her little girl's bedroom with a whole shelf full of play Barbies including the annual Christmas Barbies. I couldn't believe she had bought her daughter all those dolls (HAHA!) I began buying doll magazines to see what kids were playing with in the doll world because I remembered how I loved the Barbies my sister and I received in 1960.

That's how I saw the ad for Gene. If I remember correctly it was Red Venus and I was immediately glued to her picture and the story that accompanied it. With her light blue eyes, calm demeanor and the era of her story, she immediately reminded me of my mom (who's name was Jeanne!) Around the same time, we bought our first personal PC. As soon as I figured out how to use it I started searching dolls and couldn't believe how many adults collected! I googled doll shops and started calling, asking about this Gene doll. I even visited a shop in person up in the Chicago area and brought the brochure I had found. They had not heard of her and they were not interested in ordering her for their shop! I ended up ordering all three direct from Ashton Drake.

It must have been the fall of '95 or sometime in '96 I found out about a big toy show in Chicago and dragged my two sisters and mom with me. What fun! It was like I was a kid again seeing all the things I wanted for Christmas. Icing on the cake: I met Mel in person and had my picture taken with him. I also saw the next collection not yet in production which was Pin-Up and the new fashions.

A side note - I met my best doll bud online in the 'Here's Looking at You Gene' community and we discovered that we live less than 100 miles from one another.

Mel, thank you for the fun and for the memories and for opening up a whole world of friends! XOXO