IDEX - Tonner Breakfast - Sunday, February, 2010

I love Robert Tonner's sense of humor. He was presenting the new lines and when he got to the Sinister Circus line he said, "I don't know what you people are doing with these. I don't know what you're smoking." I agreed with him. These dolls are truly freaky...well, they are freaks. As a special treat, we were gifted with the first copy of the Sinister Circus comic book!

The Bearded Lady

I think they are brilliant and bravo to a company that is not afraid to take risks. No, they will not find their way into my collection but I enjoy looking at them.

This doll is really scary-looking. She is called "Painted Lady."

This is two views of the same doll called "Shehee."

The table centerpiece was the beautiful Evocative Antoinette in red velvet. Marcia Friend was lucky enough to win her.

At each place setting was a set of two pair of Antoinette shoes. The room was packed full! Raffle tickets were sold and the line-up of possible winning items was excellent. I almost fell off my chair when my number was called for a doll I had wanted since I saw her, Antoinette Extravagant! How lucky I felt. I can't wait to get back home to play with my new dolls. (I'm still in Florida.)

The food was excellent and beautifully served. Nothing was skimped on. Our souvenir doll was the new blonde Cami from the Cami & Jon line. I'm in love with these dolls. From their curly hair to their Antoinette bodies, they suit me just fine. We were permitted to purchase an extra souvenir by lottery. My extra is already promised to an Australian collector.

Another highlight of this breakfast event was that I sat next to Denise Van Patten, the woman who writes about dolls for About.com. I had seen her name over the years but when I saw it on her ID tag, I couldn't place it. We introduced ourselves to each other and the lightbulbs went off. We hit it off famously. I came away from that event with beautiful dolls and a new friend! What could be better?

IDEX ~ 1/30/10 ~ New Tonner Dolls - Cami and Jon

At 11:30 AM I was scheduled to view the new products in a private Tonner showroom. I knew I would be seeing Cami and Jon but I had no idea what else to expect. I figured they'd just let me roam around and look. Instead I had a one to one product introduction with Jack Kralik. It was the one of the three high points of my entire weekend. The concepts behind each line were explained to me and all my questions were answered. I loved the concept behind the Cami and Jon line. It's apparent to me that the TDC listens to it's customer base as this line was developed to consist of basic dolls and separate fashions. There will be no dressed dolls. I've heard collectors clamoring for this all over the place for years.

Not only is the concept excellent and "accessible" the dolls are adorable and their fashions are very today. These pictures are from the Tonner web site. I want everything!!!!

NOTE THE FOLLOWING MEANS THAT YOU HAVE TO ORDER NOW IF YOU WANT THE ITEMS.

This collection will be presented to retailers at IDEX and online. Retailers will have the opportunity to place their orders, and production will ONLY be based on orders received in one production run.

The Basic Dolls:

Cami Basic Brunette, Blonde and Redhead come dressed in lingerie with shoes and a display stand.
Retail $79.99. Cami's sculpt is that of Cinderella.

Jonquil Basic (Jon) has the Jac sculpt and skintone.

The Fashions:

80 Degrees $79.99

Hitting Midnight $99.99

Escapade $89.99

The Romantic $79.99

Fanfare $89.99

Starlight $99.99

With a Twist $89.99

Mood

An accessory pack called Next to Nothings ($19.99) is available but photos are not yet published.

I recommend a visit to Tonnerdoll.com to see all of the new releases. There are many more goodies for Tonner Doll collectors and hopefuls.

