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I'm just curious, am I the only one that has a stash? I have several orders that are packed away for holidays and birthdays for the girls... Not to mention a HUGE bag from the (awesome) AG outlet a few weeks ago. What is really sad, is that I am so excited about it (Could they really be gifts for mom and not the girls?), how do I keep my hands out of it for 5 more months?!?
Help... [img]confused.gif[/img]
D~
Oh yeah.
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I bought the choc cherry stuff, doll and girl for my daughter for xmas. Jess is on her way for my 4 year old... was supposed ot be for his birthday, but I don't think we'll make it till then. lol!
I'm a sucker for a sale. I wish I lived near the outlet, it would be soooo cool!!
I live near a Hanna outlet and that's fun to go to, I can't even imagine myself at a AG outlet though!
My stash is embarrassingly large. [img]redface.gif[/img] I guess I went a little overboard at the MCM sale last year, especially with the furniture. I'm still going again this year, and have almost convinced myself not to buy any more furniture. Dolls, however... [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]biggrin.gif[/img]
I totally have a stash of stuff for my dtr but, let's face it, quite a bit of it is really for me to enjoy :-) I have very little will-power when it comes to the stash...Christmas, birthdays etc all just seem to fall by the wayside and I give stuff out early since everything I seem to get is much cuter & more fun looking than I thought it would be! I have a small stash of Angelina Ballerina stuff, plus some Hopscotch Hill stuff, plus Jess and her starter collection. As I'm noting all of this I realize it sounds like I'm a total packrat but with AG retiring so many items at random I feel somewhat justified in purchasing now to dispense later. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who does this kind of thing! :-) Katie
Oh, yeah. Sometimes not such a smart idea, since younger dd is 12 and not as into collecting AG as much as she was a few years ago. I still have stuff bought with the code that I haven't even given her, not to mention all the stuff from the outlet. It defintely is more for me than her.
We got our first great niece last summer-Mia-and her baby shower present was a bitty baby, along with the rosy red Christmas outfit, and matching dress, cape, purse and hat for Mia in a size 3. Her parents don't know it yet, but I've already bought her a size 4 Christmas outfit (cherry cheeta, with coat and hat), the stars and stripes outfit, country day, garden fairy and spring blossoms, along with matching sets for Mia. [img]redface.gif[/img] [img]redface.gif[/img] [img]redface.gif[/img] She's 9 months old. I think I need to join a 5 step program. (as soon as the Madison sale is over-I want to get the pram and find a girl-sized butterfly Halloween costume.) All this stuff is hidden from DH-I'm sure he would think I've gone off the deep end. The nice thing is I can give everything to my wonderful MIL for her to give as gifts, so I don't look so loopy. Can you tell I can't wait someday for grandchildren?
Mandasmom, most of my stash is hidden from my DH too! He would also completely think I'd gone off the deep end if he saw it but since our DD enjoys the dolls so much I'm not too worried. Your post about needing the 5 step program made me laugh too! I might need the same help especially since DD is only 3 1/2 right now...Cheers! Katie
I am so relieved...
My best friend and I drove to OshKosh 2 weeks ago, and got a hotel - the works (it's a 5 hour drive for us)... thankfully she is nearly (ok, so not really) as bad as I am. I talked her into Marisol, last year, for her daughter, so our girls could play. We've been stashing ever since - not to mention combining orders and sharing codes. It really is awful - but i so love it! I just think, if it wasn't the AG dolls - it would be something far worse (can someone say Bratz?)... expensive? Yes. But you can pass it from generation to generation... Can you tell that I'm still trying to justify? [img]redface.gif[/img]
The outlet was the worst... it was so exciting though - so many retired items priced so nicely, and just being able to see things in "real life" rather than the catalog - it was so great!
D~
Oh, and as of yet, I haven't hidden anything from DH... but I can't say that I won't...
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D~
My stash is everything AG except the books and dolls. Furniture, tons of clothes, accessories, shoes, things like Kailey's boogie board I got at the outlet, AG hangers, catalogs, you name it. They are all in a huge plastic tub in my apartment. I know I'll move to a bigger apartment one day(after I graduate college), and when I do I want to set up a doll corner or doll area. It looks like the tub will have to probably go to storage so I'll only have my dolls and books in the apartment. [img]frown.gif[/img]
Katie, I'm with you on doling it out. Good grades, doing extra chores, first day of school, last day of school, I can come up with a lot of "reasons" to reward them with an AG goodie. [img]wink.gif[/img] Having 4 DDs also helps a LOT!
