The 3rd W Club Doll of 2019 - My Brutal Opinion

There is not a thing I like about these two dolls except Nadja's face.
The first turn-off was the metal barrettes and earrings which dominate their appearance in the first photo. I also think there's something off about Erin's face. Her eyes are squinty and her mouth is strange. Her eyebrows come down too far towards her nose. Her features do not work well together, IMO.
Nadja has a beautiful face but it needs to be a matte finish and allowed to be the main feature, not overwhelmed by big hair, metallic ornaments and pink/black leopard print. She's overdone and it takes away from her face.

Take a look at these outfits. I want to know what street corner these two are working.
What's with the plastic coat over a slip? Don't tell me the slip is a dress. That's lingerie.

She has lost her dress.

Adding a plastic coat for modesty's sake.

Staying warm with hot pants.

You take that corner; I'll take this one.

The designer is Jesse Ayala.
Erin Salston "Your Motivation" and Nadja Rhymes "Like No Other" are available separately at $145 each plus S&H.
This is a W Club Member Exclusive pre-order. Edition size depends upon how many are ordered.
Shipping expected Winter 2019-2020.
One of each doll per membership.

Integrity Toys' Excellent 2015 NuFace Collection

Long anticipated by NuFace collectors, the 2015 collection went live for W Club members on Saturday, June 27. The designers did a great job providing adorable outfits with accessories on attractive dolls. There are no weird hair bumps or outlandish eyeshadow colors to contend with. The collection is focused and stylish.

Each outfit comes with a jacket, handbag and simple jewelry. A lot of black was used but black is always in style. If I were a NuFace collector I'd definitely be ordering Erin and Nadja. I would like to have Giselle's dress and Nadja's top and skirt for my Monogram dolls. 

I don't remember seeing a closed edition of 1000 in a long time. Giselle must be the one they expect to wow the crowd. I think they may have underestimated the popularity of Nadja. 

What's your opinion? Will you be ordering any of these gals? Which ones?

Voltage  Erin S.™ Dressed Doll

LE  800

Retail Price: $135.00 + Shipping & Handling

Head Sculpt: Erin 2.0

Body Type:  Nu.Face 2.0

Skin Tone: Japan

Hair Color: Strawberry Blond

Polarity  Nadja R.™ Dressed Doll

LE  600

Retail Price: $135.00 + Shipping & Handling

Head Sculpt: Nadja 2.0 (New Sculpt!)

Body Type:  Nu.Face 2.0

Skin Tone: Dark A-Tone

Hair Color: Midnight Black

Power House Ayumi N.™ Dressed Doll
LE  800
Retail Price: $135.00 + Shipping & Handling
Head Sculpt: Ayumi 3.0
Body Type: Nu.Face 2.0
Skin Tone: Japan
Hair Color: Dark Brown

Electric Enthusiasm Dominique Makeda™ Dressed Doll
LE  600
Retail Price: $135.00 + Shipping & Handling
Head Sculpt: Dominique Makeda 2.0
Body Type: Nu.Face 2.0
Skin Tone: Light Honey
Hair Color: Luscious Blond

Energetic Presence Giselle D.™ Dressed Doll
LE  1000
Retail Price: $135.00 + Shipping & Handling
Head Sculpt: Giselle D.
Body Type: Nu.Face 2.0
Skin Tone: FR White
Hair Color: Brunette

Ayumi's New Look and Adele's Incarnations

Ayumi Nakamura is a character who was introduced to the NuFace (originally called Model Behavior) collection in 2007. That doll was called Miracle Child. If I remember correctly, the Model Behavior dolls were quite popular. Ayumi wasn't as popular as Erin, Colette and Giselle.

The next Ayumi incarnations were London by Night in 2008 and Sunset Rave in 2011. By that time, the Model Behavior line was called NuFace and many new characters had been added. Ayumi seemed to have faded away along with Nadja and Colette.

Surprisingly, Ayumi popped up in the FR2 line as Luminous in 2011 (below, left)  and Opium in 2012. Luminous was not a popular doll and although her dress was quite pretty, her face was not.  I'm not sure what sculpt Opium uses. She has grown on me and in a close-up is very beautiful. Of all the aforementioned Ayumis, she has remained in my collection. She was a change from the first Ayumi sculpt. At that time, the IT designers were mixing up the sculpts like crazy. I don't have a clue as to whether or not Opium's sculpt is a mix from other dolls or a new sculpt entirely. 

The third sculpt is totally new. She looks beautiful. The screening is lovely. Her youthful and glamorous hairstyle and the sequined qi pao made her a keeper in my collection!

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"Le Smoking" Adele received rave reviews by collectors. She's been compared to The Muse Adele, (2008), widely held to be the most beautiful Adele ever produced. For this version of Adele, they went back to the Adele 2.0 sculpt. Hopefully, they will keep it there as 3.0 is dour. 

Via Venetto Adele (2004) from the amazing Voyages Collection was my first ever Fashion Royalty doll. I have a fondness for that sculpt but I do like 2.0 more. In the photo below, she is not wearing her original fashion. 

Graphic Language Adele (Graphic Flirtation, 2004) used a new sculpt. This doll is still very popular albeit not on her original body. 

