Doll Castle News - A Review

Last week, I had received quite a surprise - a copy of this month's (March/April 2013) Doll Castle News magazine.  I'm not entirely sure how I got a copy (I didn't order one...) but I did and I thought it would be fun to write a review of it.

First, some background about Doll Castle News.  Their website is here and can provide more information than I can.  The focus of the magazine is doll collecting, repair, and appraisal.  Each issue features a full-color paper doll as well.  It's been in print for over 52 years and is written & published by the Mueller family.  And it really is a family publication.  The founder's son & daughter write, edit, and publish it, and there's a featured family member in my issue.  I love that idea.  It's nice to know that dolls keep this family close.

This is the cover of my issue.  My images are not great...Just to warn you!

The magazine is a mix of color and black & white pages, with articles, ads, etc.  This issue has articles about Raggedy Ann dolls and Penny Brite, a doll I hadn't heard of before this.  I have a bit of a Barbie collection, so learning about other dolls from the vintage era of Barbie was interesting.

Each issue has a feature about appraising dolls.  I loved it!  Doll collectors write in with questions and receive expert advice.  I may write in myself... I have exactly one '60s Barbie who could use a little love.

There are also reprints of articles from previous issues.  I like the idea of reading an article written 40 years before I was born!  These serve as interesting historical artifacts about dolls, doll collecting, and how doll collecting has changed over the years.

And on the last two pages are a paper doll.  The colors in this image are off quite a bit.  If you like the doll, go order a copy of this issue :) The artist, Benne, is unfamiliar to me.  There's a brief write-up about her and I discovered she's a teacher in Oregon.  It's a cute doll and worth checking out.

Overall, I really enjoyed this issue.  It's a bit outside my usual scope since it focuses more on dolls than on paper dolls.  If dolls are your thing, this is worth getting.  There are nearly three pages listing upcoming doll conventions and events alone! 

I'm not sure how I got my copy, but I'm very glad I did and I hope others will check it out.  Maybe I'll send them a paper doll & see if I can get it published.

Next week I'll get back to lessons.  I want to talk about some new watercolors and I'm going to start teaching myself Corel Painter.  It might be a little bumpy and we'll probably end up learning together!