IDEX - Day 2 - Saturday, January 30, 2010

The Rosen Shingle Creek hotel is vast. Picture Grand Central Station on steroids. Seriously. When you go somewhere it's a commitment. You don't want to make a mistake and go down the wrong cavern accidentally. You may never be heard from again. Somewhere there must be a note of the square mileage of that place. (I'd say square footage but that would be ridiculous.) But it's not just huge, it's beautiful and comfortable as well. Take your walking shoes because you're going to need them.
The showroom floor opened at 10AM on Saturday morning to exhibitors, press and industry related persons. I got in there before the doors opened to the public in order to shoot more pictures. I'm not quite sure how it happened but a few gals convinced me to sign up for the Madame Alexander luncheon which was to begin at 12:30. Luckily the registration desk sent me in the right direction in order to sign up. Surprisingly there were only about 30 people at the luncheon! The centerpiece was a Cissy dressed in a beautiful bronze/apricot/lemon bathing suit with similarly warm colored accessories. She was lying on a towel under a foil palm tree. Under her towel was sand and real shells and a large blue cloth.
We got down to the business of eating our lunch pretty much right away. We were served beautifully by well-trained staff first with chicken noodle soup and warm rolls and butter. Then came a large salad made of all sorts of delicious ingredients including avocado, beans, bacon, tomatoes and lots of other crispy goodies. Iced tea had already been poured at each setting and sodas were offered. Dessert was a delicious tart and coffee.
We played a few silly games and I won an 8" Eloise.
Then the centerpiece was lotteried off and I got lucky enough to win the opportunity to spend lots of money to buy "Beach Blanket Party Cissy" - which I did. This picture does her no justice at all. I will have to shoot better ones when I get her back home.

The souvenir doll was an adorable 10" Cissette dressed in bathing beauty gear. She is my prettiest Cissette to date. I haven't taken a picture of her yet. This image is from the IDEX event announcement.I am so happy I attended the MA event. It was classy, organized and the swag was great.

IDEX - Day 1 - Friday, January 29, 2010

The 6 AM wake up call I had requested came in on the stroke of the hour. I had to be ready for my 8 AM face-up class with Michele Hardy and Berdine Creedy.

I managed to arrive at that ungodly hour to a well organized display of materials to which we were summarily introduced. Michele explained step by step to us what to do and then let us loose. It was lots of fun and the results were satisfying for this first timer. Included in the supplies was a resin Creedy head from a 10" doll. Purchasing the body, outfit and wig were optional but I think everyone did. I was proud of my creation. We put the eyelashes on and inserted the eyes as well! I learned much due to the simple techniques that were presented.

I plan to do her face over as I made her too old-looking but it was my first time. Michele made the outfit. I would definitely take another class with Michele as she is a good teacher and I have much to learn.

I was convinced to attend the Berdine Creedy Tea later that afternoon at 3PM. Berdine presented a lovely slide show whose theme was hair. Odd? Not really. It was about the decision she made that even though she always had thin hair, she wouldn't let any physical issue deter her from her goals or from being happy. It was an excellent message.
I didn't particularly care for the little plate of strange-tasting chocolate-laden pastries or the single cup of tea we were given and I would not attend this event again were it offered at an IDEX in the future.
Our souvenir doll was an 8" resin Daisy. She is seen below with my other doll. She came with an outfit and a wig but not the outfit she is wearing in the picture. I don't know if I'm going to keep this doll as she is not the type of doll I collect.

In between the face-up class and the Creedy tea, I had several hours to browse the showroom. I came away from that first round with approximately 140 pictures and my head was practically exploding. Who knew? I had just seen hundreds of fake babies that looked real. In fact, throughout the 3 days, many attendees wandered the halls carrying babies in blankets or carriers. These reborn infants were so real-looking that you could swear they were breathing. Scary.

End of Part I.

IDEX 2010 Images

Here are over 200 images from my IDEX experience. I will write about the event and present a review of many of the dolls I saw.


http://www.goldphoto.com/IDEX_TWMA/index.htm

New Cissy: Be Afraid; Be Very Afraid.

Here is one of the new Cissy dolls from the 2010 Madame Alexander line. What is up with the terrifying-looking dolls this year? Is it a reaction to the economy and the weather or what? The gown is gorgeous. The stockings and shoes are to-die-for. But the face and the hair. OMG. This is the stuff nightmares are made of.
The names of three of them are laden with emotional overtones. Lust is one and sorry I don't remember the others but I will fill in the blanks later today.
From what I've been reading on the internet, the reaction to these dolls is very bad. It's another "What Were They Thinking?" event.