Quality Dolls Blog- Popular Doll Review

Announcing a New Partnership between World Famous German doll Designer Sonja Hartmann and Madame Alexander!

The Alexander Doll Company has announced that they are now the sole U.S. distributor of world famous doll designer and sculptor Sonja Hartmann’s exquisite 18″ Kidz ‘n’ Cats® collectible fashion dolls.  Many retailers have been successfully importing and selling Sonja’s creations  for years. Now Alexander Doll company can offer to their retailers easy access to the product being shipped directly from their New York warehouse.

Sonja Hartmann established her company, Heart and Soul in year 2000, but has been designing and sculpting dolls since 1981 when Sonja developed her first doll for her newborn daughter Gesa. Her Kidz ‘n’ Cats collectionis inspired by children’s contemporary, fresh fashions and the jointed dolls look startlingly real.

The  Sonja Hartmann Kidz ‘n’ Cats dolls level of detail, quality and style are akin to the best of Madame Alexander. All the dolls are wigged with set-in eyes, eye lashes and a body that bends in nine places. (neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees).  Upon viewing the dolls you can immediately appreciate what a world class German doll designer and sculptor Sonja really is.  The faces are exquisite, hair true to life and clothing fit for the best children boutiques.

The level of realistic detail on the doll and in the outfits makes these dolls true masterpieces. Alexander has introduced 12 dolls and 9 additional outfits to be available in stores June 2010.  To view and pre-order dolls visit Quality Dolls. Doll are already in demand and the first shipment is selling out fast.  Pre-orders are recommended.

Madame Alexander states that this is the first time the company has imported another brand in its 87 year history.  Visit Quality-Dolls  at our www.lee-middleton-dolls.com site for Lee Middleton & Madame Alexander collectible and play dolls.

On March 11, 2010 the Middleton Doll Company was purchased by the Alexander Doll Company, aka- Madame Alexander® Dolls.

The business assets of Lee Middleton Dolls have been acquired by Alexander Doll Company. The acquisition was made official on Thursday, March 11, 2010.    CEO of Alexander Doll Company, Robert Porell states in press release, ” the shop and former factory in Belpre was not acquired as part of the business, but is under consideration as a separate purchase.”

As a Lee Middleton Doll retailer- collector- and lover of these unique artist sculpt dolls,  I am pleased that Alexander Dolls is planning to continue selling the Middleton dolls under the Lee Middleton Doll label.  The falling economy hit hard and  Middleton Dolls managed to introduce only eight  new Artist Studio Dolls  in Spring of 2009 -Lovebirds Twins, In Dreamland, Ireland, Blossom Fairy, Bunny Hugs, Baby Cassidy, & Sweet Jasmine and one doll in the fall Precious Hope an exclusive sold by Quality Dolls.

Middleton Doll Company placed a freeze on shipping stock from the warehouse on Tuesday the 9th. and plans to resume as soon as the two “book keeping’ systems can be worked out between the two companies. Middleton doll retailers are still waiting for information on what will happen next.

Playbabies and Newborn Nursery babies are being manufactured as soon as possible and should be available by late summer.  The manufacturing of the NOW (artist dolls for older children) and ASC  dolls (artist dolls for collectors)  is not known.  I have only heard speculation on the possibility of their return sometime next year.

There are many question that have not been answered, for I’m sure there are many decisions to be made.  I am trying to reserve judgment as to how this will effect the future of our ‘beautiful little babies’.  For the collector I see this as a time the value of the dolls introduced up to this point will climb.

This Blog is written and maintained by Susan of  Quality Dolls™.  Quality Dolls is listed by the Middleton Doll Company as one of their top 10 retailers. Quality Dolls offers the full current line of Lee Middleton dolls via of two websites;  www.lee-middleton-dolls.com and www.quality-dolls.com.

Our hope is to share with you reliable information with updates being posted as new information is made available.  Your comments and questions are welcome.

