Announcements from Integrity Toys

Life Ball dolls and Integrity raise nearly $50,000 for the Life Ball Organisation!
That's a great donation for the cause of HIV/AIDS research and prevention. I was doing the math and the results are worth pondering (or maybe not.) This assumes that all were sold at the retail price.
The 2009 Official Life Ball doll was limited to 250 dolls worldwide and retailed for $270.
250 dolls @ $270. = $67,500.
$67,500 less the net proceeds of $50,000 = $17,500.
$17,500 divided by # of dolls produced = $70.
Does that mean that the cost of producing the dolls was $70 each?
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There is no specific date yet for the arrival of the Poppy Parker line. Hopefully the long wait will have been worth it when they finally do arrive.
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There is now a new European dealership, Laure Belle Couture of Belgium! Laurence is a doll herself and that is great news to those in Europe who have a difficult time getting their needs met by the existing dealers in Europe.

Life Ball Gets Better!

Today on the W Club, Baris Genc posted images of his re-rooted, eyelash-applied Life Ball doll. After seeing his images, I have decided to keep mine. Wouldn't you?

Just look at this!

And the good news is.....Life Ball's hands are removable!

A brave collector tugged and a hand came out. They are the Poppit-Bead hands I wished for. YAY.

If only Integrity would issue replacement shoes to quiet the masses of infuriated collectors who are pissed at the squishy-heeled, plastic, cheap shoes with which Life Ball came. That might encourage me to actually keep mine.

Life Ball or the Doll With No Name

I received my Life Ball doll today, a week after most other collectors in this country got theirs. That's weird as I live only one day away via the USPS. The delay gave me a chance to digest the mixed reviews of others. Some are raves and some are rants. Here are excerpts from a few on the W Club Board.
*"Thanks to all who have pointed out the cheap body features. I will not expect a great deal or be upset — well, perhaps not. The eyes, the cheap store dolly hands, plastic shoes.
The doll with no name of her own cost well over $300 with shipping here.... I feel sad. Jason may have designed the gown for the doll but did he know about the eyelid ridge, the Candi doll hands and more plastic cheap shoes? I do not believe he could have. Are any photos showing the gloves on the doll? Perhaps to cover up the horrible hands?"
*"Still don't get why they went back to pre-applied eyelashes era I love applied lashes, I went and applied lashes to all my earlier FR that don't come with lashes. So I can fix her too, but I feel like I shouldn't have to fix a $275 doll."
*"I have to say that I love her hair for me its totally in proportion; it's just perfect. ... I spent some time redressing mine this evening, she fits in Silkie fashions really well and the earlier FR fashions that were made for the smaller busted gals."
*"The hands are not a pleasant surprise but they are also not awful as I feared. The dress is great and I work with the fashion industry and pockets in a gown are really quite in, very modern. The hands aren't awful; I was worried. I wish she had the hand speak system or even the FR hands but they are pretty, they aren't the duck paddles that Valia was given. Her face is flawless and her hair is perfectly to scale. Wonderful."
*She's a breathtaking doll and the packaging is top-knotch. Integrity did an amazing job with this one.
*"Didn't mind the hands too much, but the thing that bugs me the most is the stand. Wish they had stuck with the original FR stand...as this one grips her from behind under her arms. By doing so, the train of the dress cannot flare out from behind....and it's a pity cause the black base with the Life Ball Logo is terrific. I'll try switching with another telescoping rod. Aside from that minor issue...this doll is one of the most exciting, well-done dolls that I've seen since FAO Eugenia."

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The doll box is luxurious with it's black flocked exterior and shiny silver lining. There is a lovely red satin ribbon tied in a bow over the paper that opens to reveal the doll. The inside cover of the box explains the doll, talks about Jason and has pictures of the original dress and of Jason himself.

The doll's facial screening is very accurate and she is very beautiful. There's neither a hair out of place nor a sign of dried gel or hairnet marks. The gown is pretty and conservative-looking but not quite cutting-edge haute couture. The fabric feels good. I can't tell about the drape as I am not taking her out. The contents of the two drawers are red plastic shoes with ribbon ties and black pleather long gloves.