The Muse (2008) It doesn't get better.

In 2011, Adele 3.0 was introduced at a convention as part of a two doll gift set called Style Counsel along with Veronique. What a hot mess these two turned out to be. Veronique needed a different hairstyle and Adele needed her old face back. 

In 2013, Adele was released as an ITBE doll. She appears to be using the 2.0 sculpt. This image is by Julia Leroy who restyled the hair and designed the jewelry.

I call this 2014 FR2 version What Were They Thinking? It is really named Vivid Encounter.

Play with those dolls!

This is a post I found which was never published. It is obviously from a few years ago.

I've been giving advice and not often following it myself. This week I'm being good. I've been redressing dolls and photographing them. It feels like I have some new dolls. I love it.
Most recently the Nu Face dolls got attention. I sold off most of these little beauties so there weren't that many to be redressed. Here are Eden and Nadia. Nadja was "The Illusionist." I unwrapped the braid around the headpiece and underneath was a heavily glued stalk of hair. I washed it several times but the glue would not even soften so I just cut off as much as I could. I may rewrap the tiny braided hair, retrieved from the thing atop her head, around the nub that's left. But for now, this is what she looks like. It made her into a much more useful doll.Here she is with Eden, my favorite of all the NuFace dolls. Yes, it is difficult to photograph such different skin tones next to eachother. I lit the scene as much as possible. I think because Nadja is wearing a bright red she comes forward in the mind's eye whereas if she wore a recessive color, the bright skin and hair on Eden would overpower the photo. The lighting could still be improved.
The biggest problem I have with this color vinyl is that he texture of the vinyl shows all the tiny pits unevenness every vinyl body has. I this photo I have softened the skin contrast with a tool in Photoshop.
I have just decided to sell Erin. I never even redressed her! I took these pictures today. She's just so perfect in the microsequin dress.

Herve Leger Barbie Deboxed

I could not resist deboxing the Herve Leger Barbie Doll set.
First I took out the black and white dress and this Misaki doll who had previously been switched to a NuFace body got to try it on. The boots belong to another doll as do the earrings.
Perfect!

The dresses are made extremely well. I haven't removed the red dress or the harness belt from the Barbie doll but I could see the quality of construction. The harness has a zipper! That was quite unexpected considering that Mattel uses Velcro so often.

I wish this doll was articulated. It's ridiculous to have such beautiful fashions on a rigid doll.

The Barbie That's Staying

Deboxed vinyl Barbie dolls don't last long in my collection. Right now there are three. My favorite is this Tarina doll.

Besides being adorable and having a really neat pink head of hair, she now has an articulated body which is essential IMO.  She can wear Poppy Parker, Silkstone, NuFace and Misaki clothes. It doesn't get better.
She was released by Mattel on 6/1/08 at a retail price of $79.95. She did go on sale at BC.Com for $30. at one point. It's rare to find an NRFB for much less than $90.

All that aside, she's a cutie. Here she is dressed in an Integrity Toys Sabrina outfit made to fit the Poppy Parker body.

The camera has a hard time dealing with the intensity of the hair color. Or is it the photographer?

Rock Fashion Wedding Dolls

The trio of dolls arrived today. There were no surprises as the dolls looked precisely as they looked in their promo pictures. I only removed Erin from her box as she is going to another collector without clothes.
I am aware that not everyone has the same tastes in dolls and some collectors think her tooth is cute. I'm not one of those. I do like her dress, jewelry and shoes. Her tooth can always be repainted to look like part of her mouth.

Here are Romain and Lillith:

I wasn't aware from the promos that the skirt under her long white layer was light blue.

First 2012 FR Club Exclusive Doll

W Club members are offered the opportunity to purchase "High End Envy" Erin for $115. This doll is a very pretty redhead with dark streaks wearing a youthful black mini-dress.

 The ordering period ends on April 30th at 10AM CST.  The doll won't be available until this summer - approximately. You know how it goes with club dolls. The edition size depends upon the pre-order quantity.
 
I am waiting for a truly unique and exclusive club doll that is not lottery bound...something that I have to have, not something I've seen before. 

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The slight tweaking of Erin's sculpt sparked a heated debate over sculpt changes.  The biggest argument was between people feeling that their feelings were being either dismissed or put down. It always starts out about a doll and disintegrates into a he said, she said, you said type of thread. It's the same argument over and over touched off by different incidents.

Some people just can't let others' opinions alone. They have to tell the "opposition" that they are wrong - either for their point of view or for how they are expressing it or for expressing it at all. Then comes the fight about being told how to express ones self. It's just endless.

One statement I find amusing is the belief that those who create the dolls have feelings that will be hurt if you express negativity about the product. Of course the designers have feelings (and egos) but ultimately it's their paychecks that hang in the balance, not their feelings if the dolls are not popular.  If one visits a doll dealer's site that is trying to move dolls by bundling or by selling nudes and outfits separately you get the notion that the products are just not selling and that the dealer will do practically anything to get rid of them. Do you think the designers are going around hurt over this? Personally, I hope it does affect them so that they see what isn't working.

Soon we may be able to buy arms, legs and heads separately.