FR16 Hanne Erikson Models the Cosmetic Surrender Fashion

When Integrity Toys debuted their new FR16 dolls, I thought the fashions were lovely but I didn't like 3 of the 4 doll's faces. I was able to purchase Hanne nude and a few of the fashions separately.
Here is Hanne in Cosmetic Surrender's outfit.

This gal needs a more realistic face-up. Her eyes lack life of any kind. If only I could paint faces realistically, I'd do her over.
The other thing I'd change is the articulated toe joint. It bends the shoe in a strange way. I wonder if I can use an avantguard fashion foot...or perhaps IT will release a fashion foot for her.
She's got beautiful hands and the rest of her articulation is excellent.

I like this fashion. It is well made. Another collector removed the black lace overlay. It was also a good look and closer to the dress style of the original.

I had the original 11-1/2" Natalia "Cosmetic Takeover" doll
She was a holy grail for the longest time and a truly gorgeous doll. Why they had to change her sculpt, I'll never understand. 

She was the first and only Natalia ever produced on a straight arm body. I ultimately changed her to a tall body.


Integrity Toys' doll bodies get better, the sculpts—not so much.

Mostly Not Doll Related - Joan Rivers

Laughter is the best medicine and sometimes it's the only medicine within reach. This isn't doll related but Joan often joked that she was mostly plastic with regards to the surgeries on her face.

She was a role model.

 Here she is shown walking down the street holding Ken's hand. 

Joan Rivers mocked Kristen Stewart’s threat to sue her during a characteristically no-holds-barred appearance on HuffPost Live on Tuesday.
The comedian waved around a doll, joking that she wants Stewart to show her where “she did or did not touch her director.”
Rivers defended her jokes about Stewart (and others) in her new book, saying she just wants “to make people laugh,” and that anyone who doesn’t find her funny should go elsewhere.

It's horrifying to think that the medical center may have played a role in the death of the comedienne. Supposedly she was healthy when she entered the facility on foot. It was not an emergency procedure or anything like that.

Let's remember the some of the funniest lines:

1. It’s been so long since I made love, I can’t remember who gets tied up.
2. I like colonic irrigation because sometimes you find old jewellery.
3. I was just reading about the new Lindsay Lohan diet, which is all liquid. 80 proof.
4. My love life is like a piece of Swiss cheese. Most of it’s missing, and what’s there stinks.
5. I’ve worked with Angelina Jolie. She saw a sign that said ”WET FLOOR” one time, and she did.
6. I had a cold and my doctor recommended coffee enemas. I can never go back to Starbucks…
7. I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw that my bath toys were a toaster and a radio.
8. I said to my husband, “Why don’t you call out my name when we’re making love?” He said, “I don’t want to wake you up.”
9. I hate thin people; “Oh, does this tampon make me look fat?”
10. I have no sex appeal, which kills me. The only way I can ever hear heavy breathing from my husband’s side of the bed is when he’s having an asthma attack.
11. I was the last girl in Larchmont, NY to get married. My mother had a sign up: ‘Last Girl Before Freeway.’
12. I have so little sex appeal my gynecologist calls me “sir”.
13. I have so little sex appeal my gynecologist examines me by telephone.

Mel Odom's JAMIEshow Madra "Spotted in Manhattan"

In a very unusual move, George put this Jamieshow Madra on sale for 20% off during the Labor Day weekend. Her price dropped from $525. to $420. which caused me to take a second look. Actually, the main reason I became interested was that I had seen so many gorgeous photos of her posted by collectors who already had her.
I went back and forth with the decision for about 24 hours and finally decided to go for it. She arrived yesterday and I'm happy I purchased her.
Her face paint is perfect. The resin is the same silky material used for all the Jamieshow dolls. She will make a great model for my collection of Gene Marshall clothing.
There was an issue with her necklace. I sent a photo to George and within a few hours I received a courteous response in which he told me he'd send a replacement out ASAP. As always, the customer service from his company has been excellent.
Madra comes with a ring that matches her other jewelry. It's huge. It could be worn on a chain.
The dress will need a light pressing as the train is packed folded vertically and you won't see much of the leopard print unless you smooth it out a bit.
I also recommend putting pantyhose on the doll as the strap of the shoes may stain. There's a faint line across one of my doll's ankles. You could also coat the inside of the strap with a strip of something flexible.

In these photos, Madra is posing on a Horsman chaise. The table in the background is CED.
I have her redressed already. Now I have to pick out some wigs.

