Tonner's Raven

The one convention doll I purchased, Raven, arrived today. Like most furry, feathered creatures, she sheds. Her box had bits and pieces of this and that floating around. What I thought was a headpiece is actually part of her hair caught up and left with the ends sticking out. That hairdo will come down and she will have a full head of curly hair. In person her eye shading is darker than her promos. She reminds me of a mixture of two earlier Tonner dolls I've had, Suzette and the Ghost of Christmas Past.

 The tail of her costume is wired so it can be curled upward. Her shoes have a row of faux fur at the back and down the heel. Its not showing up in the pictures but her tights are shiny black. I think the interpretation of Raven-ness was done exceedingly well. She is ready for Halloween or a POE-try reading event.

A few other new things...

This is an Integrity FR16 dress being worn by Grace. It was too large for her in the upper back so I pinned about an inch.  The wig is by Cheryl Wood. I love the purse! The outfit comes with a ring and matching stud (yellow rhinestone) earrings, a yellow/black enamel cuff bracelet and black shoes.

Poor Leonie. I haven't given this new doll more than a few minutes of my time. She will have to wait a bit longer for some good styling and photos.

Last but not least in any way is Talc. I love this doll. She got to try on another new Ficon outfit that reminds me of a tutu. The jewelry is Superfrock; wig by Cheryl Wood. 

Sybarite, Ficon, Jamieshow Body Comparison

Today's photoshoot will be the last one in my current studio as I am going to start packing down there. I won't be packing my cameras, though. They don't get packed.

Anyway, I thought I'd compare the three types of fashion BJD's that were in my studio this morning without their clothes as that is how they will be packed for moving.

The stands I used for all three are the best saddle stands I've ever used. They are the Jamieshow stands. The Ficon stand is useless. It doesn't stay firmly upright. The Sybarite stand is OK but the extension ability is useless because it's too loose.
The dolls are, from left to right, Jamieshow Winter Grace, Ficon Leonie and Sybarite Talc.  Talc is the tallest and has the largest head. I don't know if I'm just getting used to seeing oversized heads or if Leonie's head is really too small for her body.
The picture of Devon is not the same scale as the other three dolls. I don't have her anymore so I couldn't do a comparison but I wanted to show what a gorgeous body she has. Note that her knees are similar to those of Leonie in that one doesn't see the stringing when the knee is bent. I think the design needs strengthening although it's the most attractive.

Leonie has the biggest butt when seen in profile. Her shoulders are set forward, closer to her chest than the other two dolls. There is very little movement in her torso joint. Talc's torso joint sometimes gets so 'moved' that it looks strange. She is very flexible.

Weight: Grace weighs exactly 13 ounces; Leonie 13.75 oz and Talc a whopping 1 pound 7.12 ounces.
The blushing on Grace's back is a little exaggerated. Her resin feels like silk.

Knees: It may be that I'm not used to Leonie yet as I just got her a few days ago but I'm finding that her knee joints are inferior. They bend the wrong way on their own. I occasionally had the same problem with the Numina knees which weren't strong enough to support the weight of the body. They look better when the doll is seated but perhaps something was sacrificed for the sake of appearance.

Seated: Talc was the easiest to get seated up straight and her arms and hands went where I placed them. Leonie elbow joints are on the kicky side and kept bending on their own although I wanted them to touch the table. She sits nicely with her knees together and ankles crossed. Grace has some difficulty sitting up straight as there is a limited range of movement in her hip joint. It took quite a bit of manipulation to get her to sit the way you see her here. 

 Hands: Grace has the prettiest, most graceful hands. Talc's hands are like paddles compared to Graces.

Leonie does not have pierced ears. Grace has holes for earrings and Talc has a non-removable ring onto which one can hang earrings. I like the hole version as I have tons of earrings with posts and very few with hooks.

Rock Fashion Wedding Dolls

The trio of dolls arrived today. There were no surprises as the dolls looked precisely as they looked in their promo pictures. I only removed Erin from her box as she is going to another collector without clothes.
I am aware that not everyone has the same tastes in dolls and some collectors think her tooth is cute. I'm not one of those. I do like her dress, jewelry and shoes. Her tooth can always be repainted to look like part of her mouth.

Here are Romain and Lillith:

I wasn't aware from the promos that the skirt under her long white layer was light blue.

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Sale Alert

Madame Alexander "Flirty 30s Glamour - Suzette Morgan" is on sale for the incredible price of $39.97 at The Doll Market. 

Alex Runway Collection:
16 inch vinyl fully articulated fashion doll "Flirty 30s Glamour - Suzette Morgan" has red hair, grey eyes and long flirty eyelashes. This vision of beauty comes dressed in a cream satin evening gown with runch detailing at the bust with beaded detailing, faux pearl earrings and a matching handbag.LE 300 - Madame Alexander

Hot Toys: The Avengers: Loki Limited Edition Collectible Figurine

Most doll collectors know that the Hong Kong based company known as Hot Toys creates the ultimate realistic, highly detailed collectible figures around. These items are 1/6th scale and unbelievably fabulous.
At first I thought this first image was the real actor in a costume. This is so real looking it's scary.

The Avengers
Movie Masterpiece Series
Sixth Scale Figure

Item Number: 901874
Manufactured by: Hot Toys

Price: US $219.99 Pre-order

Estimated Ship Date December, 2012

Pre-orders are being accepted on the Sideshow Collectibles website. 

A new figure was posted on their Facebook page today but her face is not shown. She is the "mysterious and gorgeous Avenger - Black Widow." 

Tonner Convention - Last Day and Much More News

The table doll was this adorable Tiny Betsy. I will try to find out more about her but I love the little airplane and her outfit. Really CUTE!!!

It looks like it was a fun convention with tons of dolls to choose from .

I got lucky and two dear girls have purchased Raven for me. Yay.
There will be dolls available next week sometime but I hate that mad rush to shop on-line. I like knowing that I'm getting my favorite doll from the event. It may cost me a few dollars more because the tax there is higher than tax here - shocking, I know. Or maybe not.

The bird dolls were $195. for those who wish to know.

Carol of Dreamcastle Dolls has a wonderful page with pictures of not only the dolls but the people and the competition OOAKs as well. She's a great doll dealer, too!

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In other news...we've started some serious packing in preparation to move to our new home in Pennsylvania, just outside of Allentown. We are truly blessed to have found lovely buyers for our own home in this terrible real estate market.

I will continue blogging but I'm going to be packing up my studio and things are going to be a little different for a while. I really can't wait to move out of this forest. It was wonderful for 15 years but it's time to move a little closer to civilization.

It's really hard to believe how many dolls and related items I have now that I've begun to put everything in cartons. That will make an interesting photo.

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My new Ficon, Leonie, arrived yesterday amidst the flurry of activity and all I could do was take some quick snapshots. I will fully review her next week but suffice it to say that I was not pleased with the difficulty of closing the boots - I couldn't figure them out! I put her in a different outfit.
She has a gorgeous body and poses beautifully. I think I actually like her better than the Sybarite body but we'll see as I play with her more.

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I took all the Marwencol donations over to the Tonner Company Store yesterday. Noreen and I arranged everything on a table in the back room. I think Mark is going to be overwhelmed when he sees all of this.
You can't really tell from the photo what is included here. It's unbelievable. People were very generous.

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No visit to the Tonner Store would be complete without gazing lovingly upon the dolls.