Time for Pretty Dolls

I like pretty dolls. They appeal to my desire to see myself as forever young and beautiful.
Currently, my only Ellowyne, "Gilded Gloom", gets the feminine treatment in "Ruffled Up."

Avantguard "On Edge" is a fairly recent purchase. I sold off all of my Avantguards as I was disgusted with their bodies. I did love the Goldmine sculpt, however, and when I saw this doll for a very fair price I hit the buy-it-now button.
The body is crappy, wiggly, too thin and unstable. Am I making myself clear? Could be one of the reasons they were discontinued. The other reasons, well that's for another post.
Anyway, along comes Tulabelle with her giant head and her 'pick me up by my lips' mouth.
Body switching ensues and voilà! We have a beautiful doll. In the pictures, the fashion is from Yeti to Wear. The shoes are JamieShow. The wig is by Patta.

Yes, she is standing on her own, thanks to the solid joints of this body and the well-made JamieShow shoes.

A girl can't have enough furs, lace and jewelry.

Mattel's New Barbie Releases

Five more (yes, five!) new dolls were revealed yesterday. 
Captions and photos of the five dolls are all from the Barbie Collector site.

This first-ever Silkstone^® Audrey Hepburn^™ as Sabrina portrait doll is beautifully sculpted in the actress’ likeness. She wears a re-creation of the famed black and white embroidered long gown Sabrina wears upon her entrance into Long Island society. White opera gloves, faux pearl drop earrings and black stiletto pumps complete the elegant ensemble.  $100.

 

 

 

Inspired by Barbie^®, imagined by The Blonds, the Blond Gold^™ Barbie^® doll glows in fashion riches. Incredible chain detail adorns her golden corset and metallic-woven cape and inspires her long earrings and golden armbands. Her unique doll stand is inspired by bars of bullion and creates the perfect pedestal for this golden diva. $150.

This lovely Audrey Hepburn^™ in Roman Holiday portrait doll is exquisitely sculpted in the actress’ likeness. She is dressed in a re-creation of Princess Ann’s costume: a beige A-line skirt worn with a crisp white blouse and finished with a wide buckled belt. A pretty printed scarf and brown laced sandals are her stylish accessories.  $34.95

The Wizard of Oz^™ Fantasy Glamour Dorothy doll wears a strapless gown reinterpreted from her classic blue-and-white gingham dress. The frothy tulle overskirt is trimmed in satin ribbon and sparkly sequins. The bows from her braids are now drop earrings, while the famed ruby slippers are reimagined as striking red stilettos. Also included is a silvery clutch and bracelet.  $100.

So beautiful and glorious, her name is the Basque word for “miracle.” Stephen Burrows Alazne^™ Barbie^® doll wears a breathtaking floor-length coral gown adorned in countless, shimmering paillettes. The striking collar and fingerless opera gloves create an elegant, yet modern look. A towering headpiece and golden hoop earrings frame her gorgeous face. $100.

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I would like to add the Silkstone Audrey Hepburn to my collection. The sculpt is lovely. Hopefully she looks like the promo - especially the hair.  I still think it's overpriced as are all the rest of the dolls except for the vinyl Roman Holiday Audrey which is pretty cute.
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The Blonds Blond Gold Barbie is pretty spectacular. But $150.?  This is the type of doll that stays in her box. The only other doll I have that I've wanted to debox but didn't is the Blond's Diamond Barbie. I'm sure I wouldn't like her once she was out of the box. You can't do anything with these dolls except look at them.
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Is it not time for the Wizard of Oz dolls to go away? This ridiculously overpriced vinyl, unarticulated, no eyelash doll is $100. Seriously? She has nice hair but I wonder what it will look like IRL. 
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From Wikipedia:
Fashion critic Suzy Menkes of “The International Herald Tribune” praised Burrows as “the Master of matte jersey and colour combinations!” In addition to “Stephen Burrows World”, Burrows expanded his company to include a number of labels drawn from various points of inspiration. “S by Burrows” was created for a venture with Home Shopping Europe (HSN) in Munich, Germany, while “Everyday Girl” was inspired by Anna Cleveland, daughter to muse and model Pat Cleveland, and “SB73,” a cut and sew knit line that was developed based on Burrows’ hallmark, color-blocked creations of the seventies.
First Lady Michelle Obama's choose to wear a Burrows Jersey pantsuit to a Washington DC event. Remarking on the significance, Vogue Magazine wrote, "It was a wonderful acknowledgement of Burrows, one of the great African-American designers and a Harlem resident known for his inventive cuts and bias technique."

The Alazne Barbie was designed by Linda Kyaw but the Facial Sculpt is called Stephen Burrows. I don't know enough about this reference to understand or explain and I'm hoping my Barbie knowledgeable readers will comment. The fashion is not the type of work Burrows is known for which would have made a lot of sense.  BTW, Alazne also means "she knows."

I'd like this for a doll:

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Tailored Tuxedo Ken Doll - Barbie Fan Club Exclusive

My first thought was "Are they serious?" Did anyone look at this doll's hair and face before releasing the photos? He is one of the worst looking Kens I've seen and there have been plenty. This dude needs manscaping - especially those huge eyebrows.

Is the mole supposed to be attractive? I'd have that removed immediately if I were him. 

Interestingly, the suit appears to fit properly. That's a plus. 

I want to know what the doll on the left side of the picture is wearing. It looks really pretty.

Ken does his Titanic pose.

