Walking the Runway with Kingdom Doll Star and Jamieshow Zita

Every year at this time, collectors get a doll or two ready for the Oscars. This year I have chosen Kingdom Doll Star and Jamieshow Zita as my two representatives to the event.

Star is wearing a gorgeous Tonner fashion, "Venus Rising," a wig by Ilaria (that I wish I had in multiple colors) and silver Sybarite shoes.
The flowing chiffon cape-sleeves of this outfit are separate pieces and have floral embellishments at the shoulder. Unfortunately, Tonner designers thought it would be a good idea to sprinkle glitter (YES, GLITTER) on these flowers, thereby taking the classy level down to 0. In spite of that, it looks beautiful in pictures.
I had to do some temporary stitching to take in the bust and torso area for Star. It takes a little longer than pinning but it's neater and I don't stick myself every time I hold the doll. 
Part of the popular "Gowns by Anne Harper" line, the outfit included rhinestone earrings, bracelet and dark green pumps, retailed for $114.99 and was a limited edition of 100 pieces.

Original Tonner promo photo:

Whoever designed this line and the Hollywood Legends/Glamour Collection through 2009-2011, needs to come back. Overall the fashions were beautifully designed and executed.

See for yourself: http://www.tonnercollectibles.com/aharper.htm

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Jamieshow Zita greets her fans. She is wearing Ashton Drake's "Love in Bloom," designed for Gene Marshall by Regina Ganem in 2001 as a dressed doll.  The retail price was $195.
Opera length gloves and matching clutch purse were included but not shown in my photo.
I adore the ribbon embroidery on the sheath and on the removable train. 
The jewelry is Franklin Mint, shoes are IT Gene and wig is Jamieshow.

 Original Ashton Drake promo photo:

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Waiting to be interviewed:

REVIEW: The New Articulated Silkstone "Basic Black"

Basic Black is basic as they come and they left out the panties!

The quality of the dress fabric is fair to middling—the type that leaves little pieces of lint on the doll. It's a cute dress and it closes with snaps. I could not remove her boots without having to cut the back part open. I could have warmed them up but I was frustrated and I have better boots for this doll.

Her high pony-tail styled hair is neatly and nicely done and her face painting is carefully but plainly applied.  She looks a lot less sophisticated and somewhat younger than prior Silkstones.

 UPDATE: Mattel's Promo Photo modifies the true doll by changing the elbow and knee joints and making the pony tail perfect. I just read the BC.Com forum and the complaints are the same and worse than mine and it's really a fiasco. I had such high hopes!

Mattel needs to rethink the finishing of the surface areas, the appearance of the elbow joints and the too-youthful appearance of her face. And...she needs earring holes.

If you enlarge several of my photos and look at the seams, you will see how poorly done they are. There are strange protrusions from the elbows. I am concerned about the knee joints as well as they are very stiff and I don't really trust bending them all the way.

On the other hand, she poses very well.

Here she is compared to the original Silkstone body front and back. She is slightly lighter than the original.

I didn't have a problem with redressing in any way. Everything fits perfectly.

The price was very good. On BC.Com, she retailed for $40. I used my $20 quarterly coupon and got her for $20. Dealers are offering her for about $49. I don't think she's worth a whole lot more.  I'll venture to guess that future issues will cost more. They will have to appear to be worth it to get my money.

13" Agatha Primrose from Tonner Doll

New Agatha Primrose Line

Here is the introductory paragraph about Agatha Primrose from the Tonner website:

From the artistic to the technological, from fashion to fiction to science, Agatha Primrose loves the experiences that her life brings. Whether obsessing over Dr. Who’s TARDIS, Hermione’s Time Turner or Doc’s DeLorean, figuring out the recipe for Katniss’ District Four bread, and of course, trying to find a believable female character for her gaming fixation, Agatha is on a fact-finding mission and it’s all for her personal knowledge. You’ll find her wearing the perfect handmade costume at Comic-Con, testing the latest gadgets at the tech store and nose deep in books with places to which she hopes to travel.

 She comes across as a more articulated young Marley who is on the nerdy side.  I do not care for the open mouth. She's been given a bust and fashion feet but wears very child-like clothing.  I guess I'm trying to figure out how old she is.

I love the outfit but something is off here. She's has a gaming fixation? Seriously?

So I like the doll and her outfits but the back story sucks.

Remember this Marley? I loved her hair and face and dress. How does the new one compare?

Another similar looking Marley.

