DollNorth @ AnimeNorth 2015 - Toronto, Canada

I've brought a doll to a con twice now...once an MSD, once a YoSD...carrying around the MSD was pretty cumbersome (so I can't imagine how two would be) after a while...so it might be better to go with a smaller doll or just one MSD ^^;

 

Yeah, I'll also chime in and say that even MSDs get cumbersome and heavy when you're carrying them around the convention space. After a couple hours, I was done. Even at Dollism, I usually ended up carrying my DOB Libra around for long chunks of time since he's much smaller than the other two I brought.

As for Doll North, I've been thinking I might bring Littlejay (my Libra) and my much-awaited Peakswood Dorothy, who I haven't named yet. She should be here by then. If not, well...I'll find someone else to come along. After lugging dolls of varying sizes to various conventions, I've found the little ones are just easiest for me. And in theory I can fit them in my purse if it's not too full. And I probably won't carry them around the con outside of Doll North.

 

Aaah I just bought my ticket last night! (only for Saturday but hey better than nothing right?!) I'm so excited for it I haven't been to a Doll North since 2012 so I'm definitely looking forward to it! The hard part is trying to decide who to bring... I managed to juggle 3-4 at a time at Dollism but it was definitely hard. I think I'm going to be bringing mini's and/or tinies for this.

 

"You're going to Anime North 2015!"

Gah, I'm so excited >.< I've never been!!!

 

I am going this year as well ^^ I will probably bring my dollfie and leave my minifees at home
I found a lot of the sellers sold SD things! ^^

 

Oh good I have my first two SDs incoming and absolutely nothing for them to wear lol

So great to see so many people going ^^

 

Yeah! The last few years there has been a lot of great SD stuff (which sucks 'cause I don't have one ;P). I wanted to spend ridiculous amounts of money on SD Steampunk stuff in 2013. XD

 

Having been a seller and also staff the previous couple years I know there was previously a LOT of requests for SD10/13 sized clothing especially boys, and then suddenly last year we had so many people asking for MSD stuff. You have to play a lot of catch up and guessing games when selling in the market I'm afraid, and you'll definitely never suit everyone's needs. It can be tough.

 

I carried around my SOOM Super Gem all weekend at Dollism Plus USA and then I could lift my arm for a week
Since then I purchased my first tiny! I will definitely be bringing her. I'm so excited

I'll definitely have things with me to sell, only SD+ though.

 

Huh, that's really interesting. I guess a lot of people have been buying MSDs recently? Or just MSD owners finding out about DN...? Wonder why the sudden shift. *ponderponder*

 

Wish to find stuff for my New MDF Luts couple

 

I agree with sleep_pattern - there always seems to be a pattern each year and 'theme' when it comes to buyers. Last year people seemed to predominantly buy or were looking for MSD and Yo-SD items - especially casual pieces. The year prior people were looking for (of all things) petticoats, and mainly SD clothing/props/accessories, and the year before that everyone seemed to be looking for clothing for male dolls of varying sizes.

You never really know what the years 'theme' will be until the marketplace is open and well underway, and as mentioned above, it can be hard as a seller to prepare beforehand. The best thing to do is offer lots of choices in a range of sizes to appeal to the widest range of people.

 

The weekend/group passes are already sold out, I've never attended before, do they normally sell out this quickly?

I will be selling at the Dollmarket if I can secure a table. ^-^
Nearly all SD+ related.

 

They usually sell out in early March, but there has been an attendance cap the last few years, so they've been selling out earlier. Many of the hotels are sold out for the weekend too.

 

I'm interested in attending. I'll have to see about tickets since you guys are saying stuff is sold out, and I'd want to go for the weekend since I'd be coming from Michigan.

I'll have to look through the schedule to be sure, but what 2 days would you guys suggest? I might just come for 2 instead of 3.

 

Saturday and Sunday are when most of the DN events are - actually I don't know if there will be Friday DN events at all. There weren't any last year.

 

Doll North is Saturday and Sunday only.

 

Thanks so much! Good thing to know and now I can make more serious plans.

 

I know MNFs seem to be very popular this year. I agree that the best choice is to prepare for as many sizes as you are capable of doing if you want to sell things. I know that I am always looking for MSD/YoSD items.

 

All main events and Doll Market will run Saturday May 23 and Sunday May 24.

We may offer a very small amount of programming Friday evening for those who are already at the hotel, something casual and fun for attendees who can't wait to get dolly socialising; we'll keep you posted

 

That sounds great I will be staying at the Courtyard Marriott not too far away since I booked with my hotel points.

 

Thanks again!

 

Not sure if this is an okay thing to ask, but will anyone be bringing a Lati Yellow/Lati Yellow Special or a PukiFee to DN and be willing to let me try a dress on them?

 

I'll most likely have my Lati Yellow Sophie with me during Doll North since she's so small and easy to bring around. I'll be there all weekend, and you can come by my table in the marketplace (Petit Papillon) anytime to play dress up with her.

 

Wheeeee! I bought plan tickets--I'm totally going! :rolls:

 

Thank you so much!

