Collecting Fashion Dolls by Terri Gold

8/14/2011

Ennui, Tea and Me - A Rundown of the Event

From 11 AM to Noon we looked at the competition entries, the raffle opportunities and chatted. The new dolls from Wilde Imagination were on display and it was difficult to do anything else but gaze at them. The dining room opened and we poured in eager to see the centerpiece dolls. Prudence and Amber were standing on each table looking adorable as I'm sure you have already seen in photos. Door prizes were given out twice during lunch.
The presentation began with Robert Tonner introducing his staff. Robert talked about how the source of his idea for Wilde Imagination and was quite humorous in describing how he allowed Joe Petrollese freedom finally to create. There was a lot of kidding back and forth between Robert and his staff and we were all very amused. It's refreshing to see the staff's down-to-earth and easy-going relationship with each other. Everyone comes across as genuine.

Robert showed a picture of the newest addition to the Ellowyne line. She is a dark-skinned character who is not yet named. Robert talked about a brand new line of dolls called Imperium Park. No pictures yet but his description is "post-apocalyptic dolls with great clothes." That got a big laugh. They're all about steampunk. I can't wait to see the clothes. I can only hope that the dolls have new bodies with great articulation. That issue was not discussed.

A documentary is being made on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Tonner Doll. Robert showed us a fast speed video of his sculpting.

Joe Petrollese was a riot. He showed us the source of the name of Evangeline's home, Barkley Manor.

Yes, that is his dog. Barkley got a big awwwww.

He talked about his inspiration for Evangeline and showed us where the fabric closet is in their new office building. It was originally a bank and the vault is being used for storage.

Joe also talked about the new tiny resin BJD Amelia Thimble. Everything was cute as a button. ^..^
She's even smaller than my Puki Puki's at only 4" tall. This is seriously adorable. She is wigged and has removable/replaceable eyes.

I had a good time. My husband had another non-collector husband to sit next to at the table. Excellent!

There's good stuff in store including a whole new venture into Tonner Toys. Stay tuned.

8/13/2011

Ennui, Tea and Me Pictures

Before I go into a description of the presentation that was made at the luncheon this afternoon, I am going to post what most people are interested in - the pictures. In another post, I will share more information.

First up are some of the competition dolls. If I took a picture of your creation and you would like to use it, just let me know so I can call off the spies. I have spies everywhere that report to me when they see someone else using my images. ^**^ Click on the individual pictures to see them larger. There are wonderful details.

Next up are the soon-to-be-released dressed dolls and outfits from both Ellowyne and Evangeline lines.

Outfit

New unnamed character in Ellowyne line. This was photographed from a projected image.

The People

Happy Collector

Raffle Choices

Mom made both outfits. She won the hat contest.

Her daughter is holding an Ellowyne whose matching outfit she made.

Robert and Harris

The room before people.

Selling raffle tickets.

The convention souvenir and companion dolls.

Prudence and Amber were the centerpiece/companion dolls. Ellowyne was the souvenir, of course.

8/12/2011

Friday Night Reception at the Tonner Store

So I forgot my camera and now that that fact is out of the way, I can proceed. I did have my iPhone.You know what they say. THEY say that the best camera is the one you have with you.

The doors opened at precisely 7 PM at the Tonner Company Store in Kingston, NY. It took us a whole 14 minutes to get to the store from our home which is 11 miles away. Very convenient. The first thing we did was buy our Evangeline exclusives. A Dark Night Evangeline was a nice surprise. I was hoping she wouldn't be in all black with black hair. There's already so much black in this gal's wardrobe. She is dressed in green and gold and wears a beautiful mahogany wig. Her lips are black. It wouldn't be my first doll with black lips so I wasn't shocked or dismayed as I have grown to love my black-lipped Vanessas.

The spousal unit busied himself with the refreshments while I yakked away with doll friends. The store got very crowded and the line to buy items grew practically out the door. There were items on sale at warehouse prices in the back room and people were ravaging the stock. It was fun to watch.

The best part of the event was the grouping of never-before-seen dolls on display in the middle of the showroom. Evangeline, Ellowyne, Prudence and Evangeline's strange boyfriend what's-his-face were there. Mortimer We found out that these dolls were available for pre-order. Two were to be available for shipping next week and the rest would be available in the fall. These dolls and fashions were drop dead gorgeous. These pictures do not do any justice. It's really not fair to put you through the torture of looking at all of the pictures I took. I will take my camera to the event tomorrow if I remember.

This is just the outfit and a wig.
Not sure if they come together.

Beautifully designed fashion.

This EG is going to be mine. Her outfit is unbelievable.
Say hello to Sandra Stillwell.

Evangeline's new pet is a cat!

I did take pictures of A Dark Night when I got home.

Another display I loved was created with Ellowyne's wardrobe. It was loaded with outfits and accessories and was set up on top of the big glass showcase in the store. Right next to that was Evangeline's wardrobe brimming with her stunning outfits, hats, wigs and other goodies. I could have played for weeks in front of that counter. It was truly a joy to look at these things.

8/10/2011

It Pays to Wait: Parisienne Pretty Silkstone Prices

The Barbie Silkstone doll Parisienne Pretty is on sale at the Doll Market for $69.97.

That sounded like a pretty good price until I checked eBay. The least expensive NRFB sold for $49.50 plus $9.50 shipping. The highest sold for $74.99 plus $7.14 shipping. There are currently about 25 NRFB Parisienne Pretty dolls for sale. One Buy-It-Now with a damaged box is going for $44.95 + $11.23. The same seller has a good box for $5. additional. Because I'm a deboxer, I'd definitely go for the damaged box as long as the seller guaranteed that the doll was mint.

Those that like to bid can have fun as there are several auctions running.

It's a very nice Silkie mainly because of the excellent quality of the fashion and jewelry.

When she was released her list price was $139.95. I don't know if anyone actually paid that much. I bought mine from a dealer in June, 2009 and paid $99. plus shipping.

So if you collect Silkstone dolls and don't yet have Parisienne, this will make a nice addition to your collection and you will save a bundle because you waited until now to buy her.

It pays to wait.

Tonner Product Release - August 10, 2011

As I previously posted, Tonner releases will be presented on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month if there is a new product in stock.

Jane - Twilight LE 500
Dakota Fanning/Jane Head Sculpt
DRESSED TONNER CHARACTER FIGURE™

15" Teenager Body

$179.99

Revlon™ Pink Parfait Outfit
Fits 10.5" Vintage REVLON™ Body
LE 500 $79.99

Revlon™City Sleek Outfit Only

Fits 10.5" Vintage REVLON™ Body

LE 500 $79.99

Sleek Outfit Only

Fits Such Dolls as Cami & Jon™ and Antoinette™

LE 300 $89.99

South Hampton Outfit Only