My father worked in furniture design and building his entire life. When I first got married and moved away from home, he gave me some very sage advice, "Always buy the best you can afford; always wait until you can afford the best." He explained that you really do get what you pay for and the cheaper an item is, the quicker you will be replacing it. It is better to save your money and get better quality because it will last a long time and cost you less in the long run.
I think of this advice whenever buying furniture, appliances, and even cars. It has served me well. So, it only seems that I should carry this philosophy over into my doll collecting. Collecting Integrity Toys products replaced collecting play line dolls. (Don't get me wrong, I find myself needing a quick fix every now and then when I'm at a department store, but they no longer hold the same place in my collection.) When Jamieshow/Owensu introduced their Muses line, I couldn't quite get fully on board because the price was so much more than IT dolls. But once I received my first Muses, I could hear Daddy's words of wisdom whispered in my ear. Simply put, the quality truly is quite a bit better.
Last year, I was tempted into purchasing my first Muses male doll. He even made it into my year end Top 10. I thought I was choosing the best male doll from that collection until collector photos started showing up. I regretted missing Dangerous Love Daniel. Recently, a collector sold me his below retail and even included an ensemble from Enchanted. How could I resist? Apparently, I didn't!
Number 36 of Collecting Cycle 2023 is Jamieshow/Owensu Muses Daniel. Isn't he handsome?! See why I had to add him to my collection?!
I recently posted about another Jamieshow capsule, Go East, where I purchased five female dolls (and I may have failed to mention that I also purchased nine ensembles and two accessory gift sets): Jamieshow/Owensu Go East .
So when the subsequent collection, Moments of Joy, was advertised, I had to show some restraint. Fortunately, there were only three female dolls included in this capsule. One of these was a new character mold, Valentina. Here is the promo photo of Valentina.
She is just as unique and beautiful in person. Here she is wearing IT's 2011 Only Natural dress and hat. I love how these dolls pose sitting down! The wig is from an artisan on Instagram named Marga.
And a closeup showing exactly why Jamieshow/Owensu Muses Moments of Joy Valentina became Number 37 of Collecting Cycle 2023.
The other dolls were new versions of Lan (I had just purchased her from the Go East Collection) and Grace (I already had Summer Kisses with lavender eyes and Enchanted, one of my very favorite Muses ever produced). I thought I could easily pass on both, but that Grace just wouldn't let me be. She haunted my dreams! Here is the promo photo of Grace.
This doll is just remarkably beautiful. Here she is wearing Look 4 from the Enchanted Collection.
Jamieshow/Owensu Muses Moments of Joy Grace is Number 36 of my 2023 Collecting Cycle.
Although I passed on Lan, collector photos prove that she is quite beautiful as well. If she should ever show up at a reasonable price on secondary market, I might have to get her.
Surely though, there can't be that many more dolls coming to my house in 2023, right?
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