Mandasmom, you are too funny! Your grand-niece has quite a collection already!
As for DH, we have an unspoken "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding The Stash. He was just grateful that when we started unloading the van after last year's MCM sale that it wasn't all mine. [img]graemlins/angel.gif[/img] See Kit_Girl's site for pics.
My Jess is stashed away in my parents' room until I can officially have her for Christmas! Though I have taken peeks at her which my mom knows about.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Oh man, I was SO glad to read this! LOL. I find all sorts of reasons to gift my DD with items from my stash. I try to make them legitimate rewards, but sometimes they are "just because."Quote:
Originally posted by OSusannah:
Katie, I'm with you on doling it out. Good grades, doing extra chores, first day of school, last day of school, I can come up with a lot of "reasons" to reward them with an AG goodie.
Neither set of elderly grandparents are up to shopping any longer, so I was able to give them many items from my stash to pass along to DD for her b-day in 2 weeks.
I too have a little bit of a stash. Last fall I went with my sister to a conference in NY and my daughter asked me to pick up a few things with some of her money. She had no idea I had gotten these items several months earlier and had stashed them away.
I can always think of excuses to give her things as well but I've had to stop with the thought since I have two boys and do not have anything stashed away for them. It's hard with the boy thing. I mean you buy them a $40 video game and 6 months later it's worth about $5. Wish I could find something for them that would be somewhat collectable.
<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ July 13, 2006 11:16 PM: Message edited by: Brown*Eyed*Girl ]</font>
It is just me & dd, so I guess I have no self-controlb b/c I order and then as soon as it comes i give it to her, I have a million reasons to justify, but I play with her with it right away. I do keep my obsession from my sister & parents who completely don't understand but then spend way too much on christmas & bday, I guess I would rather have disbusments than one lump sum. In fact when bday & xmas come, dd is ok with one or two things from me, b/c I give all year, but it usually is traditional gifts. I guess I don't see the reason to wait and hide. I can't wait b/c i love buying and giving to dd. She is such a good girl that I feel she deserves it. She doesn't give me much trouble and gets good grades so i feel she deserves it. I love playing with new stuff, I think as much as she does.
This is too funny! My poor Jess is currently living in my closet. I ordered Jess the day after winning Lindsey on eBay. We have been trying (and trying!) to teach oldest DD that you cannot have everything you want and less is more and all that so DH was concerned about the message it would send when I got two new dolls at the same time. Lindsey arrived first so poor Jess has been religated to the closet till we can come up with a good excuse to justify another new doll for Mom. [img]redface.gif[/img] But she does get regular attention and Samantha lent her a party dress and fabulous shoes.
DH was cleaning out the store room the other week and I kept waiting for his head to explode as the boxes of gifts for the kids piled up and piled up. He did comment that there seemed to be a lot of them, but that was it! I had to break out the laptop and do an inventory of all the AG stuff. I said something about an order being a little pricey and he just laughed and said he was used to that where dolls are concerned in our family. I definitely married the right person!
Currently the stash includes: two HHS castle carrying cases, two rainbow activity boards (one for a friend's dd), 5 HHS dolls (again, 2 for friend's dd), flower pot desk, 2 Razzi Rabbits, HHS outfits, dressup trunks and hair care kits, three or four Bitty outfits, the pram, rocking horse, twin's sled, 2 of Molly's aviator outfit, 2 of Addy's striped dress, Kit's Christmas dress, Kit's camera set, AG suitcase/backpack for girls... it's amazing we can fit anything else in the store room!
I cannot resist an AG sale and fear of retirements certainly feeds my habit! My oldest DD loves her HHS dolls and my youngest loves her sister's dolls so I had to stock up when they went on sale. Seriously, I could probably go two years without buying anything for the kids and be fine for Christmas, birthdays, Ground Hog's Day.... But my oldest *needs* Kit and I really think my youngest should have the BB 2 in 1 travel time outfit for girls, I mean, that counts as school clothes so it isn't even indulgent, right?
