MCM 2019- The Year of Deals!

While my feet are still recovering from all of the walking, I am back! Benefit Sale 2019 is over with and it's time for my yearly review & coverage. This year I was lucky enough to score tickets to the Sunday sale which is when prices of some items are slashed anywhere from 15-50%. Because of this my mom and I rented a hotel Friday & Saturday night. If you remember my post covering last year, I drove to Middleton and back in one day for the Saturday sale. Can I just say how nice it was being able to relax in a hotel before and after the long sale days? I don't know what I was thinking last year, haha.

Margot was my sale doll from last year so she came with this year to welcome the new additions! She also snagged up mini-Grace as her own doll. 

Since I knew we'd be staying in a hotel I was able to reserve a room put aside in the partner hotels, which meant that we received a goodie bag upon check-in! This year the bag included a mini Grace Thomas doll with her first two books, a coupon book for other businesses in the Middleton area, and a welcome letter from the MCM staff. We stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn which I would highly recommend. The rooms were clean and nice, the staff was super friendly, and they had an excellent breakfast selection.

Goodie bag items.

Our ticket time for Saturday was originally set for 12:00PM. I was nervous as to what kind of stock would be left over at that time so my mom and I took a chance and arrived at the sale grounds at 7:00AM to see if any earlier tickets were turned in to the welcome tent. Boy, did we luck out! We were able to trade our tickets for a pair of 8:15 ones! During that odd hour my mom and I checked out the vendor tents while I explained the full sale process to her (it was her first year attending). We browsed the Silent Auction tent where I was surprised to see that they had a selection of 10-12 Create Your Own dolls that were $120 and Buy It Now. This was the first year CYO dolls were made available at the sale and emails were sent out explaining the whole process of buying one. You needed to view the online photobucket albums (which crashed constantly while I was browsing them) and write down a list of corresponding numbers to dolls you were interested in buying. In the warehouse you would go to the CYO table and give them the numbers. They would go down the list, bring out the dolls still available or if they already sold, well, then you were out of luck. 

I was thrilled to see that Beth from Dreaming of Dolls took a photo of the Silent Auction CYO selection. I hope she won't mind that I've included that image below and circled a certain doll. ;) Side note: Beth has a fantastic blog and does an incredible write-up of her MCM experience every year. I'd highly recommend following her! 

Photo credit: Beth @ Dreaming of Dolls

I was nervous about this system- how long it would take, how fast the dolls would sell, etc. So when I saw the Buy It Now option at the Silent Auction tent, well, I caved. The CYO's there were the same price as in the warehouse so I couldn't see an issue with bypassing the warehouse system if I found one I liked at the Auction tent. Most of the dolls on my list were the Sonali mold with gray eyes. They happened to have one fitting that description in the Silent Auction selection. She is a light vinyl, Sonali mold with gray eyes and long straight brown hair. She came in the Let's Explore outfit with corresponding accessories. I've named her Tillie, after my great grandma. I lucked out and she even has the good quality eyes and body fabric. Shes also my first doll with gray eyes!

Meet Tillie!

After purchasing Tillie my mom and I ran her back to the car before heading to the line-up tent. I was excited to see that there were no dolls 'sold out' as of 8:15. By the time I went in last year Logan & Z were both sold out! The warehouse was much like it was last year- tables on either side as you enter with outfits on the left and historical dolls on the right. Historical dolls in large quantities like Addy & Melody were in the second half of the warehouse. Outfits I grabbed included the Double Bow Dress, current Basketball outfit (which I was surprised to see there!), four items from the Summer 2017 mix & match line, the 2017 Celebration Dress, and the TRU exclusive box set of the winter 2017 mix & match line. I purchased the mix & match box set for $20 which was the most expensive of the clothing items. Also seen were the Pomeranian PJs, Melody's PJs, Maryellen's School Dress, Samantha's Special Day Dress, two red holiday sets, and the holiday PJs from last Christmas. I know I'm missing items but that's all I can remember!

As for LE dolls I saw Grace (in limited numbers, which is why she didn't make the price list), Isabelle, Gabriela and Luciana. I did not see Lea this year. Z was also unavailable, but Tenney & Logan were both at the sale. Below you'll see photos of Isabelle still available on Sunday. I think it's safe to say she'll be around for next year. 

The whole pallet behind the volunteer was Isabelle too!

I bypassed the CYO table since I had already purchased Tillie and did not have the funds to pick up another. To the right of that table, along the back wall were the Costco Exclusive sets. Now I expected Kit to be there since she made the price list, but Molly? She was a huge surprise! I do not have a Costco membership so I missed out on Beforever Molly. Though she has my least favorite stories I love her time period. Outside of clothing items she was the very first item I shoved into my bag. Molly also had my favorite sign of the whole sale.

Molley, as in Trolley.

Next up were the tables of TM dolls. This year they were priced at $55 on Saturday. They took up the majority of the second half of the warehouse. I felt that there were more dolls this year than last. Could that be because of the permapanties and new eyes debacle? I sure was wondering about that. Still hanging around at 8:15 was Truly Me #80. I've had a name picked out for her since last summer so she was an easy YES. I also grabbed Truly Me #21 who was retired last year. She's a doll I've admired since I was a child. #80 is now named Georgia and #21 is Darcy. 

