"Aerodynamic Vanessa" and "Heat Seeker Natalia"

"Aerodynamic" and "Heat Seeker" are two of the four new basic Fashion Royalty dolls for this season. They arrived yesterday and had their photo shoot. I have not liked the new Natalia dolls until this one. Perhaps it's the simple styling of her hair. She's a keeper.

As for Vanessa, if she's going to sport black lips, she needs the rest of the look to go along with it.

According to Kamola Navo www.thefashiontime.com (August, 2008)
"Black lips, reminiscent of the dark 90s, emerged at the YSL, Giles, and Luella Fall/Winter ‘09 fashion shows. Black lipstick showcases the magic power of decadent Goth aesthetics, along with the potential to be elegant and sophisticated, when applied correctly.

The general opinion of bloggers is that black lipstick is for Halloween or the runway. Maybe Vanessa will keep her black lips, for now, and get a suitably fashionable hairstyle to go along with the look.

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There are two quality control issues with the dolls. I have brought this up previously and apparently it is not being addressed. The heels of the boots are too high and the doll cannot stand straight when the heel and sole are placed on a horizontal surface. What is so difficult about making heels the correct height? People do not walk around with their knees bent. The boots could have been the coolest part of the basic fashions on these dolls.
Be careful not to pull too tightly as the laces will tear their way right through the boots as there are no grommets. You can see the holes beginning to tear and this was the first time I put them on. They will not last long at this rate.

The hairline rooting pattern is uneven at the forehead. Each of the four dolls has the problem to a greater or lesser degree.

Retail price $79. Available at all Integrity dealers who carry Fashion Royalty.

"The Jazz Age" Josephine Baker Gift Set by Jason Wu

The Thrill is Gone

On March 17, the new Josephine Baker gift set went on sale at FAO Schwarz. Ordering was a breeze and my doll arrived two days later via UPS. The outer box went through the required box kicker-compressor at the UPS warehouse but the inner box containing the gift set was in perfect condition.

I love the window boxes of this line of dolls. This one was so well protected it had a separate sheet of vinyl outside and inside adhering to the window! Impressive.

Deboxing went well. There were no problems caused by packaging. The fashions were in great condition except for a few creases in the tuxedo which I improved with the careful use of my trusty Rowenta. I was not able to completely remove the creases in the lapels of the jacket.

Josephine comes dressed in her robe with nothing underneath. That was a little odd. Several people received dolls whose bare chest greeted them through the box window. I don't suppose FAO will be displaying one of those.

Using my wigged Via Venetto to model the gown and The Muse to model the tuxedo, I was able to have a photo session with all the fashions at one time. The gown and wrap are made well and fit well and that's it. Nothing outstanding or new there.

Dressing The Muse was an event in itself. The shirt goes on easily and has a crotch elastic to hold it down.

The vest fits oddly. On both of those items the hooks show and look bad. I taped the wrists and fingers of the doll prior to putting on the jacket. It is a tight, skimpy fit and the dolls arm movements are somewhat inhibited. The pants and shoes fit great and the hat just sits on her head. Strangely enough there are socks included. I didn't even bother. The bow tie has to be pulled over the doll's head. That was a mistake. The elastic is tight enough to ruin the hairstyle and/or eyelashes while being put on. I chose earrings from my stash to complete the look.

There are two pairs of shoes, earrings and a choker and no other accessories besides the black socks and panty hose. I would have liked a dancing stick for the tuxedo.

And now for the bad news.

This is Josephine right out of the box and no, she does not have a hair net on. She doesn't come with a hair net at all. Apparently it has become part of her hair. There are dried clumps of something, residue on her face and short strands of hair sticking out all over the place. In general this is disgusting. This was not supposed to happen any more.

After my first experience with banana dance Josephine (pictured below), I hesitated to purchase the others because I was so turned off.

As you can see from the photos, there is an indent on both sides of her mouth extending back to the jawline. In addition, so much hair glue was used that it is visible on the skin of the forehead and around the curls. It is on the eyelashes. What appears as dust on her eyelashes and in the eye area in general is actually production debris which apparently got stuck to the glue used on the hair.

I was asked by Mark Tewfik, the "Patient Care" rep at IT to return the doll because it had multiple problems and they wanted to show it to the factory.

The problems have not been solved. I wonder if they've been addressed. My 2008 convention Tatyana had the embedded hairnet syndrome. Paris J'Adore Tatyana had her side curls glued to her cheeks with a visible residue and the similarly styled hair on the Mood Veroniques was horrible.

We have had many Fashion Royalty dolls over the past few years who had forehead curls and fancy updos. This problem did not exist. Going backwards in time and to name just a few:
Agnes Von Weiss - The Royal Weiss; Vanessa Perrin - True Royalty; Véronique Perrin - Gliteratti; Vanessa Perrin- Intoxicating Mix; Véronique Perrin - Foreign Affair; Véronique Perrin - Rare Creature; Adèle Makeda - Lustrous Silhouette.
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My recommendation:
If you like Josephine Baker and you manage to get a doll without the hair problems, then the gift set is a decent buy. The price is much better than any gift set sold in the last few years. I was able to get 20% off as a result of the Barbie celebration. Right now there is free shipping being offered.
Here is the blurb from the FAO site:
"For the second installment in their Hollywood Royalty line, Integrity Toys is proud to present Jason Wu's vision of true renaissance woman, human rights pioneer and stage artist extraordinaire, Josephine Baker. Ready to delight her adoring fans, Josephine Baker comes to you with everything she needs to make a lasting impression. This FAO Schwarz exclusive doll gift set includes a robe, gala gown, tuxedo, shoes and accessories. Limited edition of 300 sets."
Retail price $160.
http://www.fao.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=14993

Follow Up:
I have been told that I will get a free replacement head. It will be ordered from the factory in China and will take time to get here.

