Even More Cheap Thrills with Barbie Basics

I don't know what got into me these past few months but I have purchased a bunch of Pink Label Barbie dolls. I keep them in my studio and yesterday they got lucky in front of the camera.  Angelica's hair is typical Barbie quality - uneven, shaggy ends and no style. The Hispanic (?) Barbie has lovely hair but she has glitter glued under her brows. The red Target Barbie is adorable. Her hair will never get messed up as every strand is glued down. She needs a pivotal body and lashes to make her into a useful doll that can pose.

The last vinyl Barbie I will buy this year is Tokidoki. I swear.

Monster High: Lagoona Blue and Spectra Vondergeist

More cheap thrills come your way via the silly and strange Monster High dolls.

Don't expect high quality for in the $20. range as these are fragile dolls, albeit very clever.   I don't know what their hair is made from but it's difficult to keep tamed and their limbs often take on a life of their own. But they do snap back together.
Lagoona Blue, on the left, comes with the funniest 3 eyed frog. She is depicted as being in the school science lab. She also comes with a locker and an extra fashion. Spectra Vondergeist is mostly translucent - as a ghost ought to be. Even her pet, which is unidentifiable, is kind of see-through.
I picked up Lagoona at my Target store and got Spectra directly from Mattel. I recommend both of them for play value and adorable-ness.

Not Your Mother's Bergdorf Goodman

Jason Wu Designs a Line of Clothing for Target: A few press excerpts.

Mr Wu today said: 'My collection for Target embodies my signature aesthetic of feminine sophistication, with a mischievous nod to the 1960s.'

And, according to Target's Twitter feed, the creations are, somewhat eccentrically, influenced by a cat named Milu.
Mr Wu told WWD: 'This partnership offers an exciting opportunity for me to interpret my aesthetic into a collection made for a broader market.
'It was very interesting for me to translate my signature touches into a more affordable collection without compromising quality, design and sophistication'
It 'features clothes and accessories that are easily convertible from day to evening — sophisticated, feminine dresses, mix-and-match separates and playful accessories all with a bit of charm and dressed-up attitude.'

The collections will focus on apparel and accessories only, differing from the Missoni range, for example, which saw fervour over a vast 400 pieces crash the retail site. That line sold out within 24 hours of its much-lauded launch.
Rather than creating 'just an item for the season,' Mr Wu has before said that he 'strive[s] to create clothes that can be worn for a lifetime.'
Target, not known for its high-end quality, makes a change from Mr Wu's usual territory.
The line will range from $19.99 to $59.99 and will be available at many Target stores and online.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2044736/Jason-Wu-Target-Michelle-Obamas-favourite-designer-announces-collaboration.html#ixzz1ZpOoTt97

 It will certainly not be the first time a trendy designer, including McQueen, Missoni, Gaultier, Schouler, Thakoon, Temperley, has partnered with Target. I can't wait to see the results!

Target Night Out doll needs a new sculpt.

Another of Jason Wu's Sculpts Bites the Dust

It was recently announced that the sculpt of one of IT's flagship characters, Adele, is now retired and will be replaced in the giftset from the convention collection. The outgoing sculpt is the second incarnation of Adele and is quite a beauty.


The original sculpt.

Screening removed and lips repainted by me.

The outgoing sculpt.

Is Integrity being forced to change their most popular sculpts? Do the copyrights of these sculpts, Vanessa, Veronique and Adele belong to Jason Wu solely? Is he asking too much money for renewal of the license or is he just not permitting his sculpts to be used any longer? It's too much of a coincidence that three of the oldest sculpts would be replaced within months of each other at the ten year mark of the company.
Did Jason come equipped with the brilliant foresight to license his sculpts for a limited period of time when he was hired by Integrity Toys? Is Kyori next?  Who shot JR?

 In a little over one year there have been 6 new Fashion Royalty female sculpts: Kesenia, Vanessa, Korrine, Veronique, Rayna and Anja. The prior year saw Natalia turn white and Dania came on the scene. There have been several new characters introduced into the NuFace line as well including several males. Let's not forget the four new FR2 sculpts.  Who is actually creating the new sculpts and why do some of them look alike?

