The end of September marked the first ever Kane County Doll Show. Hosted on the Kane County Fairgrounds and planned by the people behind the popular Naperville Doll Show, the Kane County Doll Show was an answer to some of the negative opinions of the recent changes to the Chicago Toy Show‘s doll room layout. Because we’re not one to miss a doll show, my mom and I decided to check it out. Having gone to the Naperville show before, we saw many of the same vendors. The new location gave them much more space and the booths were far less cramped than in the Naperville show, which is housed in a hotel meeting room.
There was one small hiccup in the beginning. The usual gates that get shoppers into the parking lot for the fairgrounds were locked, so when we arrived, there were people waiting outside the gate confused. After a while, the show sent someone to help guide us to a very nondescript entrance, with no signing. No one would have known a doll show was going on from outside the actual fair grounds, which was disappointing. The group of us all mentioned this when we finally found the check in desk. The front desk team was a little nonchalant about the ordeal, but it’s not my show, so I’m not going to worry about how many people this may have turned away…
Because one can’t go to a doll show and leave empty handed, we ended up leaving with a few neat items to add to our collections. Check out our loot below!
This was my first dolly pick up of the day. This 1930’s Dionne Toddler doll was made by Madame Alexander. She’s a fixer-upper, but was priced low enough that I could warrant sending her off for some restoration.
My mom’s first purchase was this adorable Kathe Kruse doll! She’s wanted one of these for a while now and this one was discounted to a price that was too good to refuse. My mom’s favorite feature is that this doll, called Nino, can put his hands in his pockets.
For $30.00, I picked up this sexed Baby Sasha doll (male) with molded ridges that represent eyelids. Not all Baby Sasha’s have these elements to them, which means this is an early Baby Sasha.
Baby Kissy came home with my mother. While she doesn’t work like the seller said, the face, with its chubby cheeks, is very cute. Now, she has three different kinds of Kissy’s.
Aren’t they darling in this group shot?
My Baby Sasha came home with a friend! Well, technically, this black Baby Sasha belongs to my mom. She was on a discount table with a bunch of bisque dolls. This doll is a later Sasha Baby, so there are no ridges above her eyes and she is not sexed. Now, my mom has both the darker skinned version (that was released prior to this) and the lighter skinned doll.
This Dionne baby from Madame Alexander is much bigger than my others. Plus, she’s in great shape with no need for any restoration. Clearly, someone took care of this doll! At her price, she was a steal. Her outfit is most likely reproduction, but that also works in my favor– no need to commission anything!
Last, but not least, my mom picked up this cute Knickerbocker Snow White from 1937 or so. She needs restoration and a new outfit, but the face is very cute.
That’s all our buys at the show. The prices were hard to ignore! Personally, I love this new location for the doll show. The hotel in Naperville is nice, but way too cramped. The only problem I see with this show, at the moment, is that it never seemed like there were a lot of shoppers wandering around. Being used to seeing Chicago Toy Show crowds in that very same room, it was clear that they had less hobbyists in the sales room, at least when we were there. Hopefully, the vendors made enough to come back again.
On a similar note, it would be nice to see some more contemporary sellers there. There were a lot of bisque sellers and older antique’y sort of dolls, but not a lot of Barbie’s or 60’s and 70’s dolls, like Little Miss No Name, Sketchy, Kissy, Giggles, etc. There was one Little Miss No Name, but it was priced way too high and was in dire need of a reroot. I wish sellers would understand that if their doll is crummy shape and they don’t care enough to give it a quick cleaning, they shouldn’t be charging $100 bucks for her.
Have you picked up any awesome things at a show recently? Share your thoughts in the comment area!
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Shows
