My Favorite Two Tonner Dolls

Although I'm busy getting ready to leave for Pittsburgh today, these two were just aching for a photo shoot. The female doll is the 16" Comicon Supergirl Exclusive and the male is Jeremy Voss. Supergirl is wearing a new fashion from the "Gowns by Anne Harper" line called Venus Rising. Voss is wearing Simon Chase's tuxedo.
I love these two dolls. I very rarely pair up dolls or make up life stories for my vinyls but these two are now married.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Tonner Photo

Venus Rising is a lovely and ultra romantic fashion. The drapey shoulder things attach by slipping the doll's arm through an elastic circle on the underside of the rosettes. The fabric is filmy and wonderful! I was surprised by the glitter, yes girls and boys, glitter, on the rosettes. That is really cheap and non-imaginative on a fashion that retails for $114.99 There is a close-up of that detail on the Tonner site but I didn't pay attention apparently. Glitter comes off on everything and stays everywhere and no matter how long or hard you clean and vacuum, there will be glitter. It will be on your nose and your butt and on your dolls' black clothes. Glitter also snags hosiery. It belongs in sleep-away camp and that's about it.
Please, Robert, ditch the glitter.

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And now I'm off to pack for the FR convention. This should be an interesting one with 422 in attendance, there are bound to be some traffic jams and other surprises.  Keep watching for reports although with all the excellent photographers out there vying to post their images before anyone else does, I won't be shooting as many photos as usual. There will be many to see.  I will go for quality not quantity (if possible as I'm taking the point and shoot and not my studio camera.)

Ciao...Hasta la vista...A tout a l'heure...Toodle loo...A presto...Sampai jumpa lagi...Tα λέμε σύντομα

Fun Halloween Images from Around the Boards

For the last 2 weeks I've been collecting a few Halloween images that I thought were fun and/or beautiful. Here they are with their name and the board they post on most often.

Cherylette on Prego

Cisca Durieux on Pink Parlor

Diana P. on Studio Commissary

Johanna on Prego

Leneda Maki on Studio Commissary

Avantguard Dolls in Monica Merrill Outfits and Photographic Ruminations

My favorite Avantguard doll is wearing Monica's "Take a Letter" outfit in this photo. It fits very well. The earrings that come with this outfit are black beads. I like diamonds better. Ahem.

I love this doll and that makes me chuckle because looking at her pleases me! 

What I'm not sure about is the shadow on her face created by the light on the right side of the figure. It does repeat itself on her chest but something is off. I think I could have done without the second light on the right and j ust pumped up the power of the other strobe.  I'm shooting with one strobe reflected off an umbrella and one directly diffused strobe which I placed approximately 90° apart from eachother. I have the umbrella higher. I love using high contrast when shooting this doll. I definitely need to work harder when shooting white...it's just not as good as I envision.

In this next photo, I did eliminate the second light. The background is grayer (I could have lit that separately) and the extreme contrast is softened. Her face looks better without the distinct shadow. The big area under her face of faux fur is blown out and takes away from her face. This image could have used some pixel pushing for sure.

The shoes seen in the photo are Goldmine's own.

These last 2 images are of "Attention" Avantguard and were shot with a point and shoot using window light and fill flash from the camera.
The outfit is from a dressed Monica Merrill doll as is "Taking a Letter" and is called "Jonquil Sass." Again, the fit is excellent including the shoes. It's such an adorable outfit. The wig is from another AG doll.

It's painfully apparent to me that my point and shoot is vastly inferior to my studio, tripod-mounted camera. But I'd be taking a lot less pictures if I had to take everything into my studio to shoot. Yes, I know that the last picture above is out of focus but I wanted to let y'all see the entire outfit with shoes.

Fashion Doll Quarterly - Winter 2010 Issue

You're not seeing double. There are two covers this quarter. One will be on the newsstands and the other is for subscribers. Both covers feature the new FDQ exclusive, Devon, a Numina by Paul Pham. Devon is a gorgeous 16 inch resin BJD who wears an exclusive Patta Art wig. Her silk dress sports embellished gold epaulettes. Her bra beautifully fills in the V bodice shape.  This issue contains many wonderful photographs of Devon by Alexandra Forbes showing her in different wigs and fashions.
Devon is a Limited Edition of only 50 dolls and is available only through FDQ for $750. Mail order forms are being accepted until November 15, 2010 as long as the supply lasts. After that, there will be a lottery if dolls remain.

More information and to order click here.

