Joe Petrollese Leaving Tonner Doll Company

Another star of the Tonner Doll Company will shine elsewhere from now on. Joe is leaving to "take advantage of an incredible opportunity," according the the Facebook page of TDC.
Considering all that's taken place over the last few months with Tonner, I am not at all surprised. Who is next? There's not much left.

Joe has richly influenced both the company as well as our design aesthetic and his impact will carry us forward for many years to come.

He's young and talented and wherever he goes I am sure he will do well. He's always been a smiling personality at every event I've been to.

What will become of Evangeline? Miette? and the other characters whose stories he created? I think they will keep on going. 

Barbie Exhibition Opens at the Museum of Decorative Dolls in Paris

From the Daily Mail.com 

The article I have linked to above is a must see if only for the photographs of this beautifully curated exhibit. Look carefully at the standing dolls to see how bendable (possibly armature) wire has been used to support the dolls without resorting to unsightly doll stands.

The settings that were built for the exhibit are a diorama lovers dream. Apparently many of the Silkstone dolls have been switched to articulated bodies in order to allow them to sit and pose. One wonders what type of bodies were used and if they had access to the recently released bodies or if they used other bodies.

Enjoy!

Andy Warhol Barbie Doll

The Andy Warhol Barbie Doll was released on 3/4/2016. My main interest in purchasing her doll was the t-shirt and her articulated body.

  This is not exactly an attractive face unless you like the 'deer-in-the-headlight' look and cartoonish eyeshadow. If only I had the skills to do a really nice repaint. I like her hair and she poses very well.

The outfit is fairly low end Mattel but the t-shirt is very cute.

The image inside her box is that of Warhol hanging out in his studio.
Below is a brief video of the doll.

Chalk this one up to a possibly useful impulse buy.  Retail at BC.Com $50.

Tonner Introduces Miette

Another new doll joins the Tonner Doll Co. Tribe.

Here is Miette's back story:

Once upon a time, in a far off corner of a very southern part of France, lies a tiny village called, Faire Croire. Don’t bother to look on any map, you’ll never find it. It’s a lovely village where the people enjoy a life of beauty and peace. Every house in the village is a different color and has window boxes filled with flowers of all kinds. The moss covered thatched roofs slant in all angles. There are no locks on any doors or windows. The narrow cobblestone streets are lined with fragrant flowers growing in beautiful pots adorned in jewels. The air is always thick with the scent of freshly baked pain au chocolat.  It seems like a place you would hear about in a fairy tale.  Although Faire Croire is well over 500 years old, no one knows it’s there.  But, Faire Croire does have a quality, something sinister that hangs over the heads of all the villagers. Something like a dark cloud.  Could that feeling be coming from the castle on the hill?
How could a village be over 500 years old with no one except the people that live there knowing of its existence? Miette, the lovely daughter of the Mayor of Faire Croire, intends to find out.

 It's a good story with excellent fairy tale possibilities. No one does fairy tale and fantasy like Tonner.

Miette is Tonner's newest 16" vinyl entry. I see her as a toned down Deja Vu with a less open mouth, a softer aspect and a much better, although still vinyl, body. If I could choose the best features of both, I'd pick Deja Vu's eyes and Miette's mouth and nose.  (Below, Deja Vu is on the left.)

Facial Comparison

For this initial release there are 2 basic, 5 dressed dolls, 2 outfits and 1 accessory cape.

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2 Basics $99.99 each.

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2 Outfits $89. each.

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1 Cape Accessory $30.

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5 Dressed dolls range in price from $179. to $199.

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From what I've seen on the boards, Miette seems to have been very well received. She has the Chic body.

These photos are from Brodjam's Doll Body Comparison and Chart:

Note the big difference between the Deja Vu body (hands included) and the Chic body. 

I always thought Deja Vu's body was an exaggerated and distorted teenage body. The Chic body has more curves and is a bit more realistic and those freaky spread-fingered hands are gone.  Nice improvement.

The only low spot as I see it is the blue and pink outfit. Mrs. Oz seems to have wandered into Miette's village in her sleep. It's very strange. It's even described as having so much going on that you don't know what to look at first. I do like the shoes.
Read the description:

Soft and stunning is how Miette approaches life and as a vision in pink and green, this outfit is no exception.  With so many intricacies, it’s hard to say what garners your attention first. Her boucle´ coat is an understated seafoam green with the finest details of delicate pink lace and tulle trim while boasting a pink flower at the point of closure. Her pink hat with green lace trim and floral decoration is a lovely juxtaposition with the rest of Miette’s ensemble. Her pink ruffled dress sits atop green ruffled cropped pants while her dainty pink floral lace tights peek out leading down to her pink ruffle trim faux leather shoes accentuated with an elegant green bow. Simply charming!  LE 200

 Only Royal Miette and the cape are available at this time. I wonder why they have offered a 10% off event when barely anything is ready to purchase. Were there so few pieces available on the first day of the sale? That surely doesn't seem right.

