Who's That Vanessa?

Aerodynamic Vanessa - the original - had surprising black lips and beautiful red hair pulled back into a straight pony tail.

I freed her hair and crimped it.

Then I had her repainted.

And then I bought another one who had been rerooted.

She was not a popular doll at first. Now all the original Vanessas are sought after.  Who is your favorite?

Faraway Forest™ Elf Barbie® Doll

I'm a little late in presenting this new Barbie doll as she was released on 7/15/14.
Here is her description from the Barbie Collector website:

First in the magical collection, Faraway Forest^™ Elf Barbie^® doll charms with her pointy ears and fantasy costume mixing forest-inspired textures and colors. A green velvety, hooded cloak is worn over a long skirt, laced bodice and dramatic thigh-high boots. Vine-inspired accessories include a tiara, bracelets and belt. A “carved” staff with an embedded “crystal” and Faraway Forest^™ map are essentials for the journey.

Doll Details
Body Type:	ModelMuse™, Straight Arms
Skin Tone:	Nostalgic
Facial Sculpt:	Goddess with Elf Ears *New Sculpt
Fashion Sewn On?:	Yes
Eyelashes:	Painted

Included with doll:
Doll Stand, Crown, Bracelets, Belt, Staff, Boots.

So, not only is she on the straight arm, unarticulated body, her fashion is sewn on! What fun.

Retail price is a mere $100.

IBIZA: New from Ficon

I want to get my hot little hands on that outfit as I'm currently on a 'no new doll' diet.

Ficon Doll will offer Ibiza for sale this coming week. Visit http://www.ficondoll.com/ for more information.

Reviews: Fashion Explorer Vanessa and Poppy Fashions

Fashion Explorer Vanessa is one of the three optional 2014 W Club upgrade dolls and the only one I ordered. Apparently I can't shake the Vanessa addiction completely. She was $130 plus postage.

Let me deal with the sculpt first. She's described as having the Vanessa 3.0 sculpt. I'm still struggling to figure out what the 2.0 sculpt was. It seems that there were several other attempts at a new Vanessa sculpt between DC and now. Half this...half that...I don't get it. 


Could it have been Dress Code Vanessa?

Go back to the original Vanessa.

Make the rest of us happy. 

We don't care if you're bored.

Anyway, the new gal is a pretty doll. There have been many complaints about the screening difference between the left and right eyes. I see it when I look very closely but it doesn't bother me. Her hair, which is long in the back in a beautiful wrapped pony tail, is offset by the boring side curl and an ultra high forehead. A different hairstyle would do wonders.

She is styled awkwardly.
The fashion consists of a boxy, ill-fitting ultra suede top over a sheer mesh bodysuit. The skirt is, as you can see, is a wrap mini in light blue. This is supposed to be a fashion doll and I don't think she ranks up there as well dressed or worth $130.
This is the first time I've seen the revised FR2 body. It's a good body with firm joints. The elbow joints on this doll squeak! 

Her accessories are a huge brown handbag, super tall boots in the same brown, cheap looking sunglasses, irrelevant silver colored bracelets and pin ball studs.

W Club dolls should be the 

very best 

of what's available 

for so many reasons.

Here she shows off her assets:

************

I purchased two fashions from the recently offered three dressed IFDC Poppy Parker dolls. Since I do not collect Poppy dolls, I was hoping that some of my flatter chested dolls would be able to wear them. Success.

This lavender confection comes from a doll called Glamorous Darling. It fits my Monogram Exaggeration perfectly - including the shoes. I am so happy that Poppy has grown up to have normal fashion feet! I hate the articulated ankle on that doll.

The gown is very pretty. The person that sold it to me made the mistake of folding the tulle so it's not draping properly - yet. It will. I'm not going near it with heat. (Been there, done that. Not good.)

Anyway, the only thing wrong with this ensemble is the GLITTER. Sequins would have been sufficient.  Glitter is Mattel's gig. 

Please, no more glitter.

Above is my Mini Avantguard doll, Aphrodisiac, modeling IT Girl. The skirt is a bit loose in the hip area but it doesn't affect the appearance. I wasn't able to get the jewelry or the sunglasses with the ensemble so I added Knife Edge bracelets and IT earrings from some other doll. The earrings came with a bracelet that was way too large for Aphro so I'm thinking they were from a 16" doll. At this point, I have no idea what goes with what and I don't care either.

I removed the bow that was attached to the bodice. It wouldn't lay straight and stuck out too far.

I'm very pleased with both fashions.

Hot Toys Maleficent Sixth Scale Figure

The long awaited Hot Toys' figure, Maleficent, is finally up for pre-order. Apparently there are slight price differences depending upon where you shop. Sideshow Collectibles is offering her for $229.99.

As with all Hot Toys' sculpts, the likeness to Angelina Jolie is absolutely incredible.

Click here for more photos and ordering information.

Tom Tierney, Paper Doll Artist, Dies at 85

I'll venture to guess that every one of us has owned or at least seen some of Tom Tierney's paper doll books in our lives. Just looking back at them now, I want so many.

 From the mid-1970s until his death, Mr. Tierney reigned as “the undisputed king” of the international paper-doll world, as The New York Times wrote in 1999 — a milieu that comprises thousands of collectors in the United States alone. Over the years, he created more than 400 paper-dolls books, most issued by Dover Publications.

A message from Dover Publishers:

"Everyone at Dover—and his legion of fans—is deeply saddened by the passing of Tom Tierney on July 12, 2014. One of our most beloved authors, Mr. Tierney created over 275 books for Dover, including dozens of bestselling paper dolls, with subjects ranging from U.S. presidents to popular movie stars. As one of America's foremost authorities on fashion history, Tom's books are famous for being meticulously researched and beautifully rendered and his works are prized by designers, collectors, and paper doll lovers around the world. We've put together a collection of books by the King of Paper Dolls to help you celebrate his life and work. For, as he once said, "My books can be a way to discover things that you weren't taught in school. And I like to think that they bring their subjects to life for readers, just the way they do for me when I work on them." For more about Mr. Tierney, use this link to read the exclusive interview "For My Work Is My Pleasure: A Talk with Tom Tierney." 

A page from Dover's Tierney offerings.

Tom illustrated the unsual (for a) paper doll:

Historical:

Pop culture:

 

Fashion:

Official web site of paper doll artist Tom Tierney

Dover still offers more than 125 of Tom's books for sale here:

http://doverpublications.ecomm-search.com/search?keywords=Tom+Tierney&sort_by_field=Popularity