Ode to Vanessa by Rachel Ryan from Australia

This poem knocked my socks off. For those of you who are not familiar with the character Vanessa Perrin, her sculpt was discontinued to the dismay of most of her diehard fans. She was one of the most popular of all Fashion Royalty dolls and the news of her disappearance was sprung on collectors with no prior notice.

See if you can find the individual names of the Vanessas in the poem.

RIP, intoxicating Miss V - you were true royalty among dolls. I'm so glad you enjoyed such a fashionable life - and what a luxe life it was! When you were at your high tide, your every incarnation was a temptation .... we loved you on the runway right away, we loved you in bloom, we loved you in cruise control. It came as such a shock bonbon that they could even think of replacing such a wonderfully aerodynamic personality.

For me, from now, there can never be another collection with that special glow you gave; they will all be sans couleur. Your successor may be a pretty girl, but considering how we all fell as moths before your flame blue, she can only ever be a pale, pale fire of your dazzling colour therapy.

It hurts so much that you are going places where we won’t see you any more. Perhaps when -- well, maybe one lonely night warrior, when I am obsidian on my own, just maybe it will all metalmaven sense to me. But until it does, I will have to remain shirred not shaken ... and yours eternally ...

My darling Vanessa ... I miss you so.

You can see pictures of Rachel's dolls on flickr. 

Real Life Photo of Jason Wu's Fashion Night Out Doll #2

My friend Alejandro posted this lovely picture of his FNO doll with her hair down. What do you think?

I love the original open-mouth Vanessa and Avantguard sculpts but this doll's mouth borders a little on the Kesenia/Bucky Beaver side. I think it's the shape of the upper lip that creates the buck-toothed effect. The upper lip is too plump and rises up higher than a 'normal' lip. The two upper lip hills (I don't know what else to call them) are too close together creating the appearance that teeth are pushing it out and up.

I will not be keeping the head.

Housekeeping the Blog

When I first began blogging I was using a Yahoo program. I noticed recently that almost every single photo has disappeared from those posts so I am replacing them from my archives. We're talking about 2 years of stuff so it will take a while.
Today I took a few quick photos of a some Barbies.
This is the Frank Sinatra Barbie and she is adorable. She's got the pivotal body and poses well. I had a good time with her. 

Then I was fooling around with some of the Basic Barbies I have up for sale dressed in outfits I am also selling.

 

Yes, kiddies, it's that time of the year again when the dolls that were pre-ordered come pouring in and events are pending. The credit cards get good workouts. Selling is a big part of my doll collecting.

What do you think of Dominique in glasses?

I can't decide if I should keep this Vanessa or not. She's a duplicate but not one of my favorites.

And there you have it.