Congress passed HR4040, the CPSIA (Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act) with the best of intentions...to tighten standards on lead in children's toys, dolls, books and clothing (basically, anything made for children under the age of 12). Unfortunately, this new law is so draconian and has so many poorly thought out repercussions that many small toy retailers, dollmakers, toy makers, and secondary-market sellers of children's goods are referring to February 10th as National Bankrkuptcy Day. Find out why in Will Your Dolls be Considered Banned Hazardous Substances on February 10th?

A very Happy New Year to all! To help you plan the upcoming year, I've put together a Doll Collecting Timeline: A Year In The World of Dolls. The timeline highlights major doll events that occur during the year, as well as some suggested "to dos" for every active doll collector. The timeline is organized by month, and it includes links to many of the events and how to's for the "to dos." I've taken my first step for planning my 2009 by making my reservations for IDEX Premiere today--I'll be reporting from IDEX with all the latest on the world of dolls this month!

The end of this year has seen a constant stream of bad news for retail stores and manufacturers, and unfortunately the doll and toy industry is not immune. In a move that will surprise very few people watching the toy industry (and which will not surpise any of my readers following the recent comments to my blog on the initial KB Toys bankruptcy), KB Toys has again filed for Chapter 11 and will immediately start liquidating all of its remaining stores. Even though KB Toys has only been a shadow of its former self since the initial bankruptcy, it is still sad to see another major chain of toy stores (with 11,000 employeess) bite the dust. For more information, read KB Toys Succumbs to Holiday Slump in the New York Times.

In a major ruling today that will change the entire landscape of the doll collecting world, MGA Entertainment Inc. has been banned by a federal judge from making and selling Bratz dolls. The ruling stems from a four year old legal case filed by Mattel. Bratz dolls will still be on the shelves at least until February, when the ruling is to take effect, and possibly longer if appeals are filed. Read more at Bloomberg.com in Mattel Wins Order Barring Sales of MGA’s Infringing Bratz Dolls.