Doesn't everyone have a stash? I have stuff from the MCM sale from two years ago still in my storage/stash area! Gee, maybe I should skip it this year? [img]wink.gif[/img] Stuff from sales, on clearance, with codes. I'm set for Christmas and Birthday. Now, I also have two DS, and Amazon had an AWESOME sale earlier this summer, so I have a stash for them too! Luckily for DPS, Lindsey got to come OUT of the Stash. She was acclimated into DD's room, so DH never knew about her. Bad Mommy!
When it comes to AG, I can't stash it. I have no willpower and will end up giving the stuff to DD ahead of time! [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Yep, I have a stash! It should be gone by Christmas, though. With shipping prices being so high at AG, I always place a big order, then store some away for the next birthday or Christmas. I also just got a huge order from a person I met through e-bay (who sells AG dresses without the shoes, etc.) Right now I think I have about 8 outfits in the basement, plus Kit's scooter. That will get me (& my DDs' grandmas) through one DD's birthday, and both DDs' Christmas.
Jo
My stash got so big, I didn't remember exactly what was in it between the code, the outlet and placing big orders to maximize shipping value. Since we are getting ready to move, I had to clean out my closet in the spring. I put a lot on e-Bay. I can't wait until we move in August and have more space to finally get some of the stash out. The rest of Felicity's furniture is coming out as a housewarming present to DD (and me [img]redface.gif[/img] ).
I can't help but LOL at this thread- there is a bit of me in every response. (I even envy Octavius-wish I lived nearer to a Hanna outlet!)
We have a stash, and it does get a few pieces pulled out for "Imaginary Holidays" for DD-5, and I do feel like I leave out her younger sister and brother. I guess I can justify it since they will get more as they grow older-even DS has a Bitty Boy Twin.
And (don't tell DPS) my #26 is still hiding, but she gets loads of attention anyhow, I just dressed her in the new Tunic outfit yesterday. My Mom taught me the easiest way to assimilate a new doll without notice from DH is to change all the girls' clothes and move them around the room. So every doll looks different already, a new one blends in. I already did that with Jess and Clara, and #26 will be out soon. It's harder with the historicals however, -he'd recognize them too easily.
I guess I do. I have some Angelina dolls that will be presents at the wedding to the flowergirls (got idea for joyfulone). I have a pile of Christmas gifts for my little friend Taylor in Florida.
I also send sale items for Taylor each month and let her mother stash stuff for her.
I have a pile of bitty items for a little girl I have starting a collection for. As soon as I get the bitty a new head I will be giving everything to her.
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I have three dolls and about 6 outfits. DD changed her mind at Christmas, so one of the dolls is Marisol (she now decides she wants her) Surprise! Santa may be able to find one.
ROFL...stash? more like my own AGs Place!!! I will often bring out some of my stuff when Becca has been especially good. She is so excited and I don't feel like I'm spoiling her quite so much. Kit is supposed to be coming today (Becca has saved up money for half and has been talking about Kit forever and I had the 10% off code, so...needless to say, she's not all that is coming, but that's all that Becca will see today *grin*. I had to get some of the sale stuff and Jess for myself to put away in case she's gone by Christmas.
Sarah
Ummmmmm...........yeah. I've been stashing since January! I have HH stuff and bitty stuff to sell on ebay someday. I'm also collecting for Sam, Nellie, and Kit so I'm buying things when they are on sale. My dd is collecting Felicity and Elizabeth so I have a lot of stuff stashed for them but she is getting most of it next week for her bday. It's all in a top shelf in our closet and DH keeps wondering why the tower of boxes is getting taller......LOL! I'm totally addicted!
Enjoyed reading all your posts! Glad I'm not alone.......LOL!!!
Yes!!!!! I have a stash!
It's Felicity, Penny and Felicity's whole wardrobe waiting for Santa to come this Christmas!
