2014 Integrity's Surprisingly Great FR16 Dolls

To be sure, there are various interpretations of the word great.  In this case, I'm calling them great as compared to other 16" modern vinyl dolls. For example, Tonner dolls generally retail in the range of $99.-$250 for a dressed doll these days.  The less expensive ones will be dressed in more basic styles. The FR16 SRP was $175. That price has dropped a good deal for some of the newer ones.
The fashions are beautifully made and come with excellent accessories.
As far as articulation goes, the FR16 win the vinyl race, their only drawback being their awful articulated toes and awkward feet. Neither the ankle nor the toe joint add anything to the doll and should be eliminated in favor of a sleek fashion foot.

I don't know whether or not it's a good thing that the current IT designer keeps bringing back altered versions of Jason Wu's designs. In one way it speaks volumes about his creativity and on the other hand, Jason's beautiful fashions always work.

Except for Afterhours Hanne, I purchased the dolls and fashions separately. Once I found that I liked them, they started showing up.

For this post I show the original Jason Wu doll promo photo, a photo of my own 1/6 scale original and the new 16" version.

Red Blooded Woman Kyori has grown to become Hot Blooded Woman.
By the time I decided that I loved the outfit, I couldn't get Elsa Lin at a reasonable price. I will continue to look for her. Modeling the FR16 fashion is  "On Edge." Avantguard. She is wearing her own shoes as the FR16 shoes do not fit. The wig is by Ilaria.
Pretty gorgeous!

Cosmetic Takeover Natalia is now Cosmetic Surrender. This Natalia was the first Natalia ever produced. She was on a straight arm body. Mine became so brittle that even though I was very careful, her neck cracked when I first gave her a new tall body. (Not shown.)  My model for the FR16 fashion is Platinum Society Hanne whose outfit follows.

Silver Society Veronique's big sister is Platinum Society. Silver Society was also a straight arm doll. Mine is now on an FR2 body and I still love her as much as the day I first got her.
My model for Platinum Society's fashion is a Tyler head on a Tulabelle body. The head switch was easy and the body is perfect for the FR16 outfits. The feet, like those of the FR16 dolls are unnecessarily articulated. She looks like she has tumors of the ankle (whatever that is.) Do not click here for a Google search on ankle tumors. You will be sorry.
I love Tyler and I always will. She needs a body like this to bring her into the 21st Century.
Anyway, this outfit is a thin pleather-like fabric with wonderful embellishment. I like everything about the fashion and I'd rather have a ring instead of doll gloves any day!
The last picture shows how I've 'repurposed' my FR outfits from the early days to adorn Silkstone dolls. The fit is perfection-even the shoes.

Purple Factor Adele has grown up to become Amethyst Factor. Again, we have a straight arm, early Jason design. This was an amazingly detailed and sexy sheath with ruching, princess seams and a lace inset at the top of the bodice. The fur had beads between the stole and the tails. Everything about it was beautifully designed and executed. My model for Amethyst Factor is Afterhours Hanne Erikson. Her hair was a frizzy mess and still needs work.

Obsidian Society Vanessa's FR16 version is Obsidian Culture.  This was a wildly popular Vanessa; they all were until they started multiplying like rabbits. Vanessa's black suit looks nothing like the new Culture version; it is so much more stylish. My model is the brunette Obsidian Culture in the "Bijou" Avantguard gown.  It's nice to know that the Avantguard, FR16 and Tulabelle bodies can share fashions.

Barely...

This is, in my opinion, the prettiest of all the Obsidian Hannes. Unfortunately, her hair was an overdone, frizzy mess. I have one side pinned back to hide the crimped, frizzed ends. Such a shame. I'll fix it one of these days. The fur is from the Hot Blooded outfit and the earrings and bracelet are from other sources.

Surprisingly great? Yes! Look back at the original 4 FR16 dolls. Three out of the four fashions are uninspired. One of the dolls looks like a corpse and another looks terrified.

____________

I have the blond Obsidian Culture NRFB doll for sale at a very good price on the Show & Sell pages.
While you are there, take a look at my other listings. You should definitely buy something!

Official Photos from the Gloss Fashion Royalty Convention

The Convention Collection:
From left to right: Adorned Vanessa, Grandiose Natalia, Nocturnal Glow Veronique, Cold Shoulder Eugenia, Dark Moon Poppy, La Ville Lumiere Simonetta and Nightshade Kyori Sato.

Store Exclusives
From left to right: After Hours Hanne, Dial V for Victoire and Wild Thing Poppy.

ITBE : Oomph, Zing and Jolt

Workshop: Time Served

I am still awaiting delivery of my pre-ordered convention collection. The jury is out on those dolls until I see them in person.
The ITBE dolls look cute until you see their dresses and shoes. They are $9.99 Barbie type clothes.
Time served is one of the worst-looking male dolls ever and the photo doesn't make it better.
Click on the photos to enlarge.

