Avantguard Dolls in Monica Merrill Outfits and Photographic Ruminations

My favorite Avantguard doll is wearing Monica's "Take a Letter" outfit in this photo. It fits very well. The earrings that come with this outfit are black beads. I like diamonds better. Ahem.

I love this doll and that makes me chuckle because looking at her pleases me! 

What I'm not sure about is the shadow on her face created by the light on the right side of the figure. It does repeat itself on her chest but something is off. I think I could have done without the second light on the right and j ust pumped up the power of the other strobe.  I'm shooting with one strobe reflected off an umbrella and one directly diffused strobe which I placed approximately 90° apart from eachother. I have the umbrella higher. I love using high contrast when shooting this doll. I definitely need to work harder when shooting white...it's just not as good as I envision.

In this next photo, I did eliminate the second light. The background is grayer (I could have lit that separately) and the extreme contrast is softened. Her face looks better without the distinct shadow. The big area under her face of faux fur is blown out and takes away from her face. This image could have used some pixel pushing for sure.

The shoes seen in the photo are Goldmine's own.

These last 2 images are of "Attention" Avantguard and were shot with a point and shoot using window light and fill flash from the camera.
The outfit is from a dressed Monica Merrill doll as is "Taking a Letter" and is called "Jonquil Sass." Again, the fit is excellent including the shoes. It's such an adorable outfit. The wig is from another AG doll.

It's painfully apparent to me that my point and shoot is vastly inferior to my studio, tripod-mounted camera. But I'd be taking a lot less pictures if I had to take everything into my studio to shoot. Yes, I know that the last picture above is out of focus but I wanted to let y'all see the entire outfit with shoes.

"Hot to Trot" Avantguard Doll on Sale at Mary T's Doll House

When I see a doll that was released only a few months previously go on sale for such a low price I wonder why. But...if you want this doll, it's a great price at $149.99. Who knows? If you wait a few more months the price might go down even further.

The original price was $220.

Link to Mary T's Doll House

Picture of the Week ~ Wilco Vreeburg

Our featured photo today was created by Wilco Vreeburg also known as Wilco in Holland or Wilco in the Netherlands on the doll boards. Wilco posts mainly on Prego, The Studio Commissary, ICOG and the Yahoo Avantguard groups.

His picture is of the Avantguard "No Exaggeration." No changes have been made to the doll - as they say on Prego, "she is factory."

She has a very 80's look with the short flippy style Monique wig and the saturated make-up palette. Her coat is Tonner's 2004 "Ashleigh" and the sweater is also a Tonner product from the 2003 Tyler "Suitably Pink" doll.

I asked Wilco to describe his set-up and camera. Here is his response in excellent English.

"I used a big board and a white fabric to make a set-up directed into [facing] the natural light of the windows."  Only natural light was used.  "I use an Olympus C-8080 Wide Zoom."

His suggestions regarding doll photography is to let one's own taste and creativity reflect in your pictures. "If you don't have a studio or lighting like me...make sure you  use natural daylight."

In my opinion, Wilco nailed the 80's look superbly. This image is one that might have been on the pages of a fashion magazine of that era. She also reminds me of the character from the series Dallas, Sue Ellen Ewing, played by American actress, Linda Gray. That show ran from 1978 through 1991.

Linda Ann Gray

Thanks to Wilco for allowing me to feature his photo! Great work.

W Club Mini Androgyny - Aphrodisiac Giftset

A nice sized box arrived the other day. It looked exactly like an Avantguard doll box. Opening it and peering inside at the two dolls was a really satisfying feeling. You know how it is when your expectations of a doll are met. It just makes you feel happy.

It is amazing that these two, who sport the Monogram sculpt, looked just like their bigger sisters. Actually, this mini Androgyny is prettier than the larger version. The outfits are almost exactly the same as well. I had heard that there was an issue with Andro being stained but mine did not have a mark on her. The pant suit is very, very tight and the fabric looked a little shaggy. The wigs, which are not shown, fit very well.  Each wig came packaged in its own teeny hatbox. The stands have the AG symbol on them - again exactly the same as the maxi AGs.

