Archive for the 'Items of Interest' Category

Earlier this year, I created a post welcoming two new stores to Real Good Toys dollhouses. We are excited to welcome another new retailer to our family of customers. It is important to take a moment to introduce everyone to this great store and recognize what they have to offer. If you happen to find yourself in their area, stop by and say hi.  Ask them all about their Real Good Toys dollhouses!

Heavenly Hobbies, Palisades Center Mall, W. Nyack, NY

Heavenly Hobbies in West Nyack, NY recently opened a retail location within the Palisades Center Mall. Heavenly Hobbies has a full service presence with many interesting departments, such as Action Cameras, Arts & Crafts, Sports & Outdoors and The World of Science. They also carry all types of model rockets and radio control items. Heavenly Hobbies has a great selection of dollhouses and miniatures too! They are committed to providing value-added service to all hobbyists by offering great selections, competitive prices, and attentive service. They guarantee your satisfaction! Heavenly Hobbies is located at the Palisades Center Mall at 1000 Palisades Center Drive, Unit 3M, West Nyack, NY 10994. For more information, give them a call at 845-664-4498 or check their website at www.heavenlyhobbies.com.

Real Good Toys
1st Annual Fall Foliage
Dollhouse Factory Warehouse Clearance Sale!

Save the Date:

Saturday & Sunday - October 1st & 2nd, 2011
9AM – 4PM
Come early for the best selection!

Visit beautiful Vermont and take advantage of our GIANT clearance cleanout!
Drive up or down, save on shipping and get terrific deals on: dollhouse components, moldings, building parts, windows, doors, spindles, porch posts…dollhouse kit closeouts, seconds, overstocks, damaged goods, returns, prototypes, antiques (from our archives) and sample products from other companies.

This fun event will include refreshments, door prizes and grab bag surprises!
Meet Jodi, Jen & Gary!  Sue & Rose will greet you at our Factory Store with special discounts of
20-50% OFF EVERYTHING including our stock of AZTEC furniture and Melissa & Doug!

We welcome you to get the first peek at our newest designs,
tour our factory and enjoy the lovely autumn leaves.
Visit other local New England attractions
(don’t miss Rock of Ages and Ben & Jerry’s),
but be sure to make reservations for accommodations early – it’s a popular time of the year!

Hope to see you there!
Mini wishes,
Jennifer

CVCAC Weatherization Dollhouse

Recently Central Vermont Community Action Council (CVCAC) came to Real Good Toys to help with their Weatherization Project. CVCAC offers weatherization services that include an energy audit to find out how your house can be made more energy efficient and comfortable. Energy renovation services include adding insulation, fixing holes, caulking cracks and gaps and improving ventilation.

Air can leak where electrical outlets are placed

Air leaks can be caused by wall penetrations that aren't sealed properly

The weatherization crew was scheduled to attend some local energy and home expos soon, and they thought a dollhouse would be just the tool they were looking for to demonstrate the no cost weatherization services they provide to income qualified Vermonters. We thought that was a great idea too! CVCAC purchased the Real Good Toys Ready-to-Decorate Finished Vermont Farmhouse dollhouse from our Factory Outlet Store to become their weatherization demo dollhouse. It was fun to work with them helping to decide how they might use certain materials to demonstrate the services they provide. They felt it was going to be much more effective to be able to show people where air can leak from your home rather than just telling them about it. They created a framed in wall with electrical wiring and plumbing, an outside electrical panel and garden hose, all showing penetrations that may not be sealed properly causing potential air leaks. They also showed how air can leak around the chimney in the attic.

Air can leak around a fireplace and chimney

The crew plans to electrify the dollhouse and do more work on depicting the weatherization services they provide, but so far the weatherization dollhouse has been a hit!  We hope that the word “leaks” out to other energy organizations so they can create a weatherization dollhouse to use in their energy education programs. Real Good Toys was very happy to have one of our dollhouses be part of this important project.

Throughout the year Real Good Toys is happy to welcome new customers to our family of store front retailers. Sometimes these new customers are brand new stores that have just opened their doors to the world of dollhouses. More often, our new customers are established hobby or craft stores looking to expand their inventory into dollhouses and miniatures. Some retailers are already carrying dollhouses in their stores, but are looking to offer Real Good Toys dollhouses as another option for their customers. Whichever way these stores come to us, we welcome them. It’s important that we take a moment to introduce everyone to these great stores and recognize what they have to offer. If you happen to find yourself in their area, stop by and say hi. Ask them about their Real Good Toys dollhouses.

Welcome to A.B. Charles Hobby Shop, Western Pennsylvania’s oldest and most complete hobby shop. They have served tri-state hobbyists for over 60 years. This store carries an extensive variety of trains, RC cars, planes and helicopters…and now dollhouses! They will be happy to offer expert advice to help you find just the perfect item among their huge inventory. They are located at 1635 McFarland Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15216. Their store hours are Mon. – Weds. – Fri. 10 am – 8 pm, Tues. & Thurs. 10 am – 6 pm. Closed Sundays. For more information, give them a call at 412-561-3068 or check their website at www.ab-charles.com.

