Showing posts with label Moods Collection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moods Collection. Show all posts

1/06/2009

New Pictures of Body Double Veronique & Blonde Ambition Veronique

She is definitely going to have all her hair removed. For now it's been under this wig. I like it on her. She is really gorgeous.


Blonde Ambition had more hair to work with but I'm not happy with the style.

12/24/2008

Bad Mood Alert



The verdict is in. Crusty, thick, dried and flaky hair goop with net marks is out. Both Moods dolls, Body Double and Blonde Ambition Veronique, have dismayed collectors with the amount of dried gel on their hair and residue on their faces. Body Double's curls are literally pasted to the sides of her face with the stuff. It doesn't wash out easily. Apparently when the factory workers 'set' the hair they use a hair net to hold it in place. Unfortunately the marks from the net remain as little lines of goop dry in a criss-cross pattern. The same thing happened on Josephine Baker and the convention doll, Tatyana. Josephine was so bad that there was lint stuck to her hair and everywhere else on her face. In the picture of Tatyana below, there are still some lines of goop remaining after I tried to flick them away with a fine needle.




There is a Thai woman on eBay, (parawatee2008), who creates intricate hairstyles in this mode. She uses something that leaves the hair shiny and beautiful. If she can do it, why can't Integrity?

Moving on to the clothing packs...
The Starry Night Moods Wardrobe which consists of a gown, hat, fur, shoes, gloves and jewelry has one major defect. The stitching on the front of the gown puckered the fabric. It shows up on all pictures of the gown I've seen. I think it was an unfortunate choice of fabric because the styling of the gown is lovely. The back with it's draped neckline and strands of rhinestones is just fabulous. The fur is sumptuous and in classic Wu fashion, the tails are attached with strands of beads. I love it. The hat is very nice and the rest of the fashion is fine. It's interesting how the fabric doesn't pucker on the back of the gown. One wonders if two different people made the gowns.


The French Dressing Deluxe Accessory Pack consists of a coat with a charming faux Persion lamb collar, a straw cloche, black tights, vinyl gloves, jewelry and shoes.
I headed straight for the wonderful wine colored gloves as I thought they were a wonderful looking accessory. Well, I want to know what type of doll these were made for. I could not get them on the doll even after attempting to stretch them. The coat looks great in the promos and terrible on the doll. One side of the collar hangs lower than the other. This was a poor execution of a good idea. I love the hat and after I removed the cheesy attachment and put a pin on it, it looks great.
The black tights are at least 1" too long and do not fit into the black shoes. What a waste.
In the photo below of Fierce Subject Kyori, she is wearing the cloche with the jeweled item from the FAO Tatyana giftset. The rest of her clothes are items from the 2008 convention.

Finally there is the Luxe Finish Accessory Set. Everything in this set is delightful. I love the purse and the fur. In the photo below of Body Double Veronique, she is wearing a Monique wig, the dress from a previous Fashion Royalty doll and the fur and jewelry from this set.



This were the first W Club exclusives of 2008. Why did they arrive mid-December? Something is wrong down in Baltimore. It's unfortunate because Jason is fabulously talented and when his designs aren't executed properly, it reflects on him.

My recommendations:
Get the dolls and change their hair. These are the last Veroniques with this facial mold. I think that's really sad because Vero is gorgeous. She is one of the two original characters and will be getting a new face. Body Double is the only tan Vero produced to date. The NRFB dolls seem to be going for $125. and nude for $100. Their original price was $84.
Most of these items are being sold on eBay for reasonable prices but hang in there because the price will drop on the clothing items.

12/09/2008

Swept By The Moods of Paris: Tatyana Alexandrova


"I left Moscow with one goal in mind: to conquer Paris and break it with my iron will. I was wrong, one does not conquer the City of Lights; Paris conquers the heart at first sight."

Above is the text from the story card that accompanies the Paris J'Adore Tatyana Gift Set. This is only the second Tatyana. The first was the 2008 Wu Convention doll about whom I wrote previously:
terrigoldphoto.blogspot.com/2008/10/tatyana-new-fashion-royalty-character.html


This fabulous set comes with the doll, a long lace gown, a long brocade coat embellished with rhinestones, faux fur and a tiny frog closure, a short brocade dress embellished with beads and a faux fur hem, a head piece, earrings, ring, bracelet, necklace, panties, hosiery, shoes and boots. If you like the sculpt you will like this set. The fabrics are very rich and the clothing is elegant and finely constructed. There are many pieces of great jewelry (I love that) and varied looks can be created from these wardrobe items and the coming Moods W Club collection.


The one defect that has popped up several times this past year is the uneven sole/heel combination of the shoes and boots. The heels are too high and the doll cannot stand with her heel and ball of foot planted on the ground. Apparently they tried to remedy this problem on the shoes by adding an extra piece of sole.


It is not enough. If the doll were to stand in the shoes or boots with the sole and heel touching the ground, she would tilt forward. So...please, Mr. Newsum, tell the factory to get on this and re-engineer the height of the heels. We don't want our dolls falling on their faces, do we?


Jason must love this character to have elevated her so fast - first a convention doll and then an FAO exclusive giftset!
Many collectors were surprised and others dismayed at the length of Tatyana's hair. I think it would serve well used as an extension if one were to cut it off.

The doll modeling the short dress is She Means Business Veronique whose hair was restyled by Parawatee of Thailand. The fur stole is not part of this set.



Still available at FAO Schwarz website for $250. Limited Edition of 300. Item #: 916556.
Right now shipping is free on orders over $120. Last week there was a site wide sale of 20% off which brought the price down to $200. Don't forget that FAO now charges tax in many states than they previously did due to the fact that they have boutiques in Macys stores. As far as giftsets go, this is a decent price for what you get. It's still a lot of money to spend right before the holidays. But if you can swing it and you like Tatyana, I recommend this purchase.

On the CDCMHS (Compulsive Doll Collector Must-Have Scale) this scores a 7—8.

8/04/2008

Fashion Royalty W Club Exclusive Moods Collection

To our surprise we have been offered a choice of not one but two dolls and several fashions and accessories! The dolls will have the last of the original Veronique face mold. That's sad because I don't think she can be improved upon. These re-do's should be named as new dolls and just let the retired gals rest in peace.
Anyhoo....here are official Integrity pictures of the options. (Used with permission from IT.)

"Body Double" - (Tan Brunette Veronique)
She is gorgeous.


"Blond Ambition" Veronique Perrin (Platinum Blonde)
Reminds me of Flirtatious Vero.


"Starry Night" Moods Wardrobe Fashion


"French Dressing" Deluxe Accessory Pack


Luxe Finish Accessory Set


I will be ordering everything except the platinum Veronique. I don't care for her hair. The prices are reasonable and it seems that everyone in the club is happy. That's a first!

OT
Right now I have 10 Veros in my collection and all of them are older issues. I have them all on tall bodies but originally most of them were on straight arm bodies. My goal with them is to get them all eye-lashed! I love eyelashes. I will have to do a post honoring the soon to be retired Veronique. For many, she was the first Fashion Royalty doll they ever saw and the one that got them started with these dolls.