It's all a little too obvious.

An outfit that would have been improved if the doll had flat feet, tighter pants and tall boots.

The link to Tonner's Agatha Primrose dolls:
http://www.tonnerdoll.com/tonner/fashion-dolls/agatha-primrose
If you click on the blonde basic, it says "sold out."  I believe it's just not in stock yet.

Dasha and Elise Model R&D Exclusive Fashions

Photo by Kha Hoang

Last year Rudi Teruel, of R&D Dolls, offered limited editions of fashions from Kha Hoang and FuZin. These are the last two that I purchased and they are just lovely.

"Bleu de Chine" is a complex gown of many folded pieces - almost Origami. Like a good sculpture it looks great from all sides. My model is Fashion Royalty Dasha.


"Bleu de Chine" by K (Kha Hoang)

Below: Model Elise Jolie is admiring her new gown in the mirror.


"Golden Dream" by FuZin

Here is Rudi's Facebook Album of R&D Exclusives:

  https://www.facebook.com/rpteruel/media_set?set=a.10152812160331945.1073742055.519746944&type=3

There are several in there I'm sorry to say that I missed out on.

Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice Collection by Mattel

I'm quite surprised by the good looks of these dolls and the low price of $39.95 each.  I thought I was on the wrong website.

Batman has the new Ben Affleck sculpt. He's fierce! This is so not like Mattel it's wonderful. They're calling the body type Poseable Hero Male. No more Mr. Wimpy.

The Superman Doll uses the new Henry Cavill sculpt. Not bad at all. The hero body is super muscular. No information about the costume or measurements of the doll are posted with the listings.

Wonder Woman Doll's description: The wild card in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice™, Wonder Woman is the daughter of Zeus and an Amazonian princess! Sculpted and costumed just like the movie character, she’s fully articulated and ready to fight with her sword, shield, and her iconic “magic” lasso. Knee-high boots, armored bracelets, and a headdress complete her warrior’s attire.

The costumes are not removable without cutting them off. I think these figures still have a lot of play potential in spite of that. The molded hair on the male figures doesn't bother me although it would be cool if they could have done rooted hair. I'll wait to see them in the stores before jumping although I'd like to have Wonder Woman just for the new articulated body.

Check out this video for more information.

Black Lipstick Gene, Wigs and Props

I was fooling around with Black Lipstick Gene yesterday. She got tired of the 1940's look and I had a modern wig just waiting for a bald head.

It's a Monique Gold wig (http://store.monique.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=monique&Category_Code=WIG-MGC&Product_Code=&Search=&Sort_By=disp_order&Per_Page=-1.)
The wig is called Jade #415 and it's priced at $19.  Gene wears size 4-5. It comes in 7 colors and 5 sizes. 

I do not recommend them for someone who is used to hard cap wigs from Ilaria, Chewin, Patta and the like. You will find that these wigs have a lesser quality fiber and construction. They are not well-styled right out of the box. Their benefits are the lower price of $12-$27 each depending on size and style and they do have a stretch band inside so the fit is more flexible. They come in a very wide variety of colors and styles.

Be prepared to do some styling, perhaps with a hair product and pointy snips in order to get the look you want. I was not pleased with my results as I feel the top of the wig is too pouffy. I would have had to do some thinning.

If you're good at it - this is definitely a great way to go for quantity and choice.

Her glasses are by Horsman for Urban Vita.

 The wonderful drafting table is a Tonner Tyler furniture item. The clip on lamp works. The drawer opens as does the top of the table which is held in an angled slant by a rod you pull up inside. The stool comes with the set.  Recently a nearly new set sold on eBay for $50.99. The seller also included the Design Essentials set which is adorable. Tonner furniture is perfectly scaled for our 16" dolls. It never looks too small.

The sweater Gene is wearing is a handmade product from Retros. The buttonholes are real working ones. I love this item. I purchased the jeans from Marlbe last year. It was a very small edition from Marcelo Jacobs.

The platform sneakers she is wearing are from Ficon. Sadly, I broke one of the zippers. These are fitted inside to support a fashion foot with a built-in wedge. I'd buy a replacement pair in a minute if I could find them.

Another item in this photo that I've used zillions of times is the CED folding screen. There are two in these photos. They are wood with three panels that depict scenes in Italy. The screens are two-sided making them incredibly useful and easy to customize if desired.  Folding screens are an essential tool for a quick photo set-up. They're also easy to make from foam core board.