One of my favorite things about the doll is her earrings. They are rhinestone clusters with a bluish cast. They come pre-inserted which is a first for Fashion Royalty. Curious.

I am a huge eyelash freak and they left the lashes off this gal. There aren't even any painted on. What happened? Did they run out of time? That was really the deal breaker for me. It's funny how important those lashes have become to me as a sign of a higher quality doll to which extra attention has been paid. Rubbery shoes are replaceable (but not appropriate with a $270. doll), hair can be restyled but the eyelashes are difficult for me to apply and I've been happy that all the dolls in the last 2 years have had eyelashes.
All I can say about the hands is that it's too bad they're not the poppit-bead type of hands which have recently appeared on FR dolls. Then they could be replaced by more graceful-looking ones.
Now - as far as the charitable thing....I wonder if Integrity would answer a query regarding the amount of money US citizens can claim as a charitable donation on their income tax from the purchase of this doll. Do we want to find out?

Life Ball Fashion Doll by Jason Wu

Members of the W Club received this information on April 28, 2009 along with a link to enter the lottery.
We are excited to announce to the W Club before anyone else that Jason Wu has designed the Official 2009 Life Ball doll! Created specifically to benefit the 2009 Life Ball, this gorgeous collectible marks the debut of Integrity Toys' new FR Monogram™ collection. An extension of the Fashion Royalty collectible line, the FR Monogram collection features a new custom face sculpt (body is the same size as the Nu.Face body), as well as the hallmark of Fashion Royalty- miniaturized couture fashion with impeccable attention to detail....The 2009 Life Ball Doll wears a replica of a chic evening gown from Jason's romantic Fall 2008 women's fashion collection. The gown is constructed from custom-printed fabric in a floral pattern that has been realized in perfect miniature.

For information about Lifeball, click here. http://www.lifeball.org/lifeball/show_content.php?hid=21&language=en

The doll is an ultra-limited edition, with only 250 dolls produced worldwide, and will retail for $270 (plus shipping and any taxes). 100% of the net proceeds from the sales of the doll will be donated to Life Ball to support HIV and AIDS treatment, research and prevention.

Above is the original runway version of the dress created by Jason for his Fall 2008 show.

This is obviously a great cause and I urge all to support the funding of HIV/AIDS charitable organizations.

What's this about a new line from Jason with miniaturized couture fashion? I thought that's what we were getting until this season. Has Jason, as I feared, 'abandoned' creating for the standard Fashion Royalty line?

Or, has he just turned over permission to his staff to use his designs on a more expensive version of Fashion Royalty? Why the switch to the flat-chested body? Will we also have dolls who look like the model above without makeup and without any discernable hair styling? If he's going couture why not go all the way?

Before I go further I want to add that I did enter the lottery and hope I win the opportunity to spend my money for a good cause. I wonder how much of the purchase price will be the net proceeds donated to the foundation. Hopefully it will be at least $200 per doll. When you think about it, donating net profits isn't exactly philanthropic. Simply, net profit is the money left over after paying all the expenses of an endeavor.

Net proceeds is something else and usually refers to securities, real estate and similar and is defined as

"the amount received after all costs are deducted from the sale of a piece of property or security."

Maybe they are the same thing. I don't know.

The doll looks pretty. She has the same coloring as Fine Jewel Eugenia with the raven hair and bright red lips.
I'm not quite sure how her hair is styled but it appears to be in a nice updo. I wish the dress would have been created in a fabric with similar drape to that of the original. It's Barbie-esque with it's stand-out shape. Spectacular, Spectacular Eugenia's dress had the same issue.

Jason has used lovely fabrics in the past for dresses that flowed. For example, Shape Shifter Natalia and Miami Glow Vanessa have gowns whose fabric is soft, clingy and drapey.

I hope to see better re-creations of Jason's designs using finer fabrics that emulate the original more closely.

My collection has grown to the point that I'm after quality not quantity.