The W Club - Tell them I sent you!

The purpose of this post is to inform any doll collector who is not yet a member of the W Club what the club has done in the past three years since it's inception. I highly recommend membership for all of the reasons you will read below.

If you do decide to join I would appreciate it if you would use my name as the referral person! Please make sure to join prior to December 22, 2008 in order that I may get credit for the referral. And if you do use my name, please let me know. You won't be disappointed!

This year I am also joining the Gene W Club as I realized that I was missing out on all the goodies that went along with that club, too.

Membership has it's rewards!
• Exclusive access to first-to-know information; sneak peeks at
upcoming dolls, fashions & more!
• Exclusive access to members-only forums!
• VIP customer service from the W Club Liaisons!
• Guaranteed ability to purchase exclusive Club-only doll(s)!
• Special coupons for discounts on purchasing Club dolls!
• Club-only opportunities to purchase dolls, fashions & more!
• Exclusive VIP invite to Toy Fair event in New York City on 2/21/2009!
• Priority Convention Registration!
• Access to private Q&A sessions with Jason Wu and Mel Odom!
• 3 levels of Club membership to meet collectors’ needs!

Registration information is at the end of this post.

I have been a member of Integrity Toy's Fashion Royalty W Club since it started three years ago. My fondest memory of the first year was attending the first FAO event on February 14th, 2006. It was Valentines' Day and I manipulated my husband into driving down to Manhattan with me by telling him I would accept it as a Valentines' gift. I'm so generous. LOL
The event was for W Club members and their guests. Those of us who arrived at the store a little early stood on line outside in the cold of the New York winter waiting to be let in. Don't believe for one minute that we stood quietly. There were squeals of recognition every minute and hugs and chatter. Once inside we were checked in and rode the escalator upstairs past huge stuffed dinosaurs where we saw the new line of Fashion Royalty dolls for that year. It was very exciting and very crowded as we pressed together to get a good look at the dolls. We met and mingled and were served drinks and hors d'oeuvre. We got to buy the last doll in the Voyages Line, Isha "Final Cut" Cannes Collection Giftset.

That year we had a Yahoo W Club board which was pretty active and lots of fun. There were two dolls available only to W Club members: Stylish Escape Veronique and Dressing the Part Agnes.

Also offered to W Club members were two tri-fold backdrops called Evening at the Theater and Coffee and Cocktails in Krakow.

In 2007, I signed up for two memberships! On February 13 the second FAO doll unveiling event was held at which we were able to buy the beautiful Wicked Valentine Agnes doll.

The weather was typical February in New York, freezing, snowing, sleeting and overall horrible. Many collectors who drove spent hours on the road trying to get home. But we did all arrive home safely.
The W Club dolls that year were:

In Bloom Vanessa:


Costume Drama Giselle Diefendorf:

and Grand Arrival Colette:
We were given a choice of buying one or both of these dolls. There was also an exclusive fashion called Purple Reign offered to club members.

Throughout the year contests were held and prizes awarded. We got sneak peeks at dolls before the public and were offered lotteries before the public for limited edition dolls and remaining convention dolls. We were able to register for the convention earlier than the public as well.

At the last FAO Toy Fair event held on February 22, 2008, we were treated to the premier viewing of the new Hollywood Royalty line and the first doll, Ethereal Return Lana Turner was available for purchase.

Of course, we viewed the new dolls for 2008 as well. It was a fabulous event, attended by many in the metropolitan area, the country and there were even several collectors from Europe! In typical February New York fashion, we had a snowstorm. But that didn't stop several hundred collectors from converging on FAO Schwarz at 6:00 PM.

At each event the we have mingled with the founder of Integrity Toys, Percy Newsum and his family, Jason Wu and some of his staff and Mel Odom of Gene Marshall fame.

Early in the year the W Club switched to a forum-format chat board which made organizing themes, topics, threads and information possible. We share our collections and expertise. We ask and answer questions and are given information by the liaisons. We can buy, sell and barter dolls and doll related items of any kind.

We were able to purchase an Upgrade Option club doll this year. She was a Eugenia doll called "Going Public."

The last 2008 club offering which is about to arrive is called the Moods Collection. We were offered two different Veroniques with the original face mold. They will be the last Veros with this face mold. We could create our own giftsets by choosing from the following items:

Blond Ambition
Body Double Veronique Perrin Starry Night Wardrobe FashionFrench Dressing Deluxe Accessory Pack
Luxe Finish Accessory Set

The final 2008 club doll is called Bewitching Hour Luchia who is due to arrive sometime in 2009.

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Registration information from Integrity Toys W Club for new members:

Here are the prices of each 2009 membership- for more information see the brochure or begin the registration process, as there are details included there as well.

http://www.integritytoys.com/2009club.pdf

You may register now through 5:00 PM Central Standard Time (Chicago Time) on January 8, 2009.

Make sure you register well in advance of the deadline. Every year, things come up at the last minute, so register as soon as possible

A-Base (Gene) Gold Membership: $40

B-Upgraded Gold Membership: $140 (plus shipping), which includes the base Gold membership and the Zita Charles doll.

Of the $140, $65 will be billed at registration and $75 plus shipping will be billed in April, with the doll scheduled for May delivery.

C-Base (FR/1:6 Scale) Diamond Membership: $50

D-Upgraded Diamond Membership: $130 (plus shipping), which includes the base Diamond membership and the Vanessa Perrin Cruise Control doll.

Of the $130, $70 will be billed at registration and $60 plus shipping will be billed in April, with the doll scheduled for May delivery.

E-Super Deal! Base Platinum Membership: $80 (includes one membership to each of the Gold and Diamond Clubs)

F-Mega Deal! Upgraded Platinum Membership: $260 (plus shipping), of which $121 will be billed at registration and $139 plus shipping will be billed in April, with the dolls scheduled for May delivery.

Again, you can begin the registration process (if you do not want to view the brochure) here:

http://www.integritytoys.com/wclub.html

We have a brochure about the 2009 W Club that can be found in our forum or at this link:

http://www.integritytoys.com/2009club.pdf

Contact the Liaisons if you have any problems. wclub@integritytoys.com

So there you have it. The instructions can be quite confusing so if you need clarification or help, I recommend contacting the liaisons or you can contact me right here by asking a question.