Picture of the Week Award ~ August 23, 2009

When I opened a post on Prego and saw the pictures of this doll, I thought it was a real person!

The photo is by Jackie Saunders who goes by the name of Jackie in Cincy or JinCincy on the boards. The doll's name is Callan. He is a limited edition Iplehouse EID SE version of Akando. Honestly, I have no idea what all those initials stand for but it must be something really good because this doll is as hot as it gets. The photos Jackie posted of him are beautifully exposed and composed. He is so easy to stare at. Jackie knows how to use a black background when her doll is dressed in black. She lights the background to make the doll stand away from it. The lighting creates a wonderful dimensional effect and outlines Callan's body. Well done!

This information regarding the dolls has been provided by Jackie:
Iplehouse does offer regular line versions in different skin tones, (white and normal) but the skin tone my guy has, called "real resin" (which is a mix of urethane and french resins), has only been offered as Special Edition dolls. The Iplehouse EID guys are 70cm tall and they are heavy, weighing in at close to 7 lbs. They are some of the most beautiful, realistic looking male dolls that I have ever seen though, and that was the draw for me. Their bodies are sculpted beautifully. They even have detailed veining in their arms and hands. They are truly pieces of art in my eyes. They range in price from about $640 for a standard doll without make up to $1000 for some of the limited editions.

If you would like to see more of Jackie's photos of her doll collection check out her Picture Trail album and/or her Live Journal. You won't be disappointed!

Congratulations, Jackie, on your Picture of the Week Award.

Dania Zarr "Red Zinger" Fashion Royalty Doll

The only doll I pre-ordered from this year's main collection was Red Zinger Dania. I did so mainly because she is a new character; however, her mold has already been used for Lana Turner. She photographs amazingly well or I was just having a good afternoon...not sure which. Usually when I'm not in love with a doll, the photos show it.

As to the quality of the doll, she passes with flying colors. I'm having a little trouble with the jewelry. The tiny jump rings holding the heavy elements together open easily and when I was removing the necklace from it's cardboard backing, two pieces fell off. Yesterday when I was posing the doll, part of her earring fell off. Annoying but not irreparable.
Dania came dressed with a plastic protector around her shoulders and neck. That's a warning if ever there was one. Do not leave this outfit on the doll for an extended period. I wonder if there is something one can apply to the interior of that area that will protect the doll. Saran wrap?
I removed the navy blue fabric belt/sash as I felt it was completely out of place and ruined the line of the outfit.
As you can see, under the jacket Dania is wearing a sleeveless top tucked into the skirt. It's like a bodysuit although there is elastic rather than fabric holding the top down between her legs. She's also got panties under that. The skirt sheds a bit so when photographing one must carefully blow any stray fibers away.

Let's talk about the hair. This is just my personal taste. I don't like the roll. So far in all the pictures collectors have posted, they have flattened it. In the promotional photo that Integrity posted (see below), the curl is flattened. So why have it in the first place?

Image Property of Integrity Toys

I have an on-going issue with manufacturers whose promotional photos look significantly different from the production dolls. This isn't a big issue with Dania. Please, show us the dolls we are ordering before we order them. 

I don't know what color the sash is supposed to be. Mine looks navy blue but the shoes are black. Am I missing something?

I hope lighter, more feminine shoes make a comeback. Ultimately each collector personalizes the fashions to his own taste. Some like painted hands and chunky shoes. My own taste in dolls runs to the softer-looking face with less exaggerated features. 

Personal preferences aside, this is a great doll although she is expensive at $135.

Cool Site to Make Photo Presentations

Maybe everyone knows this site already but I just discovered it. All you have to do is upload a bunch of pictures, pick a theme, a presentation format and some music and the program does all the work. I love the way the sepia film look like an old 8mm filmstrip. Very vintage.

I have un-embedded the video. Please click on the link below to watch.

http://www.moblyng.com/watch/i7LWVhYSk0

Picture of the Week Award ~ 8/16/09

Stratos Bacalis used the Vogue Magazine cover seen above as his inspiration to create one using Fashion Royalty dolls.


I asked Stratos to provide a little background on the making of the photograph. He wrote:
"It was difficult to shoot as no more than 5 dolls at a time could fit into my light-box do lighting and background had to be kept the same for the combined shoots. The black & white outfit choice was necessary to maximise the impact and keep it tasteful (I wanted to do the white and blue like vogue but I do not have enough blue items if any in my stash). Lots of thinking went into how the ladies would be combined. It was certain from the get go that they would all be FR ladies but not NU Face girls (they will get their own cover later, plus I do not have all the NU face girls yet). I tried to even the hair colouring - same number of blonds in both groups. The two African-American ladies ended up in the second group due to the dresses and not their skin colour - two white outfits are in each group but the first had both white dresses with a full short skirt that meant that the two black outfits with a short full skirt would have to be in another group and from that point everything fell into place. I tried to convey the feeling of the original Vogue cover as much as possible but it is not always easy, plus I have no ladders to use in this scale. In the end I think it still looks good."

