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. :-)

Collection: 2013 in Retrospect

I usually do a "Best-Worst" themed post at year end. This year I'm going to do more of a "Best of My 2013 Collection" post. Going through my 2013 purchase database, I made a list of my favorites. The list revealed that I concentrated, number-wise, on wigs and fashions more than anything else. And, for the first time in a few years, Integrity Toys' dolls scored multiple bests.

Below, left: Lukas Maverick as "Beauty." He was paired with a female doll entitled "Beast," not shown. Right: "Interlude," the last Monogram doll in the line, (supposedly) was a welcome bag doll at the 2013 convention. She is dressed in a fashion called "Completist" which was also a gift to attendees.

The two Integrity dolls below from their last convention are both Elise Jolie. On the left is the convention souvenir, Midnight  Star, and on the right is a workshop doll dressed in the Beast's outfit. These dolls are gorgeous and I love the Elise sculpt as much as I loved the original Vanessa sculpt!

A fashion designed by Chris Stoeckel for the W Club Luncheon for Victoire Roux made my favorites. Chris had previously done this dress for a 15.5" Gene doll (right) in a different colorway. It translates very well to the 12" "Out Sass."
IMO Chris is the most talented designer IT has (if Jason isn't around.)

Mel Odom's beloved Gene Marshall doll made a surprise comeback in 2013 as a resin BJD produced by JamieShow Dolls. It's great fun to have new Gene dolls and it has brought renewed life to so many long-time Gene collections. On the left is J'Adore Gene wearing  a Sybarite fashion and a Cheryl Wood wig. On the right is Phoenix Gene wearing her own gown and a wig by Cheryl Wood.

Speaking of wigs, I added at least one dozen to my collection this past year. My favorites are those made by Ilaria, Patta, Cheryl and Chewin. My dolls have varying sized heads so they need lots of wigs. Below are two from Ilaria aka "Time of Doll."
On the left is Miss G White, a Ficon doll I traded for. Although she debuted in 2012, she is new to my collection. On the right is Inro. She is the first in the Inamorata line produced as a limited edition as opposed to a OOAK by Emilia Nieminen. 

For the first time in ages, I'm paying attention to male dolls again. While the Jamieshow Alejandro below, left and the Tonner Neo Tokyo are not from 2013, their fashions are. These fabulous garments are by the uber-talented Chewin. I also commissioned him to do Alejandro's wig.

 Another Chewin outfit modeled by Tonner's Yoshio, a 2013 16" favorite.

Yian (modsdoll) repainted this Dionysis Sybarite. She's wearing a 2012 Cheryl Wood wig, a gorgeous dress from the 2013 Metrodoll's luncheon entitled "Eventail," and a stunning neckpiece by Asher of New England. I'm sure you can see why she made my favorites list.

Of course I have too many dolls so I buy outfits for them. Early fashions that I couldn't get previously and newly released ones arrived regularly.
Many of the amazing fashions from Sandra Stillwell's Kansas City Every Day's A Holiday event can be seen elsewhere on this blog. Here is one called "Delicate Bloom." The floral motifs are all ribbon embroidery!

V John offers a monthly fashion for either 12" or 16" dolls.

There are always Tonner dressed dolls or fashions that need to come to mama.  Some fashions are offered separately and some are from dressed dolls. Tiny Kitty is older (2005) doll called "Flirtation."  Sometimes it's good to wait because many collectors sell Tonner products for much less than they paid.

Antoinette is wearing a 2012 gown from "Sweeping Antoinette."

 

This Antoinette fashion is called "Fanciful." It's so Barbie-ish and reminds me of Silkstone Provencale.  "Hypnotic" Antoinette, whom I chose to model the Tonner gown, has the same hairstyle the Silkie (on the right.) Provencale is not a new acquisition.

I was more careful with my purchases but I definitely made a few mistakes. I am happy with my dolls. When I'm not, they go. Some stick around until I'm sure.

My doll collecting resolution is to continue to be careful and focused with what I purchase.  I resolve to re-photograph many of my dolls and photograph all new dolls as they join the tribe.

Do you have any doll-related resolutions for 2013?