Tonner Tuesdays

Every Tuesday at noon EST, Tonner Direct posts sales which last until 5PM. The items are an assortment and are different every week. 

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 I want this Antoinette outfit called Incendiary. I'm not a fan of the gloves but I love the style of the dress and the print. Antoinette fashions fit the Avantguard dolls. Most of the Antoinette outfits were originally in the $99.99 (MSRP) range which is not exactly user friendly. Now it is on sale for $49.99. Unfortunately, there is also shipping and NY tax which brings it up to an unfriendly price again. So I will wait until nearby non-New York dealers put it on sale or hunt it down on the boards.

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Most dolls are categorized as "Dressed Dolls" or "Ultra-Basic Dolls." Here's one that's classified as "Semi-Dressed."

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Kermit is not on sale but the 11 inch Basic Miss Piggy is. She is $39.99.

I really wonder how popular this line has been as I haven't seen collectors posting photos of these characters. If you have these dolls, I'd love to hear from you about them.

EBay - Opting Out

Yesterday another collector informed me that a seller was using one of my photographs in their auction. How did he know? My name and copyright were clearly on the image. Today the auction was ended either by eBay (I filed a complaint) or by the seller, who apparently did not understand English or thought he was doing the right thing. He may have been!
I  checked eBay's rules about intellectual property and was dumbfounded by what I found.
First of all, there are so many links to follow that I felt like giving up.  One has to opt out of a program in which eBay can add your photos to their catalog for other sellers to use. I can't even find the catalog to see if any of my other pictures are in there. I checked my preferences and apparently I am already opted out.

I'm not going to waste space here copying the text of eBay's skewed policy so here is the link. 
What I want to know is where is this catalog? I did a search for 'doll' in their catalog and came up with nothing so how did this seller find my picture? He claimed that was where he got it.

I have sold books and cameras and the eBay system offered images and text for those items but I have never been offered a picture of a doll. Maybe the jerky seller thinks my Flickr account is an eBay catalog.

Meaningless, random, cute elephant image.

Jason Wu's Alex - Redux

I've been playing dolls for more than two weeks now and it's time to get back to real life if I can figure out where I left it. Before I do that I wanted to get Alex just right. I was working at that when I just had to get out the scissor and hack off all of her hair. I fitted a 5/6 RnD wig to suit her face. She is dressed in an older Madame Alexander Amanda outfit called Unmatched Elegance. Shoes are Gene's.

 She will stay like this for a while. I'm not so sure about her lips. They're flat looking because of the way they're painted. I'd like to give them some depth with shading. And I will try other wigs on Alex.

 I love the way she can sit upright and cross her legs.

Here is Aphrodisiac Avantguard wearing Alex's dress and hat. The dress had to be pinned in the back to make it fit properly.

For the first time since getting the Mini Gene dolls, I redressed several of them. I love these dolls. For me the Mini Gene sculpt is Jason's best ever! I wish there were going to be more.

Red Desire wearing a Monogram Suit

Midnight Lace Wearing Smoldering Monogram Outfit

Contest. Enter to Win. Caption This!

 CONTEST CLOSED! THE WINNER IS

Brenda took her corporate headhunting job much too literally! 

Who is anonymous?

Because we don't know who anonymous is, the second place winner will get the prize:

"Hmmm....when I said I wanted to get 'ahead' on the casting couch, this was NOT what I had in mind."

nick/dollguy

Let's play a game. Write a caption for this picture and post it. The winner, judged by my husband, will receive a gift. Contest will be open for a few days. Multiple entries are permitted. If you post as "Anonymous" please make up a name for yourself so I can respond if you win.

eBay Sellers - Always Good For A Laugh

I watch the auctions of a certain small fashion doll that was discontinued about 3 years ago. This particular auction was classified as: "New: A brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item..."
In the description the seller wrote: "New in box in a nonsmoking home."

Her picture shows a nude doll tied into a doll box and a loose fashion displayed outside of the box.

The title she uses is that of a dressed doll from the particular line. The doll is neither dressed nor is the fashion the one the title says it should be.

I wrote to the seller and asked: "How can you say the doll is new in box if she is not dressed? She has obviously been handled and removed from her box."
One week later I received this response: "You can tell the doll is new in the box if she is not dressed because that is how I purchased the doll."