The new packaging sports little green rectangles here and there which are the moisture protectors being used now instead of the silica packets. Although there are a few packets amongst the accessories.

I decided that I didn't need to duplicate the outfits in miniature so I have redressed these dolls.
Androgyny is wearing a Kio wig, the outfit from Incandescent Monogram and carrying a Purse of the Month pink leather bag. Her diamond pin is from a Gene Marshall fashion. I have removed the hooks from the jacket as I like it better open and the hooks didn't look good.

I thought Aphrodisiac's exaggerated makeup would work with the outfit from Mina, Bride of Dracula. She is wearing a wig made for Puki Puki dolls. The pin on her lapel is from Facets. It attaches by means of a small magnetic disc.

I love these two dolls redressed. Because they are wigged gals, there are so many play possibilities. The giftset earns a 9 out of 10.  It's a winner.

Picture of the Week ~ Lisa Irinyi aka Alex's Doll

I will write very little in this post as I want to not only feature Lisa's photograph but also her own responses to the questions I asked her earlier.
This is the new Mini Avantguard doll, Aphrodisiac:

"I had an absolutely giddy time shooting Aphro. She seems so runway/clownish – but in a cool way. So, as soon as I took her out of the box, I teased up her wig to ridiculous proportions (kinda reminds me of the villain in the movie Zoolander, Mugatu – Will Ferrell’s character). And then the rest of the outfit just came together. It’s fun, silly and cheeky. Then I remembered the carnival cage – perfect. I swear I could hear a souped –up version of calliope music running through my head during the shoot. You know, kinda scary, kinda exciting and a bit strange, but intriguing. The bright red and brilliant sunshine really made the images pop. The angle of the evening light was almost straight on, eliminating shadows and showing every tiny detail. I love that. It’s like magic."

"Sometimes I feel like the “Weird Al” of doll photos. I see a doll and start thinking about the clothes, the scene and before you know it, some strange image is produced with influences from over-the-top couture fashion or with heavy fairytale or pop culture influences. Obviously I want to take beautiful photos, but I also like to add a wildness, a quirky flair or a humorous strangeness – kind of a reimagining. I like cuteness, to be silly and the unexpected." 

"I started my blog as a New Year’s resolution to have more fun playing with my dolls and become a better photographer. I post a new photo every day (hence the name – Every Day A Dollie) and the constant picture taking has definitely helped me learn more about photography. I try a lot of different things. Weird angles (wide and tight), different lighting situations (sun, overcast, shade, flash), I experiment with exposure, flash strength and white balance – I’ve had some neat results and some that go straight to 'delete'." 

"My advice to all the photographers out there – Have fun. Take lots of photos. Try some in early morning or late day when thee sun is at a low angle – there’s magic in that lighting. Let your personality shine through your photos. And don’t be afraid to experiment."

Lisa's Flickr Photostream

Lisa's Blog

Integrity Toys' Freeze Frame Avantguard Doll

The new W Club exclusive Avantguard doll, Freeze Frame, has shipped with a surprise in store for collectors. I am pleased to report that the knee joint has been redesigned. A little detail like the blushing is continued onto the joint as well. It it much more attractive and stable than the original. This was an important issue to address as the 'floppiness' of the AG body detracts from it's fun. This particular doll has a modest amount of play under her bust and in the hips but seems to be improved overall.
FF has the closed mouth sculpt with a soft palette. The eyeshadow crease was another surprise; it is glittered! I absolutely didn't expect that. The wig has the GaGa hair bow but needs trimming. I plan to shorten it considerably. It fits perfectly and goes on easily.The outfit - while it's not my taste for a doll like this it is made very well. The fabric on the white mini dress is lovely. The wide plastic belt has a criss cross corset-laced closure in the back. The boots are well constructed and LEVEL!!! In the photo above, she is actually standing on her own with no support at all. The faux fur on the boots is a little mangy but in the photo they are OK. Under the dress is a lovely lacy bodysuit. I adore this item. It's so pretty and I like pretty. Is she supposed to be a Lady GaGa character type? If so, the outfit doesn't go far enough; she should have rhinestones pasted on her eyelids and crazier boots, perhaps made from metal. That's what I would like to see. The jewelry is a darkened pewter cuff bracelet and rhinestone stud earrings. And of course she comes with additional hands and feet.
The quality is excellent and if you like the doll, I recommend her.

