Announcing the 2nd 2009 Gene Club Exclusive

Integrity Toys announced the second Gene W Club exclusive doll this week. She is a Zita Charles character and her name is "City Sleeker." This doll is dressed in a fabulous evening suit of burgundy satin with finely tailored details such as fabric covered buttons, a fitted ruched waist and stand-away collar.
The retail price is $125. plus s&h. Members of the club must order by August 5, 2009. The doll will be available late in the year.

Images in this post are the property of Integrity Toys

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Tonner 2009 Fall/Holiday Line is Posted

Dust off those credit cards boys and girls....and get another job. You're going to be wide-eyed and hungry when you look at what the Tonner Doll Company is offering this season. I'm in total dolly shock right now.
They didn't just add to existing lines, they created new ones.
Wait until you see the Sinister Circus Collection:
The Hollywood Glamour Collection of Fashion Ensembles:
Monica Merrill:
Peggy Harcourt, DeeAnna Denton's new nemesis is stunning. Four new Re-Imagination characters are fabulously costumed and spirited. The supposed granddaughter of Daphne Dimples makes an appearance in the Tyler Wentworth line. And....wait for this....a new man is on the horizon! He is Simon Chase, Sydney's brother. He'll be clad in a tuxedo. Yay!
The Tyler dolls are offered in both new and old sculpts and the fashions are to die for.
The new Antoinette line grows larger with four more dressed dolls ranging in price from $174.99 to $249.99. Are you still with me? There are also three separate outfits for Antoinette and three more shoe packs.
I'll be at the Tonner Company store on August 1 to take pictures and gape at the new dolls with the other collectors.
Go to the Tonner Doll website to see the rest - yes, kiddies, there's more.
http://www.tonnerdoll.com/2009fhcollection.htm

I have not escaped unscathed. I just pre-ordered Scintillating Ashleigh, a Two Daydreamers Exclusive, LE100. Ashleigh's sculpt is exclusive to Two Daydreamers and for the first time they have used her head which has been resized to fit Tonner's Antoinette body. When I saw these images I practically fell off my chair.
This gal is sure to sell out fast although they're not exactly giving her away. The retail price is $274.99. Until August 7 she is priced at $249.99. Expected to ship late September.
http://www.twodaydreamers.com/16scasle100.html

All images in this post are the property of the Tonner Doll Company.

More about → Tonner 2009 Fall/Holiday Line is Posted

Integrity Toys "Boogie Beach" Dynamite Girls Collection

The new wave of Dynamite Girls has been unveiled and it is fantastic! There are seven new dolls, each dressed in a color of the rainbow and all looking wonderfully pretty. It looks like there are four or possibly five different skintones, seven hair color shades, seven adorable hairstyles and seven distinct facial screenings.

From left to right: Eltin, Aria, Gavin, T.J., Sooki, Reese, Jasper

Image property of Integrity Toys

According to Integrity, all the dolls except Eltin and Jasper are expected to be available at dealers at the end of August. Eltin and Jasper are expected to arrive at the end of September. At $39.99 each, they are certainly affordable. Each doll is limited to 300 each and I predict they will go fast, perhaps selling out long before November.

For those not familiar with Dynamite Girls, they are vinyl dolls with rooted hair and eyelashes. They are approximately 12 inches tall with many points of articulation. Their hands are removable at the wrist joint to make re-dressing easier.

Images property of Integrity Toys

The four dolls above are all Aria; the first three are from earlier waves. I see the line becoming more sophisticated and finding it's voice as it were. They're like 'entry level' Misaki dolls The expression "You've Come a Long Way, Baby" seems to fit.

If I collected this line of dolls, my pre-order would have already been placed! Hmmm...I do have two little girl cousins. *plotting purchase*

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Not Boogie Beach but I wish I were there.

More about → Integrity Toys "Boogie Beach" Dynamite Girls Collection

New and shiny

It is already two years since I Sew this pair, this very first pair of my Mary Jane shoes. Meanwhile they have been to many places, they have been to Greece to the Netherlands and Belgium, they were teaching workshops, crocheting dolls, sewing slippers, stitching camera, walking in the rain, picking fabrics leftovers from the streets, carpentering a textile armchair , crocheting an armchair, preparing marionettes and much more...

Today they finally got young & shiny sisters.
Now I just wonder where this pair will take me to.

