Some New Photos ∞§∞ Some Old Dolls

I've been missing in action from my blog which is quite unusual for me.  The consignment job I took on at the end of June has kept me extremely busy. In addition, we're looking for another house.

I have taken some pictures with no particular theme.

This lovely Mini Live Wire Avantguard (2010) has been standing around waiting for attention. I don't remember from whom her black dress and shoes came. She is a wigged doll.

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The only Agnes I've kept out of all of them is Firefly.  I've thought about changing her outfit but this is just perfect for her. It came from "Sunset Rave" Ayumi who was a convention gift in 2011. A lot of my dolls are like that. I find the best outfit for them and that's that.

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Currently my only Adele, the classic "Graphic Language," is wearing the dress from Full Spectrum Veronique. I have managed to find an FR2 body to match her skin tone. She's gorgeous. Graphic Language originally (2004) came on a straight arm body and has the second Adele sculpt.

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Another earlier (2005) doll, "Foreign Affair" Veronique models an altered dress from the Katy Keene collection. I removed the big bow things from the hips. Still not loving the gown but Vero needed some attention. She's had an FR2 body swap.
 "Foreign Affair" Vero is from the Golden Age (that's what I call it) of Fashion Royalty which lasted for another five years.  Although the bodies were the first articulated type which was replaced by the original 'tall' body, the hair styling and the face paint were special. Screening had an airbrushed look and was not cartoonish or freaky as it often is now:

Kesenia Porcelain Beauty (not quite)

The dolls were gorgeous. That year saw the dolls sporting applied lashes for the first time.

FA wearing the "Lavish Thread" fashion.

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I tried to love her, really I did. I sold her two weeks ago. There was something about her hair  or maybe it was her brows. I don't know. She did not work for me.  She is Ayumi Nakamura "Opium" from 2012. 

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I've been gradually thinning my Fashion Royalty collection. For the most part, the newer dolls and pop culture lines don't interest me.  The newer tall and the hand swap bodies are turning color. It's very depressing to think that my once adored collection is deteriorating.  Even one of the newest dolls - still in her package - has noticeably different color hands from the rest of the body. That may be another issue altogether but the problem hasn't been solved and it's pushed me even farther away. 

Official Pictures of the Gloss 2014 Convention Dolls Part I

Here are the meal event photos.
We're still waiting for the main convention collection, store exclusives, watch workshop and CI doll photos.  Starlight Poppy reminds me so much of an earlier convention Erin.

Illustrious

Luxury Wear Costume (Outfit only)

Official Convention Souvenir

Starlight Poppy Parker™ Dressed Doll
Official Convention Giveaway Doll

Angel in Blue

Poppy Parker™ Dressed Doll

Official Convention Centerpiece Doll

Sensuous Affair

Giselle Diefendorf™ Dressed Doll

W Club Luncheon Exclusive Centerpiece Doll

Dominique Makeda™ Dressed Doll

Official Workshop Doll

Chrome Noir

Erin Salston™ Dressed Doll

W Club Luncheon Exclusive Giveaway Doll

Evening Siren

Ayumi N.™ Dressed Doll

IT Direct Store Exclusive

Intrigue
Elise Jolie™ Dressed Doll
Official Table Centerpiece

Intimate Reveal
Agnes Von Weiss™ Dressed Doll
Official Convention Souvenir Doll

Elise, Agnes, Vanessa and More

I may not love the Agnes sculpt but I do love gift sets. When this set was revealed during the W Club Online event a few months ago, I pre-ordered two of them. After a slightly torturous wait - my package was sent to some address in Delaware or Maryland - I finally got them today.
Sadly, both doll heads need to be replaced. I have not even deboxed to examine the rest of the package contents. I'm trying to figure out how, if I wanted to keep these NRFB, would I ever be able to do so without shipping the entire package back to IT at my expense. (Another $10.xx.)

I am very unhappy about this. It's never happened to me before. Yes, I've gotten a few defective items here and there but over the years, it hasn't been this bad.

I expect to receive dolls that I would feel comfortable reselling - even if I'm not planning to resell. I would never offer these dolls for resale.

So...the first doll has it really bad. She's got a big shiny spot on one cheek, a short tuft of hair coming out of the center of her first row of rooting and one of her irises and corneas is much larger than the other. I get the feeling that this may have been a returned doll as the net looks as if it had been pulled back. Her hair was messy.

The second doll has a torn earlobe! That's a new one. At first, I thought it was pierced twice but when I looked with my glasses on, I saw that it was just a jagged tear. She, too, has had her net pulled off and has messy hair.

I don't understand them selling items like this. With shipping, the dolls cost $140. plus change each.
At this point, I do not want them.

I have written and sent photos to 'patient' care asking for replacement heads that are 'perfect.' I don't need to hear that "no doll is perfect." Actually, I have many perfect dolls so that's bullshit.

I've read that some who purchased this set have found mold on their dolls. I'm not deboxing until I have to and then I am hoping there is nothing else to find that needs replacing.

Fingers crossed.

On other topics concerning Integrity Dolls...

