Down on the Farm
Two Saturdays ago, I noticed a listing on Auction Zip for a “Farm Fest” in Ann Arbor. Here’s the flyer:
Community garage sale, you say? Flea Market? And an auction? Sign me up! The cherry on top was the petting farm. If I didn’t find any treasures to buy, at least I could pet a sheep or something!
I arrived to Ann Arbor pretty early because the auction was happening first. When I walked into the auction barn, things were already in action.
People were buying these giant Barbies for $60 each.
In fact, Barbies were the hot commodity. There were hundreds of them, all being sold in giant box lots. A box of about 7-10 sealed Barbies would sell for $100. I was clearly in the company of some Barbie-loving high rollers.
Some of the other goods included Care Bears, Cabbage Patch dolls, Madame Alexanders, and Littlest Pet Shop Critters.
Did this all come out of one house? Please tell me this didn’t all come out of one house.
Anyway, so I’m looking through the aisles of goods, and…what’s this? A WHOLE BOX OF SASHA DOLLS?! Someone pinch me.
Sarah and I had a frantic text exchange about these dolls. You would have thought we were setting up a drug deal.
I was so nervous waiting for these dolls to go up for auction. Sarah and I want these so badly! You’ve all had to read about our Sasha doll obsession a few times now. And yet, these dolls keep eluding us! We especially wanted two of the dolls at this particular auction because they looked like us:
Here is mine:
And here is Sarah’s:
Oh whoops, sorry. That’s another doll that looked like Sarah. Ok, here is the Sasha doll that looked like Sarah:
So how did things turn out? Well, terrible actually. Heartbreakingly terrible. When the auctioneer got to the box of Sasha dolls, he decided to sell them as a lot! He really should have separated them out. I bet they would have gotten at least $100 per doll.
The whole box sold to a phone bidder for over $500. I couldn’t justify spending that much on a giant box of dolls, even if I could have sold them all on ebay. Imagine my husband’s face had I purchased these. Sarah, however, thought I was a fool for not splurging on them.
After that devastating loss, I headed over to the “community garage sale” and “flea market.”
It was disappointing to say the least.
I was definitely striking out. At least there were some animals awaiting me. I set out to find the petting farm area. On the way, I watched some guys pull tractors across a field of dirt.
Here’s my tractor:
Just kidding. I don’t have a tractor.
So as it turns out, the “petting farm” was just false advertising. The cow buddy above was the only animal at the place. Whomp whomp.
Despite the letdowns, I actually did have fun at the Farm Fest. It was a beautiful day outside. And I did end up with one treasure…some vinegar fries and root beer!
-Erin
Sasha Fierce
In last Friday’s entry, Sarah mentioned some adorable, arguably overpriced dolls she saw at a sale. Megafan Alison (my characterization–I like to assume we actually have megafans) emailed to let us know that these dolls were “Sasha dolls.” (Thanks to Organtitus who also left us a comment with the same info.)
Here are the dolls that Sarah loved:
I actually love these dolls too, but didn’t see them at the sale. The $300 price tag would have deterred me anyway. Sarah contends this is a pretty hefty price, which it is, but they seem to sell for way more on ebay.
Those are the highest of the high prices. Some Sashas sell for about $150-300.
Ok, so let me back up. It turns out that Sasha dolls are Swiss, made by a lady named Sasha Morgenthaler. She wanted to create dolls of all races and ethnicities. She created one-of-a-kind dolls, and eventually more affordable mass-produced dolls. To me, this all sounds like a precursor to American Girl dolls.
The main thing you need to know about Sasha dolls though are that they are adorable, and they all kind of look homeless. I like that. It’s charming.
After learning about Sasha dolls, I tried finding some that look like Sarah and me. I found Sarah immediately, and was delighted! It looks just like her!
I had a harder time finding a doll that looked like me. I assume this is because I am a very unique and special person, kind of like a snowflake. The best I could find was this:
Close enough. My hair is lighter in real life now than from when this pic was taken, but oh well. Also, I’m frowning because I was standing next to a man dressed like Ebenezor Scrooge.
Ok, so should I get rich one day, my first purchases will be Sasha dolls for Sarah and me. My next purchase would be these little boots for my Sasha doll:
Next, I would buy a miniature laptop and ipad for our Sasha dolls.
I might even buy my Sasha doll its own baby Sasha doll to push around in a stroller:
The options are endless, which is why I now love Sasha dolls. Seriously, give me a little Sasha doll that looks just like me, watches Court TV all day on its own little TV, and eats like little mini pizzas. That’s what I want.
-Erin