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Upcoming Sock Dolls Workshop-סדנת בובות גרביים

Friday Aug. 14 and Friday Aug. 21If you happen to be around you are very welcome.

More about → Upcoming Sock Dolls Workshop-סדנת בובות גרביים

Picture of the Week Award ~ July 26, 2009

This week's Picture of the Week Award goes to James Griffen also known as ParadiseBlue and more recently Dolls Gone Wild!

James created Anti Social Misaki's windswept look by brushing her hair and pulling her hoodie up. The fabulous composition brings the viewer's eye to the doll's face over and over. I found myself following the sweep of the hair and returning to the face via the zipper.

James told me that he always played with dolls. He was an only child raised by his dad who let him have Barbie dolls. His father did not consider them to be girl's toys. He said that his dad thought "they were just little figures interacting...a sort of life skills tool."

If you would like to see more of James' excellent pictures you can find many at this link:

http://www.thedollpage2.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=417

Congratulations, James!

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Infant sock creature

The young sock creatures suddenly noticed someone they never saw before.

They called the older socks creature to check it out,
and a new socks baby joined the family.

The socks toddler took the infant to play with his bird.

The other ones just took a rest at my cloth bowls.

*You can find the newborn creature at my etsy dolls store.

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Delilah Noir Re-Paint

One of the newest members of my tribe is a OOAK Delilah Noir from Ashton Drake. She's a new doll who is vinyl, 16" tall and has a combination of ball and strung joints with 14 points of articulation. With the ability to change her eyes and wigs, she's immensely useful. The factory product comes with two wigs and two outfits and the back story is that Delilah is innocent looking by day but changes at night. Could they have come up with a more tiresome story line?

Image property of Ashton Drake

In spite of that I was attracted to her when I saw the factory version but when I saw the repaint, I knew I had to have her. Mine was repainted by Michele Hardy and came to me nude with only a pair of black boots.

Some of Tyler's clothing items fit—but she needed her own wardrobe and wigs! I purchased a 6/7 Roxy wig and it looked very good on her.
Having found out that she could wear the 16" Goodreau American BJD clothes, I browsed over there and purchased two outfits. Paulette sent me a wig along with my purchases as a gift. I love it.
Here is Delilah wearing the Goodreau fashion, Cream Elegance, and the gifted wig. The necklace and bracelet are from a Teen Trends outfit.

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W Club On-Line Event

I'm making up for not posting much this month. It's the incessant rain which comes down in torrents every other day accompanied by thunderous claps and flashing skies. I've been busy getting the ark ready.

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For more than two and one half hours on the evening of July 16, I sat at the computer along with scores of other W Club members logged on from all over the world to the W Club Forum in expectation of promised surprises.

The first Integrity designer to show up was Vaughn Sawyer. The questions started to fly. It was hard to keep up. Vaughn was able to answer only a few questions and most of the answers were teasingly kept vague. I think many collectors expected to be given sneaks but none were to be had. Jason made an appearance. David Buttry showed up. Percy Newsum dropped in.

Jason did say that we will be seeing an "unusual" star in the collection very soon! I'm ready for more multi-culturalism but it probably won't be Matisyahu.

Matisyahu, Hasidic Reggae Star

Also making an appearance was Agnes herself. Alain (I believe it was Alain) put on a terrific and funny performance as Agnes Von Weiss the Baroness. After about an hour, the tone of the event became very informal and silly.

Vaughn really gave it his best shot, keeping it straight...except when pressed about the possibility of new girls joining the NuFace line. He said, "Lukas is always recruiting new models, that pimp daddy that he is." Very funny stuff.

Pimp Doggy Costume

Is there another, wilder side of Vaughn trying to surface? He even stayed around after all the rest bailed. I've got to give the man credit for taking it all in stride from the obsessed collectors pressing him for information. I've met him several times and he has a nice, quiet (?) way about him so I wasn't surprised.

All of the images in this post were gathered from the internet.

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Queen V Veronique: Japanese DollyBird Magazine Exclusive Giftset

When we were first shown promotional images of Queen V, I didn't think she was worth the price. At that time she would have cost approximately $400 as shipping was from Japan. The images of her were artsy - colorized and indistinct. Her edition size is 400.

Recently, I saw some real pictures of her with rerooted hair. She looked beautiful. I took the plunge and purchased the giftset. It was not an easy decision because the total was $350 with shipping included.
Opening her box was a delight.

