…possibly in Barbie Bazaar or the Parade insert of our local newspaper. I was certainly intrigued by Gene because she had such an ethereal “Hollywood’s golden age” look to her. I’d only collected Barbie at the time, but I ordered Monaco sight unseen IRL.
Before my order had actually shipped I saw all three dolls at a local doll show and almost regretted my decision to order the doll because they were so much bigger than Barbie. I decided to give her a chance and didn’t cancel my order. In fact, I ended up ordering Red Venus and Premier shortly after with some enabling from my sisters where were also obsessing about Gene. Back in those early days there really wasn’t so much info, so I was scouring magazines, the very limited amount of internet that was around at the time (shout out to the AOL Gene board and the online Gene Scene!!!).
Once my first dolls arrived I was hooked. I joined a local doll club that eventually went on to spawn some life-long friends and a few AD designers. What a fun time that was.