MetroDolls on Broadway 2008 Event

MetroDolls organized and held this event to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS! charity. Many creative artists and other generous people donated OOAK dolls, doll furnishings, clothing and manufactured items for raffles and auctions. This fabulous and fun event was held at the Woodbridge Hilton in Iselin, New Jersey which is a 2 hour drive from my home. I arrived in the midst of a torrential rain storm caused by the passing hurricane. The staff was extremely cordial and helpful. Check-in took less than 5 minutes and I was very pleased with my room.
The evening's event began at 6:30 PM. The tables were decorated in black and white and the centerpiece was the red-haired Metropolitan Madra dressed in a rhinestone bra and bikini bottom, long white satin gloves, silver metal rhinestone heels and rhinestone circle earrings. She was holding two large feathered fans, perhaps for modesty. :-)


I was lucky to get the opportunity to purchase one of very few.


There was a presentation of vintage clothing on Saturday night by John Davey, the owner and collector of the garments. Here is a link to my photos from Saturday night.

http://www.goldphoto.com/MetroDolls_2008/index.htm

I was very lucky in the raffle and won several outfits and a Bronze Madra.

On Sunday morning I packed up my car and went back into the hotel for the luncheon. We had been switched to a large ballroom. I was handed a goodie bag upon entering the room. It had the special event outfit and several other little goodies. All around four sides of the room were raffle items and auction items. There was a sales room adjacent to the main ballroom. I never made it that far because there was so much to see and do and so many raffle tickets to drop into little bags. I took lots of pictures, talked to many people and just soaked in the atmosphere. It was just like a mini convention. Robert Tonner gave a wonderful presentation accompanied by slides. He talked about his inspiration for some of the new lines his company is producing. And, best of all, he showed a series of slides of the sculpturing of a new fashion doll, Miss Piggy. Raffles were drawn, and again, I was very lucky. I won Film Fatale Gene and Cold As Ice Kit. These are two dolls I have wanted! I would like to have won the White Witch of Narnia but it wasn't in the cards for me. I also won a fabulous outfit called Symphony of the Heart. A DAE outfit for 16" dolls.
This is a Brian Bulkley drawing that accompanies the outfit.

Here is a link to my pictures from Saturday:

http://www.goldphoto.com/MetroDolls_Sun/index.htm

After the raffles and auctions and presentations were over we were given our event doll, Magnolia. She is a new sculpt by Tonner.

Because I am not keeping the doll I did not unpack her earrings and other accessories. The future owner gave me permission to photograph her and here she is.

Brenda Starr Look-Alike?

It's hard not to see the resemblance between Brenda Starr "Just My Type" doll and Sarah Palin, the VP candidate.

Juku Couture Dolls from Jaks Pacific

Jaks Pacific has released a new line of dolls. I heard about the excellent articulation and saw pictures and knew I must have her. There are four different dolls and several separately packaged outfits. Jaks Pacific has attributed certain personality characteristics to all four of these dolls. The character in my pictures is Jun. Jun is 9 inches tall. Her reddish/brown hair is rooted and the pink and white curls are attached to clip-on barettes which are easily removed. The hair has a lot of product to hold it's style. She has inset eyes which make her look a little cross-eyed because their placement is a bit off but her features are delicate and pretty.


Jun has 14 points of articulation including wrists and ankles and she can stand on her own.

I'm not a fan of the frilly, lacy, multi-layered baby-doll look but the clothes are cute, they fit well and are made fairly well. Fasteners are velcro. Boots are open in the back and go on and off easily. She comes with a poster which I have not removed from the box.

About the box...I always wonder why dolls in this price range have to be secured to the box with so many wires.
It took a good 10 minutes to un-twirl the wires and pull them out.

I think Jaks Pacific did an amazing job with this doll. I don't know how they managed to keep the price so low. Retail Price $19.95.

Replacement Bodies - Fashion Royalty and Tiny Kitty

Yesterday members of the W Club received "confidential" notification of a top secret body replacement sale which will commence shortly.

Here is an excerpt from the email:
"These bodies will go up for sale next Tuesday (September 2nd). To accommodate members living in different time zones and with different work obligations, we are going to put up a portion of the allocation at 10:00 am CST (Chicago Time) and if that allocation sells out we will put up the remainder at 5:00 pm CST (Chicago Time). We understand these times might not accommodate every member, but we have done our best to try to accommodate the greater majority of members.

