2012 Integrity Toys Reveal

IT is unveiling new dolls at IDEX. 

First up, the Monogram dolls are the clear winners. Someone (new, perhaps?) designed this line and made a 180° turn from the direction they had taken in the past year. They went from dowdy (Bemused, Envied & Passionate) and WWTT to stylish and classy the way they were the first two years and maybe even better.

There are five dressed dolls offered. From what I can see, three of them (2,4,5) have the original sculpt and two have caught the puffy-Poppy-upper-lip-thing. All the fashions are stunning except the one in the middle which doesn't seem suited or fitted to the doll's scale and size. However, the accessories from that ensemble are lovely.
The blonde one on the end seems to be channeling Hollywood glamour - maybe Marilyn. I was pleasantly surprised that I liked two of these five enough to pre-order them! SHOCK!
The price has gone up $10 per doll to $160. Must be for the lashes. Yes, Monogram dolls now sport lashes.
I predict there will be issues with the hair bump on #2 - as it looks uneven in this picture already.

Congratulations to the designer of the Monogram dolls for this success. 

The other doll I was impressed with is the Gretel doll from Hansel and Gretel Nu.Fantasy duo. The dolls are available separately - they are not a set.

This description cracked me up: 

"This high fashion reinterpretation of the traditional German folk tale has Hansel and Gretel looking fabulous while lost in the woods.  They are ready to take on any old witch or fashionista." 

I hope her hair is as fabulous in the production doll as it looks in the promo. I also hope the fashion doesn't stain her body. Why? Because I pre-ordered her, too.  ($135.)

Poppy Parker shows up with Chip. When I read that name all I could think of is Chip and Dale, computer chips, corn chips and those California Highway guys on bikes, CHiPs.

They should have named him Biff. Anyway, he's not a looker. He's just an expensive Ken with a blank, expressionless face.  His tuxedo and shoes are very nice.
Poppy's dress is a vintage 50's prom dress style in deep coral. 
Darla comes with the microphone. She is not part of the set. Her dress is more sophisticated as is her hairstyle. She has a little Jackie Kennedy style going on. Is she supposed to be older than Poppy?

The Poppy/Chip set is $150. Darla is $89.

There is a whole new line of dolls featuring Poppy Parker as Sabrina.

Sabrina is a 1954 comedy-romance film directed by Billy Wilder, adapted for the screen by Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor, and Ernest Lehman from Taylor's play Sabrina Fair (in the UK, the movie has the title Sabrina Fair). It stars Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden. This was Wilder's last film released by Paramount Pictures, ending a 12-year relation with Wilder and the company.

The line features two dressed dolls and two gift sets. If you like Poppy, you will like these sets.

These are the two dressed dolls. They retail for $125. each.
The giftsets each have multiple outfits and accessories.

And now for the part of the collection I think is the least impressive - the Avantguard16 (FR16) and the Giant Poppys.

I am completely unimpressed with these four dolls. Their facial screening is cartoon-like and I don't care for any of the fashions. I did have the opportunity to examine the FR16 body and I will not be buying any doll on that body. I originally thought that these dolls might be good body donors for the Avantguard dolls I already have whose bodies are yellowed and floppy. The new bodies are just as lightweight and wobbly. The size has changed as well which will create more problems for redressers. Retail price $175. That's interesting. The 12" FR2s were also $175. I suppose a little extra vinyl and fabric doesn't amount to very much.

The giant Poppys are unappealing. The fashions are acceptable enough for the era they are supposed to represent but with the increased size, that phony-looking upper lip has grown to what looks like a clothespin has been pinching it. These dolls retail for $150. each.

 

There are bee-stung lips and there's deformity. 

Hey...to each his own. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Seems like IT is counting on the success of the little Poppys and trying to bring collectors into the 16" world. They'd better be careful because if the minions start collecting 16" dolls, they might discover a whole world of gorgeous 16" dolls out there that aren't made by IT and that have different lips from each other. I must do a collage of IT lips - 2011-2. Waldo will be in there for sure.

This line is called Teen Poppy. Aren't the little Poppy dolls teens, too?