Sometimes a doll just takes time to grow on me.

Sometimes the wig and outfit are all wrong right off the bat and the doll is not appreciated. Look at this example of an Avantguard known as "Attention." In the photo on the left she is wearing the outfit in which she arrived.
In the second, I have changed her wig and outfit and she just pops. I love the transformation.

Most of the Tonner "Antoinette" fashions fit the Avantguard dolls. Attention is wearing an outfit called "Brilliant" (dress and hosiery) shoes from another Antoinette fashion and jewelry by Beverly Shahab. Her wig is from the AG doll Eclectic.

Always on the lookout for props and supports for the dolls, I'm getting a lot of use from the wire dress stand that I purchased recently at Michael's.

"Soon there’ll just be feathers and the quiet of the fall " (Icarus Wind)

I didn't think I'd be able to get a picture of No Exaggeration without using her stand. Difficulty with vertical posing is the quality I dislike the most about the Avantguard dolls. But I did manage to get her to balance using a piece of armature wire. I liked the look of the brick wall which I had originally intended to crop. She is wearing the new Avantguard separate outfit called "Fashion Fuel." The beautiful animal print shoes are a mile high. I put them on her feet before the dressing began to see how they fit. I would not have been able to get them on over the included tights easily and I like easy. I didn't want to risk damaging the fishnet tights or the shoes. Underneath the jacket is a LBD. The leatherette gloves are elbow length and go on easily. The suit is nicer in person than in the promo photos. Unfortunately the wig is awful. Integrity must give up making wigs that are not either stick straight or tightly styled and tied. The quality of the saran (I'm assuming it's saran) is over-worked. The wig arrived style-less and/or distorted from packaging. Trying to style it was unsuccessful. I was very careful with the wig and still the results were horrid. The wig she's wearing is not the one from the set.

Icarus On The Runway
I don't understand why one of the new AGs "On Edge" is also sporting a little black dress. Seriously, I do not get this outfit at all. The shoes are the same as the ones we got in the December 2009 wig and shoe set. And what's with the hot pink feather wings?

Image Property of Integrity Toys

How many little black dresses and gigantic black shoes do these dolls need? She reminds me of one of my 10" Cissettes - feathers - black/pink combo - over-the-top, etc.
I need subtle. Enough with the in-your-face stuff. Jason's recent runway collection was subtle and gorgeous. There was no black and pink and no feathers.

The Lament For Icarus, by Herbert James Draper

Happy New Year ~ 2010

A brief diversion from the dolls:
If you love blogging, cooking and/or just great movies rent the DVD Julie & Julia. I loved it. Meryl Streep is perhaps the most talented actress ever. Another movie we saw this week was Up In The Air.  George Clooney is still very nice to look at so many years after ER. It's worth seeing and has absolutely nothing to do with dolls - although the hobby of collecting could definitely be related to this movie. If you haven't seen it yet, go see Avatar. Then tell me what manufacturer you think will come out with the first articulated Na'vi doll. Every topic leads back to the dolls.
Yesterday I set up a temporary diorama or stage set for the larger dolls. None of my dioramas is permanently installed. I like variety. My doll cabinets are just for the dolls. The furniture and props appear in my photographs. I acquired in the last month three major pieces - Gene's Swan Bed, Tyler's Armoire and a Gene Convention souvenir which is a lighted dressing table. Unfortunately the table arrived broken and I am in the process of repairing it. When it's done, it will look better than new.
I like the furniture for the 16" dolls better than the furniture for the 12" dolls mainly because it is more substantial and truer to scale. Every sofa Integrity made for the FR dolls is too low to the ground. They are lovely to look at but too small. The liquor cabinet is too short. The best pieces are the bed and the large trunk. But due to their size and limited usefulness, I sold those items.
The only dolly stuff I did today was restyle an RnD Angels "Jaclyn"  wig. It was too long and fairly impossible to comb through so I swished it for a while in a diluted fabric softener solution, combed it through, rinsed it out with warm water and repeated the procedure until I could comb through the hair. When it was dry, I combed it again and decided to cut off at least 1/2". When I can't comb through a wig after all that, the fiber is damaged and must be removed. It looks great now. No pictures yet.
The RnD Angel wigs fit the AvantGuard dolls. They are a touch large but go on very easily. Use a rubbery wig cap and they are perfect. Check out what Rudy has remaining at the website. Remember that they will need styling before use!

