Showing posts with label platinum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label platinum. Show all posts

7/18/2017

New Barbie Website is Full of Toys

I had a chance to prowl through the new website this morning and my opinion is that it's a success in that it works. Everything has been thrown into what was called Barbie Collector and is now called Barbie.mattel.com.  The inclusion of playline Barbies including playsets, cheap fashion packs, party supplies, and more toy-like products as opposed to collectibles is a turn-off. I'm not in the market for a Barbie backpack or a little Escalade for a child.

Power Wheels Barbie Cadillac Escalade $400. 

If you want to see Silkstone Dolls, use this link:
If you want to see more fashion dolls for adults, click on: 


The other big change is that there are going to be three membership levels - pink, gold and platinum. Read very carefully as rewards have requirements such as spending $80 or $100 before you can use one. 


At the highest level, you would have to spend $400 over four quarters to get your full $120 benefit. Plus you would get free shipping all year. It could be worth the $34.xx and maybe not. 

You can still do the $19.95 membership fee and get the usual rewards although now you have to spend $80 per order to get $20 off.  That kind of sucks. 

If you don't buy either the gold or the platinum status, you can have a Pink Status membership for free but no access to the forum.

I may just stop buying Silkstone dolls now. 

Everything changes and Mattel is in business to make money, of course. I wish them and this website the best of luck. I am very interested in hearing what my fashion doll collector friends think.

What do you all think about these changes to the website and the membership?

7/11/2016

2016 IFDC Dolls

In addition to the sequined spy with a gun, there are two more dolls. 
The convention souvenir is a unique combination of fashion doll and transformer toy. Dasha is the sculpt with an edition size of 500. Retail $175.
Here's her description directly from the promotional:


When Dasha™ was offered the role of super villain Anika Luxoticca in the latest Agent 355 movie, she just couldn't resist. How can anyone pass up the chance to become a half-woman, half-machine cyborg looking for a potion that will allow her to feel love again? With her exotic accent, Dasha immediately became a hit with fans of the spy genre!

Anika Luxottica is ready to fight for her right to love and has captured Professor Young, a hip and happening scientist who has invented a love potion so potent that no human on Earth, both male and female, can resist once it's been ingested! Transformed into a cyborg following a freak lab accident that left her "transformed" for life (as she sees it), Luxottica can hide her mechanical limbs by switching them for solid colored ones at will. Dressed in a futuristic lab gown and techno heels, Anika comes complete with two full sets of limbs that can be switched at will and her half of the mysterious love potion. Will she be able to pry the other half out of Professor Young's grasp? What will she do to get it and feel again? You decide!

 She is intriguing and sexy in her long, slim "lab gown." The cyborg arms and legs are pretty funny. I don't know why they remind me of Monster High dolls. Did they also have dolls with clear limbs?  In any case, if I were collecting FR, I'd probably want this one because she's so different. 
IT hasn't used the Dasha sculpt much and it's never been received warmly but it remains to be seen if this oddity will be liked.



The companion doll is "Marius Lancaster" as Professor  Young. He is a new sculpt.

When Hollywood pretty boy Marius Lancaster's agent called to tell him that he had landed a major role in Agent 355, he thought to himself: "Sweet, I've got it made, I'm a spy!"
He wasn't as thrilled though, when he found out that he would essentially be "the damsel in distress" and not the spy of this new epic adventure- he wasn't too sure what that would do for his macho "ladies' man" image. To his surprise, the experience on set was one of the best that he ever had and the chemistry with the movie's two lead actresses was pretty hot on film to say the least, especially in that famous scene when Agent 355 comes down from the ceiling to rescue him from Anika's laser cutting table at the last possible second, before the laser cuts him in half! His performance as a fashionably geeky professor in desperate need of rescuing did not go unnoticed by the movie-going public and since his appearance in Mission Lovejoy, the casting offers have been pouring in left and right! So, being a "mister in distress" is not that bad after all it seems, especially when you have two of the most beautiful leading ladies fighting over you... We'll definitely be seeing this guy again in the near future!

Marius Lancaster as Professor Young is a brand new character making his debut in the family of Integrity Toys male figures and comes dressed in a classical, slightly geeky look, complete with red silk tie, handkerchief, super cute argyle socks and oxford shoes, black reading glasses and a watch. Our leading man comes with his half of the formula of the love potion that he invented and a super fun set of colored test tubes in a rack, a never seen before accessory created just for this set! Marius Lancaster is a fully articulated 12.5-inch fashion figure with fully rooted hair.



Apparently "Anja" as Agent 355 has more tools than just a gun which is a good sign. 


