Picture of the Week Award ~ May 17, 2009

Yatabazah! It's a great name for a creative and talented photographer-collector. This photograph is called Arrive´ and it is the Picture of the Week. The doll is an Indo-European porcelain with molded hair called Soraya, edition "Ballade" # 9 of 25.
She is dressed in the Mdvanii Notre Dame sheath, shoes, handbag, gold cuffs and Edie's earrings. The artist made the necklace and wig. He also created the backdrop!
Yatabazah lives in Greece and collects Mdvanii, Blythe, Lilli, Mooqla and various random vintage dolls.
He's been collecting and photographing for 10 years. You can find his photostream on flickr at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yatabazah/.

Ils Ont Change´ Ma Poupee

Some of you may recognize the source of my title for today's post. It's from a song originally called Ils On Change Ma Chanson, Ma (Look What They've Done to my Song, Ma) . The words seem appropriate for Cruise Control Vanessa. Vanessa is (was?) my favorite Fashion Royalty sculpt. Although there have been too many of her released in the last two years, I still looked forward to each and every one.
What ever happened to the days when one could debox a nearly perfect doll?
Prior to the Josephine Baker dolls, I never had the thought of re-rooting a doll right out of the box. Since October 2008, there has been one doll after another with serious hair defects. Every one of these defects is factory worker caused and not a machine malfunction.
We've had clumps of hair glue, dried net marks and frizz and it's nauseating. I am really through with writing to customer care and sending pictures and getting form letters and being told that I have bad luck. I don't have bad luck; the dolls are badly done.
This is Barbie hair.

These are just like Barbie shoes with the bendy heel syndrome.

Regarding the outfit, the shorts are fabulous and the blouse is nice. It's a complicated piece and shows a great deal of effort in the construction.
The jewelry, which is not shown, consists of unadorned silver colored chains and what looks like straight pins for earrings. I kid you not.

Mid-Atlantic Gene Meet-up Registration Now Open

The event has been cancelled due to low registration.

Picture of the Week Award ~ May 10, 2009

I discovered this fabulous photograph on Flickr. The composition, lighting and excellent use of depth of field all contributed to choosing it as my Picture of the Week.
The photographer is Sassy Strawberry and the title of the image is "La Belle Dame sans Merci."

 

Here is the link to Sassy Strawberry's photostream.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/sassystrawberry/

Live Long, Prosper and Beam Me Up, Scotty!

Mattel's New Star Trek Barbie Dolls
I have been a Star Trek fan since the beginning and to this day, even when I watch the chubbed-up and well-dressed William Shatner in Boston Legal, I still see and think Captain Kirk. There's no getting away from the fact that once a Trekker always a Trekker. I loved the new Star Trek XI movie! My resistance to new actors playing well-known roles was blown away by the excellent acting, directing, action and plot of the movie. It's worth a second look.

As to Mattel's new Star Trek trio of dolls, a second look still does not entice me. The dolls below are modeled after the actors playing Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), and Lieutenant Uhura (Zoe Saldana).

Here's some promo text about the dolls:
—From his magnetic gaze to his pointed ears to his blue, sciences-division uniform shirt, Ken as Mr. Spock perfectly captures the half-Vulcan executive officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise. "Live long and prosper!"
—With his piercing eyes, sandy-brown hair and command-gold uniform shirt, Ken as Captain Kirk embodies the commanding officer of the Enterprise to a tee. "Beam me up, Scotty!"
—Barbie as Lt. Uhura makes a bold statement in her red uniform, black boots and confident stance.

The average retail price is $43 for each doll. Right now they are available at Barbie Collector, Walmart and at select Mattel dealers.

Live Long and Prosper

Spock giving the Vulcan Salute

The Vulcan Salute is a hand gesture consisting of a raised hand, palm forward with the fingers parted between the middle and ring finger and the thumb extended. The salute was devised and popoularised by Leonard Nimoy, who portrayed the half-Vulcan character, Mr. Spock, on the original Star Trek television series in the late 1960's. (Excerpt from Wikipedia.)