Huh?
Do you have to read that again?

Virtually Stunning Alex Styled by Jason Wu

My VS Alex arrived today and I am happy to say that she is prettier in person than her promotional photos indicated. I was on the fence about pre-ordering but when I saw that the Doll Market was offering her for $119.95 instead of the $149.95 list price, I crumpled and ordered. It's a sickness.
VS Alex is 16-1/2 inches tall, vinyl, rooted, eyelashed and highly articulated. She's a limited edition of 150 pieces.

Madame Alexander Promotional Image of VS Alex

Upon releasing her from her box I became alarmed when I couldn't move her ankle joint so she could stand properly in her pumps. I undressed her and tried and I was certain that I'd have to return her. But I warmed up my heating pad, pulled the foot out of the leg and warmed it in there for about 10 minutes. It worked! What a relief. I wanted to use some WD-40 but I didn't think that would be an intelligent choice of lubricant (duh) so I used a spray of wig conditioner. Hopefully that will last. If not, I know how to fix it.

If you are not familiar with the line of Alex dolls you may be surprised to find that they have a big head look. Alex also had big hands and feet. The big head seems to have grown some but the hands are nicer.  Here is a comparison between the newest body and the last body.

The legs are so much longer. I liked the original breasts better.

Older body cannot cross legs.

Legs are more shapely.

Prior to the last body, this line had articulated feet and happily they're now back.  Like almost all 16 inch modern fashion vinyl dolls, they have gone through a progressively more articulated evolution but the last release of dolls before these had less articulation.
Besides Alexandra Fairchild Ford herself, the other dolls in the line are Sophia Cruz, Paris Williams , Jadde Lee, Siena Evans, Suzette Morgan, Amanda Fairchild Ford. You can see many of them at The Matilda Company's website.

Jadde Lee and Paris Williams - Full articulation.

MA Alex dolls have historically held their value, possibly due to their limited numbers.

Back to Basics, Editor in Chief , Soleil Outfit, Dots Dress, Smashing Frame Outfit

MA has clothed their dolls in gorgeous fashions made from fine fabrics with detailed accessories. They have also produced some separate fashions for collectors to purchase. Again, these items are not easy to find except for a very few that were possibly over-produced or less popular.

Here are comparison shots with an Avantguard doll who is designed by Jason Wu as well.

Compare the size of the heads. Alex's head is huge!

Legs and torso are almost the same length.

I tried a few MA outfits on Alex and they fit. They will be shorter and the shoes will be slightly tighter. Antoinette dress fashions fit. Gene fashions will depend on the cut. The waist will be short in fitted fashions. Former MA Alex fashions will be troublesome as well due to the change in proportions. Again, the waist will be short.

Made for Gene.

Gene's suit.

Dressmaker Details for Gene and Avantguard

Tonner for Antoinette

The ringlets are well done without frizzed ends. Unfortunately the top of the head and the bangs are flattened against the head in an  unnatural fashion making her big head look even bigger. She needs height up there. I lifted her glued bangs to look underneath and her eyebrows are beautiful. Having no hair on her forehead changes her entire appearance. I will definitely restyle her hair. It's such a shame because I love the ringlet look. I don't understand the use of the helmet bangs over and over again. It's not attractive the way the factory glues them down. I can't picture a real person wearing their hair that way - even a model would look unnatural.
Her eyes are beautiful with lovely screening and great lashes. Alex has always had applied lashes. MA was always ahead of the pack when it came to lashes and articulation. I suppose they contracted Wu to bring the doll's face into the modern fashion scene. I liked her face as it was but the body is a big improvement.
The outfit she comes with is not what I've come to expect from Madame Alexander. The shoes are gorgeous. The rhinestone bracelet is lovely. The dress is a triple layer of fabric - lining, double knit in a dark color and an overlay of sequined lace. In this scale, the fabric doesn't drape or fit the body properly. The smooth black pleather handbag looks cheap and the hat with it's hot pink flowers would go better with a summery fashion.
I'm glad I purchased one of these new dolls but I will probably use the body for someone elses head unless I can fix up her hair and possibly repaint her lips to give them some depth.

As I was first working with Alex I couldn't get over how much she reminded me of Daryl Hannah as a mermaid in the movie Splash and the vengeful giantess in the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.