Tonner's Louise Devereaux

She is not a classically pretty doll. Her face is unattractive and the dark makeup under her eyes contributes to the gaunt look. Not being able to decide to keep her or not, I attempted to re-dress Louise last night. Unfortunately that did not work out for me or Louise and she's gotta go. I will keep one of the two I purchased just because it's the first of the new line.

I did photograph her a few days ago and those pictures are posted here.

Juicy Couture Beverly Hills G&P Barbie® Dolls by Mattel

Why do I even try? Again and again I am reminded that Mattel's products are inferior yet they look so cute in the pictures. Now I know why so many Barbie collectors keep everything in the boxes. Once you take it out, the stuff looks like crap.

This episode of "Nightmare on Mattel Street" stars the Juicy Couture Beverly Hills G&P Barbie doll set.
The dolls are tiny replicas of Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor, the designers and co-founders of the Juicy Couture fashion empire. List price is $110. I used one of my coupons and got free shipping so I thought I did OK because it was less expensive than I could find anywhere else. I wanted the dresses for my Fashion Royalty or Model Behavior dolls. I knew in advance that they were sewn on.
I pre-ordered and approximately 2 months later a crushed UPS box arrives. I am not exaggerating when I say that every single side - that's 6 sides - was bashed and/or punctured to a degree. The box actually looked as if it had been put in a compressor. The tape had begun to pop and the contents were visible!

There was no protective padding around the doll box and so it echoed the damage.

Upon writing to customer service I received a RA from Mattel with a return shipping label. Then several weeks went by and I didn't get my new dolls. I wrote to Mattel and as if they had been waiting for my letter, I was told that they received my return and would ship out the new dolls to me.
The new set arrived in a pristine box and it still looked really pretty.

The first doll I undressed was the blonde. There was cello-wrap around her body to keep the black dress from contacting the vinyl. Unfortunately they didn't wrap her arms and they are seriously stained. I was going to sell the dolls but instead she has Oxy 10 all over her arms right now. Her hair has so much product on it that it looks like chunky straw. The brunette, who is much prettier, had no staining at all.

One improvement to note is that all the jewelry was removable and replaceable. The rings and earrings popped right out. The bracelets had hook fasteners as did the necklaces. The shoes are very cute. The packaging is very attractive and the set comes with a miniature perfume bottle. As usual, one needs a hacksaw to get the dolls out of the packaging. I'd love to watch the assembly of these items for sale.

I do not recommend this set unless you intend to keep the dolls in the box.

What's up with the low prices in the Fashion Royalty secondary market?

When I got in to collecting Fashion Royalty dolls, secondary market prices were always at least 50% higher than retail. Now many dolls are selling for less than retail. Even Vanessa, one of the most sought after characters, is dropping in price! There were three issued in less than a year. Certain so-called holy grail dolls are still holding steady at many times retail.

I posted a question on one of the doll boards concerning the drop in secondary market prices and here are some of the responses.

—Just supply and demand. So many dolls, I'm just making room. Still love the girls and will enjoy what I keep. Just be more selective in the future.

—I agree with you, I paid $169.99 + tax & sh. for MD Eugenia and there is one on ebay for $150.

— I think it is just plain FR doll overload. Integrity are releasing way way too many dolls now and people are feeling overwhelmed. Plus the quality has dropped from what it used to be and the economy is not so great right now thus people are not quite as prepared to pay such high prices for dolls.

—Too high editions? Too much competition? Bad economy ?

—Too many dolls in few time, too many exclusives, the change of the bodies that even if more poseable they seems cheaper ( and maybe they are! ), higher prices, ebay scalpers, FAO exclusives almost impossible for Europeans. I do believe that all these reasons annoyed collectors. (Well, these are the reasons that annoyed me! And I was a great FR collectors!)

—The market is glutted with too many dolls from all the manufacturers...sad 'cause there are so many fantastic dollies and it seems we just get to be in awe of one for about 10 minutes and the next NEW best thing is coming out and pushing that last one aside...
We need a bit more of a break in between exclusives/collections and everything!

—I think Greed is the reason. Too many people buy to resell only... and that drives the numbers up. Higher numbers.. = gluttony.
Look at the uber "limited" WClub dolls.. they have to cover all memberships.. that includes multi-membership households.
Greed has killed these dolls.. it also gave IT the ideas that we are willing to pay anything.
And.. with that in mind.. "let's make a few more dolls, and make more money"
I am not willing to pay more.
These are only dolls.

—I'm glad! It means.... That I should no longer have to panic and buy a doll the minute she's released. I can wait to see what comes out and then pick and choose!

—For me it's just too many dolls. I am out of space and I really don't like selling the dolls I have. I love the older ones especially. Every time I think about clearing some out, I just can't find anyone I want to let go. Soooo...I am not buying too many new ones. I think IT has just released too much at the same time for the past couple of years. PLUS, I think the retail prices have just gotten way out of line. I didn't even order either one of the club dolls...I just didn't get that "must have" feeling. And I have always gotten the club doll in the past.