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Yes-I have a stash for sure. I have all the Hopscotch Hill stuff stashed away from the last sale-books, dolls, boards, animals, cases all x2 for each girl-and I have Jess put away-about 6 outfits, am about to order #25 to put away-and also have stashed about 10 BB outfits. In fact-guess what happened to me tonight? We moved right before Christmas this year. My mother bought both my girls the Rosy Red dresses to match BB. Well, we never found the box once we moved. [img]frown.gif[/img] Also in that box was the bunny pajama outfits for both BB's and matching for both girls-again-for Christmas. I've been so upset about it for a while now. I noticed tonight that BB's jammies seem to be gone from the site. I've been working on the million boxes in the garage since we moved in when I can-to see if it got stuck in there. Tonight I went in there armed with my box cutter-and sliced open every box I could find-until I opened one-and there were Bitty Boxes staring at me!!! Yay!! So-hopefully they'll fit into their Rosy Red dresses this year. [img]frown.gif[/img] And I can't wait to get those jammies on Bitty. Do you think she can wear long sleeves and bunny slippers in summer??? Anyway-that's the danger I guess of stashing-be careful when you move. [img]frown.gif[/img]
Allison
Well, the obsession started about 7 years ago when DD was 3. And since then it has taken over a wardrobe, a closet, another closet and the crawlspace under my house. But the really amazing thing is......my DD has not yet discovered that in addition to her own collection of 4 dolls there are another 25 living amongst her in the house! I imagine at some point I will have to reveal my secret collection and boy, will she be amazed!
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Wow, she will be amazed. What dolls do you have that she doesn't know about?Quote:
Originally posted by luv*AG:
Well, the obsession started about 7 years ago when DD was 3. And since then it has taken over a wardrobe, a closet, another closet and the crawlspace under my house. But the really amazing thing is......my DD has not yet discovered that in addition to her own collection of 4 dolls there are another 25 living amongst her in the house! I imagine at some point I will have to reveal my secret collection and boy, will she be amazed!
All the limited edition dolls, about 7 Historical dolls and the rest are AGT. Here's a photo I took of most of them one day when DD was in school. Yea, I know I'm a sneaky mom but we can have fun too!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i4...g/DSCN9058.jpg
I also have a stash. A couple boxes for each of my daughters up in the closet waiting for Christmas. I am sure more will join them in the next 5 months. I keep them in the big brown box that our new bitty came in so DH doesn't ask questions and girls don't get tempted to go peeking. [img]wink.gif[/img]
DD never saw them until she was about 5, they were at my parents house, then at 3 she got her first Bitty (which she LOVES SO MUCH to this day, almost 6 years later) So, I brought them home, but she could only play with them under my close supervision, At 6, It was the one I got in '97 in celebration of her birth, of #14 that looks like her that I let her first play with. So it is hers, technically, Then for her 7th bday, or at least close to it 11-9-04, on Oct. 15 '04, Her big bday present was her first AG that she could pick out, well to no surprize she picked Nellia, I happen to get a chance to go when my aunt does PR for an organization in Chicago and invited us. She knows all my girls, but knows the ones that are really MINE: Ana (94 Sam), Lici (91 Fel), Kira (92 Kirsten), 93 Addeline, my 95 Bitty. I want to get the bitty twins for my niece's 2nd bday/x-mas,since I collect the bitty babies. But sister doesn't get my obsession and am not sure it would be made to be taken care, at least as much as a 2 year old can, dd was 3 when she got Rose, her bitty, but it was love at first site, so she did take care of her VERY GOOD on her own, so I am still debating getting my niece the twins, I want to start a collection for her, like I did for dd & I, so we will see. I beleive in letting kids play with toys if you give them to her, but I am hoping my sister goes behind her and makes sure she is cleaned up once in awhile, clothes put away or repaired, etc. and am afraid that won't happen & then I might as well just get her walmart knock offs which defeats what I am trying to do, dd's is a collection to be cherished and passed down, not given to goodwill in 10 years, you know what I mean?
<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ July 15, 2006 07:50 AM: Message edited by: for_my_rose ]</font>
Luv*AG - I think that is so great that your dd hasn't found all those beautiful AGs yet... I think you better break it to her gently, when the time comes, she'll be in for a shock! I wish I could pull one over on my girls like that... they find everything!