There can be humor in patriotism.

This photograph appears in this week's New Yorker Magazine side by side with a brief article about Michelle Obama's preference to go sleeveless. The two gentlemen in the image are Thakoon Panichgul, left, and Jason Wu on the right. The First Lady has chosen fashions designed by both of these men. If you don't know, Jason Wu is also the designer/creator of the Fashion Royalty doll, AvantGuard, Valia and several other Integrity Toy doll lines. He created dolls in the likeness of the First Lady of Drag, RuPaul and transsexual Amanda Lepore. Mrs. Obama wore a gown designed by Jason in which to attend the inaugural balls.

I saw the image prior to getting the print article as another collector posted it on one of the doll boards. I liked it immediately. I see the symbolism of being protected by the flag and holding it dear. Jason is holding the flag to his heart. This photograph is tame by Jason's standards.

Two other collectors were completely offended by the use of the flag. They felt it was disrespectful in every way. I don't see a speck of disrespect at all. I see two great-looking young men posed with a big beautiful, if somewhat old, flag. There's humor in patriotism here. I suppose that the nuanced emotions are too hard for many to understand. No attack against the USA was intended at all.

If you want to be offended, here's your chance:

How about this "Casey Anthony Barbie" being offered for sale on Craig's list?

I don't know the story behind this but there appears to be a great deal of controversy surrounding the entire thing. Since the dress closes with velcro, it's just as crappy as most Mattel items. ;-). Too bad someone ruined a perfectly good flag.

I just spent the last 30 minutes searching images of flag wearing or abusive behavior. Three offensive images were of non-Americans burning the flag with glee. One was a group of American protestors holding the flag upsidedown. I also found these adorable photos among many more beautiful others.

It is part of being a doll collector to read and deal with the opinions of others on topics other than doll collecting. Do you know what an A.F.G.O. is?

If you see this doll for sale, please let me know.

I'm searching for this Vogue Vintage Reproduction Ginny Beryl doll. Manufactured in 2007. Edition of 350. Shouldn't be too hard to find but all I can find are the AA ones. I have been searching everywhere!!!!
Maybe someone out there has one. You can email me by clicking on the little envelope under each post.

Update on August 5, 2009: Found her and she's mine! It was worth the wait.

Is it really the economy?

 All the images from this post have been temporarily removed - in truth, they have disappeared and left nothing but black boxes.

So I was trolling the doll sellers web sites yesterday and checking to see what, if anything from this season's Integrity 12" doll lines, is sold out. That would be NOTHING. I have never seen this before. There have been a couple of the basic Fashion Royalty dolls in the past few years that weren't very popular and more than a few separate outfits but to have dressed dolls still available at every single retailer? Never. I'm not talking about the play line dolls here.

On the other hand, the 16" AvantGuards are completely sold out everywhere. Several of the Gene dressed dolls are also sold out, although if one looks hard enough, there are still some of each around. Last season's Gene dolls went on sale weeks ago at Marlbe and Mary T has been listing her leftovers on eBay for even less than Marlbe!

I find myself looking at the upcoming Fashion Royalty dolls to see if I missed something! I am not excited about anything I have ordered except for the AvantGuards. I did order two of the basic FR dolls, the Daria in red and Reluctant Debutante Poppy.

If it's not the economy, could it be the doll choices themselves? The Fashion Royalty, Nu.Face and Poppy Parker lines seem uninspired. They are just average in fashion and styling. The Nu.Face fashions are downright sloppy-looking. (I've been corrected. It's trendy, not sloppy. LOL)

There is a lot of black, white and red. Hmmm.

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And, what about Valia?

Do my eyes deceive me or is she wearing black, white and red, too?

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If this isn't enough for you, why not get this creature? She is called the Traveler Innoquii. The weirder you spell the name of a doll, the more haute...? Trendy? If you like dolls that have tattoos consisting of a compass, passport stamps and an "erogenous flight path" and one huge black eye, then this gal is for you. Run right over to the Haute Doll site as this is an exclusive from Superfrock. There are only 300 of them at $380. each for subscribers or $400. for non-subscribers. Lucky for you, she is still in stock.

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Not to be outdone, Robert Tonner also has used black and white this season. Happily it's not his theme. The following are from the Joan Crawford line:

Above is a dresssed doll called Classic Portrait. LE 500 Retail Price $179.99 No, I'm not kidding.

This is a dressed doll called Hollywood Starlet. LE 1000 Her retail price is $189.99. Both Crawford dolls are available for less at the major doll dealers such as Cherished Friends who has them in stock for $153. and $152. respectively.

Finally, in this strange blog post which has become all about black, white and red doll fashions, we have another new Tonner fashion. This one is from the Bette Davis line and is called "Spotted By The Press." This is just an outfit which is LE 300 and retails for $89.99. It's cute but it's way to close in styling to the Joan Crawford outfit, "Publicity Shoot." It is not yet available but if you want to be the first on your block to have one, you can pre-order it at Cherished Friends for $76.00.

Today's lesson: never pay retail. That was yesterday's lesson, too; I just wanted to see if you were paying attention.

Marg Matsui of MFD ~ My Favorite Barbie Collector

On the occasion of Barbie's 50th Anniversary, Marg Matsui of My Favourite Doll in Mississauga, Ontario, was interviewed by Canadian media outlets and here are the filmed results.

http://www.topvsbottom.com/barbie/mfd4.wmv