Welcome to Huntley House Miniatures, a brand new dollhouse store in Riverbank, CA. They are a family run shop that offers custom dollhouses, dollhouse kits, castles and miniatures of all kinds. They have an extensive inventory of building supplies and offer classes, repairs and remodeling, ready for any dollhouse situation you may have. Huntley House Miniatures is located at 3220A Santa Fe Street, Riverbank, CA 95367. Their hours of operation are Sun. – Weds. 5 pm – 7 pm, and Tues. – Sat. 10 am – 7 pm.  You can contact them for more information at 209-863-0160 or check their website at www.huntleyminiatures.com.

Look for upcoming additions to the Real Good Toys family of store front retailers!

News Flash…Suzanne Schwab from Suzannes Dollhouses & Miniatures in O’Fallon, MO is designing and manufacturing her own firehouse furnishings!

Firehouse Furniture by Suzannes Dollhouses & Miniatures

Over the years Suzanne has been very successful at building and donating the Real Good Toys QuickBuild™ Firehouse to organizations in her area. She has helped raise thousands of dollars for some great causes. Suzanne found that there just wasn’t a good source for furniture that fit with the firehouse theme. What to do? She made it herself, of course!

Suzanne started this creative venture with a dalmation themed bed, a coat rack and lamps that range in price from $6.99 to $29.99.  They are all adorable and perfect for our Quickbuild™ Firehouse as well as a boys’ room in any dollhouse. So far, Suzanne says sales have been brisk. Best of all…they are made in the USA. For more information, give Suzanne a call at 636-978-6501 or check her website at www.suzannesdollhouses.com.

Kudos to Suzanne for her hard work and ingenuity.  Keep it up. You’re an inspiration to all miniaturists!

I’ve been married for 15 years now and I can finally put something together with my husband without a huge fight ensuing.  I can remember years ago when we were first married and had to assemble some piece of furniture we purchased…what a fiasco!  I’m the one who needs to follow the directions and he only uses the directions when absolutely necessary!  Who cares how many pieces are left over, they can’t be that important.  After this experience, I realized that if we were to stay married until the ripe old age of 100 or so, then he better attempt any and all assembly by himself.  But over the years, we have learned to work as a team!  I now read the instructions to him and gather the parts needed as he does the assembly.  This has been pretty successful for us and it’s amazing how much quicker the whole process is when we work together. (more…)

The Painted Lady Dollhouse by Real Good Toys

Time to blow the dust off my blogging skills. As a matter of fact, it has been so long since I’ve posted a blog that I had forgotten my log in credentials. I’ve been thinking lately about how we, as a business, communicate with our customers and potential miniaturists. So I searched the topic of Facebook versus blogging. We have been very caught up in Facebook lately and interest in Real Good Toys Dollhouses has rapidly increased over a short amount of time, based upon the number of fans we have accumulated and the activity on the page. According to the information I gathered, “Facebook  is built for noise, blogs are built for thoughts.” Although, according to our web host, if you only use Facebook to promote your business and communicate with your customers, you could diminish your overal web presence. In our case, our website blog posts, which we call Dollhouse Chronicles, evenutally link up with our Facebook page, so I think we may have our bases covered there. The pros say that when you write a lengthy, thoughtful article it is better placed in your blog as opposed to on your Facebook page. What is a business to do? Is it possible to throw out teasers on Facebook to sufficiently entice people to go to your website to read your blog, view your product and, of course, shop?

The Queen Anne Dollhouse by Real Good Toys

Real Good Toys website is fairly new. We are constantly aware of the all important SEO, search engine optimization. In a nutshell, when we have thoroughly populated our web pages with keywords that accurately describe what we are selling,which happens to be the best heirloom quality dollhouses around, Real Good Toys should rank right up there on the page when potential customers search the Internet for a place to buy a dollhouse. Believe it or not, one of the best ways to improve our ranking is to have our website linked from other sites. The real kicker to all of this, is that once we have our website tweaked and full of keywords, we just can’t sit back and forget about it. Keeping Real Good Toys dollhouses on the tips of the tongues, and fingertips, of every miniaturist is a full time job. We work very hard to keep our website fresh and interesting with new products and pictures. We frequently engage our fans on our Facebook page in dialogs about their projects. We invite fans to participate in our projects and we create projects that we all have fun with. We try very hard to accommodate any miniaturist that comes our way. We want them to be enchanted with miniatures and dollhouses…and we want them to stay enchanted by giving them the best possible experience they can have.