Case in point: The girls were at summer camp over the 4th, so my best friend and I snuck off to OshKosh. When the girls got home (we were watching dh's brother's house), Alli found an outlet bag - she asked me about it and I brushed her off - so she went running to Tori and said "Victoria, look what I found! Better start searching Uncle Brian's house for AG stuff!" My jaw dropped! Those little monsters! Thank God dh hid the stash in a locked room in the basement, or we'd have an early Christmas!
for_my_rose: I completely agree, these are collections that need to be respected - but at the same time they need to be played with. It's a good way to teach our children to value and cherish these things that not every child is fortunate to have. I do, occasionally, remind my girls that they are very lucky to have so many beautiful dolls (we only have 3 + the BT), because I never had anything so beautiful as a child. Maybe that's why I'm so into collecting them as an adult - I need to relive my childhood. [img]confused.gif[/img]
D~
AGMommi to Alli & Tori: I whole-heartedly beleive children should play with their stuff, if is display only, not only do I think that is cruel, but you might as well say it is Mommy's only. At the same time, I try to teach dd to be nice and take care of things, she is rough and has to reminded, but at the same time, that is why I didn't feel she was ready for a AG until I felt she was ready for the "responsiblity", but I still don't feel she is to be trusted with my early 90's dolls (b/c of the $ value & the sentimental value) I am also reminding her how expensive things are, & I am not throwing away $, these collections are not for resell value, they are for passing down value. Although I say that, I don't think I could pass down mine, b/c of what they mean to me. I too am reliving my childhood through these collections, but b/c of what they mean to me & how I was lucky to have the dolls I had as a kid, I want her to feel the same way. I think she knows b/c she rarely asks for anything b/c she knows I don't have unlimited funds and when she does ask she really wants it & it is those toys she cares about, not the ones just given to her. I expect to have to mend a shirt or eventually replace a wig (even using the ag brush, you might have to do this) I just hate when I feel like people think what does it matter, its replaceable, well yes, but why waste $ on replacing it when if you just take care of it, it wouldn't have to. My 1st doll, I took care of very well, but today it looks mighty used, but I am glad my parents instill the idea to take care of our things, otherwise my doll would probably not be here, and it has had neck & back surgery. I am happy to do that for dd. I guess I am just having a hard time explaining what I mean, just want my niece to be taught, you can play with it, but don't drag it on the floor, throw it at the wall, etc.
Hello luvAG! I had to laugh when I read your posts! You are definitely a kindred spirit, since my DD is 3 1/2 right now and I can totally envision my staircase looking a lot like yours 7 years from now! Your photo is wonderful and I am so glad you shared. This is a wonderful inspiration to me! Thanks for making me smile at the end of a long day! Katie
Thank you....What nice words to end the day! [img]smile.gif[/img] It's never too early to start collecting and your DD will be lucky having a mom to share the joy and fun of dolls with.
Yes, I have a stash and my husband asked if I was opening up a store.
Downstairs I already have the 3-in-1 doll bed, dreams bedding, little purse for just like me doll, Jess's pajamas, another Marisol (which I don't know what I'm doing with her yet since she has one) and I just ordered:
AG22 doll, sparkly tunic top for doll and daughter, coconut, coconut dog house, coconut jacket and shirt for doll and daughter, doll sunglasses, the new doll tote, salon accessories, cozy cardigan for her bitty baby, and the new hair care kit.
I think that's about it unless I find other stuff lurking around the house. I'm going to the store in December on a Christmas shopping bus trip so I'm sure I'll be adding to this list. At this rate, her Easter basket will be full of AG things.
I just hate holding it all back. I'm such a kid myself...
So I'm cleaning out the basement and the guest (i.e. doll) room and have stacked a bunch of boxes in the little alcove in the baby's room. Most of the stuff is in containers that aren't see through, so my daughter hasn't figured it out, but there were a couple of AG boxes that I had put on top. Yesterday I hear a little "mom, can I see what those are?" Of course, I lied and told her that those are just the empty boxes to her stuff *giggle*. Luckily she believed me.
<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ July 18, 2006 08:32 AM: Message edited by: nicbecjamsar ]</font>
Stash? Oh...puhleeeze! I'm the Queen of stash around here, and she still gets plenty to play with, guess I just went a little overboard at last year's MCM, another reason I didn't go this year! [img]redface.gif[/img]
Laurie