 

 The FR2 Faces:

JAMIEshow Swan Lake Dolls

Angelic Dreamz presented their Halloween 2011 mini collection, Swan Lake. These dolls utilize the JAMIEshow Grace sculpt. The White Swan is a Doll Reader Exclusive. What follows is an article from their website by Toni Fitzgerald.

Ying and yang. Black and white. Good and bad. The push and pull of two complete opposites that are nonetheless connected has long fascinated George Gonzalez, who runs the Angelic Dreamz store in Canandaigua, N.Y. When Gonzalez was considering themes for his Halloween mini collection for the JAMIEshow line, he was intrigued by the idea of a doll taken from the same mold but representing two extremes. And that's what collectors get with Black Swan and White Swan, two different versions of the same doll.
Doll Reader is offering White Swan to readers as an exclusive limited edition of 50. The doll, available for purchase in October, is truly breathtaking. Like her sister doll Black Swan, which Angelic Dreamz is selling, White Swan is based on the ballet "Swan Lake."
"We chose 'Swan Lake' because of its beautiful story and dark undertones," says Gonzalez, who says he is a big fan of ballet, particularly modern. "We also chose 'Swan Lake' because it is a ballet and our dolls, with their incredible articulation, fine lines of design, and mobility, lent themselves perfectly for the grace that is ballet."
Indeed, White Swan looks as though she might dance right into your living room. Like other JAMIEshow designs, she is a 16-inch (41-cm) resin, ball-jointed doll with 19 points of articulation. But she also has some new innovations that doll collectors will really enjoy.
"An added new feature to these dolls is that they have interchangeable feet and come with two sets of feet, one on pointe and the second regular high-heel feet," says Gonzalez. "As a company we are always striving for perfection and design ingenuity. Having feet on pointe that can be interchanged is just one of our innovations. The dolls also wear our new interchangeable rooted wig caps and come with an additional hard cap for wigs. This design aspect is a patented trademark only we produce."
Though the two dolls have the same mold, they are otherwise opposites. As fans of the ballet (or the recent Natalie Portman movie "Black Swan") know, "Swan Lake" tells the story of Odette, a beautiful princess who has been kidnapped by an evil sorcerer, who turns her into a swan. In the ballet, the part of the fair and gentle Odette is danced by the same ballerina who plays the sorcerer's dark daughter, Odile. The vile Odile dresses up like Odette and steals a declaration of love from her suitor. Odette, of course, is the virtuous White Swan while Odile is the daring Black Swan.
“I’ve always enjoyed the story of ‘Swan Lake,’” says Doll Reader editor Kathryn Peck. “It wonderfully lends itself to interpretation, and the costumes are gorgeous. When George approached us with the opportunity to partner with him in offering these two amazing dolls, we jumped at the chance.”
"The way the two are represented in the doll is completely different," Gonzalez says. "The White Swan is dressed in white, which typically symbolizes goodness and purity, and her face-up is also light and soft. The Black Swan is dressed in black, and her dress made of black feathers is coarse. Her makeup is dark, and she has a completely different look than the White Swan."
Doll collectors will agree that these yin-and-yang dolls do have at least one other thing in common: They're both irresistible.

___

HOW TO PURCHASE

White Swan, dressed doll. LE 50. $430 (USD). Free shipping for US orders only. An additional shipping charge will be applied to all international orders.

    White Swan comes with a certificate of authenticity that identifies her as a Doll Reader exclusive and and will be available for sale exclusively through Doll Reader starting at 12:00 pm (EST) October 3, 2011.

To pre-order the Black Swan, visit Angelic Dreamz.

Here is a lovely video which features the two dolls, the White Swan and the Black Swan:

http://youtu.be/3-LiD9xze0k

MetroDolls "A Gothic Romance"

On Sunday, October 2 MetroDolls held a fabulously successful charity event and raised $15,033. to benefit Autism Speaks.

Event doll from Tonner Doll:

Gothic Romance

The Gene Centerpiece Doll:

Midnight Encounter

Tonner Ultra Basic companion Dolls: Glinda sculpt on the Antoinette body, blonde and mink:

Emma

Gothic Essentials: Event Souvenir Cape and Accessories:

Nightfall: MetroDolls Event Fashion:

 

See more pictures and information about the event at the MetroDolls website.

I've Crossed Over...