Paul Pham's Dollcis Website

Reflections and Last Minute Preparations

Just about four years ago today I started blogging. My first post was on 10/20/06 and it showed my first reroot. She was a beautiful Gliteratti Veronique. I used about 4 times as much hair as necessary and chipped a tooth or two in the process as I stupidly used my teeth to pull the needle a few times. Such a genius.
When I switched to Blogger from Yahoo as the carrier of the blog, the date I switched (6/29/08) shows up in the index but the date on the post is the true date.
I made that post while the FR convention in Baltimore was taking place. We did not attend that one but tried IFDC instead that year.
There are six days before the official start of the 2010 Integrity Convention in Pittsburgh and many changes have taken place in the six years since my first convention in Toronto - not only in the event but also in my collection. It's mind boggling to think back to when I was dabbling in collecting dolls alone to now being part of an enormous world-wide group of collectors with whom I can communicate 24/7.
I think this will be the last year that Integrity will have the convention in Pittsburgh. Alain sent out an email informing us that because they will be hosting 422 guests this time, there will not be a museum room. This is going to be very interesting. That's more people than were at the last Gene convention and it was crowded beyond belief.  At one meal our table was practically in the kitchen!
My costume is ready and I am very pleased with it. My table gifts are ready and I pretty much know what I'm taking to wear the rest of the time. Rudy is ready. Bob wanted to know if, because there are so many people, they are telling non-collecting spouses to stay home. Haha.
I hope I get to meet all the people I've become friends with this year. I hope I can find them or they can find me.
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This morning George of Angelic Dreamz sent me a picture of the new and ultra fashionable Jamieshow DEMI collection shoes he now carries exclusively. They're quite fashionable. He said that he actually got the Silkstone in the picture to stand on her own. He will have a few of them with him at the convention.

Angelic Dreamz Photo

Angelic Dreamz really has it going on. George is introducing exclusive and affordable (not inexpensive) dolls, bodies, stands, shoes, wigs and more. He is making supremely useful contributions to the doll world with these items. It's not the same old tired stuff. It's new and better and different. Bravo, George!

Angelic Dreamz Photo

Angelic Dreamz Photo

Today my new Horseman French chairs arrived and I'm very impressed.  I ordered a right and a left facing chair in sage. They come upholstered in a textured solid black and a sage/greige. The legs are painted metal that look like wood. I'm guessing the back is a composite. These are for 1/4 scale dolls like the Jamieshow, Tyler, Sybarite and similarly sized dolls. The retail price is $80. each.
Horseman has filled a huge gap in this field with their 1/4 scale furniture. I would like to see more tables and other substantial props come out soon.

Deluxe Fashion Closet from Tonner Doll

Just in, a wonderful doll wardrobe for the 16 inch inhabitants of your home.

I'm guessing that the closet is white because the picture is in black and white. The door mirrors show to be full length and it looks like something is on the left side of the closet as well.

What looks like an angled stripe is intended to be a reflection of the table upon which the wardrobe is resting. As a photographer, it's not the easiest thing to represent a mirror especially when you don't want anything reflected to show up. I might have digitized a surface pattern which represented a mirror better. Do you see the thin strips of mirror (?) on the left side of the closet?

We can guess that the height is about 18 inches.  As far as Antoinette's wardrobe... I don't remember if it was white but it looked gorgeous when I saw  it at IDEX.  Here is my photo from that display. It seems that a few changes have been made to the interior and that's a good thing. The more hanging space the better.

My photo from IDEX 2010

$250 is not cheap but I'm sure collectors will buy it as the last time a substantial wardrobe was released for Tyler was in 2002 at $99.99 and it's highly sought after now.

 I still love mine although I store most of my doll clothes in boxes or in large baggies and lay them flat in tubs. This item is a Tonner Direct Exclusive. That means that you won't be seeing it for sale at Tonner dealers at a discount-or at all.  Comes with 6 measly hangers. Come on...give us at least a dozen hangers and throw in some full length hangers, too.

I think these wardrobes are great for shoes and other pretty things that you want to see on a regular basis. The drawers are good for lingerie and folded sweaters. The angled shoe shelves would be better if they were flat although it's more attractive this way. The open wardrobe makes an interesting backdrop for a dressing room or shop type of photograph unless a dog gets in the camera lens instead.

Rudy

I sent a query to Tonner Direct yesterday with the questions listed below. I have not heard back however my email was acknowledged.

What color is inside the closet? Is it vinyl or fabric lined?
Is the mirror on the doors full length?
What color is the exterior of the closet? What material is the outside of the closet?
Is there a latch or is the tassel the way to keep the doors shut?
What are the measurements and if possible, the weight?