One of the topics of concern on with W Club members is the appearance of the eyes on Anika Luxottica and on one of the upgrade dolls, Vanessa Take Me On.
See JennFL2's close-up photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jennfl/28314491605/in/photostream/
This collector actually found an 'extra' decal stuck in Anika's hair!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/barbie_my_scene_fashion_royalty/28441023882/in/photostream/
Integrity has been sent inquiries and their response is????
Creepy-
ReplyDeleteI can tell you what my response is. I stopped buying Integrity dolls after I got a greasy face Vanessa black tie. That was the final straw for me. Now seeing that they are using decals for Eyes only reinforces my decision.
ReplyDeleteThat was a bad season for you. I remember.
DeleteLoL. I'll take a break from collecting. I will try selling off some stuff and enjoy the things I keep.
DeleteWho knows, I may cross over to the big girls.
Be careful before taking that leap. :-)
DeleteNo response by Integrity yet...
ReplyDeleteIt sure looks like they've switched to decals. What is worse is that they didn't tell us. Isn't it true that Mattel only uses decal eyes on their playline dolls?
I did not even sign up for Integrity this year as last years dolls were not up to snuff. Some of the earlier dolls were so "top shelf". It seems as if the company has opted for a cheaper way to do things...
ReplyDeleteIt's always about money. They do need to survive and thrive as a company but at what cost to the consumer?
DeleteI do not care about IT's money issues or bottom line. I do not own stock in the company. I care about my bottom line as a consumer and am unwilling to keep paying more and more for less and less. It is always something, greasy faces, lack of accessories, lower quality saran, wonky eyes, bad lashes, mold, glue and gunk coming out of joints, cutting corners here and there and now sticker eyes. Just look at last convention. It felt like a money grab: just give us your money and leave.
DeleteEntire doll lines have disappeared and they keep making dolls and lines no one, other than the usual 45 people, buys. They cut down on the number of souvenir dolls and extras, over produced and over-charged to the point where they could not sell out this time around and still have opening. The way the convention doll Karolin Stone was introduced, last minute and in a rush, was embarrassing and pathetic, the W club luncheon doll souvenir was practically nude. Table hosts no longer got to keep a Poppy, substantially higher prices for dolls that had nothing on them...
Very Sad. I can see switching to a different technology, like decals, if the results warrant it. If a higher level of consistent finish and quality is achieved...why not. When the result is a finished product with a poor appearance and obvious quality control issues it is another thing entirely. I've kept renewing the "club" membership because I thought that things could turn around. It doesn't appear that is going to happen.
ReplyDeleteAs always...love the blog.
Will C.
Thank you, Wil. I appreciate your comments.
Deletei agree that the integrity of the integrity dolls is questionable. i was shampooing may doll and accidentally wiped the eyelash causing it to flatten on her face. it took some time for me to get the lash back in place. i've also experienced the quality of the materials used for the bodies is diminishing.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about the bodies' integrity declining. I'm withholding judgment until I hear the truth and see the new FR body.
DeleteThe ongoing silence does not bode well. If they were not using decals on the dolls moving forward, I think they would have jumped right in and told us.
ReplyDeleteI think something has been off with IT since the last convention. Since I do not collect the big girls and I primarily collect dolls of color, I am preparing myself to accept that my days of buying new dolls are probably over. I will keep the dolls I have as I really love them and will focus on new clothes and dioramas. This is a darn shame.
ReplyDeleteSome other line of dolls might come along. It did for me.
DeleteI don't collect FR any more, so I don't really care either way, but I would think that using decals would be a good thing, as long as they're quality decals. IT has been plagued by complaints of "wonky eyes" since the beginning, using decals that can be printed over & over exactly the same should stop that problem. If using decals (again good quality ones) takes care of a problem that collectors have been complaining about for years, why is it a bad thing?
ReplyDeleteOne collector reported she got 10 Dashas from IFDC. Out of her 10, she said only 4 had good eyes. The others were visibly uneven. It appears to not work, plus you can see the pixels on close up shots. It look cheap.
DeleteI'm with you though. I no longer care.
Well, I guess that takes care of my point about "good quality" decals. You would think that after years in the business, they would have a clue.
DeleteI do not buy the concept of quality decals because the issue is not the quality of the decals, it is the fact that they are using decals. Period!! Using decals cheapens a doll and lowers its quality overall. High quality garbage is still garbage.
DeleteWhat is even worse is that the usual crowd is making up excuses for Integrity.
ReplyDelete"Oh, the decals were because Dasha is a cyborg. It was a brilliant move by Integrity "
I guess I should not be surprised.
