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    My convention tales. LONG. Archived Message

    Posted by Margie on 5/24/2017, 11:05 am

    As I've mentioned, I have rheumatoid arthritis and use a motorized scooter anywhere that involves a lot of walking. It's also painful for me to drive more than a few hours so when my mom and I have gone, we've always gone with friends and they've done the driving.

    First convention was Philadelphia in 1996. Seven of us rode together in a rented van. The two most memorable things about the drive were the number of dead deer on the road (SO sad!) and the sign reading "Live nudes, free pizza." This was back in the day when there was a waiting list for convention and the sales room so there was a rival doll show down the block. I wasn't online so the only people I knew were some dealers I'd met at the McMasters auctions. It was all about room shopping. I met Carol Spencer and got my picture taken with her, never thinking that someday I'd be the recipient of her Barbie's Best Friend Award.

    Second was Dearborn in 2001 where the highlight was meeting the infamous John after chatting with him online. He was working EVERYWHERE. It also turned out that our tables were next to each other. My mom and I went with four friends. They parked me in the lobby with the luggage while one unloaded and his wife, my mom, and the other two friends went to pick up our registrations. My mom insists that when she told John that she was Margie Schultz (we have the same name) his look said "I thought you were much younger." LOL The hotel carpet was not scooter friendly and it kept draining the battery so I did no room shopping. I went with a want list and the joke is I ended up buying an outfit from two members of my doll club as they were the only ones who had it complete. I said I could have stayed home and shopped. LOL I met tons of online friends. We'd just completed an online Li'l Survivor on one of the Kelly groups and the winner and I had most of the doll players with us. We spent the dance taking photos of them. My friend Toni had her table gifts in unused KFC boxes (she's from KY). We must have had 40 people, including serving staff come to our table to ask if there was chicken in them. I also won a ribbon in competition for my Ken pillow.

    Our last convention was Studio City in 2006. We had never flown, but loved the theme and wanted to see my aging aunt so...We went with two friends and the only thing that kept the trip from being perfect was the VERY long wait for the shuttle from the airport. Turns out two of the three handicapped shuttles were out of commission, but no one told us until we actually were on the way to the hotel. It was iffy that we'd get to go until the last minute as my mom broke her hip and didn't get out of rehab until a week before we left. Convention was great. Saw my aunt for the last time. Met my book editor. Got Pip's photo with everyone who was anyone in the Barbie world. Found some fabulous Barbie items. Drooled over the Mattel exhibit.

    My mom's health is such that we won't be attending any more, but we have great memories of our convention experiences.

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