Is it really the economy?

 All the images from this post have been temporarily removed - in truth, they have disappeared and left nothing but black boxes.

So I was trolling the doll sellers web sites yesterday and checking to see what, if anything from this season's Integrity 12" doll lines, is sold out. That would be NOTHING. I have never seen this before. There have been a couple of the basic Fashion Royalty dolls in the past few years that weren't very popular and more than a few separate outfits but to have dressed dolls still available at every single retailer? Never. I'm not talking about the play line dolls here.

On the other hand, the 16" AvantGuards are completely sold out everywhere. Several of the Gene dressed dolls are also sold out, although if one looks hard enough, there are still some of each around. Last season's Gene dolls went on sale weeks ago at Marlbe and Mary T has been listing her leftovers on eBay for even less than Marlbe!

I find myself looking at the upcoming Fashion Royalty dolls to see if I missed something! I am not excited about anything I have ordered except for the AvantGuards. I did order two of the basic FR dolls, the Daria in red and Reluctant Debutante Poppy.

If it's not the economy, could it be the doll choices themselves? The Fashion Royalty, Nu.Face and Poppy Parker lines seem uninspired. They are just average in fashion and styling. The Nu.Face fashions are downright sloppy-looking. (I've been corrected. It's trendy, not sloppy. LOL)

There is a lot of black, white and red. Hmmm.

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And, what about Valia?

Do my eyes deceive me or is she wearing black, white and red, too?

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If this isn't enough for you, why not get this creature? She is called the Traveler Innoquii. The weirder you spell the name of a doll, the more haute...? Trendy? If you like dolls that have tattoos consisting of a compass, passport stamps and an "erogenous flight path" and one huge black eye, then this gal is for you. Run right over to the Haute Doll site as this is an exclusive from Superfrock. There are only 300 of them at $380. each for subscribers or $400. for non-subscribers. Lucky for you, she is still in stock.

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Not to be outdone, Robert Tonner also has used black and white this season. Happily it's not his theme. The following are from the Joan Crawford line:

Above is a dresssed doll called Classic Portrait. LE 500 Retail Price $179.99 No, I'm not kidding.

This is a dressed doll called Hollywood Starlet. LE 1000 Her retail price is $189.99. Both Crawford dolls are available for less at the major doll dealers such as Cherished Friends who has them in stock for $153. and $152. respectively.

Finally, in this strange blog post which has become all about black, white and red doll fashions, we have another new Tonner fashion. This one is from the Bette Davis line and is called "Spotted By The Press." This is just an outfit which is LE 300 and retails for $89.99. It's cute but it's way to close in styling to the Joan Crawford outfit, "Publicity Shoot." It is not yet available but if you want to be the first on your block to have one, you can pre-order it at Cherished Friends for $76.00.

Today's lesson: never pay retail. That was yesterday's lesson, too; I just wanted to see if you were paying attention.