 

Bought our AN tickets last night

This'll be my first time attending DN... anything I should know before hand? I'll most likely be bringing a yosd, would you guys say having a carrier is essential?

(also, is anyone else cosplaying? ^^

 

Yay! Yo-SDs are so fun. ^^ I think the most important thing to know is that DN is held in a separate building to the main parts of AN, it's about a 7-ish minute walk and you have to cross a highway exit/walk down a steep hill (unless you go around to the driveway) to get there, so if you plan on going back and forth a carrier would be useful, and a change of shoes if your cosplay is high-heeled.

Also, there are usually charity raffles with prize dolls, so if you want to enter those (or shop at the market) you should bring some cash.

Hope to see you there!! I'm so excited. >w<

 

I'm not cosplaying per se but I do plan on dressing up a little ^-^

 

I will be bringing my Realpuki Toki, Muddlemar, he might be in cosplay, albeit a little tiny to be seen casually. >_<

So what are people looking forward to seeing this year? I am super excited about the stop motion contest, and really hope that they are doing a masquerade again this year, that was a delight to behold.

 

I'll be attending AN this year and will, of course, stop by to see what's going on for DN. I'm not sure who's coming with me this year. I'd like to bring my Absolute boys but Fei-Lau and Khale are heavy at a little over 7 pounds each. I have a doll out for face-up and modding and if he's done and home in time he may end up coming (he's an OD Il Vampire) along with his partner a DearMine Oskar. It'll all depend on how much of a hassle I want to deal with as it'll take me roughly 2 hours on public transit (a bus, the Go train, the subway and then another bus) to get to the con and wrangling luggage plus dolls is never fun.

I'd also like to second the motion of having some casual doll stuff going on on Friday night. My late Saturday afternoon and evening as well as Sunday afternoon are taken up with Cafe Nocturne business so I'd appreciate the extra doll time on Friday.

 

Do we have a theme this year, as we've had the last couple years? I've been seriously considering dressing up one of my boys in cosplay and bringing him, but the character is rather obscure, and it's unlikely the series would be included in any theme that's likely to come up. I know I could dress him up anyway, but I just want to know if there's any limitation to entering him in the contests.

 

I dunno... nothing's been released about the Masquerade this year. I'm curious to know about the theme too.

 

Masquerade announcement is coming up this week, we're finishing up a couple tweaks on the write up but expect it to be published to Facebook and the website before the weekend

 

I'm going to AN this year. Can't wait for the Avatar Photo photo and Fairytail ones. I might even dress up one of my dolls for the shoots. Not sure who I'm bring this yr. I'd love to bring my Souldoll Chiron centaur this yr but I'm not sure who I'm bring yet or what I'm doing yet. It will depend on theme if I compete in Masq or not. Its going to be a busy Con for me so have to wait and see.

 

Managed to get a ticket for this year's AN! I've been attending anime north since 2000 and have tried to get to every doll north even if to just drop in and say hi. I really home to spend more time at doll north this year. Will depend on how much free time I can get away from my crafter's corner table. At least one of my dolls will be coming with me this year. Hope to see everyone there!

 

Would any one be down for a mini meet up on Thursday after ticket pick up?


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That would be fun. I am interested.

 

The just announced some the DEALERs!

Soom, Batchix, magic mirror and enchanted doll eyes.

This is starting to look like the biggest DN to date, I wonder if there is more dealers happening


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Wow this sounds great

 

Well, I've got my ticket & I've sent off to renew my passport - sharing the hotel w/friends I'm doing this instead of my usual DragonCon so we shall see. I will be bringing cosplay for ME, naturally, but I'm not sure which dolls to bring yet ~sigh~ Maybe Charlie (he's a Ringdoll Kirin) in his Katsura get-up LOL

 

So excited about the dealers. Glad to hear Batchix will be returning again.

I won't be getting to TO until Friday, but I hopefully more people will be around. ^^

 

I'll be at Doll North this year! I've been for the past few years now, didn't think I would make it out since moving to Edmonton last fall. Thankfully, a work conference coincided with the Sunday of the convention. My boss loves all things geeky and collectable, so I'm lucky that she booked my flights in a couple days early Does anyone have ideas on how to get tickets now? They are sold out online.

 

@picklesbird I'm glad to hear you are able to make it this year As for your ticket if you are looking for weekend registration you may have to look for some fan groups such as cosplay or other fandoms to see if anyone is giving up a ticket. I found a subreddit on reddit too called r/animenorth where you might find available tickets. If you find someone who is willing to give up their ticket ensure that they go through [email protected] to transfer the ticket and you receive confirmation from the same address that the ticket is transferred to your name, there is no other way to officially transfer a ticket.

If you're unable to find a weekend admission Sat/Sun single day admissions may be your best bet. We will only be hosting a few fun events at DN on Friday, but there are other fun con things on Friday such as Nominochi.

I hope you're able to find someone that wants to give up their weekend pass, best of luck

 

Submissions are now open for the Asian Doll Stop Motion Film Festival!
Best of luck, y'all!
Official announcement video
Rules
Submission Form

 

Soom, you say?!

