W Club 2015 Exclusive "J'Adore La Fete"

The final W Club 2015 doll has been announced and fortunately or unfortunately I have to order one.
It's an Elise Jolie gift set in a trunk, reminiscent of Fashion Royalty Kyori Ginza who also came in a trunk like this. I still have Kyori's trunk stuffed with story cards and COAs. 

The edition size will be enormous, I'm sure, as it's based upon how many the members order and there are a lot of members. Unfortunately it won't be ready until late spring or early summer of next year.
The price is $175. which isn't bad for a doll with three outfits: a gown, a suit and lingerie.

The gown looks black but it's dark wine with black trim. I love the suit.
I hope the quality exceeds our expectations.

 (I'm spelling her name with an 'i' no matter how many times it's changed.)

In-between a Rock and a Hard Place

"The polka dots are completely mismatched around top, middle and bottom of the dress. The dots are misaligned, droop far too low on the left side and it's only accentuated by the black trim."

Browsing a doll forum today I came across the above comment by a very disappointed collector who had received doll dress in a giftset for which he paid $225.
He rightly believes that the dress should have been "impeccably" made for that price. I get the feeling he hasn't been around that long because of this expectation but he is, nevertheless, correct.

The dress in question is seen above.

Royal Treatment Véronique Perrin™ Dressed Doll Gift Set The Fashion Royalty® Collection 2015 Online Event Exclusive Limited Edition Size: TBA (Edition Size Based on Orders Received) Estimated Ship Date: Approximately Fall 2015

The set came with this dress as well:

Apparently the belt was made too small because many collectors are having difficulty fitting it onto the doll.


All of it:

 Wouldn't it be better to have one high quality item rather than two poor quality items?

Blogger "Desperately Seeking Dolls" states:

"I believe IT missed an opportunity here.  It wouldn't have been a major cost to include another pair of shoes, some hose, better jewelry (including a pin for the coat), and a hat.  That would've tipped the scale.  I believe the Royal Treatment is a lovely doll, but they overcharged for a gift set that wasn't executed well.  It's left a bad taste in the mouths of their loyal collectors."

But that's not the point of this post.

My question is what is a proper return policy? If the manufacturer cannot provide a properly made item, should you get your money back? Can they tell you that all the polka dot dresses are made that way and there are no replacements and no refunds? Should they give you a token credit to use towards a future product?

This was a direct-from-Integrity-Toys-item-not available-through-dealers,  although some dealers have some for sale. The issue a collector could face if this were a dealer product would be that the dealer could get annoyed. We don't want to mess with our dealers, do we? Ahem.

So are we between a rock and a hard place or is there another way to demand appropriate quality for money spent?

Aristocratic Baroness Agnes and Vice Effect Ollie

Two W Club Upgrade dolls arrived today.
Up first we have a pony-tailed blonde Agnes dressed in a belted summer sheath in a black and off-white print. The neckline has a very lovely gathered detail with a tiny button at the center. I really love the fabric and can't decide if they're butterflies or bows.
This Agnes doesn't look as miserable as most other Agnii. Her glance is straight forward. The color of the vinyl sets off her rosy cheeks and bright red lips. The eyeliner wings and the beauty mark are not my taste. I like the hairstyle with its pulled to the back side parted hair and only the slightest hint of a hair bump.

Her accessories include black patent spike heels, a red clutch purse, "gloved" replacement hands and large oxidized pewter earrings. I like them. They're small compared to these things.

Included as well is a black straw hat. I think it's a bit awkward looking. Does it add some positive quality to the ensemble?
When removing the dress I was very surprised to find that the straps which go over the shoulders are attached to the back of the dress with velcro. Has that ever occurred in a FR fashion? I don't think so. It lays flat so the look is good. The problem comes about when it starts grabbing the doll's hair it it's tiny velcro teeth. I hate that.
The clutch has a strap at the front which the doll can slip a hand into to hold. Yay. Finally. Ashton Drake used to use elastics & other devices which the doll could use to hold accessories. Very useful.

_____________________________

Vice Effect Ollie is one of the coolest 'homme' dolls produced by Integrity. With his light blue sport jacket, baby blue slacks, pink henley t-shirt, sunglasses, watch and ivory boat shoes he is dressed to kill or possibly to hunt killers.
VE Ollie is the very incarnation of the suave undercover detective, James "Sonny" Crockett,  played by Don Johnson on the television series "Miami Vice" in the 1980's.