In his autobiography I Am Not Spock, Nimoy wrote that he based it on the Priestly Blessing performed by Jewish Kohanim with both hands, thumb to thumb in this same position, representing the Hebrew letter Shin (ש), which has three upward strokes similar to the position of the thumb and fingers in the salute. The letter Shin here stands for Shaddai, meaning "Almighty (God)", and has a superb significance in Judaism. Nimoy wrote that when he was a child, his grandfather took him to an Orthodox synagogue. There he saw the blessing performed, and was very impressed by it.

Other Star Trek Dolls
Forgive me if I don't call them 'action figures.' They're dolls. Get over it.
Merchandise from the Star Trek Series and movies spans the decades and comes from a multitude of companies. Here are links to several websites either reviewing the dolls or selling merchandise:
http://startrek.playmatestoys.com/products/index/figures_12
http://store.startrek.com/category/multiple/38+59?subid=185&source=pjn
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/officially-cool-star-trek-barbie-dolls.php
http://www.toyrocket.com/Star-Trek-C1850.aspx?gclid=CJXVwJi0spoCFSbxDAodyBv-bQ
http://www.megomuseum.com/megolibrary/department/jcp75trek.html
http://boxwish.com/blog/view/749-star-trek-gets-a-barbie-makeover

My opinion: There are better looking, more articulated and less expensive Star Trek dolls or action figures out there. Art Asylum made this Kirk and Spock "The Wrath of Khan" Action Figure Set.

They are only 8" tall but at least they look good and can be posed. Get both dolls for $32. That's less than the price of one Mattel doll.

If you're into weird-looking dolls, here's one for you:

It is an ultra-stylized, poseable vinyl Captain Kirk QUOG action figure for $12.99.

What about a Captain Kirk Talking Wacky Wobbler Bobble Head, also selling for $12.99?

Don't see anything you like? Come sit next to me. Here, have a Tribble.

Watch the funniest episode: The Trouble With Tribbles

Homage to Veronique Perrin - Part III of Many

The 2003 Fall/Winter Mauve Absolue Collection consisted of four Close-Up Veroniques, five dressed Veroniques and two dressed Adeles.

Veronique Perrin "Paradise," a close-up doll, and "Chic Escape" a dressed doll, both arrived wearing bathing suits accompanied by handbags. Chic Escape also had a hat. Paradise was an MFD exclusive with an edition of 750 and a retail price of $35. Chic Escape's edition was 1000 dolls with a retail price of $26. Both dolls are still highly prized although this year their prices have dropped below $200.

Chic Escape's hair, although I received her NRFB, was quite unruly and took away from her beauty.

I had her hair rerooted with a blend of light to platinum blondes and I love it.
______
Fashion Plate Brunettte, LE 800, Retail Price $75
I recently added her to my collection. She is a pretty doll but her hair is not a "user-friendly" style. She's got the two pieces of hair coming down on both sides of her face and it doesn't really work.

Mauve Absolue, LE 750, Retail $99.
This doll was my first spectacular Fashion Royalty doll when I started collecting. I couldn't believe the jewelry and the gown. There was so much work and detail in this little doll that I spent many a dolly minute just staring at her. She remained in her original fashion for at least 2 years! When I finally decided to move my dolls to tall bodies, she got right back into the same outfit!

Flame Rouge, R&D Exclusive, LE 500, Retail $99.
Although this doll has a gorgeous face and from afar looks amazing with her black hair and big red gown, I found both of those things to be issues for me. The hair was too big and the curls were difficult to keep tame looking. The dress was too much as well: too much fabric and overly designed. I did not keep her for long.

The next installment will cover the Veroniques of the Spring 2004 Sheer Perfection line: Pearlescence, Haute Luxuries, Diamond Dusted, Social Call and Sheer Goddess.