Parisian top model Anja was noticed in some of W Cosmetics' most notorious campaigns and was ready for new challenges, when her agent came up with the idea that she should give acting a shot. Soon after her very first audition, Anja immediately landed the role of Agent 355, a new kind of ultra-glamorous female spy set to save the world in the latest designer garb! Inspired by current runway looks (and OK, a lot of Las Vegas glitz!), Integrity Toys' Alain Tremblay styled Anja for the title role in Mission Lovejoy, a story he invented just for this year's IFDC convention!
Anja™ as Agent 355 is ready to solve the mystery of Professor Young's disappearance, as she travels abroad and uses every tool in her arsenal to rip him and his secret formula away from the clutches of the evil Anika Luxottica, a cyborg incapable of love and kindness.  In her own uniquely glamorous way, Anja jumps into action wearing her designer inspired sequined tuxedo and killer high-heels like every spy should, gun and camera in-hand! "M" and "Q" gave Anja a detailed mission pack that includes a map, a picture of the mysterious Professor Young and a mission brief. Now, it's up to her to prevent the cyborg from unleashing Young's lethal love potion on the world! Anja™ is a fully articulated 12.5-inch doll with fully rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes.
These dolls are being offered via lottery to W Club members. Marius and Anja are $150. each. Anika is $175. 

1/22/2015

A French Name Does Not Always a Great Doll Make

Ombres Poétique = Poetic Shadows
Poésie Enchantée = Enchanted Poetry
Poésie Sans Couleur = Poetry without Color

Do we see a connection here?

Integrity Toys put lots of effort into "Ombres Poétique" Mademoiselle Jolie, the last 2014 W Club exclusive doll, but missed the mark.  The gown, which could have been drop dead gorgeous, is a boring, boring beige with forgettable trim.

It consists of layer upon layer of tulle, all the same color. They had an opportunity to actually create an ombre (shaded, nuanced) effect by using graduated colors and eliminating the trim.

I would have rather have the gown in all black but Tulle is so fragile,  I'm wondering if I dare dye it.
Maybe some other brave soul will attempt it first. 

How to:
http://www.ehow.com/how_8044925_dye-tulle.html
http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/dye-tulle-27626.html


The accessories are the clutch purse which has a nice embroidered design, a lovely necklace and matching earrings. Getting the necklace required using jewelers' pliers to open the hook a bit.  I like that the clutch opens so the doll can insert a finger to actually hold it.
The ribbon ties on the shoes are a fiddly annoyance. I found that the arch of the shoe did not conform to the doll's feet but they stayed on anyway.


In addition, the mini giftset comes with some lingerie which I haven't put on a doll yet.
IT Photo
 As far as the doll herself, her hair is the same color as the other Poetic dolls - platinum. Even though I'm not a fan of the hair bump, I must say that her hair is beautifully done. I have seen it taken down and apparently there are no bald spots. That's a good thing for those intending to restyle.
If I were going to keep mine, I'd repaint her lips as I don't think the parted mouth does anything for this particular sculpt.

IT Photo
The Isha sculpt appeared for the first time in 2005 as Riveting Premier and as Age of Opulence.







In 2007, the same sculpt was used for two IFDC dolls as Luchia Z. Photos below are IT promo.


After that it was anyone's guess who was who as Isha lost her ethnic edge in all the incarnations except in "Purple Pose."


Another doll named Imogen used the sculpt as well, not too successfully I might add.**
**Ed. NOTE: I have been corrected. Imogen is not the same as Isha/Luchia. (1/22)


There may be more.  Only the Shadow knows.


8/03/2011

Not Made in China!

Take A Look Inside New York's Iconic Madame Alexander Doll Factory by Robert Johnson

Altagracia Villa, seamstress, at Madame Alexander's 
I thought they had ended the tours but it seems they're still going on. I am aching to go visit! A real factory in New York City that still operates is unusual. Check out this article which has lots of good pictures. Click on the picture below.
 
And while we're talking about Madame Alexander, I thought I'd show you a few Jason Wu styled items that are on sale directly from the Madame Alexander website. As always, do your research before making a purchase because prices can vary widely and you may find less expensive options on eBay and on dealers' sites.
Bon Bon by Jason Wu - Neo Cissy 16 Inch Doll LE200. Originally $159.95 now $79.95.
Lust by Jason Wu - Cissy 21 Inch Doll LE 200. Originally $349.95 now $174.95
Going Platinum Paris 16 Inch Doll Styled by Jason Wu. Originally $149.95 now $99.95