Yes, I did.  I ordered a Sybarite.  Blame it on Obama. Why not.  Everyone blames him for everything anyway.
Ooooo...sorry, no politics on this blog. I give credit for my change of heart to another doll manufacturer.
A hearty thank you goes out to them. Yes I can! There's always more to be revealed.

I have heard such great things about the posing of the new Sybarite body and it's posing that is of the ultimate importance to me in my photography.

I ordered Talc, silvery blue lips and all.

When I evaluated the amounts of money I was spending on the 12" dolls over the course of a year and the amount of dissatisfaction I was having and the fact that they just keep piling up and standing around, I realized that it was time to gradually stop. It's going to be difficult because of the instant gratification that many of the smaller dolls provide. But with my favorite characters having been discontinued and so many of the not-so-old bodies discoloring badly, there are incentives to stop the hunting/gathering behavior in favor of truly refining the horde.

Wish me luck.

Seen on Prego - Eshe

Adrian Cardozo posted this fabulous image of JAMIEshow St. Tropez Eshe.

Normally I wouldn't recommend lighting a doll from below unless she had fangs but in this case, it's working. It's almost as if she's looking into a fireplace.

Adrian's blog: Dollphilia  Diary of a Doll Collector

New Releases from Tonner Doll

Seven dolls were released today.  This one is quite a beauty.

MARVEL - EMMA FROST™ $149.99

·       Breathless Mahoney Head Sculpt

·       16” New Tyler Bending Wrist Body w/ Fuller Bust, Hips, & Biceps

·       Fine Quality Vinyl and Hard Plastic

·       Blue Painted Eyes

·       Blonde Rooted Hair

·       Tyler Skin tone

·       Stand

·       White Cape w/ Red & Gold Brooch

·       White Boots

·       Face Includes Hand Painted Details

 

Both white and natural hands with painted nails included.

Click on this link to see the rest of the dolls.

How to Avoid Being Scammed

 The infamous scammer from one of the islands southeast of Florida surfaced again on the Show & Sell pages last week. He almost got away with his game. This person posts very desirable dolls and very fair prices which is, in itself, a giveaway. There are always those who will jump on great deals even when they scream "too good to be true." Luckily the gal who sent him money was warned - almost too late - and got a refund from Paypal. Whew! Close one. I'm sure he's not finished. Neither are the others. They're out there. They change names, lie about references and keep coming back!

If you are the buyer:

1. Ask for at least 3 recent, checkable references and then contact the references and ask them for information about the transaction to make sure that the seller isn't making it all up.

2. If the seller won't answer you or gets pissy, RUN and tell the rest of us what happened.

3. Ask the seller to take a picture (or pictures) of the item with a piece of paper that has his/her name printed clearly with the date. Scammers will not hesitate to sell stuff they don't have and will also steal pictures of merchandise that doesn't belong to them. (They do that even when they have the stuff to sell because they are too lazy to take their own photos.)

4. Do not pay with a money order, cash, personal check or non-credit Paypal unless you are absolutely positive you know with whom you are dealing. You have no recourse at all if the transaction goes wrong when paying thus.

5. Post questions asking for references on the doll boards. Contact those who respond. 

6. If the seller balks at any question, that is your red flag. If the transaction makes you uncomfortable, you can live without the doll and you can certainly live without losing your money.

If you are the seller you can be scammed, too, if you're not careful.

1. Insure everything you ship if you don't know the buyer well.

2. It's not a bad idea to get eBay references for buyers. Look at the feedback they leave. Some are never happy with anything.

3. Don't ship overseas without tracking and insurance unless you know the buyer and they are willing to pay you via the Personal tab on Paypal. (I do not endorse this method as it is illegal to circumvent Paypal fees. That's my public opinion.)

4. Do not accept any type of payment that makes you uncomfortable.

5. If you list Buy it Now items, make sure you require immediate payment. Otherwise, those without money to pay will just be stopping your auction by bidding.

6. NEVER ship before you have cash in hand.

7. If you are asked to ship to an address other than that of the person paying, you may be scammed. They finagle getting dolls by having sellers send a doll to someone who sends them money and then they claim they didn't get the doll and on and on. An exception to this is if you won't ship overseas and the buyer asks you to ship to their shipping buddy. Get that person's email address and confirm in writing who they are and what they intend to do. You have to hope they are not in cahoots. You can avoid this by learning how to ship overseas.