Dealer wise, will they have representatives selling their items? (Is painfully new to DN, I know, sorry!)

 

I keep forgetting to post that this will be my first Doll North. Vending, as well as visiting, since I've never been to Canada before, but it's such a short flight from NYC! Can't wait to meet everyone!

 

Soom staff from Korea will be in attendance, they are bringing a limited inventory to sell at DN and I wouldn't be surprised if they take pre-orders for some of the items on display as they did at Dollism NY ^_^ I'm really looking forward to Soom joining us, I am terribly addicted to their Cutie Pie line

 

I submitted a video to the contest. How many entries do you expect to get? I won't be making it to the convention, maybe a future year. I need to make a newer doll vid.

 

I will be doing the Yard Sale on Sunday! Can't wait for to see EVERYTHING!

 

Aren't we all addicted? :P

Probably another silly question, but con wise, most dealers only take cash, is this normally how BJD dealers work as well even with the higher cash amounts? (I have dreams of SOOM bringing dolls... but on the off chance they did, I'd never want to carry that much cash!)

 

I don't know if it'll be the same as at Dollism, but some of the vendors were set up to take credit cards/debt, which makes total sense when you're talking about the kind of cash required to purchase some of these resin lovlies.

 

A lot of the foreign vendors at Dollism couldn't take credit, something about international stuff, etc. They did take PayPal though. Not sure about Doll North. Assuming it's a similar situation.

 

Ahhh. I saw some people with the little debit square thingies but I never actually used it myself for any purchases, even when I impulse bought my DearMine Oskar, I used cash.

 

Haha doll vendors are dangerous! Especially Soom, kekee. I'm so excited for the lineup this year, though!

I'll be there all weekend as Steampetal, and I can't speak for anyone else but Square and paypal options are something I'm using at my table. Definitely a nice backup to have

Cheers! I can't wait to see everyone!

 

I can't use Square in Canada, since I have an American account, which is a pain. But I'll still be able to do PayPal at least! And cash, of course. There's not really a good set up fot international credit card transactions.

I have so much work to do, but I'm excited! Also looking forward to Soom, though I'm not supposed to be getting any new dolls. We'll see...

 

Ohh interesting shiroi_yukiko because your Square is a US account does it restrict you from accepting Canadian Visa or MC or is the concern that you would have to ask for prices in USD?

I ordered a Square reader for myself and I want to post some information about them before the con on our facebook page for our vendors, I'll have to give them a call to get some clarification when it comes to International accounts taking payments in Canada.

We have Wi-Fi at the Crowne Plaza so if a Dealer or Vendor brings equipment that will allow them to take payment by Paypal or Square they can definitely make that available for their customers.

At this time all of the Dealers attending who produce dolls will be bringing a selection of dolls that can be purchased directly at the event (even Soom). At Dollism Dealer's like Peak's Woods also allowed attendees to enter a pre-order and decide to pay in full by cash, a deposit by cash, or send any amount by paypal if they were entering in a layaway plan. I think some even waited for an email and paid after the event? I wouldn't be surprised if some of our Dealer's make pre-order options available at DN as well, hopefully with similarly flexible plans that don't require a lot of cash out of hand.

In most cases I hope there will be digital options for payment using Wi-Fi from most of our Dealers, they seem to understand that the cash needed to purchase an entire doll is a lot to carry around, and potentially a little risky and nerve-wrecking for our crowd.

 

To use Square in Canada, I'd need to have a Canadian address and bank account in order to take Canadian credit cards, basically. It's the same in any country, unfortunately, unless you borrow someone else's account. At least as far as I know. I got this info from some other artists.

 

Just a word of caution for everyone counting on using paypal and square readers - the internet in the area of the hotel that the con is being held at is super shoddy at times. The ballrooms are underground, and it's often very hard to get an internet connection (whether hotel wifi or through your service provider), so having a backup plan like taking cash is always a good idea. I accepted paypal at my table last year, and it took almost a half hour for a customer and I to get a payment sorted out because of an internet connection that took forever to load/kept cutting in and out. It was very frustrating.

I am also looking forward to Soom's table at the con this year. I hope they'll bring some dolls to sell, but given their track record of pre-sales and only a limited amount of small accessories and items from previous cons, I'm not getting my hopes up too high. :P

I'll be there all weekend in the marketplace too, much like Steampetal. My table is Petit Papillon.

 

@Elzaim Thanks for posting about the connectivity issues, this is the first I've heard that there were issues accessing the public Wi-Fi in the Doll Market space. I'll speak with our A/V team and the hotel and see if we can get a designated router put in for the Vendors so this isn't a problem. Hopefully we can get it sorted out for the Vendors since it's important to have digital payment options available when expensive items are available for sale.

I want to say it's safe to get our hopes up for Soom, I'm really hoping they bring the con exclusive lavender cutie pie toad, he seems to be available at cons they have visited lately like Dolltopia in Thailand last weekend Can't get enough of those adorable Cutie Pies. I really hope to see the new Zard in person too, and the re-release of Breccia that was posted on their site today.