The Doll Blog

First off, I want to apologize for the delay since my last postings, I hadn’t realized how time consuming blogging can be, and my first priority is our internet doll stores, and getting them ready for Christmas. (which for the last five years has started around Columbus Day)

Once the holiday season starts, we’ve learned that you can’t do much more than ‘tweak’ the sites, because people will have bookmarked the dolls they want, and they get pissed if you change the sites. So I should be able to post more regularly… all we do now is pack and ship!

www.SleepySoft.com
Dolls and Toys for Adopted Children
www.PattycakeDoll.com
Dolls for Asian, Black & Hispanic Children
www.BooksandDolls.com
Dolls and toys from children’s books, movies and T.V.

At any rate, back to the headlines. We saw on CNN a story about a toy factory that just locked it’s gates and shut down, leaving 1300 workers not only out of a job, but also out of their communal company housing and cafeterias. The roiling economy here in the states, and around the world has now hit the toy industry hard as well. Not only did all the lead recalls hurt, but the rising costs of labor, the rising costs of testing, the rising costs of fuel… bottom line: China’s GAC (General Administration of customs)  is reporting that 3,600 companies, or just over half of all toy exporters, have gone out of business since January 1st 2008.

And since most dolls sold in the US are made in China, it will be interesting to see how my industry weathers the next few years.