What do you think of the dolls?

Obsidian Culture Three Ways: Lots of Extra Fabric?

Integrity released photos of two new dolls Obsidian Culture dolls in the same exact outfits as the Couture Dolls, Inc. exclusive Hanne Erikson.

Here is the "exclusive" Hanne:

Here are her doppelgangers:

According to the announcement:

The new FR:16 collection was received to high praise by everyone and many of you expressed that they would have loved to see "Obsidian Culture" Hanne Erikson with a different hair style/color combo.

Really? Who writes this stuff?
This had to be planned long before people 'expressed' that opinion.
If I were a doll dealer with an exclusive, I'd be pretty pissed if the company put out competition before I sold off my stock.  Of course, I don't know the deal Couture Dolls had with Integrity Toys but IMO, it's not a great one.
When a dealer gets an exclusive, they pay for the entire lot. In this case it was 300 dolls.

Bad business.

FR16 Hanne Erikson Models the Cosmetic Surrender Fashion

When Integrity Toys debuted their new FR16 dolls, I thought the fashions were lovely but I didn't like 3 of the 4 doll's faces. I was able to purchase Hanne nude and a few of the fashions separately.
Here is Hanne in Cosmetic Surrender's outfit.

This gal needs a more realistic face-up. Her eyes lack life of any kind. If only I could paint faces realistically, I'd do her over.
The other thing I'd change is the articulated toe joint. It bends the shoe in a strange way. I wonder if I can use an avantguard fashion foot...or perhaps IT will release a fashion foot for her.
She's got beautiful hands and the rest of her articulation is excellent.

I like this fashion. It is well made. Another collector removed the black lace overlay. It was also a good look and closer to the dress style of the original.

I had the original 11-1/2" Natalia "Cosmetic Takeover" doll
She was a holy grail for the longest time and a truly gorgeous doll. Why they had to change her sculpt, I'll never understand. 

She was the first and only Natalia ever produced on a straight arm body. I ultimately changed her to a tall body.


Integrity Toys' doll bodies get better, the sculpts—not so much.

Pomp & Circumstance Tulabelle

This is the new FR16 doll from Integrity Toys. She will be available for pre-order from your favorite dealer.  Information on pricing is not available until January, 2013.
Her name is Pomp & Circumstance Tulabelle. What her name has to do with the actual doll is a mystery to me. Tulabelle? Okay. Whatever.  The definition of Pomp and Circumstance is "formal ceremony." It is also the name of a famous march, part of which is often played at graduation ceremonies. The designers must have had a private thing going on with this doll to have named her thus.
With that little pinched nose and puckered lips, she must be a cousin of Poppy Parker. P&S T looks very young - almost child-like, as in a 10-year-old with make-up and mommy's clothes. Mommy's clothes are very cute.

On another FR16 note, it was revealed that having blended facial screening has become too expensive for Integrity Toys to use on it's dolls. David Butt posted information in a thread in which a few people expressed their preference for a softer, more blended look. He stated that "Airbrushing (the blended look you speak of) has become cost and labor prohibitive, so we no longer can do this on our dolls." 

The face on the left is that of Goldmine, an early edition Avantguard doll. The one on the right is the recently offered W Club doll, Saskia Tate. You can see the difference in screening styles. Many prefer the earlier airbrushed look including yours truly. These may be the same sculpt but the results are profoundly different. I don't collect their 16" dolls anymore.

The W Club is really changing. There is a big variety of dolls being offered now as opposed to when it started. It was all Fashion Royalty at that time. Pretty much every doll offered was a keeper and extremely special. Now there are lines offered that many do not collect at all. It certainly makes sense for IT to cater to all of it's collectors. But some of us are still waiting for the truly special ones to show up.

Believe it or not, not everyone collects Poppy Parker. GASP. We don't want all of our dolls to look like her.

Tropicalia Part 2

Several more dolls have made an appearance at the Fashion Royalty convention as it unfolded.

At the FR16 Tea breakout event the following doll was the centerpiece:

"Sheen Siren" Elsa Dressed Doll
2012 Tropicalia Convention Exclusive Table Centerpiece Doll

There were a multitude of dolls available at the designer workshops. I think they go by letter. I do not have Integrity Toys official pictures of them but they might show up eventually. According to some collectors all or most sport sculpts previously used. I can't tell one from the other anymore.

Today was the W Club breakout event. The centerpiece was a gorgeous Elise Jolie. So far she is my favorite doll of the entire convention and I am happy to say that I will be getting her.  Everyone was given an FR2 shoe pack.