Announcing the Third 2014 W Club Exclusive Doll

When I saw the name of the character, Mademoiselle Jolie, I was happy for a brief moment. Then I read further to discover that it is not Elise Jolie, whose sculpt I adore, but Isha, whose sculpt I do not care for in this incarnation. Her lips are parted and her teeth are showing.
This is what Isha used to look like before they rehabbed her to look like everyone else. Pretty gorgeous, right?

Note: You can click on any picture to bring up a larger version.

Here is the new Isha. I think the teeth will be easy to cover.

She is called Ombres Poétique and will cost W Club members $150. plus postage.
I like platinum hair but hair bumps are so over. I think the first thing I saw after the teeth was the sweeping eye makeup. The jury is still out on that.

I like the lingerie.

She certainly looks dramatic but the more I look at the gown, the more the black lace trim looks over-scaled. It's not working. I hope the production doll uses a better trim.

We've seen this gown shape several times on FR dolls. Reinterpretations don't bother me. Three of the gowns pictured below are more or less successful designs. I will have to see the new one in person to be sure.

The only other Mme. Jolie that was produced was a OOAK auction doll at the HiFi convention several years ago. This is a picture by Rob Thompson found on his robsdolls.com website. I would have loved that hairstyle and gown! But then it would not be a OOAK for the person who bought it.

Maybe I can dye the gown.... it could be a quinceanera dress.


What do you think of this new Mme. Jolie?

Gene's Final Curtain Call

This is a post that I found which was never published. It's obviously from a few years ago.



On the eve of Gene's swan song I dressed two of my (very few) ladies in fashions I recently acquired. They are waiting to be photographed and I visualized them looking over their shoulders as they retreated from the front of the stage on the last night of their performance.

Five nights from tonight I will have begun to attend my first and last Gene Marshall convention. There, amongst the 400 or so attendees, I may be in the minority. I have not been a "real" Gene collector. I was aware of Gene, of course, during her Ashton-Drake years but never veered away from my Tonner collections until getting involved with Integrity Toys' product. I had purchased a basic Gene and a dressed Gene and that was it.

Simply Gene

Perfect Match Gene with Tiny Kitty

The first few fashions I purchased disappointed me because they did not always fit Tyler. Obviously I knew very little about that line. But I did buy the wonderful furniture and accessories like the gazebo and the the patio set. I purchased the dresser and the swan bed and the clothing rack with wooden hangers and room dividers. Fabulous items every one of them.

Tyler Wearing "A Shorts Story" Gene Outfit

The second or third time Integrity Toys held an event at FAO Schwarz in NYC was the first time I met Mel Odom. (It's all been a wild blur since then. ;-)) Gene had been picked up by IT and the line was on display at the store. I had not begun my second round with the 16" dolls yet. That Gene was "Suited To A T. " The doll reminded me so much of my mother when she was young. At the time, Mom was in the final stages of Alzheimer's Disease. That was February. I couldn't get the doll out of my mind and decided to ask my husband to get her for me as a holiday gift that December, which he did. My mother died that month. I photographed that doll endlessly and began buying Gene fashions which led to buying Gene dolls which led to more and more. I bought Ashton-Drake Gene and IT Gene dolls and fashions and had a ball. I discovered another huge group of collectors who were so very different from the Fashion Royalty crowd.

Play with those dolls!

This is a post I found which was never published. It is obviously from a few years ago.

I've been giving advice and not often following it myself. This week I'm being good. I've been redressing dolls and photographing them. It feels like I have some new dolls. I love it.
Most recently the Nu Face dolls got attention. I sold off most of these little beauties so there weren't that many to be redressed. Here are Eden and Nadia. Nadja was "The Illusionist." I unwrapped the braid around the headpiece and underneath was a heavily glued stalk of hair. I washed it several times but the glue would not even soften so I just cut off as much as I could. I may rewrap the tiny braided hair, retrieved from the thing atop her head, around the nub that's left. But for now, this is what she looks like. It made her into a much more useful doll.Here she is with Eden, my favorite of all the NuFace dolls. Yes, it is difficult to photograph such different skin tones next to eachother. I lit the scene as much as possible. I think because Nadja is wearing a bright red she comes forward in the mind's eye whereas if she wore a recessive color, the bright skin and hair on Eden would overpower the photo. The lighting could still be improved.
The biggest problem I have with this color vinyl is that he texture of the vinyl shows all the tiny pits unevenness every vinyl body has. I this photo I have softened the skin contrast with a tool in Photoshop.
I have just decided to sell Erin. I never even redressed her! I took these pictures today. She's just so perfect in the microsequin dress.