Paper Dolls: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Family

Today the United States celebrates the birthday of slain civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. Here are the results of a Google search for related dolls:

Martin Luther King, Jr., and His Family: Paper Dolls (in Full Color) (Paperback) ~ Tom Tierney (Author) Price - New $20., Used $12. [A used paper doll book?]

Limberjack Jig Doll Martin Luther King Jr
There is a doll on eBay described as a wooden dancing black man in suit and tie. I don't know if it should be a lumberjack - perhaps made by a lumberjack? I can't post the image as it is not mine and I don't know the seller but here is the auction # 230419295411 It's a very interesting item.

Here is a really stupid item found on Amazon but not sold by Amazon. It's titled Plush Stuffed Duck (Sprinkles) toy with great Martin Luther King day T-ShirtMost of the other search items that came up were craft projects for children to participate in on this day. When I did a search for a figurine instead of a doll, I came up with a jumble of stuff. Judge for yourself.

Martin Luther King Jr. Bust Statue (20" fiberglass)Lladro´ - Retired - Estimated value more than $800.

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum figure. I'm guessing there is a copy of this figure. $195.

I don't have information about this one.

Amazon $14.98

This was a disappointing search. However, you can always get an Edward Cullen doll, the Godfather, an Elvis or a Frank Sinatra doll. Goes to show you what's important.

Picture of the Week Award ~ January 17, 2010

A classic beauty for this week's Picture of the Week Award is a repainted Scarlett "Return to Tara" doll from the Tonner Doll Co. Her hair has been restyled and the gown is a OOAK creation by Alana Bennett of dollfashionsbyalana.com. The photographer/repainter is Boots Villavecer from the Philippines.

When I find a candidate for the Picture of the Week I always send several questions for the artist to answer. Boots was very generous with his time and response so I am going to paste his response here.

I am no professional so I don't have much equipment. The doll here is a repainted Tonner Scarlett "Return to Tara" doll. The hair has been adjusted. The gown is an OOAK creation by Alana Bennett of dollfashionsbyalana.com. It is inspired by a gown worn in Scarlett the TV series in 1994. It is originally in "blue" but via special effects has been made green -- Margaret Mitchell's favorite color.  All factory paint has been removed and I used what I call my special brush from Noel Cruz himself who encouraged me to pursue repainting. Just a Canon Digital Camera IXUS B515 10 Megapixel Camera. I don't use flash, because that creates shadows at the back of the doll. I always use the "portrait" function on the camera and from there, control the exposure because the lights can often be strong. I have 2 table lamps that can be angled as lighting sources. For the backdrop I use large clamps to hold a cloth on the photo. The cloth must slope down have no wrinkles or folds (depending on how the kind of effect you want). If you want some draping soft cloth is preferrable. I don't have a tripod so I have to have a really steady hold on the camera, but that's actually easy with the camera I use. 

Thanks to technology, one can fix the photo using Photoshop CS3. I use "dodge" tool to highlight dark shadows; "burn" tool to darken the areas in the background; the "clone" tool to add details, and various tools under the "Filter" tools to create the brush strokes, the additional lighting. The magic is in a Filter tool known as "Liquify". Here you can fix the hair and the gown if there are unwanted or desired things you want to enhance. 

My real name is Boots Villavecer, from the Philippines. 44 years old, working as a Creative in an advertising agency. I spent 5 years in Publishing and during free time would practice photo-editing for 13 magazines. Among them being fashion and beauty. My website is: http://www.soultalk777.blogspot.com.

Congratulations, Boots, on the Picture of the Week Award!

Hands Across the Water

Do your research!
Click here to learn to find a charity you can trust.

Disaster of Biblical Proportions

As I lay in bed last night surrounded by showcases filled with dolls, it felt wrong.

Preview 2010 Tonner's Antoinette Doll

A few Antoinette and other items were sneaked by the Tonner Doll Co. yesterday. What do you think?

The first three are dressed dolls and the fourth is an outfit and the last is a white mannequin with raven hair.

Dressed Dolls: Tranquil $189.99

Wanton $144.99

Organic $189.99

Fashion: Intoxicating $99.99

Mannequin: Alabaster Mannequin with jet hair. $49.99

Don't forget, your favorite dealer may be one who discounts off retail. Those dealers are the ones to be sold out first.
Check around for your best price.
If you would like to see the other 2010 Tonner previews, click here.

Lady GaGa ~ Who will make the doll?

I want a Lady Gaga doll and I want it now and it had better not be a Barbie Lady Gaga.
I do not know to whom the photo credits go. These are all over the internet and that doesn't make it OK to use them but here they are.