Interview with Petit__Museum

 Interview with a Collector - A ggsdolls blog Series

    A monthly series on my blog where I feature some of the most amazing collectors, sellers, and content creators that have become really good friends of mine and what they collect and why? Read on to learn more...

    For the month of June, my blog interview is with a lovely collector of Alice in Wonderland Disney merch and vintage rubber face stuffed animals, petit__museum or Alicexmarket before on Instagram!

    Hello my name is Cheryl, but I have never publicly shared my real name as I don't hintk it's important. Haha! One very few collectors know my name, some of them call me Alice as my Instagram's name was "alicexmarket" (I used to collect Alice in Wonderland collectibles so crazily just like how I am collecting Rushtons now.) But, I never correct them anyway. I would also like to explain a bit on my new account's name... It's called, "Petit Museum", as I have been dreaming of having a small museum to display my toys. If I had a museum, it didn't have to be a grand place, but a cozy and friendly place full of treasures.

I come from Macau, which is a special administration area in China, just like Hong Kong. It is a small city with a lot of casinos and resorts and I am still living there.

I am mainly and mostly an English teacher, but I also have other jobs. I work seven days a week, and I work hard for my dolls.

I mainly use my Instagram "petit__museum" to share my collection. I am quite lazy... and busy...

The first time when I encountered a Rushton, was when I saw a seller selling Rushton plushies on a Chinese online secondhand market. I was surprised the plush was quite expensive and went to eBay to do some research on the pricing. It was not that pricey on eBay, and so I actually got my first Rushton, "Artist Bunny" at around 80 US dollars that time around 2019. I bought it just for fun. I didn't really like it very much and I just left it in the cabinet for two years!!! LOL

Rushton is somehow my current favorite. I also collect Disney collectibles. Mainly the ones made in the 90s and early 2000s. My favorite is Alice in Wonderland. I have a HUGE collection of it. I also collect other characters like the Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Cinderella... Besides Disney, I also collect Madame Alexander dolls. I started to collect them as they have the Alice in Wonderland ones. But then you know... collectors will just buy more and more! Another collection of mine, will be the hand-painted dolls from a Japanese artist, Miyuki Odani. The brand of the dolls is called, "Be My Baby Cherry". Probably they are the only non-vintage ones. They are very expensive though, so I am not always buying new ones.

My collection is my life. It just makes me smile to look at them, to display them... It's satisfying... But, I will get mad easily if I see them being messed up by my cats! I love vintage stuff as their quality is very good compared to the products nowadays. Most importantly, I love the designs. I actually find modern styled things quite disgusting in terms of the design. I have an old woman soul... And for vintage toys like Rushtons, each of them are so unique, even for the same kind. They still look different like different plushies. So it's their uniqueness and aesthetics that make me keen on collecting. 

The Rushton rubber faces were so well-designed. They just have the cutest facial expression! And their color combination, body shape, materials, and also their unique hand-painted face! They are just the perfect rubber faces to collect!

I have counted the number of Rushton back in April, and so far I have got more than 222 Rushtons!!! My first one is the Artist Bunny as mentioned, and I actually only started to collect after buying the Artist Bunny two years ago. I just somehow suddenly realized that Rushtons were so beautiful. I didn't collect all of the Ruhstons at the beginning, as I found that some of them were ugly. Like the octopus, but slowly after looking at them every day, I started to like every one of them. I believe I have the biggest collection of Rushtons on Earth... I almost buy every Rushton, and I am always looking for the ones in good condition as I am no expert in repairing them.

I didn't really ask or care what my family or friends think of my collection! I don't care what they think to be honest, and I seldom share my collection on my private account. But my sister, who has a great sense of taste, said that the Rushtons look good (except the octopus LOL).

I don't really have a favorite one. I can't choose... But, I still remember the moment I received the big bear, Bob, that Gigi repaired for me, as it's the first time for me to get such a huge Rushton!

If we are talking about rare Rushtons only, I'd probably say that the Rushton penguin which I got, I have never seen another collector having him and never seen a picture of him online.

A favorite in my collection? If it has to be a Rushton, then I will choose a Rushton lamb! It's my dream Rushton! There are so many Rushtons on my wish list, but the lamb is a dream to have!

I have noticed that their popularity is probably because of Melanie Martinez. But for me, I only knew that she collected them after I had started collecting them.