Saturday purchases.

Georgia!

Darcy! With pincurls!

 My final Saturday purchase was Addy! She was $30 (!!!) at the sale both days. I made the mistake of selling my Addy last year and have regretted it ever since. I'll be honest and say that I gave her the biggest hug once she was freed from her box at the hotel!

The weather during the Saturday sale was over 90 degrees with terrible humidity. The whole state was under a heat advisory and after being in that warehouse? I needed a shower and a nap. We spent most of Saturday afternoon recouping and managed to mostly sleep through the thunderstorm that hit around 3:00PM. Saturday evening I attended the meet-up hosted by ag_4allages on Instagram. Over 100 collectors young & old attended! Lots of shop owners attended too. I received items from Elite Doll World, Exquisite Doll Designz and Happy Threads Girl. Getting to meet so many of the other adult collectors (& friends!) I follow on IG is always one of my very favorite parts of this event.

2019 meet-up photo!

Alright, on to Sunday! We had ticket times for 7:30AM. This time was perfect because we had a chance at any remaining items from the day before. The Kit & Molly sets (though Molly sold out before 8:30), a good selection of the TMs,  and most of the outfits (minus the box set) were still available at our time. Sunday also had a selection of $20 nude Addy dolls who were not around on Saturday. I grabbed the second Molly book and newest Rebecca mystery as well as Truly Me #24 and #55. The Truly Me dolls were $40 on Sunday, the Costco sets $80 down from $100. Historical dolls outside of Addy & Melody remained at $85 A few of the vendors were around too which was a nice surprise for me. Someone had told me that no vendors would be at the Sunday sale. I picked up an adorable ruffled yellow polka dot dress from Janine's Creations on Etsy (thanks Neth for catching her name!) and several items from Ebony, The Glam Doll. 

Waiting to go in on Sunday morning!

Yellow dress by Janine's Creations and cat dress by The Glam Doll.

Just some further notes: I didn't pay much attention to the Wellie Wishers, Bitty Baby or Bitty Twins areas since I don't collect for them. I do know that Emerson was sold out before 8:30AM on Saturday. This year's sale also had way less big ticket items than the previous year.

My mom and I ended up checking out and heading home before noon on Sunday. The next day was a moving day for the both of us and we had a 4 hour drive home ahead. All in all I came home with SEVEN dolls which I'm still trying to wrap my head around. As I'm writing this I'm surrounded by my horde of TM girls and Tillie. 

My biggest regret from the sale is not being able to meet-up with Beth and Neth. The heat made it impossible to really wait around and the health of my friends is a #1 priority. I have no doubt that we'll make plans to get together next year if we're all able to make it. Hopefully somewhere with AC, haha. As I said earlier, Beth already has her MCM write-up posted and Neth is the one and only American Girl Outsider- both of their blogs are fantastic resources and I cannot recommend them enough. 

On my way out I did manage to catch sight of the sign announcing the dates for next year's MCM Benefit Sale. Mark your calendars for July 18th & 19th, 2020. I know I'm already planning on being there! Do you have plans to attend the Benefit Sale or have any questions about things I didn't cover from this year's sale? Let me know! 

Early Benefit Sale 2019 Prices & Limits!

Today we got some exciting news re: the 2019 American Girl Benefit Sale! In a Facebook Live video they showed off some of the items that will be available- and for the first time ever could release some early prices and limits for those items! Note that this does not include everything that will be available at the sale. There is so much more that will be there! These are just the items that they have lots of stock on and can let us know early about.

The administrator was calling this the "year of deep discounts" which I think is going to be fantastic for all of us AG lovers old & young.

Melody Doll- $30 with a limit of 10

Tenney Doll- $40 with a limit of 10

Gabriela Doll- $85 with a limit of 5

Isabelle Doll- $85 with a limit of 5

Addy Doll- $30 with a limit of 10 (!!!!)

CYO Doll- $120 with a limit of 5

Individual paperbacks- $2 each

BF book sets w/ mini doll- $5 each

Bitty baby sets- $50 with a limit of 5

Kit Costco set- $85 /limit unknown

Truly Me #25 Doll- $35 with a limit of 3

Wellie Wisher Dolls- $20 each /limit unknown

So far the two items to hit my list are Addy & Truly Me #25. I almost bought #25 when the MOA store closed but chose to get #61. And Addy? I sold her last year and have regretted it ever since. I'm going to give her a big hug once she's mine at the sale! 

So there we go- there's the update for now! I'm sure there will be more exciting news as the sale draws nearer. The sale is the weekend of July 20th-21st and takes place in Middleton, WI. Tickets for Saturday are now SOLD OUT but a limited number of free Sunday entry tickets will be available starting at 7:00AM on Sunday July 21st. Are you going to the Benefit Sale? Let me know! I'd love to meet up with other AG fans!

MCM 2018 - My first benefit sale!

