Numina Devon Auction Announcement

Paul Pham, artist and creator of the Numina Doll, announced the following today:

Shade and Shadow, 2 OOAK pale Devon dolls will be auctioned off at www.thedollpage.com   

June 24-26 and June 28-30.

My utter Thanks to Rae and Steve for hosting these auctions, for their kindness, hard work, and fantastic attention to detail in creating the auction site and in every aspect of the doll community.

To register to bid, there will be registration buttons added throughout thedollpage.com site that will require the completion of a short application form.  Complete details for registration, explanation on bidding, and links to the auction pages will be at www.thedollpage.com by Sunday June 23, 2013.

"Shadow" auction will be held Monday, June 24 at 11:00 am EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) and ends on June 26 at 23:00 EDT.

"Shade" auction will be held Friday, June 28 at 11:00 am EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) and ends on June 30 at 23:00 EDT.

Resin BJD Nudes in Comparison by Liane Laughlin

The following photos and text are by Liane Laughlin who has granted permission to reproduce it here.

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Since so many have had questions about the differences between all the various resin fashion dolls, I decided to get my dolls naked for an in-depth comparison. I love each and every one of these brands for different reasons, so I have no hidden agenda. Below is a link to my FBJD Comparison Set on Flickr. I compared Ficon Denimish, JamieShow Angelina, DeMuse Doll Papillon, Deva Doll Nantha, Inamorata Inro, Numina Devon and Sybarite Dionysis. I have a Tonner resin doll around here somewhere too, but did not include her. Seems like there has been plenty of pictures of the Tonner anyways. I don't own a ModsDoll (yet). For holding a pose, the Sybarite won hands down. Others can get into the same positions as the Sybarite, but can't hold the exact same pose without support like the Syb can.

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-See the original Prego post HERE
-See the Prego UPDATED POST HERE
-See Liane's Flickr photostream HERE

Which doll do you think has the most attractive body? Please keep your comments either positive or constructive as the individual artists may be reading this.

My Favorite Dolls of 2011

Last night I went through my 2011 doll database and pulled my favorites of this year.

From Integrity Toys I chose five dolls, four of whom are FR2 dolls and one, believe it or not, is Fauxnessa. You may ask why Fauxnessa made the list when I am one of those who loved the original Vanessa sculpt. Well, this is a gorgeous doll. The other Fauxnessa, Monaco Royale, is one of this year's losers but Dress Code, the first Fauxnessa, was a winner.
I wasn't exactly sure that Flawless Elise was a 2011 doll or a 2010 doll because she took months to arrive with the proper skin tone and a properly created hairstyle but I love her along with every other Elise that's been released. Dasha is a total winner in my book and Tatyana, whose sculpt I do not care for that much made the list for her overall package - hair, makeup, dress. I just have to get rid of those black lines at the outside crease of her lips.

Tatyana, Dasha, Elise, Elise & Fauxnessa.

Quite a few Barbies and a few Silkstone dolls were added to my collection but were not considered for this end-of-year list. I tire of Barbie dolls very quickly and the Silkies, although pretty to look at, just hang out looking fabulous. However, one Mattel doll did survive the cut—Klimpt Barbie. She made it because of the back story and she is pretty. She doesn't have that pasted on smile most Barbie dolls have and her hair is adorable. A bonus is that she's not on the Model Muse body.

Angelic Dreamz' JAMIEshow Grace was a winner. I have posted many photographs of her on this blog as she is wonderful in front of the camera.

These two Ellowynes from Wilde Imagination are among the winners: An Empty Thrill and Dark Shadows.

Among the other Tonner dolls is Heart on My Sleeve. She was produced prior to 2011 but I didn't get her until mid year. This doll is from the Wizard of OZ Reimagination line. She is a creative version of the Tin Man and I think she's fabulous.

The first of the new wave of Theatre de la Mode dolls was Noir #99. This doll has a stunning sculpt.  She, too, is a fabulous photo model. Sadly, the second new TDLM, Royale #82, has not arrived as of this writing.

From the Halloween Convention came the Red Queen, with another amazing sculpt. She is so wonderfully evil-looking.

Saving the best for last...

Devon, one of Paul Pham's Numina and an FDQ exclusive released in December 2010. I was thrilled to get her. If you have never held a Numina body or seen one without clothes, you are missing something excellent! And, I am expecting the newest Numina any day now.

