2009 Gene Fan Appreciation Tour Announced

Information on this year's Gene Fan Appreciation Tour was released to the public today. Here is the information and the picture of the doll. She's a beauty and I adore the fashion. I would love to visit Cherished Friends but it's a 3+ hour drive each way and for such a brief event, I don't think I will be going. If someone was in my area of New York to share the ride with me....well, I would reconsider.

-Tour Stop One: W Club online event, August 8th

-Tour Stop Two: Hollywood Ahoy convention in California, managed by Joe Blitman, August 14th at the Gene Breakout Event Dinner
Hollywood Ahoy Website: http://sandrastillwell.com
Joe Blitman's Website: http://www.joeslist.com

-Tour Stop Three: Cherished Friends, Saturday September 12thCherished Friends' Website: www.cherishedfriends.com

-Tour Stop Four: Gigi's Dolls and Sherry's Teddy Bears, Saturday September 26thGigi's Dolls' Website: www.gigisdolls.com

The Marceline tour doll is done in a limited edition of 120 dolls and retails for $155.
45 dolls will be available at the W Club online event and 25 dolls at each additional tour stop. More details regarding the W Club online event will be released closer to the event.

Picture of the Week Award ~ June 28, 2009

Instantly recognizable to Fashion Royalty collectors, these dolls and their fashion are so-called holy grails to many. Captured together by Angel in California, the pair creates a striking reminder of the earlier days of Fashion Royalty that so many remember fondly.

Angel posted that the original Toast of Paris Dressed Doll was an elusive, much sought after doll missing from her collection. She already had the fashion and was going to have a different Veronique re-rooted and re-painted to resemble the original. Luckily a friend offered her the dressed doll and she didn't hesitate.

Congratulations to Angel for presenting a double dip of beauty in this Picture of the Week.

What to do when sad?

I was looking for a good stock picture of a Farrah Fawcett doll and I got caught up in looking at pictures of the real Farrah. I started to feel the tears come when I saw the gaunt face and pulled muscles on her face because it reminded me of my own mother's face in her last months. So I present not Farrah, but Michael, whose loss does not cause me emotional pain although it is a great loss to the music world. He was such an incredible talent and such a damaged person. It's all so sad.
What to do when sad? I began hunting for a fabulous 1/6 scale Michael figurine. There are a few around and their prices are rising fast. I'm not going to get it. However, not one to walk away empty-handed, I did find these little Michael figurines and ordered a set from Japan. Each represents a different song and there will be a 7th "secret" one.

Michael Jackson, King of Pop, Dead at 50

1/6 M Icon Michael Jackson Billie Jean/History Tour Version

"From Hot Toys comes this fantastically detailed 1/6-scale action doll of the one and only King of Pop! Depicted in his glory days of the History Tour, this figure of the legendary performer comes complete with his outfit (including his iconic sparkly glove), five extra hands, fedora, and microphone on stand. He's super-posable, so you can duplicate any of his amazing dance moves! A figure stand is included. Packaged in a deluxe collector box, this superstar is ready to take center stage in your collection today!"

The original issue price of this figurine was about $197. According to Hobby Link Japan, it has been discontinued although it was originally released in March, 2009. That was fast.

Picture of the Week Award ~ June 21, 2009

The Picture of the Week Award goes to Maria Papadimitriou, aka Habilis1966, of the W Club. She posted a series of photos called Tango. Here Darius is dipping Eugenia as they dance. I like the composition and the feeling of movement in the photo. What do you think?


This is the link to Maria's blog: http://www.habilisdolls.blogspot.com/
Here is the link to Maria's Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/habilisdolls/

Congratulations, Maria!

An Angel with Black Wings

It's been a dolly overload week, beginning with following the events of the Tonner Convention and proceeding to the hunt for a well-priced convention Antoinette. I found out that I was one of the lucky winners of the Tonner virtual convention drawing. That was a surprise! Then Madra and Zita arrived. And on and on. More dolls, more stuff, endless. It was one of those weeks that led me to wonder if I had a life outside of dolls. Not good.
Of course the constant rain here in New York didn't help the situation. Even the dog didn't want to go out.

I shot hundreds of frames (as we used to call them) and I am presenting several here. In these images, my Aphrodisiac Avantguard is wearing Idyllic Antoinette's ensemble. The feathery things were in Toni's hair originally. I inserted them into the back of the gown and they look like wings to me.
These are my pictures of the week!

I thought it would be fun to post a picture of the set during her photoshoot. The background paper roll is on a stand made for that purpose. I'm using two Photogenic strobes which need to be replaced due to color shift. In the meantime, I am color correcting in Photoshop. I use a Canon EOS50D camera with a Canon 24-105 F4L lens.

Regarding Idyllic...she is a perfect doll! There's not a single defect. How refreshing. Cameo was the same. I have fallen for these little beauties. Here's the original Idyllic:

Who wears it better?