A New Old Doll Arrives - Dark Desire Madra

I recently shared about my experiences in Nashville at the Golden Age of Couture event. One evening I helped debox about 80 Madra dolls, many of which I had never seen. When I opened Dark Desire's box, I decided that she was the most beautiful Madra I had ever seen. Not only is her face beautifully screened, her fashion is sophisticated and elegant.
I had to have her. She arrived this afternoon and was immediately released from her box.

The lightweight wool or wool blend suit is lined in chartreuse. Her gloves are the same green. The hat/hood slips over her head. Her muff is also lined in green. She has the most amazing eyes. I am so happy to finally find a Madra to love. I have sold every single Madra I've ever had. This one is staying. She will get a more articulated Integrity body.
Although this doll is several years old, her hair is in perfect condition. What a beauty!

Dark Desire was produced by Ashton Drake in 2002.

Paper Dolls

I loved paper dolls when I was a child. By way of one of my subscriptions, I have discovered a treasure trove of images of paper doll books including the pages inside the books. You must see these! This is the cover of two of the posted books. More at the link below.

 This links to the Picasa album of Bobe who has posted all of these books and their contents.

  

Tonner Introduces His New 13" Revlon Fashion Doll Collection

These 13" dolls look slightly better than the horrid introductory 13" Revlon doll but they are not going to rock the market and create a demand for 13" dolls IMO. They are like little Tylers with heavy eye makeup and the fashions are same old stuff.

Why put energy into this line when we Tiny Kitty/Simone Rouge collectors have been left hanging high and dry? The Tiny Kitty body should have been reworked to create more flexibility and build on an already established base of collectors. Get rid of the pigeon toed stance. Make it so that she can sit like a 'lady.'
Bring back the dressing table and dress shoppe. We're here and we're waiting.

There is little demand for an average 13" fashion doll as long as there are, at the cheaper end, the Barbie-Silkstone crowd, the Dynamite Girls and at the higher end, the Fashion Royalty and Poppy Parker dolls - all about 12".

The Revlon name lends nothing to these dolls. They have nothing to do with the vintage reproduction Revlon dolls which will be reviewed in another post.

I would like to have seen Tonner do a 12" Ellowyne doll. Ellowyne's clothes are fabulous and fun and like nothing else on the market. She already has a huge collector base. That could have grabbed a big part of the 1/6 scale market. Are you listening out there?

Here are pictures of the 13" basic Revlon dolls which come with three different colors of rooted hair and retail for $59.99 each.

There is a wigged version. One doll plus three wigs.  Price $99.99

There are four separate outfits and two sets of 3 pair of shoes.

Outfits range from $79.99 to $99.99 and the shoe trios are $39.99 each.

According to the website this collection will be made to order and there will be only one production run.
That is a good idea.

New 13" Wonder Woman Sculpt

Tonner introduced a new sculpt size for his Wonder Woman character figure. I have composited the original 16" WW and the new one into one photograph for a comparison. My first impression is that the head on the new one is too large and she is not nearly as attractive as any Wonder Woman I've ever seen whether in a comic book, in a cartoon on tv or as a doll.  She looks like a female impersonator.

Her jaw and chin are too big.

The suggested retail price is $139.99. LE1000

Two Silkstone Dolls I'd Like to Have...But

I do love to add an occasional beautiful Silkie to my small collection. I liked Palm Beach Coral the minute I saw her. I did not like her price of $139.99. They have got to be kidding, right? I pay that much for fully articulated Fashion Royalty dolls - not that they're worth it either.

This is my other favorite this year. Not only is the doll and gown beautiful but the photograph is superb. I love the setting. It's so well done. She is the 10th Anniversary Silkstone (Tribute Barbie) and will be sold for $145. when she hits the stores in November of this year.

10th Anniversary Silkstone Barbie

 

 

 

 

 

 I'll just have to be content to look at the pictures.

New Michelle Obama Doll "Sophisticated Style" from Ashton-Drake Galleries

It looks like Ashton-Drake may have a winner here. After the debacle of the Danbury Mint Michelle Obama doll that looked nothing like the First Lady and had multitudes of unhappy buyers, collectors may be pleased to know that A-D has produced a doll that looks more like the first lady (hopefully.) The 16" tall vinyl doll has 14 points of articulation and comes with a story card with information about her ensemble.

I can't tell if this is an artist's rendering of the doll or a touched-up photograph of the doll. You will remember that the Danbury Mint advertisement was a complete sham that used a photograph of Michelle's face in lieu of the actual doll.  It's only recently that they added a disclaimer to the promotional image.

If I were going to order the doll, I'd call and ask about that. This picture makes me wonder because it looks like a painting rather than a photo of a real doll.

This is the first doll in a series of additional Michelle Obama dolls to come. It looks really lovely.
If anyone out there has her already, I'd like a review from you. If you have photos of the actual doll, I'd be happy to post them for my other readers.

The price of the doll is $129.99 with a shipping and handling charge of an additional $14.99 for a total of $144.98. You can also choose to pay in 5 installments of $26. each. 


The Ashton-Drake Galleries