Should bodies remain, we will open up the offer to the public sometime on September 4th- we will keep you posted, but the information should remain confidential until that time (this means no pre-selling on eBay during this Club window or discussion on the boards)."
{I am trying to figure out if I am breaking confidentiality by posting this in my blog. I'm not pre-selling or discussing it on the boards as per the above caveat. So I guess I'm OK.}
When the Integrity Toys forum first opened I posted a poll which asked about the desire for replacement bodies. The response was enormous. This was quite a while ago. At that time I had already scraped together enough tall bodies to grow my first and second generation FRs to the latest size. The only dolls that needed replacement bodies were Adele, Vero (including Vanessa & Kyori), Natalia and Isha. The other characters appeared on the scene after the bodies got tall. So all that was really needed were four different skin tones. There will be four skin tones and they are called White, Black, Latina and Japan. The "Japan" color makes no sense at all because all the dolls with that color came with tall bodies to begin with: Agnes, Luchia, True Royalty Vanessa, Mastermind Veronique and A Brighter Side Kyori. There will be no tall Isha body. The bodies will be a whopping $45. each plus shipping. That's a lot of moolah for a piece of vinyl. Each member will be allowed 3 of each color body.
But wait...here comes the funniest part of the email:
The replacement bodies will be marked on the buttocks to ensure that the bodies are authorized and authentic and separate them from the ones produced with the dolls, thus allowing future generations of collectors to distinguish whether a body has been replaced or is factory original.
As if it would make a difference to future generations. (Will the dolls last for future generations?) I have sold so many dolls that have been switched to tall bodies, I have lost count. Why would anyone care? What I care about is if the swinging hip syndrome has been cured. Picture holding your doll with your thumb and forefinger and gently rotating your wrist back an forth. Visualize the doll's legs swinging along. This means that your doll will not stand or hold a standing pose easily. Some just flop forward at the hips without the slightest provocation. If someone switches the head to a good, firm body, would you care if it is not the one that came with the doll? If I bought a doll that originally was a different body type, don't you think I would recognize that fact? Duh with a capital D.

Perhaps brand new Fashion Royalty collectors could be fooled into buying a modern head with an old body but the old body will not be labeled so that argument is worthless.

The bodies shouldn't have been priced higher than $30-$35. They probably cost less than $5. to manufacture anyway. Integrity has overpriced these.
...............................................

On the other side of the fence, Tonner has shipped articulated replacement bodies for Tiny Kitty. I picked up 7 bodies today at the Tonner store for $20. + tax each. They're not exactly the same color as my earlier TKs but they will do very well. They are priced correctly. They have been selling articulated (BW) 16" bodies for quite a while. I haven't purchased any but I think the price is $35. each.

Sister Agnes Dreary - Tonner Doll Company

I think I'm in love. Yesterday Sister Agnes Dreary arrived in all her gorgeous blackness. Upon seeing her, Hubby asked if she was going to a funeral. Tonner hit the mark because if the DH gets it, it's got to be verrrry clear.

Here is the description from the Tonner website:

Sister Dreary is approximately 16” tall, and she is a vinyl and hard plastic doll with rooted saran hair and hand-detailed, painted eyes. With 15 points of articulated movement, Sister can assume even drearier poses than her younger siblings. Sister Dreary is a NEW head sculpt on a smaller bustline 'Geisha' torso, featuring the SUPERGIRL flat-feet with jointed ankles...

She is absolutely beautiful. Her sculpt is the most sophisticated of all the Tonner modern dolls yet. Her cheekbones do it for her. I had to trim her hair because the bangs were cut in an odd way.

When the prices of her outfits go down, they're mine! List price ranges from about $80. to $95. That's a lot of green for a lot of black. I love Covered in Darkness (top below) with that crazy hat and the long coat. I think the Tea at the Morgue (2nd photo below) would look better with different shoes. Dying to Meet You (last below) is beautiful. Imagine an entire wardrobe of black and navy blue! Wonderful!

Below are pictures from the Tonner site. (No, I don't have permission to use them but I hope to get it.)

Covered in Darkness

Tea At The Morgue

Dying to Meet You

Tonner's Louise Devereaux

She is not a classically pretty doll. Her face is unattractive and the dark makeup under her eyes contributes to the gaunt look. Not being able to decide to keep her or not, I attempted to re-dress Louise last night. Unfortunately that did not work out for me or Louise and she's gotta go. I will keep one of the two I purchased just because it's the first of the new line.

I did photograph her a few days ago and those pictures are posted here.