Review ~ Wu Iconic Convention ~ Part III

This is Part III of my review. See below for Parts I and II.

To the dismay of many, Adele did not make an appearance. Where is Adele? If only Dominique could talk. Hopefully Dominique is at the orthodontist's office getting her teeth and over bite fixed because she is not an attractive doll. Integrity used Josephine Baker's head mold for Dominique who is supposed to be Adele's sister. I tried to like her but it didn't work.

Giselle was the other similarly clad doll in the collection.'POESIE ENCHANTEE' AGNES
Of all the Agnes dolls that have been released I have kept only one. This gal is too severe for my taste. The gown is beautiful in it's light gray satin with an Obama shoulder but this doll doesn't even come close to Poesie Sans Coleur.
NATALIA FATALE 'POWER GAME' (AKA WHITE NATALIA)
This was the surprise giftset attendees got. At registration they found an empty Fashion Royalty box in their bags. At each event they were given another part of the set. The blue dress is cute but not fine. The suit is unattractive IMO. I love the blue and black shoes which are partially hidden behind the card in the lower left. Natalia as a white girl...well...let's say that she's not Natalia anymore.AVANTGUARD 12" CLONE "LIVE WIRE"
This doll has the same skin tone as the full sized AG. She sports Natalia's sculpt, however. The screening and the dress are the same as Live Wire's and her wig is similar.POPPY PARKER 'ENDLESS SUMMER'
This doll was one of the event souvenirs. She came packaged in a window box secured with a nice pink ribbon.There were three other dolls which I did not have the pleasure of photographing. All three were centerpiece dolls. One was a Monogram Doll, Curiosity, one an Agnes, Silver Zinger and the last was the Avantguard from the W Club luncheon called Vanishing Point. Pictures of those dolls can be found in other posts on this blog.

MFD provided wigs for every attendee in the registration bags. Azone gave a pair of shoes as a gift to all. Dolls Magazine provided a special Iconic Convention coverage issue. Other paper goods were a set of prints of early Jason Wu Fashion Royalty doll sketches and a set of paper dolls.

Saran Wrap & Bamboo Leaves Are Great for Project Runway.

Spell avant-garde properly, please! It is a French expression "originally used to describe the foremost part of an army advancing into battle (also called the vanguard) and now applied to any group, particularly of artists, that considers itself innovative and ahead of the majority." (From Wikipedia)

All three "AvantGuard" dolls arrived in Woodstock this week: LiveWire, Eclectic and Lush. I was disappointed. I'm not even going to go into the overcharges on the shipping or question why the four AGs that shipped to me from Integrity, two at a time, one day after the other couldn't have been shipped together....let's let that go.

Eclectic is gorgeous. Her wig and her facial screening are winners. LiveWire's screening is beautiful and her skin color is wonderful. The screening on Lush is over the top. Her lips are straight out of the surgeon's office and her eyeshadow color is disconcerting. I'll admit that I don't care for ultra pale dolls but this combination of pale and neon gets boring after a few hours. What might be great for the runway of a haute couture Paris show is not working on this doll.

LiveWire's and Lush's outfits are on the flimsy side but that is intentional and a result of the fine fabrics used. Lush's minidress is finished and embellished by hand. The packaging was nice and all the externals are good. So what is the problem? The doll is shapeless. She has no waist or hips. She does have breasts, however.

Image from the cover of the long-gone magazine, Avant Garde, issue 5

The worst part is the feeling of a lack of solid construction. They are floppy jointed. Their feet flop around as do their hips and their legs. The head has limited range of movement. They do not have strung joints. One can remove their hands and feet by pulling them straight out to either replace them or to aid in dressing the doll. That's definitely a plus. There is an extra set of hands with articulation and feet with articulated toes.

There is pretty much just one circumstance during which a woman's toes curl and I don't think many will be posing their dolls for that.

Photo by bridgitte

I think Jason was certainly on the right track with these dolls but has forgotten that we like to play with and redress our gals. I tried many Tonner and Gene outfits on her and they are huge from the waist down. What is the point of having a doll with only one outfit? Saran wrap and bamboo leaves are great for Project Runway. I like to open my doll clothes stash and have lots of choices. I refuse to start another wardrobe for another 16" + doll.

Click on the image above to see the source (but come back to read the rest of the post.)

I really wanted to love these dolls! I collect 16" dolls and it would have been wonderful to have a very fashionable, very articulated bunch of gals from Jason mixed in with my others. But it's not to be.

Oh wait...did you want to see pictures of the AvantGuard dolls?




Parting words...you might like them. Lush (the blonde) is particularly easy to get at retail which was $220 each doll.
CDCMHS (Compulsive Doll Collector Must Have Scale) = 4