Lee Middleton’s new 2009 Artist Studio Collection dolls (ASC) started arriving in late May. The first two dolls in were Bunny Hugs the adorable 24″ infant with full vinyl arms & legs and a soft body and In Dreamland a 21″  newborn sleeping baby with music box star pillow.  The other six collectible babies are being dressed at the Middleton Spa and will be arriving at dealers this week.  They were originally due mid May, but like most babies are arriving on their schedule.

These new dolls are the first of the 2009 pre-order dolls and Reborn doll kits introduced in January of this year.  See our last Blog.

I would not expect any of these dolls to be available in shops for very long.  Edition size was set by how many dolls were pre-ordered by dealers.  When adding together the posted edition sizes of these 8 new dolls you will find that only 1100 dolls total will be in the market place.  Middleton Doll company has over 2000 active dealers, it has been recorded that only a quarter of these dealers placed orders for these new 2009 January introductions.  Some dealers may have only ordered one of each, or a couple of their favorite ones.  Some dealers ordered only what they themselves had orders for.  Some dealers like us a Quality Dolls took the plunge ordering 4 to 6 of each doll and many of those dolls sold before their arrival.  Therefore, it does not take a mathematician to see that many of the recorded pr-orders placed by approx. 500 Middleton dealers were obviously for the Reborn doll kits only.  This means that around three quarters of the 500 participation dealers will have these New dolls in stock. Roughly, that is 375 dealers out of 2000 world wide.  I see this as a plus for the Collectors.

So, if you are a doll collector especially of a Middleton series, these dolls will be in high demand as soon as ‘Doll Lovers’ realize they are very limited editions and becoming hard to find.

The eight new 2009 January introductions consist of:

• three series dolls- Ireland Children of the World Series, Sweet Jasmine- Flower Girls Series and Baby Cassidy- Breath of Life Babies
• a set of boy and girl twins newborns -Lovebirds
• one sleeping newborn baby In Dreamland
• a ‘Baby Touch’ extra soft vinyl infant with two outfits-Bunny Hugs
• a 21″ fairy toddler with wings- Blossom Fairy

To view, read more about the face sculpt and artist of each doll or purchase these beautiful little ones log on to www.lee-middleton-dolls.com .  If you have questions you may contact me by email. phone, or use ‘live chat’.

NOTE: The traditional Spring catalog with new doll introductions has not been released.  So the dolls listed above are the only new introductions available. And may be the only ones this year. 

Sign up to keep informed of our next Blog – on Middleton’s new Reborn Baby Doll Kits by artist Reva Schick, Jane Pinkstaff, and Eva Hellan.

In January of 2009 Lee Middleton Doll Company changed their dealers order policy on the Artist Studio Collection Dolls. In the past Lee Middleton Dollsâ„¢ set the edition size of each ASC doll, manufactured and stocked those dolls in their own warehouse. Dealers purchased dolls as needed for their stock or with some (drop-ship only) business had the dolls shipped directly from the Middleton warehouse to their customers.

Change in the Times or Change of Heart? As of January 2009, Lee Middleton Dolls™ now requires their dealers to pre-order the dolls they plan to sell and receive shipment of the stock upon arrival from the manufacturer. The pre-ordered received from dealers now sets the Edition Size for that doll.  I am not privileged to inside information on the reasons this change was made, but would venture to say- it was probably due to both a change in the times & the economy and a plan to keep their ASC dolls value in the market place.

How have dealers responded? I have heard through the grapevine that many of the dealers that deal through drop-ship only are no longer selling Middleton ASC dolls.  For me and probably other dealers that will continue to offer Lee Middleton dolls, the decision to continue selling was easy, but the decision of which ones and how many was a hard one.  In the two years I have been selling Middleton’s limited edition dolls, I have offered the full current line of dolls maintaining stock of 1 or 2 on the most popular dolls and ordering the others from the Middleton warehouse as I received orders for them.  To continue to sell the full current line of artist dolls will now require a big up-front investment and the leasing of storage space.  I have made the investment and leased the space, because Lee Middleton babies are just to wonderful to give up and I have hope in the future.