If you would like to read Stratos' blog, see more of his photographs and learn more about the man, here is the link to the Fashion Doll Chronicles, his fashion doll blog: http://fashiondollchronicles.blogspot.com/


Congratulations, Stratos on the Picture of the Week Award!

~

Click to see pages and pages of Vogue Magazine covers.

Click here to see lots of Vintage Vogue Magazine covers.

I Vant to Suck Your Blood

Until recently Vampires were the stuff of horror novels and movies. Stories of the undead go way back in mythology and folklore but according to Wikipedia, the "charismatic and sophisticated vampire of modern fiction was born in 1819 with the publication of The Vampyre by John Polidori..." "However, it is Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula that is remembered as the quintessential vampire novel and provided the basis of the modern vampire legend."

My Mom told me that when she was a teen she saw the original Dracula movie and was truly terrified. It was reported in newspapers that at the opening of this film, members of the audience actually fainted at seeing the horror. Bella Lugosi could scare the crap out of a door knob without saying a word.

Oddly enough it was my mother who introduced me to Anne Rice's books. First I read the fabulous Mayfair Witch series and then I went on to read The Vampire Chronicles and the rest of her books. If you have never read her witch novels, you don't know what you're missing! The two themes ultimately entwine. They are very satisfying. The Twilight series pales by comparison. There are similarities Meyers sprinkled in her books but like the entire series, there is no depth.

This wasn't meant to be a book review but I just finished reading the Twilight series. Most of it was fun and rather simple-minded. There was nothing scarier than speeding cars in any of the four books. The really scary vampires get torn to pieces or go floating off back to Italy.

For those who couldn't get enough of the Twilight movie, Robert Tonner produced Edward and Bella last year. They are two of the most boring-looking dolls that could be imagined. Robert Pattinson does not look like this doll. I wonder what he thought when he saw it. Kristen Stewart is prettier than her vinyl counterpart as well. But I think the vacant look on the doll portrays Bella's personality well. Edward's hair looks afraid.

Images are property of Tonner Doll Company.

Last week, Mattel revealed their version of Bella and Edward. The Mattel dolls are truly tragic. There was no attempt to make the Bella doll look like the character at all. She's Barbie. The Edward doll looks like a miniature Tonner Edward with bad skin.

Image property of Mattel.

Come on...this guy is fabulous-looking. I collect Tonner's dolls and if there were a doll that looked like Robert Pattinson, it would have been in my house already.

Now for a little more realism in a set of (just under) 7" action figures from NECA. According to promotional material they are posable and highly detailed. They're very appealing at under $30 for the pair compared to $139.99 retail for Tonner's dolls. Mattel's duo come in at about $25 each.

Give me Lestat, Louis or Marius any day.

____________

By the way, bats are good. They eat mosquitoes.

Mini Gene Dolls Set to Debut

It was announced to the public that three new Hollywood Royalty dolls based on the fictitious Gene Marshall designed by Mel Odom, would be coming soon.
I have created three montages to show the new dolls and the original 16" Gene doll upon which it is based. The original dolls were manufactured by Ashton-Drake and are some of the earliest of all the Genes.

"Blue Caprice" is based on Blue Goddess [inset]

"Red Desire" based on Red Venus [inset]

"Midnight Lace" based on Pin Up [inset]

The first two will be available from dealers, the last, Midnight Lace, will be a W Club exclusive available to lottery winners. Each is a limited edition of only 250. The estimated delivery date is Mid-Late November, 2009. And the price is a whopping $150.

I like the idea of these dolls. I was never a movie star-doll lover and Lana Turner, although nice, never really grabbed me. Josephine Baker wasn't a Hollywood star and I didn't care for the quality of the dolls. Since I am already fond of the Gene line, past and present, these are "just right" (says Goldilocks.)

I've had people ask me today who Gene Marshall was. I suppose for non-Gene collectors it can be confusing to find out that she wasn't anyone but the product of the creative mind of her creator.

______________________________

There's a touch of sibling rivalry going on between dedicated Gene collectors and Fashion Royalty collectors. Some are saying that Integrity should have made these into 16" dolls. It's never enough! I think the Gene line this year was amazing!

_______________________________

With that said, two new dolls in the Return to Hollywood (Gene) line-up have been announced and they are absolutely gorgeous.

Pearls and Pink Ivy "Vee J." Jordan® Dressed Doll

Heat Wave Violet Waters® Dressed Doll

Both dolls are limited to just 200 each and are estimated to arrive in October, 2009. Price $119.00