Part 2: Celebrating Tonner's Antoinette Body

When Tonner introduced Antoinette in 2009, she was an instant success. My first was Cameo Antoinette.  You can do a search on this blog using the word 'Antoinette.'
The Antoinette body was used for Cami, newer Theatre de la Mode, Duchess, Jonquil, Breathless, Scintillating Ashleigh, and all Precarious.
Here is what remains of my dolls who share the Antoinette body type.

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Antoinette "Hear Me Roar" wearing a dress from RnD Designs. 
Hear Me Roar was part of the OZ line. There was a Tin Man, A Lion and a Scarecrow in fabulous costumes.

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"Heart on My Sleeve" Tin Man (Duchess)

Wearing Scandal

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Antoinette "Simplicity" wearing New York Jet
I don't believe the name of the dress has anything to do with the football team :-) but it's awfully close.
This is another gorgeous, curly-haired Antoinette.
One of the greatest contributions Tonner Doll Co. made to collectors was the creation of hundreds of individually available boxed fashions.  It originally came with a wig and different shoes than my model is wearing. I wonder what I did with that wig.

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Antoinette "Treasured"
Wearing "Party Girl's" Outfit
Treasured was the Banquet Souvenir at the 2009 Convention

Original Presentation

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Cami as Daisy
Wearing Theatre de la Mode Noir #99

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Cami as Zelda
Wearing "Swing"

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Precarious "Party Girl"
Wearing Diane Evan's Cocktail Dress

Original Party Girl Precarious

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New Theatre de la Mode

Glamorous #75 (Gina Sculpt)

Elegance #93 (Gina Sculpt)

Noir # 99 (Gina Sculpt)

Wearing "Griffin Splendor"

Her hair has been taken down.

Above is the original Noir #99. I took her hair down because the wrapped "bun" on top of her head was twice as high and made her look like a cone head.

Excellent Tonner Body Comparison Photo from Dreamcastle Dolls

Dreamcastle Dolls' website has a fantastic Tonner database.  I have used it quite often.
This photo is posted there. Of all these bodies, my favorite is Antoinettes. Cami has the same body as do several other characters who came after Antoinette.

Check out the entire site:

https://www.dreamcastledolls.com/

Tonner Introduces Miette

Another new doll joins the Tonner Doll Co. Tribe.

Here is Miette's back story:

Once upon a time, in a far off corner of a very southern part of France, lies a tiny village called, Faire Croire. Don’t bother to look on any map, you’ll never find it. It’s a lovely village where the people enjoy a life of beauty and peace. Every house in the village is a different color and has window boxes filled with flowers of all kinds. The moss covered thatched roofs slant in all angles. There are no locks on any doors or windows. The narrow cobblestone streets are lined with fragrant flowers growing in beautiful pots adorned in jewels. The air is always thick with the scent of freshly baked pain au chocolat.  It seems like a place you would hear about in a fairy tale.  Although Faire Croire is well over 500 years old, no one knows it’s there.  But, Faire Croire does have a quality, something sinister that hangs over the heads of all the villagers. Something like a dark cloud.  Could that feeling be coming from the castle on the hill?
How could a village be over 500 years old with no one except the people that live there knowing of its existence? Miette, the lovely daughter of the Mayor of Faire Croire, intends to find out.

 It's a good story with excellent fairy tale possibilities. No one does fairy tale and fantasy like Tonner.

Miette is Tonner's newest 16" vinyl entry. I see her as a toned down Deja Vu with a less open mouth, a softer aspect and a much better, although still vinyl, body. If I could choose the best features of both, I'd pick Deja Vu's eyes and Miette's mouth and nose.  (Below, Deja Vu is on the left.)

Facial Comparison

For this initial release there are 2 basic, 5 dressed dolls, 2 outfits and 1 accessory cape.

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2 Basics $99.99 each.

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2 Outfits $89. each.

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1 Cape Accessory $30.

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5 Dressed dolls range in price from $179. to $199.

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From what I've seen on the boards, Miette seems to have been very well received. She has the Chic body.

These photos are from Brodjam's Doll Body Comparison and Chart:

Note the big difference between the Deja Vu body (hands included) and the Chic body. 

I always thought Deja Vu's body was an exaggerated and distorted teenage body. The Chic body has more curves and is a bit more realistic and those freaky spread-fingered hands are gone.  Nice improvement.

The only low spot as I see it is the blue and pink outfit. Mrs. Oz seems to have wandered into Miette's village in her sleep. It's very strange. It's even described as having so much going on that you don't know what to look at first. I do like the shoes.
Read the description:

Soft and stunning is how Miette approaches life and as a vision in pink and green, this outfit is no exception.  With so many intricacies, it’s hard to say what garners your attention first. Her boucle´ coat is an understated seafoam green with the finest details of delicate pink lace and tulle trim while boasting a pink flower at the point of closure. Her pink hat with green lace trim and floral decoration is a lovely juxtaposition with the rest of Miette’s ensemble. Her pink ruffled dress sits atop green ruffled cropped pants while her dainty pink floral lace tights peek out leading down to her pink ruffle trim faux leather shoes accentuated with an elegant green bow. Simply charming!  LE 200

 Only Royal Miette and the cape are available at this time. I wonder why they have offered a 10% off event when barely anything is ready to purchase. Were there so few pieces available on the first day of the sale? That surely doesn't seem right.