Will the Dolls now become more Collectible and hold their value? In view of the fact that over abundance, linked with eBay and websites that consider volume over price, lowers the value of the these dolls.  I believe this new policy will increase the value and add to the dolls value as a collectible doll for years to come. (now before I have visitors upset about my comments about eBay and fast sale websites- let me say. Ebay is a good thing and a wonderful way to sell your personal items or to promote small businesses; and I love a good buy, and finding that good buy on items manufactured by the thousands is what I look for)  But finding a recently retired ASC doll on eBay, Amazon or quick sell websites marked down to near wholesale prices is very discouraging for the Collector and the Dealers that sell these dolls exclusively.

Yes, Collectible with lasting Value I believe is the wave of the future for Lee Middleton ASC and Play dolls. Why! Because most dealers making these big stocking decisions will hold out to recover their investments, and the collector will come to understand that they can be more confident in not seeing there newly purchased ASC doll on Amazon for 30% off.

Lee Middleton Dolls - Artist Studio Collectibles, NOW and PlayBabies for children – are quality dolls that will last a life time and hold your heart and their value.  Way-to-go Lee Middleton Dollsâ„¢ this was a good decision.

30 Years and Counting:

Lee Middleton Doll Company celebrates Thirty Years:  Lee Middleton-Urick captured the beauty and innocence of childhood 30 years ago while sculpting at her kitchen table. Since then, Middleton Doll has introduced thousands of dolls in various skin tones, eye colors and sizes sculpted by many talented doll Artist.

 

Masterpiece of  Realism:

Artist Studio Collection dolls are limited edition, hand numbered babies. They are styled as either infant, newborn or toddler body styles and made of soft ‘Baby Skin’ vinyl. Each doll sculpt is a masterpiece in itself capturing the very personality of the child it represents. They are hand painted, lashed, and exquisitely dressed. The dolls are so life-like that many have been mistaken as real babies. In fact the Breath of Life series dolls actually appears to breath.  Dolls and/or individual faces are retired after a pre-defined amount of time to insure their collectibility. Middleton babies reach right into your heart and hold it captive.

 

Personality Plus:

 This life-likeness does not stop with the collector dolls, but carries over to the Middleton NOW and PlayBaby dolls designed for children.  The NOW dolls are designed with the same three body styles as the ASC dolls. Each Middleton doll has a unique face and expression all their own.  While other dolls companies manufacture dolls to have that perfect little look alike doll face with different hair or eye colors.  Middleton NOW dolls have different face shapes, with different expressions. They not only have different color hair, but also different lengths, straight or curly and easily combed. NOW dolls come in light, medium and dark skin tones, some even of Asian decent.  They come as girl or boy dolls styled for girls and boys to befriend.  Boys you ask?  –Well yes, boys need friend too.

 

Child Development:

PlayBabies are styled for children in different stages- newborn, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, 2, 3 and 4 years. They also come with beautiful one of a kind faces, different skin tones, removable clothes, washable bodies and meet the best in safety standards.  Your little girl or boy will learn how to love and nurture with these life-like babies.

 

Grandmother Approved:

Lots of parents purchase Middleton dolls for their children, although I have found more dolls are purchased by Grandmothers for their Granddaughters.  I think the reason for that is Grandparents do not think as much about pricing as they do about the quality.  Grandmothers think of the memories the doll will hold for years to come and how that doll will become a keepsake and be cherished for many years after they themselves have passed-on.

 

Tradition Passed On:

Lee Middleton died suddenly in 1997 of heart failure.  A fellow doll Artist Reva Schick took over the company and just like Lee, Reva has a strong religious background and credits her artistic talents to God.  Lee always tucked a tiny Bible into each ASC doll box and Reva has continued that tradition. Giving God honor, not only for their talent, but by passing on- Gods love through His Word.

 

 What is so Special about Middleton dolls? – All of the above and when you hold your own doll or see your child interact with theirs you will truly understand why. 

 

To see for yourself visit us at  www.lee-middleton-dolls.com