Escapism Elise Jolie™   FR: Squared Dressed Doll
2012 Troplicalia Convention Exclusive Table Centerpiece 

Shoe Win 12" FR2 Doll Shoe Pack
2012 Tropicalia Convention Exclusive Table Giveaway

There was also a companion doll which was Victoire Roux. I'm guessing that many in attendance would have preferred the second doll to be another FR2. I would have. But that's because I like the FR2 dolls. However, many collectors do not collect the FR2 due to the price. This Victoire is tan and she is cute.

Saint Tropez Victoire Roux Dressed Doll
2012 Tropicalia Convention Exclusive

 I will post the Saturday night goods later tonight.

2012 Integrity Toys Reveal

IT is unveiling new dolls at IDEX. 

First up, the Monogram dolls are the clear winners. Someone (new, perhaps?) designed this line and made a 180° turn from the direction they had taken in the past year. They went from dowdy (Bemused, Envied & Passionate) and WWTT to stylish and classy the way they were the first two years and maybe even better.

There are five dressed dolls offered. From what I can see, three of them (2,4,5) have the original sculpt and two have caught the puffy-Poppy-upper-lip-thing. All the fashions are stunning except the one in the middle which doesn't seem suited or fitted to the doll's scale and size. However, the accessories from that ensemble are lovely.
The blonde one on the end seems to be channeling Hollywood glamour - maybe Marilyn. I was pleasantly surprised that I liked two of these five enough to pre-order them! SHOCK!
The price has gone up $10 per doll to $160. Must be for the lashes. Yes, Monogram dolls now sport lashes.
I predict there will be issues with the hair bump on #2 - as it looks uneven in this picture already.

Congratulations to the designer of the Monogram dolls for this success. 

The other doll I was impressed with is the Gretel doll from Hansel and Gretel Nu.Fantasy duo. The dolls are available separately - they are not a set.

This description cracked me up: 

"This high fashion reinterpretation of the traditional German folk tale has Hansel and Gretel looking fabulous while lost in the woods.  They are ready to take on any old witch or fashionista." 

I hope her hair is as fabulous in the production doll as it looks in the promo. I also hope the fashion doesn't stain her body. Why? Because I pre-ordered her, too.  ($135.)

Poppy Parker shows up with Chip. When I read that name all I could think of is Chip and Dale, computer chips, corn chips and those California Highway guys on bikes, CHiPs.

They should have named him Biff. Anyway, he's not a looker. He's just an expensive Ken with a blank, expressionless face.  His tuxedo and shoes are very nice.
Poppy's dress is a vintage 50's prom dress style in deep coral. 
Darla comes with the microphone. She is not part of the set. Her dress is more sophisticated as is her hairstyle. She has a little Jackie Kennedy style going on. Is she supposed to be older than Poppy?

The Poppy/Chip set is $150. Darla is $89.

There is a whole new line of dolls featuring Poppy Parker as Sabrina.

Sabrina is a 1954 comedy-romance film directed by Billy Wilder, adapted for the screen by Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor, and Ernest Lehman from Taylor's play Sabrina Fair (in the UK, the movie has the title Sabrina Fair). It stars Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden. This was Wilder's last film released by Paramount Pictures, ending a 12-year relation with Wilder and the company.

The line features two dressed dolls and two gift sets. If you like Poppy, you will like these sets.

These are the two dressed dolls. They retail for $125. each.
The giftsets each have multiple outfits and accessories.

And now for the part of the collection I think is the least impressive - the Avantguard16 (FR16) and the Giant Poppys.

I am completely unimpressed with these four dolls. Their facial screening is cartoon-like and I don't care for any of the fashions. I did have the opportunity to examine the FR16 body and I will not be buying any doll on that body. I originally thought that these dolls might be good body donors for the Avantguard dolls I already have whose bodies are yellowed and floppy. The new bodies are just as lightweight and wobbly. The size has changed as well which will create more problems for redressers. Retail price $175. That's interesting. The 12" FR2s were also $175. I suppose a little extra vinyl and fabric doesn't amount to very much.

The giant Poppys are unappealing. The fashions are acceptable enough for the era they are supposed to represent but with the increased size, that phony-looking upper lip has grown to what looks like a clothespin has been pinching it. These dolls retail for $150. each.

 

There are bee-stung lips and there's deformity. 

Hey...to each his own. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Seems like IT is counting on the success of the little Poppys and trying to bring collectors into the 16" world. They'd better be careful because if the minions start collecting 16" dolls, they might discover a whole world of gorgeous 16" dolls out there that aren't made by IT and that have different lips from each other. I must do a collage of IT lips - 2011-2. Waldo will be in there for sure.

This line is called Teen Poppy. Aren't the little Poppy dolls teens, too?