Laurebelle Couture Exclusive "Glam Addict" Giselle

The latest lottery for members of the W Club is an European exclusive Giselle called Glam Addict. This doll is very beautiful and has a stylish fashion that comes with additional shoes and accessories. It's being called a mini giftset. The price for US and Canadian customers is $150. plus either $15. or $25. respectively for shipping.  The price for the rest of the world is EU 140 ($185.33) + EU 30 ($40.) for shipping. The difference in price has many Europeans howling with dismay. After all, if this is a European exclusive, why are the Europeans paying so much more? The answer was a mixture of shipping costs, VAT, customs and whatever other taxes and duties exist. Laurence explained that she is pre-paying certain of these fees which would normally fall to the buyers and so these costs must be passed on. It's quite a burden for overseas collectors. But...maybe they don't have to pay for health insurance. Perhaps their income taxes are proportionally lower. There's always some other benefit to offset these issues.

The lottery closes on February 14. I have entered but my luck in the past 3 years has not been good. This is probably the best looking Giselle so far and I don't have any in my collection. I would restyle her hair done in a more glamorous Hollywood style to suit the fashion.

Mauve Absolue and Forever Veronique

The last doll of 2011 has been offered to W Club members as a lottery event. There are 700 dolls and I'm guessing that even though that is a high number for a lottery, some will not get picked. I haven't been picked for a lottery in more than a year which seems strange because I used to win at least one chance in every lottery. I entered with both of my memberships.

Forever is the beautiful, original Veronique sculpt on an FR2 body. The gown is a duplicate in a different color of the Tenth Anniversary W Club luncheon surprise doll Evermore. So we will have an Evermore and a Forever and that's a good thing because there was a quite an uproar over the announcement of the discontinuance of Vanessa's and Veronique's sculpt.

 I believe this doll is meant to channel or reimagine the original Mauve Absolue seen in the 3 images that follow. Forever is very pretty but really doesn't come close to the original.

Click here to see previously posted images of Evermore Vanessa .

Update: Renegade Dasha will come to Woodstock

A wonderful doll collector friend has allowed me to take over her lottery win for Dasha! I am thrilled.

But my darn GPS can't find the location of this tree.


In the meanwhile, Red Rabbit Misaki would like to say hello. Beware. She will eat your crops.

W Club Lottery Results

I was not lucky in this one. Apparently my luck has run out permanently as I haven't gotten a bite in more than a year! The spousal unit's account wins once in a while. So far joining the W Club this year has been a waste of money. I didn't order any of the upgrade dolls and I didn't get the opportunity to purchase a darn thing. 

Bah Humbug.

W Club Members Reminder - Lottery for Renegade Dasha Ends Soon

W Club members are vying via lottery for the last FR2 doll of this season's line. She is Dasha Renegade.
Renegade was shown at the FR Convention. She is the same price as the other FR2 dolls, $175. There are 300 of them and there will probably be 3000 entries.

Integrity Toys Photo

I would definitely like to add her to my collection but the competition for this one is fierce. If you win a chance in the lottery and don't want her, please come to me. Let's make a deal.  ;-)

The deadline for entries is March 28 10:00 AM CST (Chicago time.)

Who Is This Doll and Why Are They Calling Her Veronique?

Most of my readers know by now that the re-designing of Veronique is something I was opposed to. I believe she should have been discontinued if anything at all.  She is unique and was one of the two characters that launched the Fashion Royalty line. How can she be improved upon? She can't.
She can only become a new character. But the decision was made two years ago and the new Veronique has finally been introduced as Modern Comeback Noir and Blonde.  Each edition is 500 dolls and retails for $90. directly from IT. The opportunity to purchase the dolls has been offered as a lottery to W Club members only.

My personal reaction to these dolls is underwhelming. I was hoping for something I could love - something that attempted to be better than I expected - but what I got was ho-hum. Just another nice face and nice lingerie. Nothing new. This is not a comeback it is a drawback.
This doll should have been offered to all who wanted to buy her, not as a lottery. There are going to be lots of disappointed W Club members.

