On Sunday August 22nd we had our annual Barbie-Q!

The theme was Luau and Joan really went to town with the decorations. Leis for everyone. And tattoos too! Punch bowls filled with sangria. Plus, tropical flowers and birds everywhere! And a demo from Gene.

Thank you to all who attended and brought desserts. And a big thank you so much to Joan for hosting and for feeding us all!

Guess what. The winner of our Raffle Doll sent us an email:

Hi Vamp Club! I am the winner of your fabulous raffle doll at the Cleveland convention. I absolutely love my Space Hostess! She was my first ever raffle win in 10 years of conventions and was worth waiting for. You have some very talented members and I am so thankful your club donated her (I would have had a hard time giving her up ) Thank you thank you thank you!  —Debbie Spoerndle

2010 National Barbie® Doll Collectors Convention.
July 21–24, 2010
Cleveland, Ohio.

As always, VAMP contributed a OOAK doll for the Raffle Room. Our donation was called “Space Hostess.” She was a reproduction Twist n/ Turn Barbie with an OOAK fashion and vintage accessories. Thank you JP, Joan, Irene and Norman for your creative talents. It takes a village!

From the back panel of the box:

Barbie Space Hostess is ready for blasting off in her raspberry colored multi-climate wool pantsuit, “boarding helmet” to keep her hair neat and tidy while entering and exiting the space shuttle, and white tricot gloves and pink silk scarf to keep her warm from those extraterrestrial breezes. Her MOD sunglasses, green travel case and comfortable green grip shoes complete this futuristic costume.

And from the bottom:

Barbie Space Hostess is a collaboration of the many talented members of the VAMP Collectors Club in NYC. The inspiration for this project is the vintage Marx Braniff Hostess Costumes and the famous gravity-defying MOD shuttle hostess from Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. A combination of both new and vintage, Barbie Space Hostess was styled by John “JP” Patrick. Her outfit was created by Joan Hudson, box design by Norman Cherubino and fashion sketches by Irene Aizstrauts. This is VAMP’s fifth raffle room submission. Each doll is one of a kind creation and intended for use by the adult collector.

Willena is the host at her beautiful and doll-filled home in New Rochelle.

The theme was African-American males dolls.

Well VAMP, we did it again!! Another spectacular Vamp meeting thanks to Willena and her sister Willette. Not only does Willena have an incredible (and huge) doll collection, she did a wonderful presentation about Afro-American male dolls produced by Mattel. And if that wasn’t enough, her sister, Willette, cooked up a storm including the most delicious cupcakes ever.  On behalf of the club, thanks Willena for a wonderful day, and a thank you to your sister for all the cooking she did for us.

Thank you Van for an amazing presentation! From your early drawings of cancan dancers, to original art doll sculptures, the to the windows of Macy’s, Sak’s, and Lord & Taylor. And then all the Christmas ornaments, Gene outfits, and your new book. With a quick stop at Radio City Music Hall inbetween! Plus all those prototypes. And the mysteries apperance of VON CRAIG.

It was a wonderful presentation!

Gene was the host. He gave a wonderful presentation showing us his amazing collection of Japanese exclusives. And he also shared with us his wonderful Barbie photography.

Thank you Joan for sharing with us your amazing Lilli collection!

On Monday, February 22nd, we had our Barbie YouTube Drive-in! We passed around pop-corn and watched our favorite Barbie YouTube clips projected on the wall.

Thanks to all club members who submitted clips.

Here are some favorites:

Barbie Christmas Morning

Barbie Girl Video

Barbie Commercials

Our agenda for our first meeting was “Planning for 2010″.  We have begun to plan out our meetings for the upcoming year.

Last year we had one of our best years yet due to the participation of many of our members.  We hope to achieve the same results for this year.  So, if there was a presentation you always wanted to make, or a doll you always wanted to talk about, volunteering to do it during one of our meetings would be wonderful.

Since this was a business meeting, club members brought dolls dressed in appropriate business clothes.

Our next meeting is Monday February 22nd.

The theme is Barbie You Tube Drive-In.

Happy New Year everyone!

On behalf on the club, I’d like to thank Willena for arranging our holiday party.  It was fun and festive, the food was good, the gifts and games were great and everyone had a good time.  And thanks to Tangerre for the photos.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday January 25.

The agenda for the meeting will be sent out via email.

The November meeting was held on Monday, November 23rd.  The theme was Hospital. Club members brought their doctor/nurse/patient dolls and created one of the most interesting and funny dioramas VAMP has ever had. Thank you Linda for thinking up the idea and for bringing all that “blood” and bandages.  Also, club members brought their worst dolls and our experts guided them through the steps of how to get the dolls from the Emergency Room to the Recovery Room.

Thank you Joan for hosting a wonderful October meeting!

It was a Big Barbie Sewing Circle as Joan lead us through the steps of sewing our own “Solo in the Spotlight”.

And club members brought their scariest dolls for very spooky Halloween display.

On September 21st VAMP meet for an amazing multi-media presentation.

Thank you JP for your wonderful presentation about the culture of 1967 and the introduction of the TNT Barbie.

And for providing the door prize, a wonderful OOAK Barbie TNT, Carnaby Street Barbie.

Club members also displayed their own Twist N Turn Barbie’s in her best outfit!

On Saturday August 29th we had our annual Barbie-Q!

Thank you so much Joan for hosting and for supplying all the eats!

We had a great time even though most of the activities happened inside because of the weather.

July 2009 – No meeting!
See you at the Convention in Washington DC.
2009 National Barbie® Doll Collectors Convention
Hosted By: Western PA Doll Club

Barbie® doll’s 50th Anniversary is in 2009 and the fabulous Convention will be held from July 7th through July 11th, 2009, at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington D.C.!

Be sure to check out the Raffle Room and see our donation – Anniversary Parade Gift Set.

Thanks to all the club members who contributed to the Raffle Doll. It takes a village!

Anniversary Parade Gift Set

As a celebration Barbie doll’s 50th anniversary, this gift set was created especially for the 2009 National Barbie Doll Collectors Convention Raffle Room. The convention was held on July 7th
to July 11th, 2009 in Washington D.C..

The inspiration for the set was the #1 box, prototypes and unproduced ideas.

The doll is a #4 blonde Barbie who has been turned into a brown haired #1 – that was never produced – as seen in the Paris and Susan Manos book “The Wonder of Barbie.”

At the Kansas City Barbie convention we were shown the prototype of the “Easter Parade” coat by Charlotte Johnson’s Japanese assistant. Surprisingly, it was white. We chose the fabric from “Lunch Date” to make the under-sheath. The hat was made from the overskirt of the same dress. The second sheath and swimsuit are realizations of sketches on the #1 box, which was never produced.

The VAMP Artists

Doll Repaint / Reroot    Arnaldo Cardona
Outfits    Joan Hudson
Hat    Gene Foote
Swim Suit    Willena Nanton       
Sketches    Irene Aizstrauts           
Box    Norman Cherubino

On Monday June 21st, VAMP club members were treated to an amazing performance!

A big thank you to Jaye who put on a wonderful show. We were treated to excerpts from Jaye’s masters thesis, which was titled “Jaye Sings!”.  Jaye thesis used songs to present Barbie as a cultural icon. In all the years our club has been in existence, we’ve never been treated to an event like this. Jaye even did a monologue about Barbie! And she looked great in her vintage outfit!