Volupte and Etiquette

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W Club Lottery Announced

Looks like there will be plenty of lotteries this year in the W Club. That means that all the cheer leaders will definitely get the dolls they want. And that's the way it goes.
The 'discontinued' tall Fashion Royalty body isn't exactly discontinued. It's being used for the ITBE (Integrity Toys Basic Edition) dolls. When these dolls first came out a few years ago they called them "entry level collectibles." We all laughed at that expression. ITBE have grown up to be basic FR dolls without accessories or fancy fashions. This year their price is $75. each.
It's a good business move to keep these editions at only 300 and do lotteries. This way the dealers don't get their cut and the desire to have them rises because it's a lottery.
The last lottery dolls were so popular, possibly because Isha, Adele and Natalia were the offerings and they don't show up often. In addition, many collectors aren't into the high prices of the FR2 dolls so these bodies are just dandy.

 The IT designers are playing mix and match with the vinyl colors of the characters. Isha was ghost-white while Adele faded and Natalia went darker.

The newly offered ITBE - or Wave 2 as they call it - is another four dolls. Vanessa, Kyori, Janay, and Monogram.

Vanessa is now a black woman with Caucasian features. They're calling her vinyl color A-tone.  Kyori is being called black but I'm not quite sure what it really is.  Janay, a play line doll sculpt, is making an appearance. She is one of Jason Wu's oldest character sculpts and I don't believe she has appeared as a Fashion Royalty doll - ever. She is on the Monogram body and her skin tone is called Miami. Her hair reminds me of the first Natalia doll, Cosmetic Takeover.  
The original Natalia's sculpt was perfection. It did not need updating IMO.
Last is a standard Monogram doll with white skin and silver hair. I like her.

There is something here for most but not everyone will get what he or she wants. I want the Vanessa a lot because she has the Vanessa 1.0 (original) sculpt and where that is concerned, I'm a completist.

In keeping with the fact that these are "basic" dolls, the fashions are not "new" or embellished. They are being repeated in various colors as are the shoes. But it's a fun line. The only problem I see is that if you like all your dolls on the same height body such as FR2, you probably won't be able to find matches for these girls.

***If you are a member of the W Club and are not entering for Vanessa, please contact me. If you win the right to buy her and change your mind, please contact me.***

Wearing of the Green

Three of the photos I created for FDQ over the past few years.

 Kermit figurine with Galadriel dressed in Ghost of Christmas Past. All by Tonner.

Sybarite Lawn. Horsman sunglasses. Sandra Stillwell deck chair.

Integrity Toys Aerodynamic Vanessa. Gown by Ovaz.

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Shouldn't that say shamrocks?

The Lammily Doll

A new fashion doll has been created by Nickolay Lamm which is being touted as the "world's first normal sized doll."

Lammily, created by Nickolay Lamm

It is believed by many that the unrealistic proportions of today's Barbie dolls feeds the negative body image young girls have of themselves.  In my opinion, the media (Hollywood, television, fashion designers) is way more responsible for promoting stick-thinness as the standard to achieve.

In my early years of doll collecting I happened to purchase some of Tonner's Emme dolls and her fashions. However, I liked Tyler's proportions much better and soon sold the Emme items.

I'm not an overweight person but I grew up with the "you can't be too thin" mentality. Diets were a way of life along with diet pills in college and afterwards. I learned it from my mother. She didn't have Barbie dolls. Her generation of dolls were 'chubby-looking' things.

Madame Alexander (Composition) "McGuffey Anna" 1935

In the high fashion industry designers such as Jason Wu, for example, use half-dead, emaciated models to display their clothing.

Gianfranco Ferre model:

Hollow-eyed and gaunt, the skeletal model stalked down the runway at the Gianfranco Ferré fashion show in Milan last night wearing a dress cut in a deep V that revealed her protruding clavicle and flat chest.
A flurry of flashbulbs popped as photographers vied to get the best shot and the line of fashion editors sitting front row scribbled furiously on their notepads.
If ever there were a case of Emperor's New Clothes at fashion week, it was here.
Did any one of the assembled crowd really think this model - bony cleavage, dark circled eyes - looked good? Could they genuinely say that this image was aspirational? And ultimately, would the model do what must be her main purpose here: sell these clothes to other women?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2042345/Gaunt-model-shocks-Gianfranco-Ferr-Milan-fashion-show.html#ixzz2vgtPriWs

These designers have been known to claim that the clothes 'hang better' on stick figures. Seriously? I'm not saying that the clothes aren't gorgeous but when I see Mrs. Obama wearing a Jason Wu that was shown on a runway by a stick figure woman, Mrs. Obama and the fashion don't look as good.  Of course she's had the dress custom altered to suit her because FLOTUS has a normal body. She would look ridiculous (and inappropriate) in the dress on the right.  So why do I want to look like the model on the right? Sigh.

We are exposed to these bodies as the height of beauty and fashion when they are nothing but starving reflections of women.

I'm always amazed at how most models and movie stars looked in the 1940's through the 1960's. They had thighs and waists and arms.