Mini Genes Arrived

This was one of those great dolly weeks during which the dolls and doll goodies kept arriving. The two so-called Mini Genes arrived. They're just out of the box and I love them. Petite and delicate-looking, these may be Jason's prettiest dolls yet! The quality of the hair styling is excellent. YAY. The bodies aren't wobbly. I don't know which body type they have but it's quite small. I couldn't take my eyes off of Blue Caprice. I'm hoping to have time to photograph them on Thursday.

I entered the lottery for the lingerie version Mini Gene but was not chosen. Another collector has graciously allowed me to spend my money and take over their spot.

I purchased three Antoinette outfits from Lynn's sale. They were each reduced from $99.00  to $49.00. There seem to be plenty of the expensive dressed Antoinettes remaining at dealers all over the country. When dolls I paid nearly retail price for go on sale less than 6 months later, I cringe. That's the way it is with most Tonner dolls.

Other goodies this week: Gene's light up dressing table and stool. That's going to be a fun prop. First I have to fix it as the mirror surround broke away from the dressing table's surface probably due to the extreme cold during the ride here in the UPS truck.

Simon Chase finally arrived looking fabulous in his tuxedo. It fits him beautifullly and I'm pleased with the doll although I think I like Jeremy Voss' looks better.

Two FDA outfits arrived from Paris.  They ship so fast that I get my order in under 7 days from sending payment!

Life Ball Fashion Doll by Jason Wu

Members of the W Club received this information on April 28, 2009 along with a link to enter the lottery.
We are excited to announce to the W Club before anyone else that Jason Wu has designed the Official 2009 Life Ball doll! Created specifically to benefit the 2009 Life Ball, this gorgeous collectible marks the debut of Integrity Toys' new FR Monogram™ collection. An extension of the Fashion Royalty collectible line, the FR Monogram collection features a new custom face sculpt (body is the same size as the Nu.Face body), as well as the hallmark of Fashion Royalty- miniaturized couture fashion with impeccable attention to detail....The 2009 Life Ball Doll wears a replica of a chic evening gown from Jason's romantic Fall 2008 women's fashion collection. The gown is constructed from custom-printed fabric in a floral pattern that has been realized in perfect miniature.

For information about Lifeball, click here. http://www.lifeball.org/lifeball/show_content.php?hid=21&language=en

The doll is an ultra-limited edition, with only 250 dolls produced worldwide, and will retail for $270 (plus shipping and any taxes). 100% of the net proceeds from the sales of the doll will be donated to Life Ball to support HIV and AIDS treatment, research and prevention.

Above is the original runway version of the dress created by Jason for his Fall 2008 show.

This is obviously a great cause and I urge all to support the funding of HIV/AIDS charitable organizations.

What's this about a new line from Jason with miniaturized couture fashion? I thought that's what we were getting until this season. Has Jason, as I feared, 'abandoned' creating for the standard Fashion Royalty line?

Or, has he just turned over permission to his staff to use his designs on a more expensive version of Fashion Royalty? Why the switch to the flat-chested body? Will we also have dolls who look like the model above without makeup and without any discernable hair styling? If he's going couture why not go all the way?

Before I go further I want to add that I did enter the lottery and hope I win the opportunity to spend my money for a good cause. I wonder how much of the purchase price will be the net proceeds donated to the foundation. Hopefully it will be at least $200 per doll. When you think about it, donating net profits isn't exactly philanthropic. Simply, net profit is the money left over after paying all the expenses of an endeavor.

Net proceeds is something else and usually refers to securities, real estate and similar and is defined as

"the amount received after all costs are deducted from the sale of a piece of property or security."

Maybe they are the same thing. I don't know.

The doll looks pretty. She has the same coloring as Fine Jewel Eugenia with the raven hair and bright red lips.
I'm not quite sure how her hair is styled but it appears to be in a nice updo. I wish the dress would have been created in a fabric with similar drape to that of the original. It's Barbie-esque with it's stand-out shape. Spectacular, Spectacular Eugenia's dress had the same issue.

Jason has used lovely fabrics in the past for dresses that flowed. For example, Shape Shifter Natalia and Miami Glow Vanessa have gowns whose fabric is soft, clingy and drapey.

I hope to see better re-creations of Jason's designs using finer fabrics that emulate the original more closely.

My collection has grown to the point that I'm after quality not quantity.