I'll give you a moment to pick your jaw off the floor.
April was a much better month than March, for a variety of reasons.
For starters I had an *amazing* eBay month, with a record breaking 59 sales for the month. There is now an official weekly record of sales being tracked so I can state those numbers with accuracy. I got lucky since eBay kept giving me free listings (and I think people's tax refunds helped), but I did work a lot on refilling the empty spaces so there was a lot of things listed. There's a lot of slots I need to fill, and plenty of stuff that needs to get listed. I even sold two dolls that were part of the collection. There are twinges of sadness saying goodbye to a doll I liked enough to add to the collection, but I've realized that I just don't have enough time for everything and it's good to let some things go. I'm really working hard to trim down the collection to a more manageable amount. There is still a lot to go, but this past month really did help a lot. I feel that what's left (and I cannot stress how much there is to list still) is a lot more manageable of a goal.
My spending was down too. I did buy some things, more than I needed to but with so much going out I was able to pay for everything with my eBay profits. April was the first month since I've started this endeavor where I was in the black at the end of the month. I'm working hard to change that as we speak, but I had a very profitable month. I know every month won't be that good, but I am very pleased with how April went.
I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go to the doll meeting at the start of the month. We're down to one car at the moment that can do long trips and my father needed it for work and his time off request was denied. But thanks to my sister I was able to go, and stayed the night overnight at her house, that was weird. But it was the doll donation meeting and I like going to those. We were able to redress over 70 dolls for charity. And I was able to swap out for a few things. I got a couple pairs of shoes, some clothing pieces, and a few dolls (some of the dolls I plan on reselling). Overall it was a very good day and I'm glad I got to go to it. I am skipping the May meeting since I'll be out of town on that date.
I did get to see everyone at Bradley Justice's luncheon for the UFDC. The theme this year was Mod Barbie and it was AMAZING! I'm so glad I got to go. I will say that the sales floor was a little pricey for my tastes (I saw two people selling 75 dollar Bubblecuts, which is funny since I had brought a 25 dollar Bubblecut with me of similar condition), but I did buy a TLC Casey and a TLC Talking Barbie head on a 70's era body that was missing half it's limbs. I needed another project like I need another hole in my head, but I had to buy something.
Since I didn't buy anything else I ended up buying additional 25 raffle tickets. And I *cleaned* up in the raffle. I won SIX things. This is the third event he's hosted and I've gone to every one and have never won anything. I certainly made up for that this year. I think part of why I was so lucky is that some of the things I won weren't as popular. I won the chocolate factory I Love Lucy doll, the 2016 African American Holiday Barbie, a Taraka Jenny friend that was personally given to the person who donated it by Carol Spencer, a poorly restored antique doll (which I really wanted), the 2015? convention heart shaped box full of reproduction spike shoes (which I also really wanted, I put the most tickets in for that), and the most unique a box mock up for the New Years Japanese Barbie, also from Carol Spencer. It's the correct style of box, but it's totally white. The doll is wearing the correct hair and outfit, but wasn't given a face. The box backer is also made up of other packaging that Mattel had handy at the moment. I was really lucky to get her!
I think part of the reason why I got that prototype doll is because she wasn't properly marked. I remember Bradley saying he had gotten a prototype for the auction, but when the bag for tickets for her was only marked "Japanese". I did mention that she wasn't your average Japanese doll to a couple people in my club, but really only talked to the people I knew. So I think lots of people passed her by one they saw the outfit but didn't notice her lack of a face. And I think out of everything I put in tickets for I had the greatest chance for the antique doll. Most people there were Barbie collectors who aren't into that sort of doll, and the people who were there that collect antique dolls like the really expensive ones. This poor doll had lots of repairs done to her, and most of them pretty sloppy. I bought a book recommended to be about repairing them that I bought that I'm waiting to arrive. I've been doing a lot of research on this doll. She needs a lot of work, luckily she's pretty common and cheap so anything I do will only be an improvement. I've already removed her wig, pates (wig cap), and her improperly set eyes. She originally had sleep eyes and that's sadly been removed. I am thinking about building a new set of rocker eyes, but it's quite and undertaking and I don't have hardly any of the supplies. I am hoping the book will answer some questions. I also need to learn how to clean bisque, poor girl has lots of glue drips on her head from the wig. I'm just worried about stripping the color. But we shall see what happens. I can ask my friend for guidance since he also collects antique dolls, but I'm trying to do as much research as I can before I ask him. I'm always asking him questions and I don't want to annoy him. I'm at least trying to get a base understanding on my own before I start pestering him.
So that's where things are right now. I'm not working on eBay for the next week due to some unusual (but good) circumstances. I however do need get back to it, things keep piling up and I want more stuff to move out, I need to buy some glass eyes!
See everyone next month! (But I still owe everyone some the doll related post for this month)
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