Description from BC.Com:

Gold Label^®

Designed by: Robert Best

 

Release Date: 8/14/2013

BFMC^® celebrates its 2013 collection, direct from the atelier. A perfect escort is always impeccably dressed in a bespoke suit of quiet elegance. The epitome of exquisite black tie, Ken^® wears a classic tuxedo. The beautifully tailored, single breasted jacket features stylish peak lapels and a single vent. His crisp white shirt is worn with a white satin bow tie and a vest. Tailored Tuxedo Ken^® captures the look of modern formalwear at its best. Tailored Tuxedo Ken^® doll is available exclusively to members of The Barbie Fan Club^SM.

$85.00

 

Release date: 08/14/2013

Body Type:	Silkstone® Ken
Skin Tone:	Classic Beige Silkstone®
Facial Sculpt:	Silkstone® Ken
Fashion Sewn On?:	No
Eyelashes:	No

Included with doll:
Stand, shoes, bowtie, jacket, shirt, vest, belt, pants.  [mole]
There is a limit of 1 doll per BFC^™ membership while supplies last.

I apologize in advance to anyone who is offended by my mole humor. I'm just having fun. Some moles will not do anything medically bad. Others need to be watched carefully.

Coach Barbie Doll

The highly publicized Coach Barbie Doll goes on sale in a few hours at BC.Com. It's one of the Gold Label releases and retails for $95.

My opinion of this unarticulated doll with plastic shoes: I like the coat and the real leather coach handbag.  The doll has a nice hairstyle. I wonder what the outfit looks like underneath the coat. Another doll in the same position as thousands before her does nothing for me. The price is high and yet, people will buy her.

Here's the text from Mattel's site:

She wears a Classic Trench in Tattersall, an exact replica of the popular Coach style, along with a striped sweater and an ultrasuede skirt. The turnlocks on the skirt are exact replicas of the Coach handbag turnlocks. But it’s her red Classic Duffle that marks a fashion milestone: this is Barbie^® doll’s first genuine leather bag, made from start to finish in a Coach factory with the same care and attention given to every Coach bag. The Classic Duffle includes a drawstring dust bag.

Now if the shoes were leather and the doll were articulated, I might consider her.  Or maybe if it were a Silkstone doll...

What do you think? Is the miniature Coach handbag worth it? Perhaps that's the way to look at it.

Sad Sally!

Somehow, in the midst of so many dollies, I missed the introduction of Sad Sally. She is a new resin doll introduced at the Tonner Convention last May. Here is a snippet from the Tonner blog: 

...the absolute highlight of this brunch event was the introduction to a BRAND NEW DOLL COLLECTION for Wilde Imagination.  Prepare to fall in love:  Meet Sad Sally!  She’s a 7″ Resin Darling with changable eyes and hair.  Sad Sally is… well,… sad.  Her parents are two famous actors (who shall not be named), and whenever they host their infamous soirees, Sally sneaks into the coat room and snips the buttons off of the guest’s jackets. Ha ha! Sad Sally is rather sentimental, so she collects those buttons, and hides them away in a sad little shoe box underneath her bed.  OK now you’ve heard the cute quirky story, now behold the darling little Sad Sally, creation of the doll mastermind, Joe Petrollese:

Introducing Wilde Imagination’s latest Resin Charmer: Sad Sally!

Sad Sally Outfit

Sad Sally Outfit

Sad Sally Outfit

Sad Sally Outfit

 Cute, right?!  Keep your eyes peeled for her later this year.  She’ll be available as an adorably melancholy dressed doll, with outfits available too!

I'm wondering if she will be the doll we will get at the luncheon in Kingston in 2 weeks. Or perhaps we will see her on Friday night at the store. Hmmm.
She is adorable.

Yellowing Bodies and Something New

The other day I took this nude Gene doll out of the closet where she's been stored for a few weeks and noticed something other than her yellow body which she's had for almost a year. Look at the dark line coming down from her ear and going around the back of her head.
I posted this picture on one of the doll boards and the consensus of opinion was that it was from a hair net. I wondered how could this be? I got her several years ago and her hair hasn't been netted for a long time.

Here is an interesting explanation:

It looks like a mark from the rubber edge from a hairnet:
I do repair and restoration of dolls and have seen this before. the rubber in the hairnet edge will deteriorate and before it even does it can make a mark, sometimes not showing up for a while even years. It all depends on the hairnet, and the rubber used, mostly now they wrap the rubber in white poly thread but if the rubber is strongly "unstable" or badly produced (just like the plastic parts of a doll oxidize) it can react and start to seep into the vinyl and may not change color until later, we must remember that plastic,vinyl and rubber are all rather "fluid " materials atomically, and their structure is constantly moving. so what shows up on a surface now may disappear or move inward to the interior or outward to the surface. the color of the mark has distinct properties, green being a color that appears with a stronger copper content, and the rubber used could have been exposed to copper somehow (or brass etc) therefore making the greenish mark. An example of rubber affecting plastic is evident in many dolls like Dawn, that have rubber vinyl legs and plastic hips - they melt into each other sometimes and it really depends on the way the rubber and plastic is batched before being used in a mold part. 

Posted by mikemade on August 1, 2013

This is an Integrity Toys manufactured Gene Marshall. 


When does one just give up? I have no more replacement Gene bodies. I've used up all of them replacing deteriorating IT bodies and replacing a few non-articulated bodies on Ashton-Drake Genes.