The doll's hair is a bit too blonde but in every other respect, they look quite similar. I've got to get his hair down a bit. It's too thick and puffy and there is too much stiffener.
Ollie's jacket and slacks are constructed from beautiful fabrics with great details. He became a favorite immediately! The girls love him.

  Did you get either of these dolls?

Honoring Vanessa Perrin

While I should have been doing paperwork and other important things, I got busy instead creating a montage of my Vanessas. I captured all 22 original sculpts. There is a duplicate and a few altered ones in there. I left out my other OOAK Vans. Can you find the altered ones and the duplicate?

Picture of the Week Award ~ June 7, 2009

My featured photo this week comes from a well known doll dressmaker who goes by the board name of Gin-O.
I chose this photo not only for the beautiful gown it presents but also for the composition. Ginny puts the doll right up in the frame and doesn't hesitate to run into the borders. The contrast between the feminine and delicate looking dressed doll and the bricks and straw is very textural and quite appealing.

Modeling the gown is a Shanghai Veronique Fashion Royalty doll.
Ginny's gowns can be found in the stash of most collectors of fashion dolls. If you would like to contact Ginny, let me know or post a query on the Pink Parlor.

Lana Turner "Portrait of an Era" Giftset

I was on the fence about this FAO giftset featuring Integrity Toys' Hollywood Royalty Lana Turner until I had it in my hot little hands and started taking pictures. This is the prettiest of all the Lana dolls so far. Her hair flatters her face and is well done. She comes dressed in a tight pink sweater and black A-line skirt. I added the necklace.

At first the suit appears to be a copy of the suit from the Haute Doll exclusive Lana doll in a different color. That suit was somewhat ill fitting. This suit was a surprise. It fits nicely and has distinctive styling like the high waisted skirt. The necklace which is not shown is the same as the previously mentioned set which is a mistake on Integrity's part. Why would a collector want the same necklace twice?
The jewelry isn't really worth mentioning further as it is plain and not memorable. The shoes are too large and are unusable. Those are the only two items that miss the mark. The suit is lined in a similar pink to the sweater. The hat is really more like a headband and goes on easily and stays on! I like the faux fur stole. The entire appearance is very elegant. There is a sleeveless, v-neck mauve shell for the doll to wear under the jacket or she can wear the pink sweater.
The details on the suit are classic Fashion Royalty and that's really good to see.

The third outfit is a hostess fashion which consists of a strapless jumpsuit and a sweeping robe. I couldn't close the robe over the jumpsuit so I just tied it shut. The shoes are cute little silver pumps. The necklace was added by me.

The jewelry should have been more interesting and the ill-fitting shoes are very surprising. The drawbacks are minor but annoying in a set priced at $225. We were given a code to use for free shipping. However, one W Club member found a 20% off offer which was accepted. Those of us living in a state where FAO does business in Macy's, also have to pay tax.

I do recommend this set because of the beauty of the doll and the well-constructed, classic fashions. Of course, each collector will have to weigh the high price against the contents in making the decision to purchase or not.

Ils Ont Change´ Ma Poupee

Some of you may recognize the source of my title for today's post. It's from a song originally called Ils On Change Ma Chanson, Ma (Look What They've Done to my Song, Ma) . The words seem appropriate for Cruise Control Vanessa. Vanessa is (was?) my favorite Fashion Royalty sculpt. Although there have been too many of her released in the last two years, I still looked forward to each and every one.
What ever happened to the days when one could debox a nearly perfect doll?
Prior to the Josephine Baker dolls, I never had the thought of re-rooting a doll right out of the box. Since October 2008, there has been one doll after another with serious hair defects. Every one of these defects is factory worker caused and not a machine malfunction.
We've had clumps of hair glue, dried net marks and frizz and it's nauseating. I am really through with writing to customer care and sending pictures and getting form letters and being told that I have bad luck. I don't have bad luck; the dolls are badly done.
This is Barbie hair.

These are just like Barbie shoes with the bendy heel syndrome.

Regarding the outfit, the shorts are fabulous and the blouse is nice. It's a complicated piece and shows a great deal of effort in the construction.
The jewelry, which is not shown, consists of unadorned silver colored chains and what looks like straight pins for earrings. I kid you not.