"On The Rise" Elise Jolie arrived last week. The doll herself is lovely as are all the Elise dolls IMO. I was dismayed at first by her stiff hair but it's not something that can't be fixed if I care to fix it. What I didn't like were the cheap jewelry and accessories. The belt has a small metallic button affixed to its front which droops downward so you don't see its face. Something without a shank should have been affixed to this belt. The shoes are a touch weird.
I carefully pressed the dress and gave her different jewelry, shoes and a handbag. The dress works without a belt.

Here are a few more photos of Elise and one of Cruise Control Vanessa wearing Adele's "Vivid Encounter" 'perfect' ensemble.

Yes, this Vanessa has been rooted. She could use a nice repaint as well to fix the blue and silver shadow around her eyes.

If you don't remember what CC looked like originally, here is a photo by Lisa (momohuny) from her Flickr photostream.

Pretty bad.

Yesterday I had a 'play date' with another collector. We spent a lovely few hours yakking about dolls, people and everything else under the sun.

She knew I was looking for a nude Capucine Silkstone and gave me one! Here she is modeling the 2014 July fashion I just received from V. Jhon.

I've purchased many, many of V. Jhon's monthly fashions. This one was disappointing quality-wise.
It looks OK in the photo but the main hem and many of the other raw edges of the garment are pinked. Not what I expected. Maybe it's just not finished? I think I'll write to him. The outfit is intended for FR2 but, as you can see, fits Silkstones quite well.

Here is a promo photo:

Update: I received an apology from patient care and they are sending me two brand new dolls plus a coupon for return shipping of the defective dolls. That's a good thing.

New Fashion Royalty, Poppy Parker and Tulabelle Dolls

Integrity Toys revealed its new dolls to the members of the W Club last Saturday. The categories were Fashion Royalty, Poppy Parker, Tulabelle and Jem.

The Fashion Royalty theme is Urban Safari.
From left to right they are:


On The Rise Elise Jolie, 
Vivid Encounter Adele Makeda, 
Elusive Creature Natalia Fatale, 
Faded Desert Kyori Sato,  
City Prowl Eugenia Perrin Frost and
Full Spectrum Veronique Perrin

All the dolls are editions of 700 or 800 each except Adele which is an edition of only 400. Each doll's retail price is $135., a bit of a hike from last year's FR dolls. These have the FR2 version 2 body. 

Overall, this group of dolls is nice. There's nothing spectacular or new to write home about. The designer stayed close to the chosen theme in most cases and the clothes are pretty tame. My own favorites are Elise and Adele. I love anything Elise as I used to love Vanessa. However, the fashion looks very familiar to ones IT has done in the past. My other favorite is Adele but only for the outfit. I don't know why they think that Adele looks good in washed out lipstick. She doesn't. I love the outfit and the jewelry and I hope that the color of the actual lining isn't too off in real life. Also, they never should have changed her sculpt. She was beautiful.

The last doll is the event doll available to any W Club member who wishes to pre-order. The edition size in this circumstance will be determined by those who sign up to buy her. She is  High Visibility Agnes Von Weiss. It is a mini gift set as she comes with two fashions. She, too, retails for $135. but will not be available to the public.
Agnes' fashion leaves me cold. The cropped vest over the bustier is fussy and awkward and probably too bulky for the doll to wear. The long skirt is just like another early FR outfit. But Agnes is a very popular sculpt so many will order her.
I like Veronique's outfit a lot but it's not worth $135. I would not keep the doll as this is not Veronique to me.

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The Poppy Parker line gains four new characters, not all with new sculpts. The theme is the Girl From I.N.T.E.G.R.I.T.Y. Apparently they are crime fighters (or murderers) as all come with color coordinated weapons. Seriously?

Sebina Havoc: Mistress of Disguise aka Loni Lawrence joins the line. She is pictured on the right, above. This doll comes with an extra head with the Poppy Parker sculpt.

The new guy is Sebastien Havoc: Brother in Arms aka Lex Lawrence. He's a bad guy and Sebina's brother.

The third new character is Agent Kimiko Gunn aka Tina Tanaka. This doll uses the original Ayumi sculpt.

Colette returns as Agent Penelope Chase aka Jolie James. All these 'forgotten' sculpts are making comebacks.

Four others, above are from left to right: Agent Lotta Danger,  Spy-A-Go-Go,  Arm Candy Chip Farnsworth III and Mayhem in Monte Carlo Poppy Parker.

The dolls and their outfits are cutesy. The entire Poppy Parker line is on the comical side of tongue in cheek. They need to be careful not to turn them into action figures as opposed to fashion dolls. The price of each doll in this line is $120. That's a huge increase over last year's prices. Perhaps it's the tiny guns.

I like Arm Candy's suit a lot. It's a very gay James Bond look. I just don't care for Chip's sculpt. I'm wondering if Lex Lawrence is a combination of features seen previously. He's got very strange eyes.

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There are four new Tulabelle dolls. Each is an edition of 300 and costs $140. Tula's clothes will fit the Avantguard doll. I don't have any FR16 dolls but the clothes are very similar in size.

Click on any of the photos to see larger size versions.

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Jem and the Holograms

The Jem line dolls are action figures to me. They wear costumes, not fashion.

To each his own. 

Each doll is $125.

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What is your opinion of the offerings?

Did you pre-order anything?

Please include your name in your posts...if you dare. :-)