1/05/2013

2013 W Club Membership

2013 W Club  Kyori Sato Love The One
Burberry-Prorsum
It's nice to know that they are keeping the membership fee to $50 for another year. There are two optional "upgrade" dolls one can choose to purchase.
Shown above is the Kyori called "Love The One..." I think the cape makes her look imprisoned because it is too long. I'm not a fan of the Burberry-Prorsum either but it looks like the model could move her arms if she chose.

The other doll is Poppy Parker dressed as a 1965 World's Fair guide. Pretty much everyone agreed that she looks like an airline hostess. It's not the most attractive presentation of Poppy we've seen.
To The Fair Poppy Parker Dressed Doll
Lufthansa uniforms from 1938 to 1979.
I'm not planning on getting either one but I am going to join again. I just hope it's not a waste of money since I really do not collect most of their dolls any longer but I do like a lot of the clothes.

And, if we're lucky, they'll come out with a decent FR2 that is not a horse-faced Tatyana or slutty-looking Ayumi.
 
Harsh, I know, but diplomacy is not uppermost in my mind tonight. I have had an allergic reaction to a sample from Sephora and it's around both my eyes. I want to rub but must not.

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1/03/2013

Inamorata Mirrorball by Emlia Nieminen

Today's email from Haute Doll stated:

"The long wait is finally over: the INAMORATA doll line was revealed in an exclusive article by Jill Jackson on the Haute Doll January 2013 issue. Get your HD issue on stores now or order eletronically!"

That was very intriguing news as Emilia has been sending out teasers for a while. Well, the dolls look like they are going to be quite wonderful. No information on pricing was available. They are 16" polyurethane resin BJDs with 20 points of articulation. Emilia states that they were designed to look as good undressed as dressed.

Here are pictures of the OOAK that Emilia shows on her Flickr Site that will be auctioned off at IDEX in a few months.



In my opinion, Emilia is one of the most talented persons in the doll world. She says that these dolls are the realization of her life-long dream. I think it's a supreme, creative achievement and I am looking forward to seeing these dolls in the hands of collectors.
 
 If you wish to see more images and read Emilia's artist statement you will need to get the Haute Doll digital edition.

12/31/2012

2012 - It was a very good year.

In this final 2012 post, I look back over the last 12 months to find what I've actually kept out of the hordes of dolls and doll items that I purchased.

My doll collecting has changed dramatically over the course of the last two years. I started adding Sybarites and other 16" resin BJDs to my collection and continued thinning my 12" doll army. I've focused more on adding more clothing for all my dolls and filled in a few Tonner dolls, outfits and props that I've wanted. I scored 7 Cholo Ayuyao gowns and dresses. I've switched many of my favorite 'older' dolls to new FR2 bodies.

The biggest mistake purchases were impulse buys consisting of mostly Mattel products, not including Silkstones, although I was disappointed with many of the 2012 Silkies. The Monster Highs and several dressed vinyl Barbies were momentary goodies which added nothing of substance to my collection. I wasted a little money on outfits made by other collectors which did not live up to my expectations.  Ultimately, I was surprised at how many dolls I purchased and didn't keep or traded for something else.

Moving was time consuming and very disorienting and I'm just now starting to see a tiny crack of light at the end of a long tunnel.

Instead of posting 'normal' photos of my favorites, I have made Instagram pictures of some of them. Why? Because they're cool, it's fun and I'm bored with normal pictures. 

Sybarites and their fashions played a large part in my collection this year.
Vapore:
Domina:

Neurotica: (Redressed/Rewigged) Actually, she's not dressed at all. She is holding the shrug from a gorgeous SybMonde exclusive fashion, Rosa Gloriosa. Wig by Cheryl Wood. I added several of her wigs this year.
Domina modeling Rosa Gloriosa
Fidele's Fashion. No doll :-( just the outfit-for now.

Venetian modeled by Toxica.

Speed modeled by Talc. It's an older fashion but new for me.

JamieShow
JamieShow Alejandro and the Jamieshow outfit from the Prohibition Event in Canandaigua. He is my first and only male resin BJD and definitely a keeper.
Image by George Gonzalez

Tonner
Tonner's new Precarious sculpt and fashions designed for her were big hits IMO. I purchased two of the dolls and several of the outfits.
Swing Time Fashion (This is not Precarious modeling. It is a TDLM doll)
 
Precarious "Party Girl"
Neo Tokyo from the Freedom For Fashion line
Simplicity Antoinette
Ghost of Christmas Past an older Tonner Re-Imagination doll.

Ficon
"Leonie" (Redressed)
That's it for the big dolls. It feels like there should be more because all of my Tonner's were the first dolls to be packed along with my Gene Marshall dolls. They were packed for almost one year by the time I was able to get them back out of their boxes and into showcases. Many seem new to me all over again. I can stare at the dolls and love each and every one of them. Unloved dolls find new homes.

Integrity Toys' Fashion Royalty, FR2
This is a little more complicated to show as I added very few complete dolls this year from IT's lineups. I kept more fashions than dolls. I even purchased an older Vanessa NRFB so I could have an unaltered version.
Pale Fire Vanessa
I may have mentioned previously that there seems to be a disconnect in the design team. By that I mean that someone in there is a really bad designer and that would be the person that designed most of the recent convention's outfits. That was the worst collection I've ever seen.  However, during the year there were some gorgeous fashions worthy of the name Fashion Royalty. 

I liked both of the convention's FR2 dolls but Dasha's outfit was less than stellar. Elise was totally gorgeous.
Escapism Elise
Infallible Dasha redressed in VJohn
Of the other three FR2 dolls released in 2012, it was mainly the fashions that interested me.
Tatyana's red dress.
Nouveau Regime Tatyana
I finally broke down (like that's difficult) and purchased Opium Ayumi. Her outfit looks better in person than in pictures.
Opium Ayumi
My favorite fashions all year were Main Attitude Adele Makeda's suit
Integrity Toys' Photo

Your Kind of Model Kesenia's outfit
Modeled by re-rooted True  Royalty
Monogram Admiration's suit
Integrity Toys' Photo
 My favorite dressed Monogram was Allure
Integrity Toys' Photo
From the Victoire Roux line, I kept only the outfit from Place Vendome. Vanesssa looks stunning in it.

These outfits are keepers. Now if I could find the perfect male doll to wear them. These four photos are all Integrity Toys' images.


Silkstone "Walking Suit" was my favorite new Silkie.

Favorite new prop is Byers' Choice Caroler Display Accessory.

There is more but you are probably snoring already.

Companies have to stop going backwards with the quality and appearance of their products. When this happens, the perceived value drops and collectors will search out other items.