http://www.rnddolls.com/site/angel/angel-fashion.htm

 This is just a sampling of what may be available. The price is right and Rudy is a dream to deal with.

Integrity Toys W Club Fifth Year Registration Opens

It was a cold snowy day on February 14, 2006 when we left Woodstock in the late afternoon headed for Manhattan and FAO Schwarz where the first W Club event was to be held. We actually made very good time into the city and had plenty of time to eat and traipse around on Fifth Avenue. By the time we headed over to the store, the line outside was already around the block. Flurries were in the frosty air but so were the sounds of expectant W Club members. We stayed warm by huddling together, yakking and laughing. When the uniformed doormen finally allowed us entry, the going was slow as all our entry cards were checked against a guest list. But we were finally inside.
I had not been in FAO in a million years, certainly not since it was renovated. I liked it better before the renovation but it was still amazing with masses of huge stuffed animals alongside the escalator accompanying us as we ascended to the next level. It was a mob scene up there; the noise level was astonishing. I greeted many people I had met in Canada four months earlier. My poor husband was surrounded by wide-eyed collectors everywhere; nevertheless, he survived to attend many more events after that one.
An Isha gift set called Final Cut Cannes was the event doll. It was in a free standing showcase and rather difficult to see and photograph. I don't think we got to take them home that night. Many procedures were changed as the event went forward and that is a good thing because that night we had to stand on lines to buy the doll and it took forever. All the Integrity staff was there and although the event lasted only two hours officially, it felt like much more. Did I forget to mention that what did accompany us home was the de rigueur New York blizzard?
Meeting other collectors changes the entire landscape of the game. Even if one is in contact regularly on-line with other collectors, face to face encounters are so very different. I was saddened to learn that there will not be a February event this year other than a virtual meeting. For some people, the New York event was the only one they ever attended or could afford to attend. It is definitely a loss. From a business point of view, it's the right move for Integrity as it saves a huge amount of money. In that respect, I don't blame them for cutting out the event. The members of the W Club are a built-in market at this point. No further promotion is necessary. I don't know if Integrity ever did participate in the actual Toy Fair event anyway.
That being said, promotion may not be necessary but quality is. I'm in a quandry. One of the upgrade dolls is an AvantGuard called Freeze Frame. I love her look but they are so difficult to pose standing up and are so, the best word I can think of is wiggly, that I don't know if I want another one. But she is very cute - especially the wig and I want that wig. The dress, meh. The boots are cute. What will I do with the stuff in the middle? When will we get an AG in a gown? I plan to cut that wig Lady GaGa length and get some big sparkly sunglasses. I want a Lady GaGa doll!!!!

Base membership in the W Club for 2010 is $50. The AvantGuard Freeze Frame is $160. plus shipping.
The other optional or upgrade doll is "Spring Forward" Eugenia Perrin. There is nothing about this doll I like except the blouse and shoes. I find her to look very much like the original Natalia. See the inset of Natalia "Behind Velvet Ropes." Eugenia appears way too stern-bordering on severe and that doesn't go along with the bright, happy colors used on her.

The price for Eugenia is $75 above the membership.
There is also an option to purchase both upgrade dolls. The total for that with the base membership comes to $285.
The prices are quite fair in light of what we've been paying for AG and FR. Both dolls are scheduled for a May delivery.