Talc and Geometry. What can I say other than, who knew? If their bodies had not been redesigned to allow better positioning and posing I would have not taken the plunge.

Many more have come and many have gone. I've made a few impulsive buying mistakes for stupid little stuff.
My main focus has moved back to larger dolls again. I found it very easy to sell what some would consider 'grail' Fashion Royalty dolls in order to fund my other desires. However...this year I was able to add several Tiny Kitty dolls that I was never able to get. They are still safely NRFB waiting to move to a new home - we're all waiting for that day.

I'd love to hear from all of my readers about your favorite dolls of 2011.

Seen on Prego

This is Zahira, a OOAK pale Devon. Photographed by Michael Hawaii. She takes my breath away!

Link to original post.

Another picture posted by Michael prior to the one above:

For those who are not familiar with Devon, click here.

More Devon

I said I was going to give her two more photo shoots before I gave up completely on her. Today I had success. I think it was the blonde wig combined with the new background.
I made it work.

Too sick to play with dolls? Never!

In spite of the fact that I've been suffering with a chest cold and sore throat, I've been taking pictures of my dolls and redressing them.

Among the gals that is getting attention is Paul Pham's Numina, Devon. I cannot get this doll to look the way I want her to look. I can't pose her the way I visualize. I'm afraid that this type of doll just isn't for me. It's not the first 16" BJD that I failed to bond with. There is nothing wrong with this doll. She has a gorgeous body and a pretty face. I have nice clothes for her. I hate this feeling!

She's going to get two more chances to make me happy. No one stays without making me happy. Must be the medication.

Bergdorf Goodman's Fashion Night Out Doll: This is my third one and I have finally decided to keep one. She is quite pretty and I like her better without her hair braided. For some reason her hair was very fly-away upon receipt and she was NRFB! There must be a grinch in the factory with a dull razor scraping at hair instead of cutting hair. I trimmed it and there are still little shredded ends of hair. Ugh. But she stays.

Tonner's Artemis of Bana Mighdall ~ Redressed

13" Artemis of Bana Mighdall LE200, the New York Comic Con exclusive, showed up as a birthday gift a few weeks ago. My son attended that event back in September 2010,  purchased her for me and managed to keep it a secret all that time!
I just can't abide the shape of her head; she's got this gigantic, manly chin. But...not being one to abandon all hope immediately, I purchased two fashions for her.
In this picture she is wearing "Summer Avenue." It's a new Tonner Wardrobe item for the 13" dolls. The doll shown wearing it looks great and I hope to do something with Artemis to make her hair softer and perhaps that will soften the shape of her face.

Image Property of Tonner Doll Co.

My doll looks like a schlump compared to the promo photo. The outfit is adorable and fits very well. I have added a La Boutique LV handbag with matching scarf. I must get rid of those handlebars.

It was very cold today but the light was good so I grabbed the point & shoot and another newcomer to the team, "Vice" Cissy. This is one of the three 21" Cissy dolls that was designed by Jason Wu for the Madame Alexander Doll Company.
Not exactly a doll for all tastes, she is quite dramatic and sophisticated. Her facial screening is harder than most earlier Cissy dolls. Although in the last few years, there have been some Cissy's with over-the-top makeup.
She is my sixth Cissy. If I got any more I'd have to build them their own house.

Ultrasuede dog with Swarovski crystal collar.

Gloves with fingers!

Jason Style!

Devon got another chance to shine today. She came out on the snowy deck dressed in a Tonner Death by Fashion outfit. It's a great color for her.

Same outfit in this picture only it was taken indoors with artificial light.

This is my favorite so far.  Stay tuned!

Doll Winners and Losers of 2010 - My Picks

So many dolls have arrived this year it's mind-boggling to look back.
I do keep an accurate database with images so I know exactly who arrived and when. I also know who was voted off or waiting for adoption.
The following are not all newly released dolls but they were new to my collection this year and deserve their honors. 

Favorite Dolls of 2010

'Blue Horizon' Gene - Part of the Gene Marshall Convention: The Girls from Dream City

Avantguard Mini Clone Set 

'Flame Blue' Vanessa

'Dreamy' Trent - Gene Convention

'Fashion Plot' Gene (Ashton Drake)

Dasha FR2

Elise Jolie FR2

'Dark Desire' Madra (Ashton Drake)

Cami Basic Platinum

'Red Rabbit' Misaki - I haven't had the time to photograph her yet!