Someone posted a photo of one of the upgrade dolls, Vanessa, with the same type of eyes. She's not a cyborg.
DeleteI actually can see why the designer might have chosen decal eyes for Dasha, maybe, to get a more computer looking look. Not saying I like it, just that it would have been understandable. But Vanessa? No.
DeleteI'm starting to think about selling her.I do like the dress, though.
DeleteHave you ever seen a cyborg presented in a movie, or TV that had printed eyes that look like they are printed? No, we have not, so I think saying it's appropriate for a cyborg doll is a stretch. It's making excuses for Integrity.
DeleteIf anything, the entire eye should have been red, or all white. Or one normal eye, and one red eye. Think Terminatator. That would have come across more cyborg.
First ,thank you so much for your info. Now i will wait ,before buying any 2016 fr dolls
ReplyDeleteif they ever come out...I will wait to read your blog first,cause I know if those new dolls have all those cheap decal eyes you will tell us... love your blog for years.
Happy to help.
DeleteIs the company failing? The prices go up every year, but they cut every corner as if they are desperate.
ReplyDeleteFor years, collectors have been learning to fix defects themselves as Integrity refuses more and more serious defect claims. The decal eyes will make it impossible for collectors to fix bad lashes. That's one of the most common defects Integrity produces.
The usual suspects stepping forward and scraping the bottom of the barrel trying hard to make the point that this could be a good thing or no big deal, are annoying. But expected. There are some people over there who, I swear, would think a piece of turd wrapped in shiny aluminum foil is great if it came from IT.
ReplyDeleteAnd they are probably right now working on some response where they are trying to bullshit their way out of it by spinning this as some kind of a wonderful thing. It will most likely be something like "over the past few months have we have developed an exciting new technique to bring the most amazing and outrageous screenings to your favorite dolls... yadda, yadda, yadda."
Haha! 'Amazing and outrageous'! Yeah so outrageous her mysterious third eye is in her hair!!!!
DeleteI suppose what's most disconcerting is the lack of follow up, respect to consumers, and declining quality of product.
I really hated to be right about this one. But it looks like holding back a response while working on sales pitch where they try to spin this as some kind of a favor to us is exactly what they are doing.
DeleteI personally hold no ill will towards IT. For many years they produced dolls that I still own and love to this day. I became invested in dolls after my love of Barbie waned because of Adele. So for me it is great sadness that I company that brought me so much joy for almost 10 years have come to this. I take no pleasure in their obvious decline. As I wrote earlier there was something off at convention which had the feel of penny-pinching desperation that I could not shake off. I hoped so much that I was wrong but alas I am now thinking perhaps that is the case. With so many doll companies failing, merging etc. I will truly be sad if IT closes it's doors. I guess I will always my the dolls in my collection.....
ReplyDeleteThings did seem weirdly tense and unhappy at the convention. Alain in particular was not his usual cheerful self at all. I wonder if they are struggling? It seems like they are selling a lot of dolls but I know production costs for toys/dolls across the board are increasing. I hope they don't close. I wish they'd just ditch the stands to save a few more $$ though and not sacrifice the fashions or faces.
DeleteI think this all comes down to the fact that IT lost their quality control a long time ago. I don't know anything about the factory, but obviously things are getting sent out that shouldn't be. There has to be a line drawn somewhere, & somebody has to be responsible for their product being made the way it's supposed to. If IT can't get the factory to do the job correctly, then they need to find another factory.
ReplyDeleteBut printed eyes have nothing to do with quality control. That is definitely something that Integrity would have been consulted on and picked. I think the issue is quite simply that Integrity is looking for ways to save production costs. Risky given the nature of their collectors, but if people still want the dolls after all the cuts, they will keep doing them until the dolls are no different than Barbies, which of course plenty of people complain about but still buy.
DeleteThey're seldom $175.
DeleteThere are two things going on here and which IT has been erroneously conflating: quality control issues and the use of decals.
DeleteIntegrity Toys is trying to be clever, here like any sales person, and sell this decal business to the consumer by claiming that it will fix quality control issues when in fact the technique you use to screen the doll has nothing to do with quality control. If you do not have quality control in place, you can use airbrushing and it will still come out crap.
IT seems to have moved to a different factory, which would explain the increasing quality control issues lately but instead of going out and trying to find a better one one with high standards for quality control, they are, literally, covering it up by using decals. The average customer does not know that and given the technical terms they used most likely thinks it is some fancy technology that IT created just for them (oh golly) when, of course, it is a substandard way of doing screenings on high end collector dolls.