A Vacation and NYC Doll Con 2026

    I had two reasons for going to New York City as a vacation destination. One: the largest doll convention on my coast was happening. And two: NYC is Amarinne's (Amara x Cori) home—where their story first began.

    I was there for four days and stayed at a hostel uptown. It was all I could reasonably afford given how expensive it is there compounded by the US dollar currency exchange. Where I might have went crazy with tourist spending in the past, I am now much more value-for-money conscious and opted to enjoy as many things I could do for free. 

    Namely, I visited Kinokuniya, toured the historic NYC Public Library, walked Bryant Park and the Grand Central, went on a free hostel tour of Central Park, walked the High Line at sunset to Hudson Yards and the mall, and briefly stopped over at Times Square in the evening. The only paid attraction I did was going to the Met on the rainy Sunday hours before my flight back home. 

    And despite having seen a handful of great museums and art galleries in Europe, I was beyond thrilled with the collection of impressionist paintings from the likes of Van Gogh, Monet, and Renoir—some of which I had studied and painted in my high school years. 

    Renaissance painter Rafael's drafting sketches were especially noteworthy. I love good ink and pencil work more than I love finished paintings. You could truly see and appreciate his mastery of the human form with nothing but the strokes of his pencil. I think of my college life drawing classes: gesture lines and shapes as guiding under-drawings—where we spent so much time on producing practically nothing in comparison. Rafael had churned out "sketches" that looked like masterpieces deserving of being framed in gold.

    Aside from paintings and sketches, the very small collection of Lillian Bassman's photography was also a highlight for me. Overall, I'm pleased with the variety of exhibits because I initially dreaded yet another gallery of solely religious paintings and portraits of the wealthy. The Met is massive with the many collections it houses, and four hours wasn't even enough to see everything!

    Now onto the real meat of my travel: the NYC Doll Convention. I arrived for the 11 am opening on Saturday and was immediately struck by how many people were lined up to get in. It's not Anime North or Fan Expo by any margin—much more niche, but it definitely had more fanfare than a typical local event given the participation of international doll artists, the many people who traveled from out of state to get there, and me, a stray Canadian lol

    Upon entry, I was greeted by their limited stock of pigeon BJDs. I was intrigued, but decided with better judgement that a hundred-something-USD was too much to spend on a cute novelty even if it suits Dream's preferred activity of feeding pigeons lol but hey, I reminded myself he has Matthew the raven coming his way—which I am very excited about! And speaking of Dream, I strategically packed his head in my single luggage backpack and shipped him to my American faceup artist during my stay.

    It was such a neat experience to not only see the artist dolls I've always admired, but to actually get to handle them! The many smooth and seamless joints made them so fun to play with! And I must confess: I've always dreamed of owning a 1/4 artist BJD as my ideal play doll.

    The selection of vendors were amazing if still a bit on the smaller side. I've found that MSD sized clothes were the most popular which makes sense given most artist dolls and collectors I've met preferred 1/4 scale. I was worried I wouldn't find anything for my 1/3 dolls that lean more on the larger side of that scale until my eyes landed on an original Iplehouse clothing set: a black historical coat with a navy blue inner vest—perfect for Dream, and a guaranteed fit! Then I found a nice pair of light-wash jeans sized for Iplehouse HID woman that could fit Cori! Stumbling upon Iplehouse sized clothes anywhere these days is like finding a needle in the haystack!

    As I circled the marketplace, I contemplated buying a mini garage kit doll since actual dolls were out of my comfortable budget. The DIY element of it was especially appealing, but when I held the assembled versions, I felt they were much too tiny for me to enjoy with real substance.

    All the cute anthro dolls? They're nice, but whenever I think of wanting such cute things, I would rather get something plush for far less money. Or a humanoid BJD whose many joints and articulation I would enjoy far more. 

    I later contemplated participating in the raffle draw as I was interested in some of the prizes. But my preferred doll didn't come in a resin colour I liked and winning any of the doll heads meant I would need to invest in a body. I was also not interested in winning any MSD sized clothes or accessories I have no dolls for.

    Conclusion? I may be a doll enthusiast, but I am a very picky doll owner. Even if I were to have a lot of disposable income, I can't be sure I'd buy a doll I would keep unless it sparks some kind of emotional attachment for me. I prefer to treat dolls not as canvasses, but as mediums for my visions, speaking as someone who joined the hobby to shell OCs.

    Now aside from window shopping and the few clothing purchases I made, I attended workshops. My favourite of which was Tianba's faceup tutorial where I learned about eyebrows and eyelashes painting. She was personable and clear in her instructions. By the end of her tutorial, I left feeling enlightened.

    I would like to give a shout-out to the general location of the convention since it took place in Industry City. It's like a campus of converted warehouses housing makers, studios, and food spaces. There were artisan retail stores, pubs, Asian restaurants, book stores, a Japan Village, and for a brief moment, I ventured into an indies comic market. If only I had more time in a day to simply wander and see everything!

    Anyway, I would like to end this recount with pictures of my smol boys, OB11 Dream and the Corinthian:

At a shrine in Japan Village.

Central Park pigeon feeding?

The Corinthian would love to give Dream a good ol' smooch.

The tumbler and soda can were part of a free gift package by a fellow attendee!

    I've taken my boys to a handful of conventions with me in the past, but the NYC Doll Con was the first time not one, but several people recognized who they are! Truly delightful, like after all these years I finally felt seen 😭