This is from the email that arrived on March 1.

http://www.tonnerdoll.com/wilde/miette?utm_source=Collectors&utm_campaign=66633a6f00-Meet_Miette3_1_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6e7f0b2ba7-66633a6f00-74926109&ct=t%28Meet_Miette3_1_2016%29&goal=0_6e7f0b2ba7-66633a6f00-74926109&mc_cid=66633a6f00&mc_eid=d9d30ea598

Have fun with the website. :-)

Sandra Stillwell Presents... The Belle of New Orleans 2016 Event!

Registration is now officially open for Sandra Stillwell Presents: The Belle of New Orleans! 

Here's a brief excerpt from the announcement:

Convention Package –

Your Belle of the New Orleans souvenir package will be an exclusive collection of couture inspired fashions -- with just the perfect twist of elegance, glamour and fun you've come to expect from "Sandra Stillwell Presents”. 

Also included with your registration will be:

• Thursday evening opening dessert reception
• Three breakfast programs
• One Lunch
• Two Dinners
• Table gifts
• Interesting Programs and Speakers
• Movie breaks, surprises, raffles, and lots of fabulously fashionable fun!
• An exclusive, behind the scenes tour of the Louisiana State Museum’s fashion archives with curator talk, a museum tour – and other surprises! (Details to be announced later)

But there’s still more!!

You’ll have first opportunity to purchase or pre-order extremely limited fashions from the Sandra Stillwell Presents: The Belle of New Orleans convention collection, including several made of the finest French fabrics, direct from Paris!

These fashions are designed to fit our favorite 16” star, but some may fit other doll bodies. 

If booked within our Sandra Stillwell Presents group room block and paid in full by cash, check or money order by July 1st, the registration fee is $500. After July 1st, the fee is $550.

An additional $150 will be added to registrations booked outside of the Sandra Stillwell Presents group room block or for guests not staying at the hotel.

A $25 service fee will be added to payments other than cash, check, or money order.

A nonrefundable deposit of $100 will reserve your spot. Payment plans can be arranged on request.

It is important that you RSVP by email if you are planning to join us.

Once you have RSVP’d, your space will be held for 1 week.

For anyone who has not RSVP’d, registrations will be accepted according to postmark.

A $125 cancellation fee applies to all cancellations prior to July 1stth. After that date, no cancellations can be accepted.

Checks or Money Orders for registration should be made payable to Sandra Stillwell, and mailed to:

The Belle of New Orleans

c/o Sandra Stillwell

8305 Blue Lick Rd

Louisville, KY 40219

Companion registrations will be available if purchased with a full registration. Please contact me for details.

Here is the full announcement:
http://sandrastillwellpresents.blogspot.com/

Tenth Anniversary Misaki "Tokyo Here We Go"

I sold my last Misaki doll about two years ago. I was a big fan. They were adorable until they weren't anymore. That's an old story and I moved on from there. 

When I saw The Tenth Anniversary Misaki "Tokyo Here We Go" she sucked me right back in. I was a fan from the start of this outfit, first in white, then black and now in blue.

I had the black one. Look how perfectly adorable her hair is. Everything was done so well.

I never bought the white (Marui) one. Apparently you can still find one for between $600-$700. 

This is not my photo. It is from a Japanese selling site called Buyee. 

The seller is helensstory8 and I'm guessing the picture was taken by her. 

Both of the earlier dolls had finely done, more complicated hairstyles than this anniversary edition whose hair needs some styling.

The dress and boots on the new girl are nicely made. I would have liked if the mesh tights and arm covers were a tighter weave as they had been in the past. 

If you are getting this doll be aware that the necklace is very fragile. A piece fell off of mine as I was attempting gently to put it on. I had to cobble together a new connection with jumprings and hooks from other pieces of older jewelry. Finally, I took off her head using the heating pad method, put the necklace on and then put her head back on. What a fiddly pain. 

This was my last Misaki, Red Rabbit, in an outfit by Louos.

Now THWG2016 is standing next to my one and only Poppy Parker, probably never to be played with and will go down in history as another cute impulse buy.