Women Cast Members from the TV series Mad Men

We're not talking Botticelli babes here, just normal healthy women.

The Three Graces by Sandro Botticelli

Would I buy a Lammily Doll? Maybe, for a little cousin of mine, but not for my collection. It wouldn't fit in. Would you?

Read more: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/normal-barbie-doll-with-average-female-body-is-coming-to-life/284212/

Collecting Guy Dolls and Clothing Them

I've mentioned before that I'm now more into having male dolls in my collection than I was previously. Some of Tonner's recent males are either super heroes, too young-looking or just plain weird and they don't fill my needs.

However, Tonner Doll has created the best looking and largest variety of vinyl male dolls of any other company in history.

For example, Aragorn.

In his new Chewin fashion - looking hot.

Chewin sells on eBay. The quality and fit of his garments are superior to most other male doll clothing out there. Just look at how this plaid shirt fits my doll. It's amazing. His placement of closures is such that barely any bulk is created. Every detail is thought out and executed well.
This particular ensemble included the chinos, belt, shirt and fabulous sport jacket and was well under $100. For this type of work, that's a great price.

My 12" gals needed one more man and I kept looking at Riot Llewellyn from Integrity Toys' Jem collection.

However, not being a fan or even familiar with the Jem series, the big hair and the costume did nothing for me. I saw him nude with his hair tamed and changed my mind. I was able to get a nude on eBay from the PA seller who probably has 100 of him and is selling splits.
In real life he arrives with a rubber band controlling his mane. It is a huge mess of hair similar to the back of the hair of most Barbies with big hair. He is on the pale side but pretty decent looking.
In my photo of him, he's dressed in Rio Pacheco's outfit which is beautifully made. Look at that cute pocket on the arm of his faux leather bomber jacket. It actually has a tiny zipper on it!
I still want to tame his hair but for now, this is how he looks.

Tonner Doll’s Wizard of Oz Contest Winners Announced

Tonner Doll recently held an interesting contest with the Wizard of Oz as the theme. One part of the contest was for photography and the other was for writing an alternate ending to the fairy tale.

The photography contest winner was Dave Decaro whose sepia toned rendition of Dorothy is spectacular. Dave has been featured on this blog for his wonderful doll photography as well. He's certainly a winner in this field. Visit his website at http://davelandweb.com/

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The winner for the Alternate Ending Award went to Kristin Laveaux. What a great ending she came up with! I think there's a message in there for all of us.

Dorothy watched the wizard drift out of sight. She didn’t know how long she stood there, rooted to the same spot in disbelief. Her only chance of getting home was gone. The Scarecrow noticed her tears first.

“Dorothy?”

She could barely whisper, “Now I’ll never get home,” before she broke into sobs.
Her friends gathered around her, as distraught as she was. She couldn’t hear their consoling words through her tears. It was only when the Scarecrow took her hand that she noticed Glinda floating towards her, the bubble of magic shimmering in the growing light.

For a moment, Dorothy simply stared as the hope she had lost moments ago began to rise in her again. “Can you help me?”

A hush fell over the crowd. Even the wind had stopped to hear the Good Witch’s words. Glinda’s smile was more radiant than the sun. “I can,” she replied, her voice like angels sighing. “For what you seek is home, is it not?”

Dorothy nodded. “Yes. I want to go home. More than anything!”

Glinda was silent for a moment, though her smile hadn’t faded. “Do you not see it, my dear?”

“See what?”

The Good Witch pointed to each of her friends in turn. “You seek to leave this place, but the family you wished for is before you.”

Dorothy hesitated. “Well, I do love you all dearly,” she said slowly, turning to the Tinman, the Lion, and the Scarecrow. “But I can’t stay here. Auntie Em and Uncle Henry will miss me.” She felt her heart sink as their gazes fell to the floor.
“I have to go back home.”

Glinda’s tinkling laughter penetrated the dark cloud that had gathered over her heart. “Dorothy, my dear, you are home! For the world which you are seeking is but a dream.” Glinda took her hand. “Do you not remember?”

Confused, Dorothy’s eyes fell to the ruby slippers. They shimmered up at her. She could feel their magic, so familiar, like a comforting childhood friend.

“Try to remember, my dear.”

Dorothy closed her eyes and thought. She recalled everything she had done since she had come to Oz. She had killed the Wicked Witch of the East and freed the Land of the Munchkins from tyranny. She had saved and befriended an intelligent scarecrow, a brave lion, and a loving tinman. She had braved the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West and destroyed her as well, saving the land of Oz.

But there was something else, the barest ghost of a memory. She had known the same feeling the first time she had met Glinda in Munchkinland. It was a feeling of peace and belonging. A feeling of…

“…Home,” she said aloud. Her eyes shot open. She had found the answer. “Oz is my home!”

“You remembered!” Glinda smiled more radiantly than ever. “Yes, my dear Dorothy, Good Witch of the South. Welcome home at last!”

Dorothy smiled as everyone cheered. She remembered it all. She was home.

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Congratulations to the winners! Well done.