This is from the email that arrived on March 1.

http://www.tonnerdoll.com/wilde/miette?utm_source=Collectors&utm_campaign=66633a6f00-Meet_Miette3_1_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6e7f0b2ba7-66633a6f00-74926109&ct=t%28Meet_Miette3_1_2016%29&goal=0_6e7f0b2ba7-66633a6f00-74926109&mc_cid=66633a6f00&mc_eid=d9d30ea598

Have fun with the website. :-)

Collection: 2013 in Retrospect

I usually do a "Best-Worst" themed post at year end. This year I'm going to do more of a "Best of My 2013 Collection" post. Going through my 2013 purchase database, I made a list of my favorites. The list revealed that I concentrated, number-wise, on wigs and fashions more than anything else. And, for the first time in a few years, Integrity Toys' dolls scored multiple bests.

Below, left: Lukas Maverick as "Beauty." He was paired with a female doll entitled "Beast," not shown. Right: "Interlude," the last Monogram doll in the line, (supposedly) was a welcome bag doll at the 2013 convention. She is dressed in a fashion called "Completist" which was also a gift to attendees.

The two Integrity dolls below from their last convention are both Elise Jolie. On the left is the convention souvenir, Midnight  Star, and on the right is a workshop doll dressed in the Beast's outfit. These dolls are gorgeous and I love the Elise sculpt as much as I loved the original Vanessa sculpt!

A fashion designed by Chris Stoeckel for the W Club Luncheon for Victoire Roux made my favorites. Chris had previously done this dress for a 15.5" Gene doll (right) in a different colorway. It translates very well to the 12" "Out Sass."
IMO Chris is the most talented designer IT has (if Jason isn't around.)

Mel Odom's beloved Gene Marshall doll made a surprise comeback in 2013 as a resin BJD produced by JamieShow Dolls. It's great fun to have new Gene dolls and it has brought renewed life to so many long-time Gene collections. On the left is J'Adore Gene wearing  a Sybarite fashion and a Cheryl Wood wig. On the right is Phoenix Gene wearing her own gown and a wig by Cheryl Wood.

Speaking of wigs, I added at least one dozen to my collection this past year. My favorites are those made by Ilaria, Patta, Cheryl and Chewin. My dolls have varying sized heads so they need lots of wigs. Below are two from Ilaria aka "Time of Doll."
On the left is Miss G White, a Ficon doll I traded for. Although she debuted in 2012, she is new to my collection. On the right is Inro. She is the first in the Inamorata line produced as a limited edition as opposed to a OOAK by Emilia Nieminen. 

For the first time in ages, I'm paying attention to male dolls again. While the Jamieshow Alejandro below, left and the Tonner Neo Tokyo are not from 2013, their fashions are. These fabulous garments are by the uber-talented Chewin. I also commissioned him to do Alejandro's wig.

 Another Chewin outfit modeled by Tonner's Yoshio, a 2013 16" favorite.

Yian (modsdoll) repainted this Dionysis Sybarite. She's wearing a 2012 Cheryl Wood wig, a gorgeous dress from the 2013 Metrodoll's luncheon entitled "Eventail," and a stunning neckpiece by Asher of New England. I'm sure you can see why she made my favorites list.

Of course I have too many dolls so I buy outfits for them. Early fashions that I couldn't get previously and newly released ones arrived regularly.
Many of the amazing fashions from Sandra Stillwell's Kansas City Every Day's A Holiday event can be seen elsewhere on this blog. Here is one called "Delicate Bloom." The floral motifs are all ribbon embroidery!

V John offers a monthly fashion for either 12" or 16" dolls.

There are always Tonner dressed dolls or fashions that need to come to mama.  Some fashions are offered separately and some are from dressed dolls. Tiny Kitty is older (2005) doll called "Flirtation."  Sometimes it's good to wait because many collectors sell Tonner products for much less than they paid.

Antoinette is wearing a 2012 gown from "Sweeping Antoinette."

 

This Antoinette fashion is called "Fanciful." It's so Barbie-ish and reminds me of Silkstone Provencale.  "Hypnotic" Antoinette, whom I chose to model the Tonner gown, has the same hairstyle the Silkie (on the right.) Provencale is not a new acquisition.

I was more careful with my purchases but I definitely made a few mistakes. I am happy with my dolls. When I'm not, they go. Some stick around until I'm sure.

My doll collecting resolution is to continue to be careful and focused with what I purchase.  I resolve to re-photograph many of my dolls and photograph all new dolls as they join the tribe.

Do you have any doll-related resolutions for 2013?