was a chance to view some of the other dolls in Tonners different lines.  I'm not familiar with many of them but there are a lot of characters from movies and celebrities represented.  I was lucky enough to win our tables centerpiece, and Antoinette Doll in a beautifully shimmery gown. We also got our choice of Tonner Toys Doll to take home.  I chose a Maudlynne Macabre doll.  It was the perfect ending to four days of dolly fun.  I'll leave you with some pictures I took of the slide show.