More than 800 voters cast their ballots to decide this year’s Public’s Choice winners in the Dolls Awards of Excellence (DAE) competition. We’d like to thank everyone who took the time to vote and all the talented artists who entered their creations in the 2021 competition. Congratulations to this year’s Public’s Choice winners and our 2021 Artist of the Year!
Read More
The Dolls Awards of Excellence (DAE) competition recognizes and encourages excellence in the design and creation of dolls. Photos of all the entries are reviewed and rated by professionals within the doll industry, who evaluate each submission on overall aesthetic appeal, excellence in concept, design, and execution, and quality of material and workmanship.
Read More
Doll collectors share photos of their dolls celebrating Thanksgiving.
Read More
Doll collectors share photos of their dolls celebrating Halloween. More holidays are coming up! Join in the fun by sharing your festive doll photos using our online form.
Read More
November/December 2021 issue of DOLLSis 48 full-color pages and includes a special showcase of artists’ holiday-themed dolls and an article on vintage Käthe Kruse limited-edition Christmas dolls, as well as our annual Holiday Gift Guide. Plus, we have feature stories on doll artists Annette Herrmann, Rhonda Ingram, Jaqueline Patrick, and Silke Sordyl; a look at Doug James’ new 1470 Collection; Julie Manley’s chronicle of dolls she’s seen from around the world; and more!
Read More
Italian-born artist Linda Macario started her professional dollmaking career in 1999, focusing on baby dolls and sculpting in polymer clay. By 2009, she’d begun creating ball-jointed dolls (BJDs) and explored many different mediums for creating her dolls, including air-dry clay, silicone, resin, and porcelain.
Read More
A shared love of dolls and creativity is the driving force uniting the Meadow Dolls team: Miroslava Brodlova, her daughter Mjusi, and Charlene Smith, who represents the company in the U.S. and uses her skills as a face-up artist on Meadow Dolls ball-jointed dolls (BJDs).
Read More
The October 2021 issue of DOLLS is 48 full-color pages and introduces readers to Judy Porter’s Brielle BJD, available exclusively from DOLLS magazine, as well articles on artists Virginia Lee, Pasha Setrova, Linda Macario, Linda Lyons, and Marianna Nardin; a celebration of Halloween-themed dolls; a look at Vogue Dolls’ Jill; and more!
Read More
A relative newcomer to the silicone baby doll scene, Nadaleena Mirat Brettmann has been painting dolls for three years. “I have been purchasing blank kits from the amazing Bonnie Sieben, cast in silicone by Kristin Englert — two of the kindest people in the dolly world, with immense talent!” she said. “I have, however, moved to sculpting and painting my own lifelike sculptures, which will be available in limited editions of six to 10 babies.”
Read More
So far this year, BJD artist Kim Arnold has held preorders for brand-new doll designs, new resin colors for existing designs, and with the help of 3D printing technology, existing designs at new sizes. “Sunny and Jia are both new going into 2021,” Arnold said. “They are both on what I call the Franny body. This is a fairly new body with more movable joints — a lower hip movement and a more flexible knee joint. The Franny body is my 16-inch doll size.
Read More
With a dollmaking career that exceeded four decades, Dianna Effner accumulated an extensive doll collection, including one-of-a-kinds, samples, and limited editions. Effner’s family has decided to offer doll collectors the chance to acquire some of these treasures for their own collections via auction beginning Sept. 5, 2021.
Read More
My husband and partner Dave and I are working to get our new company off and running. It has been a big job, since it is so different from my start. In the beginning, I was co-owner and sculptor at The Doll Artworks, starting in 1990 until the year 2000. The Doll Artworks produced molds making porcelain dolls. My job was to sculpt each doll, paint the sample, wig and dress them, and then do the photography for advertising.
Read More
Dollmaker Virginia Lee said she never wanted to stop playing with dolls as a child. Studying art and web design in college helped her develop her creative skills into adulthood. Discovering the world of vinyl repaints set her on the road to dollmaking artistry. She went from repaints to making ball-jointed dolls (BJDs) sold under the name Forever Virginia. In addition to sculpting BJDs, Lee also creates her own wigs, shoes, and outfits, both for her full-set dolls and as separate items available for fans to purchase. She recently sat down to discuss her dollmaking career with DOLLS magazine.
Read More
The August/September 2021 issue of DOLLS is 48 full-color pages and introduces readers to Pat Moulton’s Lilly BJD, available exclusively from DOLLS magazine, as well as presenting the nominees and ballot for this year’s Public’s Choice Dolls Awards of Excellence, a feature on April Norton’s new white-porcelain collection, and a collection of stories about makers of doll clothing and accessories, including Julie Manley, DollNouveau, Chef Gina, Marie Adair, and more!
Read More
To celebrate National Doll Day (August 1), the Women’s Club of Glen Ridge will unveil a selection of their newly acquired collection of fine art and commercial dolls in an exhibition entitled Figures of Fantasy, A Collection of Doll Artistry. The exhibition will run from July 30 through August 1, 2021 at the organization’s historic clubhouse in Glen Ridge, New Jersey.
Read More
As collectors observe the holidays each year, many enjoy including their dolls in the celebration,...
Read More
The Industry’s Choice winners in this year’s Dolls Awards of Excellence have been...
Read More
The July 2021 issue of DOLLS is 64 full-color pages. This issue is our special annual Debut of Dolls collector’s edition! Inside, you’ll find a tribute to Dianna Effner as well as features on more than 25 top doll artists and designers, including Annette Herrmann, Connie Lowe, MeadowDolls, Pat Moulton, April Norton, Laura Tuzio Ross, Donna RuBert, Beverly Stoehr, and Kaye Wiggs.
Read More
Since Madame Beatrice Alexander founded the Alexander Doll Company in 1923, the Madame Alexander name has been a force to be reckoned with in the world of dolls for children and collectors alike. Today, the company continues to follow in Madame Alexander’s footsteps in creating quality dolls, and makes that dedication clear in their 2021 catalogue:
Read More
Author and doll historian Karen B. Kurtz released her children’s book “Sophia’s Gift,” illustrated by Loran Chavez, in March. In May, Kurtz and Chavez were informed that they had won a Gold award in the 2021 Human Relations Indie Book Awards in the category Cultural Human Relations, Children’s Books.
Read More
Read a free issue, plus get doll-collecting newsletters.