If you can think of anything to add to this list, feel free to post it in the comments section. I will put this post in the sidebar in a few days for reference in the future.

Modern Doll Convention Souvenirs @ Tonner Direct

Party of the Year ANDY 2011 Modern Doll Exclusive LE 50

 I don't understand why this character was created to look 12 years old. I know the back story, but he looks like a cute adolescent boy.


Tonner Direct is selling him for $159.99 but you can get him for only $150. directly from the MDCC. Didn't anyone buy him at the convention? I don't know if the free shipping on new Tonner products applies to these dolls. It might be worth it to find out and then compare prices.

Party of the Year FRANKIE 2011 Modern  Doll Exclusive LE 125

She's $159.99 at Tonner Direct and $150. from MDCC. You can buy the set from MDCC for $275, a savings of $44.98 off Tonner Direct's price of $319.98 for both dolls.

I have to admit that I will be very wary of buying any centerpiece dolls at the upcoming Halloween Convention. Why? If I had waited to purchase the Ellowyne luncheon dolls, I could have saved money by ordering them when they were posted just 4 days after the event. Ugh.

Convention and event dolls are supposed to be special, a little harder to get and somewhat costlier if you haven't attended. If only they waited two or three weeks it would have preserved a little of the exclusivity of the dolls. I wound up selling one of my purchases for less than I paid! That never happened to me before with a convention doll.

Party All Night ANDY, a UFDC Exclusive, is available for $149.99. I love his outfit.

From the same UFDC event and for the same price, Party All Night JON, is offered. Her outfit looks like something designed for Ellowyne. I see Jon as more sophisticated.

UFDC = United Federation of Doll Clubs
MDCC=Modern Doll Collectors Convention

Sale Alert: Theatre Da La Mode, NOIR #9

Tonner Doll Co., Theatre Da La Mode, NOIR #99
If you hesitated to purchase this doll because of her high price, original retail $240.99, you can buy her now for $169.99.  I should have waited as I paid $210 for mine. I was so excited that Robert continued the TDLM series, I had to pre-order. Never again. Famous last words.

Angelic Dreamz is having a sale on in stock Tonner items. Click on the photo to go to AD.

New Evangeline Ghastly: Dandy of Death

I don't understand the name but I've seen this doll in person and she's gorgeous. The ensemble is definitely collector-worthy and if I were still collecting EG, I'd get it.
The price for this vinyl doll raises by $15. the usual dressed vinyl EG price to $190.  Ouch.

 The description:
 It's our newest vinyl Evangeline with inset blue eyes,* applied lashes, and a changeable platinum wig. She's approximately 17" tall and completely ball jointed, with delicate hand painted features.  She comes dressed in a bodysuit, golden cravat and trim, lined brocade vest with golden buttons, pants, velvet jacket with ribbon ties, hat, pantyhose, and faux suede boots with laces and silver grommets.  The most fitting of looks for a day at the office, a picnic by the moors, or just writing in her diary.  LE 350 

The eyes on these vinyl dolls cannot be changed although there is one person I know of who can do it but it involves head surgery.
Stands should be included at these prices. It's not like she can stand on her own. Goodness knows she can barely sit properly. I've mentioned previously that the inability of EG's joints to move well into poses is the reason I will not buy them any longer. They look cool - like Barbies look in their boxes - but I play with my dolls and I need dolls that can pose and hold poses.

I predict that she will sell out as she is quite different from prior releases, she's wigged and the fashion is very cool. I hope she's not stained under all that black fabric!


BTW Shipping is free until October 8 for purchases totaling $75. or more. Use the code SMILE15. Wilde Imagination ships worldwide. Yay them!

______

This 90 Million Dollar skull was created by the notorious artist Damien Hirst. This one-of-a-kind piece of art is titled “For the Love of God” and is the most costly piece of contemporary art ever made. This piece is encrusted with over 8,601 diamonds and has a total of 1,106.18 carats. It weighs 63 pounds and is made from a real skull and teeth. Damien is not planning to sell this piece of art and created it with his own money. Now all he has to do is stick this skull on top of a cane and become the ultimate Puff Daddy. -Trifter