Many Integrity dealers are offering W Club members a one-time free shipping per member for the coming year until December 1, 2010. And....members will be offered the opportunity to purchase two other Fashion Royalty Club dolls and one AvantGuard doll in addition to the upgrade dolls. That's what I mean about a built-in market. We sign up; we buy.

Payment must be made by January 22, 2010.

Since there is no contest this year to award the person who signs up the most new members, you can tell them my poodle, Rudy, sent you.

No Exaggeration AvantGuard Doll

This Avantguard doll is eye candy. The face screening is gorgeous and she looks beautiful in her fashion. No Exaggeration is all about color and style; now we need to add some engineering.

 

The biggest difficulty with this doll and all the Avantguards is the wobbly joints. Even with the stand at an optimal height and careful placement, her ankles or her hips kept bending causing the doll to lose balance. I like the dolls but the quality of the body is very poor.  I don't want to play with something that is frustrating. Their hips sway. If I just wanted to pose the doll in a runway stance, it would take forever to get her to stay that way.
We can hope this gets fixed or I am done with Avantguard.
The feathers on her hat (?) fall off easily but the strangest thing is that it comes with two hat pins. The base of the hat is hard felt and you practically need a drill to get the pin through to secure it to her hair.
Putting the wig on takes experience but it can be done. I will change the wig soon because I think she needs something bigger to balance the shape of the pants.

Retail price of No Exaggeration is $220. and she is available from Integrity dealers who carry the AGs.

Review ~ Wu Iconic Convention ~ Part III

This is Part III of my review. See below for Parts I and II.

To the dismay of many, Adele did not make an appearance. Where is Adele? If only Dominique could talk. Hopefully Dominique is at the orthodontist's office getting her teeth and over bite fixed because she is not an attractive doll. Integrity used Josephine Baker's head mold for Dominique who is supposed to be Adele's sister. I tried to like her but it didn't work.

Giselle was the other similarly clad doll in the collection.'POESIE ENCHANTEE' AGNES
Of all the Agnes dolls that have been released I have kept only one. This gal is too severe for my taste. The gown is beautiful in it's light gray satin with an Obama shoulder but this doll doesn't even come close to Poesie Sans Coleur.
NATALIA FATALE 'POWER GAME' (AKA WHITE NATALIA)
This was the surprise giftset attendees got. At registration they found an empty Fashion Royalty box in their bags. At each event they were given another part of the set. The blue dress is cute but not fine. The suit is unattractive IMO. I love the blue and black shoes which are partially hidden behind the card in the lower left. Natalia as a white girl...well...let's say that she's not Natalia anymore.AVANTGUARD 12" CLONE "LIVE WIRE"
This doll has the same skin tone as the full sized AG. She sports Natalia's sculpt, however. The screening and the dress are the same as Live Wire's and her wig is similar.POPPY PARKER 'ENDLESS SUMMER'
This doll was one of the event souvenirs. She came packaged in a window box secured with a nice pink ribbon.There were three other dolls which I did not have the pleasure of photographing. All three were centerpiece dolls. One was a Monogram Doll, Curiosity, one an Agnes, Silver Zinger and the last was the Avantguard from the W Club luncheon called Vanishing Point. Pictures of those dolls can be found in other posts on this blog.

MFD provided wigs for every attendee in the registration bags. Azone gave a pair of shoes as a gift to all. Dolls Magazine provided a special Iconic Convention coverage issue. Other paper goods were a set of prints of early Jason Wu Fashion Royalty doll sketches and a set of paper dolls.

WU Iconic Convention ~ Super Saturday

The centerpiece at the W Club luncheon was called Vanishing Point.

The giftset doll was finally revealed to be a light skinned version of Natalia.
The name of the set is Power Game.

Saturday night's centerpiece doll was Dania Zarr as Optic Clash.

The Convention Doll was a new character called Elise Jolie. This edition is called "Blue Blood."

All of the images in this post are the property of Integrity Toys.