She is gorgeous and different from any other Fashion Royalty doll in that her skin tone is translucent. Her facial screening is subdued and perfectly applied. The fabric of the gown feels like silk and I'm assuming that it is. The "jewels" on her bodice are sewn on, not glued. She's got a load of bling which a queen ought to have! Her crown is very lightweight metal and care needs to be taken with that.

The crowning glory are the shoes. There are two pairs and each is really a jewel in itself. The pair on the right is trimmed with metallic gold and has gold heels.
It didn't take me long to undo the ribbons and threads holding her prisoner in the box.

I think if I had seen photographs of her looking like this, I might not have been able to resist buying her right off the bat.

When it comes down to it, a good, clear photograph can be very artistic as well as a cloudy, suggestive one. A queen represents power and wealth and her portrait says so!

One thing about the doll could have been improved - her hair. It's an intricate and wonderful hair style for this doll but it's messy. There are numerous frizzies and broken pieces. I trimmed off quite a few but could not neaten up the curls more than this.

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The additional outfit is a silky bustier, panties, a lacy garter belt and lace top stockings.
I am very happy with this doll and her fashions. She's a keeper. She's more beautiful than True Royalty!

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Let's do a comparison. True Royalty Vanessa, the second Atelier Giftset, was released at the end of 2006 but shipped at the beginning of 2007. The edition size was 500. The price was $180. plus a calendar which was a required purchase in order to be entered into the lottery. Shipping was $53. from Singapore. That brought the total to approximately $253.
The doll came with a huge, intricate gown, lots of jewelry, a fantastic head piece, lingerie and another strange little fashion. But she came with only one pair of shoes! Her hair was very well done and I don't think her hair style was an easy one. She is still fetching above retail for NRFB condition.
I think in terms of value for the money, True Royalty is a little higher because of the additional outfit. Unfortunately, I never had much use for the jacket and bloomer shorts. But they were fabulously constructed as was everything in that set.

Yes, prices have risen and I'm sure it costs the manufacturers more to make their dolls as well. As long as the quality stays high, collectors are pleased. They may gripe about the prices but griping about bad hair and missing accessories is worse. This has been a bad hair year for Integrity. I really hope the factory workers get better training for the future dolls.

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Baby socks

This is the newborn baby socks.

He is made out of tiny baby socks.

He carry his favorite toy in his pocket.

He can turn over by himself.

This is his family.

*He is now listed at my etsy dolls store.

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Picture of the Week Award ~ July 19, 2009

Michael Bentkowski aka Michael Hawaii is a terrific photographer and stylist. His work always captures my attention. On Saturday, Michael posted that he has made some wigs to sell. This one is called "Frisky" and features a wig made by Michael on a Deva doll. Everything about this photograph works because the composition is excellent. I love the wig, too!
Congratulations, Michael.

"Frisky" Michael Bentkowski

More about → Picture of the Week Award ~ July 19, 2009

Jeweled Goldmine

Jewels and gold, it's a wonderful thing.

Goldmine is wearing The Jeweled Cat Madra's fashion and Monique Gold's Yuri wig in red. The image has been manipulated in Photoshop.

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Antoinette Fashions from Robert Tonner Doll Co.

Another fashion arrived this week for Antoinette called Brilliant. It is adorable.
In the first two photos below, Cameo is wearing Brilliant. The fabric is metallic with the top more gold and the bottom more silver. The stockings are metallic gold fishnet and the shoes are silver. Her necklace is a combination of golds and brushed silver beads.

They might be a little hard to see but her set of 6 bracelets was made by Amber Park. I have added the gold earrings. The setting for this photo is Gene's Gazebo with assorted miniature trees, potted plants and Gene's Patio Set.

This next photo shows Idyllic Antoinette in the fashion called Influential. I have removed the shirt and tights that came with the outfit. It's dressier and more sophisticated this way. Earrings are Fashion Royalty.

The last photo is the two gals together in the garden looking lovely but bored. They're wondering where the guys are that were supposed to show up at this party.

I am so in love with this line of dolls and fashions. They are comfortable, easy and neat which might be a turn off for some but not for me. That's not to say I like them any more or any less than my edgier dolls.

Repaints are showing up and so far, I have not seen one that has improved upon the original - but I do give them credit for trying. Heaven knows, if I did a repaint, it would never see the light of day.

More about → Antoinette Fashions from Robert Tonner Doll Co.