It would be interesting to know how you prefer to navigate the myriad of social media when you are looking to buy a dollhouse or searching for that one of a kind miniature item . Do you only use Facebook to catch up with friends and family? Do you visit Facebook pages of businesses?  If so, do you ultimately go to their website to get more information? As we build our Facebook fan base, we have tons of amazing miniature work depicted on our page and it has become a great place for first time miniaturists to visit. Do you scour the web for a dollhouse store in your area so you can actually see and touch dollhouses? We have a store finder on our website for folks that prefer that hands on shopping experience. Do you ever tweet on Twitter? Truthfully, I’m not sure how to do that, but I do know I don’t need to know what anyone is doing minute by minute, but many businesses use Twitter to communicate. Or do you like to grab your second cup of coffee, curl up in your favorite chair with your laptop, and check in with your favorite blog spots for some insightful reading on interesting dollhouse and miniature related topics? 

The Classic Bungalow Dollhouse by Real Good Toys

Whether you learn about Real Good Toys and our heirloom quality dollhouses from our website or from our Facebook page, or by some other form of social media, or you have visited a retail store, we welcome you. I’ll hope that my little keyword rich blog may have pushed us up a notch or two on the list when people are searching for a Real Good Toys dollhouse on the Internet. A special thanks goes out to each and every one of you who purchase our dollhouses. Another great big thanks goes to everyone who visits Real Good Toys website and participates on our Facebook page.

We couldn’t do it without you!♥

March Mini Madness – RGT Facebook Build-Along Project 2011
Share the Experience!  Share the FUN!

On March 1st, join Jen & Jodi for a worldwide mini project featuring the NEW Real Good Toys one inch scale Wall House Shell Kit.  Invite your spouse, friends, co-workers, children, grandchildren, miniature club members or grandparents … anybody you think might be interested in joining us.  Individualize and design your own dream project while sharing creativity and enthusiasm with a whole group of like minded folks. (more…)

(Recently we started a Christmas poem on our Facebook page and asked all of our Facebook fans to add to it.  The result was a very special poem about dollhouses. )

T’was the week before Christmas when we all have lots to do, presents to wrap, goodies to bake, and yes…shingles to glue! With some helpful advice from your encouraging spouse, now is the time, without delay, to finish that special dollhouse.

With time wearing down, we tend to get sick.  Some time with the minis should do the trick!  Mini tails a waggin’, mini heads to be pet.  Be sure to use an antibacterial soap, so you won’t get sick!

With Christmas approaching, I can’t wait to see, what minis are hiding under the tree! Victorians, farmhouses, shops and more.  It’s all right there in our mini store.

The children are nestled all snug in their beds, with mini sized nightgowns and wigs on their heads. When at once there arose such a clatter, I knew at once what was the matter! 

Two large grey cats with no sleigh or tiny reindeer had given me reason to fear, one lept for the boughs of my newly decorated fir, the other couldn’t leave the Victorian dollhouse without a purr. 

A nice Fimo turkey is ready to eat, so every jointed dolly, quick…find a seat!  Pass the mini corn and mini eggnog, after this meal they’ll need a long mini sleep.

And if on your roof, there arises a clatter…It’s the cat eating shingles and that doesn’t matter!  For Santa will come to your house this fine night.  Leaving you minis, to your great delight!

As the week wound down and Christmas got real close, I knew in a few days I had a party to host.  So I glued in the windows and hung all the doors…it was then I realized I hadn’t laid the floors!  

So carefully and quickly I put them down right.  I cleaned up my mess and called it a night.  When the next day came, I knew what I had to do.  I had to keep working until I was through.  I finished the house with a gleam in my eye, as I wrapped it up and said goodbye. 

I took one last look at that beautiful house as it left my sight.  I didn’t doubt for a moment it would make that little girls’ night. So now all my love and hard work that I have done, I will do for another with joyful love and fun.

And a special note from Jen and Jodi…We get lots of inspiration from our Facebook Fans.  Ideas, tips and short cuts galore.You dollhouse miniaturists are rock stars…times four!♥

Barre City Fire Cadets draw the winning ticket

Barre City Fire Cadets

Once again, we were visited by the Barre City Fire Cadets…but this time they came to draw the winning ticket for the Assembled QuickBuild™ Firehouse. The drawing was held on December 16th at the Real Good Toys Factory Outlet Store. The lucky winner was Geoff Sather from Montpelier. Captain Russell Ashe said they plan to use the $520 raised towards gear and training for the Fire Cadet Program. He said the Cadets usually use hand-me-down fire gear that sometimes gets commandeered by on call firemen, depending on the situation. Also, Captain Ashe said that one complete fire suit can cost anywhere between $2000-$3000. Any funds the program receives is through fundraising such as this raffle drawing. Real Good Toys is very happy to help them raise $520 to benefit their program.When the cadets found out how much they raised, they just said…WOW! Way to go Barre City Fire Cadets!