10/27/2012

The Best and the Worst of the Rest - Tropicalia

Four weeks after the Tropicalia convention ended, people who pre-ordered the convention collection began receiving their dolls. It was supposed to take only two weeks but the slow boat from China was extra slow this time.

The most popular of all the dolls were Eugenia and Agnes but they were not part of the convention collection. I loved Elyse more than any doll from the entire event. I liked the Vanessa but not her awful gown. I agree that Eugenia was gorgeous but her gown was a terrible fit. In fact, most of the clothes that had that particular bodice style were manufactured very poorly.

For me, the best doll out of the convention collection was Dasha.

Once I took off her trashy blue dress with its crooked velvet bow, combed out her hair and redressed her, she took on a new personna.
In my photo she is wearing an outfit by V John (dress and head wrap) and carrying an IT purse.


Adele is a beauty. But, again, the sewing of the bodice insert is very bad.

It was the same on Kyori's top. They pucker and don't lay right.

I also think that Natalia is gorgeous. Her hair color, skin and makeup are a fabulous combination.
But her outfit is a nightmare of color and texture. In my opinion it is unsophisticated and garish.
Poppy is cute but her outfits are 'ho-hum-where- have-we-seen-that-before?'

Let's just skip to the worst of the bunch - Veronique. Gone is the beautiful Veronique that enticed so many original Fashion Royalty fans to begin collecting these dolls.

What we have in this version is a paranoid-looking doll wearing a lab coat with a beaded belt over an ill-fitting pink and blue dress. This has to be the worst Vero ever produced - tasteless and laughable. Even Vero isn't smiling anymore.
What the heck happened to good taste and design? I can't understand how Jason would even want to be associated with most of this.

Perhaps if I take the attitude I used to have towards a roll of film, I can accept the degradation of the Fashion Royalty line. If you get one or two good pictures out of a roll of 36, you're doing well.


13 comments:

  1. (lowercase) wow. Not exactly Fashion Royalty anymore.

    Natalia's face is pretty, but her Life Savers jacket makes her look matronly. What the heck has happened to this line of dolls?

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  2. Hi Terri,

    I loved seeing your photos of the Convention FRs and reading your reviews. I LOVE what you did to Dasha....she is Gorgeous this way. I love Natalia also. Was there an Agnes? I must have missed her. But she lost her crabby face long ago and that is what I loved most about her.

    Hope all is well with you and yours and Rudy!

    XXXX

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  3. I dont find this Veronique ugly and paranoid looking as you said. She is a very gorgeous doll with a great screening and she looks so much better in this updated version than the fake, comic book villain character look the original Veronique was sporting. That Vero's eyes are elongated making her look like kind of a strange creature caught in the drain and the white under her eyes makes her look like she was about to pass out right before chewing off your head. Anyway i suggest looking at some pictures of her out of the box. She is quite gorgeous although there is no accounting for taste...

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for sharing your opinion. You are right about the fact that there is no accounting for taste.

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  4. I agree with you completely. I am VERY underwhelmed with this collection- I really did do a double take, but not in the good way.

    After the premier of the dolls earlier this year - I had really high hopes. I just feel with this theme they could have done SO many of the trending things (Ombre dyed hair, neon clothing, lace, metallics etc). It makes me sad that instead of purchasing the new released dolls - I find myself purchasing the earlier collections (haute luxuries, silver society etc). They had cheaper retail prices and the quality surpasses those released now.

    I kind of feel people are purchasing these dolls just because of their exclusivity - instead of purchasing it because they like them. I honestly sometimes get shocked when they sell out.

    I also dont like the new Veronique - all of her softer features and subtle smile is erased. I cant tell the difference between her, Imogen & Anja. Its like they all decided to get a plastic surgery haul with the same surgeon. I cant say I like the new Vanessa either - shes definitely better than V.2 but not by that much.

    They kind of look "primitive"? They just lack the detailing in the sculpt like the older versions - Veronique also reminds me of Jocelyn Wildenstein. I will say though - I really like the new Adele's makeup - just not the hair, if its anything like Exotica's hair, it will be a chore to maintain.

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  5. Hi Terri, thanks for the pics, as always they show a very different doll then the promo pics. I was disappointed too. The look that IT is going towards seems "costumey" to me (strangely appropriate for Halloween). I thought the Poppy's came off the best. The FR 16 didn't look bad......but is that enough?
    As always love the blog.
    Will C.

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  6. I agree that some of the fashion are disappointing. However, I think this Vero is the most beautiful Vero IT has ever made. Her makeup, color of her fasion, and the accessories are so lovely. She looks better than her promo photo. And I actually didn't like Dasha, thought she was a bit like other Dasha I already have. But that's just my opinion. Everyone has different taste. :)

    ~ Carol

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  7. Well you are spot on sadly
    I kinda liked Veronique but overall these convention collections have been dull and worthless and sometimes just plain ugly since The Dark Romance Convention
    This guy designing is not a good fit.
    How many dolls have to go unsold before IT gives him the boot?
    (and I'm so glad people didnt buy them just to buy them)
    Did you know they had dolls from Jet Set on sale in the shop?! and they still went unsold?!

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  8. I thought all the dolls were beautiful. I even liked Vero (but not her clothes). I was surprised to see the clothing they put on the convention dolls this year. I didn't like ANY of the outfits for the Fashion Royalty. Some I thought were just downright ugly. Natalia's outfit looks like she bought it from Sears. It genuinely surprised me, because usually Fashion Royalty dolls have such lovely outfits. The outfits on the Poppy Parkers were gorgeous, though.

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  9. Terri, I'm with you 100% on this collection. In a word... hideous. Un-inspired and un-talented also springs to mind. I think my stand out worst had to be Kyori. From head to toe, she was a fashion disaster. That horrible outfit is permanently etched into my mind. And not in a good way. When I saw this collection, I felt sad. The days of fabulous Fashion Royalty seem to be gone. Pity.

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  10. I loved Natalia and her outfit. I liked that the outfit was different from what IT normally does. I liked the jacket...it reminded me of a 60's vibe with its circles and the beaded belt was very cute.

    Vero herself was very pretty but too similar to Comeback Vero.

    The dolls on display at the convention were all pretty. I think it makes a big difference when you see the entire effect with jewelry and shoes on.

    I was very pleased with the selections and if money/space were no issue I would have gotten a lot more!

    The only one I didn't care for was the Kyori as I didn't think her black pants were "tropical" enough to go with the whole collection.

    Life would be boring if we all liked the same thing.

    Connie in PA

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  11. Hi Terri: I am a devoted follower of your blog as I can always depend on you to "tell it like it is". We usually agree on most things. I had been stubborn about collecting FR2 until this collection. I caved BIG TIME when I saw Infallible Dasha in person and had to have Escapism Elise so Dasha wouldn't be lonely and friendless. Following the convention, I took all my dolls out and looked at them carefully. Surprisingly, Elise is my favorite from the collection as well. I think the jewelry, handbags, and quality shoes were outstanding this year. It is unfortunate the design team was unable to translate their vision into the clothing. I can see the concept (resort wear) but I don't think it was executed well in this scale.

    I think the biggest problem (other than quality control) was the hairlines. I feel like Goldilocks looking for the forehead that is "just right" ... not too high ... not too low. I believe this is the problem with Veronique. I really love her screening, but her rooting is just all wrong.

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  12. Hi Terri, I am very critical of dolls so I agree with most of your comments, except I do love the Vero. I like her screening and she doesn't look paranoid or lab-coaty to me. Maybe deboxing her will give you a different perspective, you never know. Cheers.

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