Reflections on MCM Doll Sale

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Brianna and I had 9:30 tickets this year.  We left our hotel at 7:00 and stopped at our usual Panera en route.  I wanted to allow plenty of time because last night the organizers sent out an email saying that field parking would not be available due to flooding.  We were directed to the Ice Center, which is in the same office park.  Shuttle was provided in the form of a school bus.  It was convenient and it was separate from the shuttle going to affiliated hotels.  Win!

We arrived and enjoyed seeing all of the crafts and silent auction items.  Some silent auction items included

  • Addy scenes
  • Kailey’s surf items
  • Kirsten’s quilt, St Lucia wreath etc 
  • Lanie’s hammock and garden apparel
  • Matching girl and doll outfits from the early AG dolls

The silent auctions end at various times, such as 10:00 am, and many have minimum bids of $50-100.00

By 8:30 we were waiting our turn to line up in the tent, but they were running 30 min behind. We thought we would be lining up around 9:00 but the 8:15 group hadn’t even been called.  Oh no!  When we were called to wait with the other 9:30 tickets we made conversation with a blueberry farmer and her young daughters from Iowa.  It was their first time getting a doll!

One tent to wait in and another to wait to wait in!

We entered the warehouse for our 9:30 slot around 10:45.  On Twitter the organizers said that the large amount of merchandise was slowing people down in the warehouse.  More on that later.

Once in, we saw Kaya, Rebecca, Caroline, Kit, Julie, Addy, Samantha, Melody, Maryellen.  Earlier attendees also saw Molly (?!?) and Emily @ 100.00.  Beforever outfits predominantly.

There were ample Lea, Isabelle and Grace dolls.  

Also saw JLY/TM dolls in the pink dress with no Permapanties.  Unfortunately no #41 which I had my eye on.

So Many Dolls, No #41


Books… not particularly cheap IMO at 6.00 for the more current Beforever titles.

Very little clothing for dolls.  Cheer outfit, Lea’s outfits, Melody’s summer outfit, 2013 purple peacock pjs, various flip flops for girls.  Beforever mini dolls.

We attended in 2014, and to me, the sale didn’t seem all that different, except for the presence of big items for Lea.  If you attended I am interested in your opinion.

We brought home Isabelle to be auctioned at our church’s holiday bazaar.  We hope to have a crafty parishioner make her a quilt or bed.  We also bought the beauty salon scene for $ 2.00 to go with Izzy.  I think the scenes are so nice to have. We picked up a doll for a friend.  Surprisingly only one doll for us… 

Rebecca!


We witnessed no Black Friday type behavior, thankfully.  We saw our new acquaintance from Iowa at checkout and the girls were thrilled with 4 dolls!  My takeaway this year is that the sale offers the most to the beginning doll lover, or to someone buying gifts.  

Prices for Sunday are below:

31 thoughts on “Reflections on MCM Doll Sale”

  2. grammagump

    Sounds like a fun day despite the waiting in line. I wonder if Madison got more rain than we did. Glad the bus ride worked well. Rebecca is BEAUTIFUL! All that lovely dark hair! Hope you enjoy the remainder of your time in Madison.

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    1. Jen Post author

      “Becky” is Russian Jewish in 1905 and wants to be an actress! Her family maintains tradition but she is a bit untraditional 😀

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    1. Jen Post author

      I heard Caroline, Emily and Molly were 100. Other BF/historicals were 80. Lea was 115 (?), Grace and Isabelle 80, JLY/Myag 50 each

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    1. Jen Post author

      Thank you! I think the BF outfit fits her personality of wanting to be a little different than her immigrant family. I bet she can’t wait to get those tights off!!