I have missed a perfect Rushton pink reindeer before as I was not familiar with Rushtons at the time. I wish I knew better and I wouldn't have missed it! Also, talking about buying and collecting stuff, I actually got all of my collection from other places, online and overseas. I am quite jealous to see US collectors finding cheap Rushtons or other vintage stuff in the wild as I don't have such an opportunity... And I usually need to buy them at high prices. So, I always need to act fast and frequently check the websites.

Thank you dear Cheryl for allowing us to take a peek into your huge collection and share your story with us. It was a joy to learn more about you!

Until next month guys! Happy Collecting!!

Thank you for stopping by! ~ ggsdolls

On Recovery Mode...

 

Well, it has been one month and 2 days since we were hit by a category 4 Super Typhoon named, "Mawar". I lost power the day it was over us Wednesday, May 24th. Then data and water by midday on Thursday, May 25th as the storm was passing over us.

 It finally left our area by Thursday night. By Friday, we had a better view of what kind of damage was left behind. We had damage mostly to our living/kitchen ceiling because of the water coming in sideways, and also water damage to my bedroom door. We had many trees damaged and uprooted. Even a neighbors Mango tree fell onto our road leading out to main highway. So we were basically trapped. Sam and Brenavin worked tirelessly using an electric chainsaw to get most of the tree off the road. By the end of Friday, were were free to drive out. Sam, Sara and myself took a careful drive around the island to see what other places got damage.

 It was like a tornado had hit us or perhaps after bombing from a war. The island was devastated. I mean almost as bad as it was back in the early 2000s when Guam was hit by Pongsunhwa or Chatann. The island lost trees, building parts, power lines down, most of the signal lights. It didn't seem bad at first, but it was bad. Guam had no radio stations broadcasting. All my life on Guam, we've always had at least one or two radio stations broadcasting something about the weather, updates to storm, Government announcements etc. Nothing, just dead silence. It was so odd not to have any word from the outside world.

The kids played card games, board games to past the time. We had chargers to charge our cell phones or turned on our cars to charge them, and solar lights. But our phones were worthless because there wasn't even any cell service or signal anywhere. Except when we drove like 35 minutes to another town. At nights, we used solar lights to light up our rooms, and charged Ryobi batteries to use on lamps and fans. It was very helpful. But, most nights were hot, muggy, sweaty and trust me when I say, waking up in my own sweat was the worst feeling ever. I was drenched in it. Yuck! I ended up having heat rash, so did Sara and Sam. Ugh. We had no water in the taps to shower with or to wash laundry. Thank goodness for water tankers at our Mayor's office to refill from. Our village/town Mayor Tony Chargualaf has been truly awesome! He was able to tap Red Cross donated meals for our town. People just had to line up to pick them up! FEMA and SBA even set up their flag office in our community center as well. So we didn't have to drive far to get help or ask questions.

It was about one week after the devastation when water finally came back on. Thank you GWA! But still no power. By about one week after, we finally got one radio station we could listen too, Star 101.0 Guam. It was nice to hear from the outside world honestly. On the mornings, they broadcasted what the Governor was letting the island people know about 9am, and then again at 4pm. By about that 2nd week some areas in the north had power. We were lucky Sam's sister Sandy had running water and power at her condo. We were able to utilize her place to do laundry and relax from the heat. So it was a welcome blessing.

By week 3 and 2 weeks into June, most of the village was power up. Sadly, about 55 residences including ours still had no power. We were beyond frustrated. Sam and I decided we'd move up to our village rental since that house had power. Since this past Monday, I have been moving. It has been just exhausting, and a slow process, but I will count our blessings, because it could have been a lot worse.

Thank you all so much for your well wishes and prayers. Guam is slowly getting there, but definitely not fully back to normal. We are awaiting help from FEMA and SBA along with a lot of aide from our local Mayor and his staff. 

I was able to open my online shop back up last week. I will be able to ship without any more delays and mail is moving accordingly. Yay!

I will have to delay my Blog Interview until June 28th for my next interview release or if I am able to get it all done by my usual schedule of the 25th tomorrow? Probably not, but I will try my best. Thank you so much for your patience and kind understanding.

Hopefully, I be able to share some new finds soon and what I did receive after the storm. Until then, Happy Thrifting all!!

Enjoy this lovely double rainbow one sunset on June 3rd just above our yard and compound. Truly a blessing to see!

Thank you for reading! ~ ggsdolls