I received my first Gene doll, Red Venus was a gift from a dear friend, I was on a leave from my job, so my doll collecting was paused. It wasn't until I went to a local doll show the following year that I fell in love with Gene and her fashions. A doll dealer had several dolls dressed in AD fashions. I saw Blue Goddess dressed in El Morocco and I had to purchase the doll and the fashion. That started the influx of new dolls as they were being released by AD. I frequented the AOL Gene Board and met many people and learned about the conventions. I was introduced to Blossoms Awesome links and found so much to accessorize Gene's outfits. I also went to several FAO Gene "debuts" and waited in line outside FAO to get dolls and meet Mel.
I happened to be vacationing in California and a friend had a press pass to IDEX and she invited me to go with her, Mel was at the AD Booth and he was extremely gracious and took time to show us the new line (1999).

For me the "fandom" still continues and I still love the AD Gene fashions and dolls even though I've added a few Integrity dolls and the JS dolls as well.