November 2009 Archives

Mel Odom recently announced the retirement of his doll creation Gene Marshall, and others in her universe, after 15 years of production. Her last hurrah will take place in a special event next year.

Gene was primarily responsible for the resurgence of interest in fashion dolls in the mid-1990s. Barbie's ( in the shop we called her Barfie) popularity had taken a dive, and the fashion-doll market was ripe for the taking. In stepped Mel Odom and Gene. The fashion-doll world hasn't been the same since.

Gene was unique in her storyline, the quality of the doll herself, and the quality and design of her fashions. Based on Hollywood glamour-girls such as Rita Hayworth, Gene sparked the imaginations of doll collectors everywhere and brought fun and creativity back to doll collecting.

I remember the halcyon days of Gene's popularity at the shop. For retailers, she was a godsend, bringing new customers and new energy into the store. We had Gene parties, giving away hundreds of Gene hatboxes and tiny Christmas tree ornaments. We even celebrated her birthday with cake and sparkling cider. The introduction of a new character was always exciting.

Before we knew it, Gene's 5th anniversary came along. While Ashton-Drake produced the dolls and fashions, Gallery Marketing Group distributed them, and it was Gallery Marketing we dealt with. Her 5th anniversary, I think, started the decline in her popularity. We were allocated the number of dolls we could buy, and also the number/choice of fashions. We were given no options, we had to either buy the whole package or get none at all. That left us, along with other retailers, short on some of the dolls. We just could not get enough of those dolls that year. Same goes for a few of the outfits. But many of the outfits, we were forced to buy way, way too many of. We had a few of those dang outfits until the year we closed the store. Literally. You could not give those things away.

Gallery Marketing Group, despite the pleas of many retailers, refused to change its policies for that year.  Many stores were stuck with outfits and dolls they couldn't sell, and consequently, bills they couldn't pay. The next year, fewer stores carried Gene, and the numbers continued to decline each year thereafter.  Never easy to begin with, Gallery Marketing became harder and harder to deal with. Overwhelmed by dolls and outfits, collectors gradually lost interest in Gene, or began collecting other fashion dolls. Eventually Jason Wu and Integrity Toys began working with Mel to re-invent Gene and her world, but Gene never regained the widespread popularity she'd once had.

Through it all, Mel Odom remained a gracious and kind person who was truly humbled and awed by Gene's popularity and the enthusiasm of her many fans. I wish him well in his future endeavors. Thank you, Mel Odom, for giving us the gift that was Gene Marshall. She opened the door to a whole new world of doll collecting, passion and creativity. We are still enjoying those gifts today.

Overall, I thought MDC was well-organized, well managed and well done. I already mentioned the cost as being one downside. Another downside?? The food.

When you're paying $295 for a meal event (doll included) you at least want the food to be good. The doll, you can sell if you don't like. The food, not so much. And by the time you've put out that much money, you don't feel like putting out more for something to eat after the event. Nor should you have to.

For example, I attended 3 different meal events in total. In each one, I was served rubbery green beans garnished with chopped pimento or red pepper.  I was starting to think it was the same green beans, over and over, by the time the convention was through. Seriously, green beans aren't that hard to cook well. Another example? The slab of prime rib we were served at the Kish event. It was thick-sliced, barely lukewarm as usual, tough and about half fat. Those wishing vegetarian meals didn't fare much better. They had to wait til everyone else was served, getting their food last. On at least one occasion the kitchen had run out of the vegetarian dish and some poor folks had to wait even longer. I didn't hear one positive comment about the vegetarian food. A couple folks told me it was some of the worst convention food they'd ever had.  Like many folks, I personally would rather have simple, well-prepared food than fancier stuff not done so well. Just something for the organizers and chef to consider for next year. :)

And that wraps up my MDC comments. Questions, anyone??