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    1. Jen Post author

      I hope you get a chance someday! Especially with that doll display you’re building. It’s special to be with other doll fans over the age of 7. No need to explain you’re #agobsessed

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  14. Nikki Kueffer

    I attended this year for the first time since the early 90’s. I went with a friend and her 5 year-old daughter who loves AG dolls and Bitty Baby. My own daughter is wild about her “babies” but not quite old enough to attend the sale herself. She currently has her own BB and also plays with my original Pleasant Co BB from the 90’s. I have several dolls myself, my original Pleasant Co Samantha from 1994 plus a few others I’ve gotten second-hand. I had gone with the intention to get my daughter a Wellie Wisher as a Christmas gift, but after seeing just how small they were and realizing that would mean adding a new size doll wardrobe to out already overcrowded house I opted to spend $10 more and get her a Truly Me doll instead. We already have clothes that will fit her and that way if she is gentle with her then I can let her start playing with some of my things. We had tickets for the 9:45am time slot and got into the warehouse just before 11:00am. I also noticed that the line for 9:30 was much shorter than the line for 9:45 and I felt like they should have rethought how they sold/distributed tickets in order to more evenly disburse shoppers. Overall everyone was friendly, polite and I am very excited about the gifts I was able to find for my daughter. My friend found Caroline for herself for $100 and her daughter got Grace for $80 plus a red-headed BB as a gift for her cousin. We really enjoyed the day and will definitely be attending next year, I think we’ve created a new tradition ❤

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    1. Jen Post author

      How wonderful Nikki! We always feel like the best Christmas is one that involves a doll! I think a TM doll was a great choice… it’s by far the best deal, there, I think, and a great entry point.
      If you went in the early 90s you must be one of the early attendees!
      Your friend’s daughter has some stamina to get through that long wait. We enjoyed catching up with the family who had been waiting behind us and hearing the kids excitedly telling what they had picked out.
      Great tradition and great causes.

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      1. Gloria J Henline

        Hi,
        I have never been on here or anywhere on the internet like this. However, I did go to the MCM Benefit Sale in Madison and got so many great deals. It was hot, crowded, they were running very far behind but regardless of all that, everyone was extremely nice and patient. It was well worth the heat and delay. My question is about something entirely different, the Wilmot Sale. I heard a number of people talking about it but no one seems to know when it is. They said that they were able to find a lot of things there that the MCM sale didn’t have in the past. I also checked on Wiki in regards to an item I bought on Ebay today. They said that the pet “cocker spaniel was only available through warehouse stores”. Has anyone ever been to a warehouse store and where are they? Are they in Madison or throughout the country? Or is this a secret place for Ebayers to buy in large amounts? Thank you in advance for your time and any information you can send me in regards to the Wilmot sale and/or “warehouse” stores according to Wiki.

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      2. Jen Post author

        Hi Gloria, thanks for stopping by! In past years there has been a Wilmot Warehouse Sale in Wilmot WI. American Girl ships some orders from that warehouse. You can see all of my past posts about Wilmot here https://dollsbetweenus.wordpress.com/category/wilmot-sale/
        The sale was for a weekend only and mostly had clothes for dolls and accessories. They did not have a sale this year and many are sad about that!
        Prices are good there but it is a very long day. People who sell on EBay literally bring uHaul trucks. You can’t buy things at the warehouse other than when they would have this sale.
        American Girl used to have an outlet store in Oshkosh but that is closed now. It was wonderful!

        American Girl will be having a Pop Up Sale store in St Louis this week. They have never done this before but you can learn about it on Facebook (see my blog post from last week).

        I’m glad you had a terrific time at MCM! We did too but we do miss having an opportunity to get outfits and a lower price. It seems American Girl is increasingly putting items on their sale page and selling them that way.

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  15. Gloria

    Hi, Jen,
    Wow, now that is interesting! I had no idea such warehouse sales exist. I will continue to follow you so that I may find out about future sales. That must be where people get all the incredible deals. So did American Girl post this upcoming sale on Facebook? Is that how you found out about it? Anyway, it has been a pleasure talking to you and I look forward to sharing information about a love of mine, too, American Girl dolls.
    Thanks again,
    Gloria

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    1. Jen Post author

      Yes, American Girl posted about the St Louis sale on Facebook. They have posted there about the Wilmot sale, too, in the past.

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