'Disclosure' Monogram - "

'Bijoux' AvantGuard Doll - See recent post.

Evangeline Ghastly and all of her fashons. -See recent post.

Numina Devon.  See recent post prior to this one.

Favorite Separate Fashions and Accessories of 2010

—DollyStyle - Fashion"Our Eyes Conected"by Lovesound

—Tonner 16" Antoinette HYPNOTIC Fashion Doll Outfit:
This picture was taken inside the Tonner Company Store quite a while ago. The silver outfit is Hypnotic and it took a long time for me to get.

—PukiPuki  Hand-knitted Outfit

—'Testament' Sybarite Fashion. I had to have this even though I have no Sybarite.

—'Venus Rising' Tonner Anne Harper Fashion

—'Chic Explorer' Outfit By Louisham Louos

 —JamieShow Outfit from Angelic Dreamz

—'Look Of Love' Poppy Parker Outfit. Actually I like all of the Poppy Parker outfits. They are well-designed, tasteful, fit correctly and adorable. 

Modeled by Mini-Gene

—Christian Louboutin Barbie® Shoe Collection - Presentation in the box is beautiful. 

—Giselle and Smoldering Convention Fashions

—Randall Craig 'The Girl Can't Help It';  'Feeling Good' and most of his IFDC convention line.

—Tyler Wentworth’s “Red Hot” fashion. An "oldie." Slinky, red sequined gown.

—Tabloach Wigs for Puki which fit the Monogram Dolls.
—Horseman Urban Vita Collection French Chairs and other Horseman furniture

This was a year in which I felt I had way too many dolls and I looked at fashions and accessories more than acquiring dressed dolls. 


The disappointments were:
This was, for me, the biggest disappointment of the year: 
—Tonner Convention 'Unforgettable' 13” Revlon

Unforgettable - pre-ordering sight unseen can be a disaster.

—'Virtually Stunning' Alex - Coarse and cartoony-looking features ruined this doll's appearance and made me appreciate the original Alex even more. Why was this gal turned into an Amazon?

Left: Original Alex Body   Right: New Alex Body

 Today I acetone-removed her lip paint and eyebrows and she looks much better already! I am going to attempt a partial repaint.

—Deneuve - I could not love her face no matter how hard I tried.  Her body was wonderful.

—'Tricks of the Trade' Eugenia Perrin Frost - The fashion was not fashionable.

I think several design possibilities were overlooked. ;-)

—Vaughn Workshop Doll - My straightforward one-word opinion of this doll started a shit storm. The word was ugly.

Image by Petra Elise used by Permission

—Kesenia - Ridiculous looking mouth was created when the vampire fangs weren't painted in.

—Jordan 'Fire Within' - A sad mess in her overly youthful fashion and under-developed facial
screening. I did a partial repaint and sold her so I wouldn't be reminded of how much I paid for her. Loved the earrings and shoes.

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This year we saw Fashion Royalty dolls' prices slashed by Integrity for the first time ever. It began with the discontinued Gene Marshall line and once they crossed that barrier, which had to have been an ego blow, they went forward with everything else that couldn't sell at retail.

I will be way more careful next year with the 12" dolls. Some of the dolls were pre-ordered with a kind of magical thinking that I'd love them. It was painful to see the gorgeous exclusive Nadja go on sale for half price...it's still up there.

My list of wonderful acquisitions is by no means complete. Compared to the amount of items I collected, the list of disappointments is small—but if you collect dolls, you will agree that every disappointment hurts.

During the year I added to my Silkstone, Tiny Kitty and Cissette collections. I'm still hunting for Tiny Kitty's Dress Shoppe.  The Silkies are useful for displaying Fashion Royalty 1st generation articulated body (short) fashions. They fit the Silkies almost perfectly! The Silkie I really wanted was ridiculously expensive so I didn't get her. I do draw the line once in a while.
Cissette has an unexplainable attraction for me. How did they get all the pieces of this fashion onto this little doll? It's so over the top.

Look how cute she is next to Cissy.

Time to wrap up this way-too-long post. I'd love to hear what your favorites and disappointments were in 2010.