Here I am, six months later! Things have been hectic and time for blogging has been at an all-time low. I'm beyond excited to be back, especially considering the topic of today's post! While I bought my MCM tickets the very first day they were available I didn't know if I'd be able to go or not until the night before the event. 

I swear my heart leaped seeing this sign! It's been a dream of mine to attend this event.

For those who don't know, American Girl donates returns and overstock to the Madison Children's Museum every year. These items are sold at the Annual American Girl Benefit Sale hosted in Middleton, WI. All proceeds go to support the work of the Madison Children's Museum and American Girl's Fund for Children. It's a fantastic way to purchase dolls, outfits, accessories, and books for a low cost!

This year was the 31st year of the sale!

I am from Minneapolis so the drive was exactly 4 hours for me. My entry time was at 10:45AM so I left home at 6:45- I was lucky to arrive just in time for my time slot! I spent the night before watching and reading any sale experiences posted online so I had a good idea what to expect. This year entry times also had assigned groups which allowed the process to go smoother, at least from comparing it to accounts from previous years. My group was let into the warehouse at exactly 11:00AM, so they were only running 15 minutes behind schedule! There was a sign going into the warehouse that listed all character dolls and if any were sold out. When I went in only Z and Logan were sold out.

Z and Logan were sold out. Luckily I wasn't looking to buy any named dolls this year!

I was amazed at the sheer amount of merchandise available and definitely was overwhelmed for the first 15 or so minutes just taking it all in. One of the things I liked best is that you could easily lift the dolls out of their boxes to inspect their limbs, faces, wig, and eyes. I enjoyed listening to the conversations around me- hearing people examining and talking about permapanties in person definitely made me laugh!

Nanea!

I went in knowing I wanted Melody's Bed and Bedroom Accessories (because at $45 together that was a steal!). Melody had the biggest presence at the sale. She was available for $60 at a limit of 10 on Saturday. You could also buy her Bed for $35, Bedroom Accessories for $10, Fancy Coat for $18, and Pajamas for $12. On Sunday she was available at an unlimited limit for $30, her Bed for $20, and Bedroom Accessories for $5. Most of her dolls were brand new in box and the fact that so much of her collection was available has me worried about how Melody is doing overall.

The front end of the warehouse had the Beforever dolls, furniture, outfits, books, mini dolls, accessories, and Wellie Wishers. The back end was where the Truly Me dolls, Girls of the Year, voucher table, Bitty Babies, Bitty Twins and check out area were located.

I also went to the sale knowing I wanted to pick up one Truly Me doll to bring home. While I debated between a few different girls, I ended up going home with Truly Me #42. She came in the lavender Truly Me meet outfit with pierced ears. I was lucky to find the vest and tulle skirt from the matching meet accessories in a ziploc bag for $12! It was the only set I saw so I snatched it up. All of my girls need to come home with pajamas so I also picked up the Purple Peacock PJ's for $10. I missed out on the Spring Breeze Dress when it was in stores and was happy to find it at the sale for $18. #42 has settled in nicely at home and has officially been named Margot!

Margot grabbing some McDonald's for lunch with me.

Melody was the happiest when she saw what I brought home!

Outside of the warehouse were lots of vendors. There were quite a few selling outfits and furniture for 18" dolls. My favorite was a booth that was selling food and drinks! I was a huge fan of the Unicorn Frappucino from Starbucks and when I saw they were selling ones for dolls I knew Margot would need one. There was also some vendors 'for adults' such as Lularoe, Tupperware and Young Living. There was also a silent auction tent that had some amazing retired sets. I didn't have a ton of money for this year so I didn't bid on anything.

I did take advantage of the Dolly Day Care service offered at the sale when I went back in for a second time. I dropped off Margot and was given a loom bracelet to wear that matched one they put on her. When I picked her up they matched our bracelets which is how they knew she was mine. It was a free service and I loved seeing how they set her up on a chaise lounge with headphones on while I shopped. She certainly had a relaxing time!

Yes, Margot insisted on being cozy for the drive home!

I was lucky to meet a ton of other collectors in the community. I met up with Beth of DollTraume (also known as IGSBeth on AGC! She has some fantastic posts up about her MCM experiences) and historic_ag_dolls from Instagram. There was also an AGIG meet-up hosted at 3PM on Saturday where I met up with Sew4Dolls and OnceUponAnAmericanGirl. Everyone was so nice and it truly was amazing meeting up with so many people I knew from online in person. This was by far the best part of this experience.

Look at all of the AGIGers!

Some weird highlights I saw- entire extended families going in and buying up to the limits available and leaving in a rented U-Haul with all of their merchandise! I later found out that this was a family of resellers. Another sight? A van parked about a block away from the sale that had black and white stock photos of dolls taped to the side. It looked like an ice cream truck where you went up and just pointed to the doll you wanted to buy. I didn't get too close but I'm guessing they had a stock of retired dolls that they were trying to sell.

Here I am with Sew4Dolls and her Tesla and historic_ag_dolls!

Gosh, I'm sure I missed a ton of details! Overall this was an absolutely incredible experience. The drive was beautiful too so I know for a fact I'll be making a return trip next year. If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments. I'll be more than happy to do my best to answer them!

-Shannon