Today's Daily Dose of Vanessa - True Royalty

My re-rooted True Royalty Vanessa is lounging in a dress originally owned by Isha "Go North." (2011, IFDC)

For those of you who were not around for the drama in 2006 between Integrity Toys, Magma Heritage and the collectors who pre-ordered the doll, here goes.

 For approximately one year prior to her release, collectors knew that in order to get her we had to purchase Madison's (owner, Magma Heritage) calendar for $20. Essentially it was a lottery ticket to purchase this Atelier doll for $199. There were plenty of pissed off people who purchased the calendar, which was pretty nice anyway, and didn't get chosen. Several months before the "due" date of the doll, Integrity made an announcement that they were raising the price of the doll. My recollection is vague but I think it was $35. We had already made a deposit on a $199.99 doll. A few collectors balked and called foul claiming that the deposit was a contract, blah, blah. Integrity backed down but something happened between Madison and the company because after the doll was distributed, Madison was no longer a dealer and kind of disappeared from the Fashion Royalty scene.

The Singapore based store is still going strong and sells mainly Blythe and Pullip. Madison was an amazing photographer.

Here are IT's promotional photos of the Atelier doll, True Royalty.

BTW There have been only three Atelier dolls: Poesie Sans Couleur, True Royalty and A Brighter Side (Kyori.)  The presentation boxes were gorgeous tri-fold, padded exterior creations.
Those were the glory days of Fashion Royalty.

Daily Dose of Vanessa

Today's Vanessa is "Intoxicating Mix" wearing an outfit called "My Precious Luxury Wear. " This was given to us at the 2005 Toronto convention. It came with the teddy bear.
Vanessa was the souvenir doll.

 Recently I began posting photos from my Vanessa archives on my Collecting Fashion Dolls by Terri Gold's Facebook page. 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Collecting-Fashion-Dolls-by-Terri-Gold/148849285133506

I thought it would be a good idea to coordinate the photos with this blog AND the FB page.
Here are the pictures I've posted of Vanessa recently:

If you are not already aware of it, this is a fantastic resource for Integrity Toys dolls: Jason Wu's Dolls Reference List 
I consult it on a regular basis to get names and dates correctly. And you thought I knew everything. Ha. 

 

2015 Tonner Collectors' Convention Announced

"Guilty Pleasures" Guilty Pleasures
Don’t be shy – we’re all guilty here! Welcome to the wide world of guilty pleasures! Like decadent desserts, binge watching your favorite TV shows, and frivolous luxury, the 2015 Tonner Convention is going to be Wilde… especially since it’s in Dallas, TX – the Wild West! Famous for hosting more restaurants per capita than New York City, local celebs Bonnie and Clyde, its sheer love of country clubs and more, Dallas is an exciting, urban city that will no doubt be the perfect backdrop for all our Guilty Pleasures!
This year’s fun will kick off with registration starting Friday morning, from 10a-12p, with events beginning later that very afternoon. For those that delight in ‘evening’ wear, the PJ Party is BACK with a ferocious appetite for fun! AND prepare yourselves for a super fabulous 16” fashion doll souvenir – a BRAND NEW collection debut that we are excited to welcome (back) to the Tonner Family.
Whatever your pleasure, Tonner has it all at the 2015 Guilty Pleasures Convention in Dallas, TX - Yeehaw!
Registration is $399 per person
$50 Deposit will hold your spot!

Burning Cookies

I wanted to call this post "Can't Bake For Shit" but I thought better of it. One must maintain a certain level of civility.

Anyway, I had some fun today with Brunel and Superdoll's "Burning Cookies" outfit. The top and pants are large on Brunel but the shoes fit nicely. The wig is also sized for Sybarites and I had to put a silicone head cap on to keep it from moving about. It kind of messes up the shape of the wig but you wouldn't have known that if I didn't tell you. So there.

I have captions for all the photos but I think I'd rather leave them to your imagination. So, here are all five pictures.

Caption one or all.
I'd like to hear it. 
Or don't.
Whatever.

Happy New Year 2015!

Wishing all my readers a wonderful New Year of love, good health, abundance and happiness.

Amidst all the chaos and unrest in this country and this world, I often look for a true joy I can focus on. Right now that is the love I have for my dog. For almost 12 years he has been our constant companion, playmate and loving pet. Rudy has changed our lives and enriched it in ways I can't even describe.

As many of you know, his health began to fail a year ago and his prognosis was as bad as it could get. I fear that his time on earth is drawing to an end. But for now I can look at him, talk to him and touch him. We've been spoiling the heck out of him. Why not? He's been such a good dog.

My love for him is my retreat.
Dolls are ought but mirrors.
My dog is my soul.

 I hope you have a joy and a love in your life.

My Collection: The Best of 2014

For this post, I basically showcase my own collection and some of what I have added this past year.  I've made some wonderful purchases, some so-so-average buys and a few mistakes.  My goal was to limit the adding of 12" dolls and concentrate on high-quality resin BJD 1/4 scale dolls, fashions and wigs

Resin BJDs accounted for nearly 1/2 of my expenditures. Integrity Toys got about 1/4 of the total. The rest went to Gene (and a convention), Tonner and another assorted dolly miscellany.

In looking back I could have eliminated everything Gene-related except for two custom fashions made by Matisse, Madra's dogs and an older Ashton-Drake Violet outfit (shown below.)  I'm just not into Gene any longer. I have sold all my Jamieshow Gene (and Madra, Violet) dolls except for one. They are lovely but not where I want to be.

JS Madra in AD Violet "Special Appearance"

The worst eBay purchase was several pairs of shoes from paul_zhangby and Zhang_young, whom I assume is the same seller, which purported to fit Sybarites. They don't come close. Many of their products claim to fit a wide range of dolls who have different-sized feet. What was I thinking to trust this type of advertising? He's still listing doll shoes like this: Brand New Pumps/Shoes /16" Doll Sybarite V3 JamieShow /Ficon /NUMINA /AG. Don't believe it! His shoes are gorgeous and edgy but won't do any good if you can't use them.


Most of the dolls on this 2014 list were discussed on my blog when I got them and not all of them are actually new releases, but they are new to my collection.

I'll begin with my first and only (so far) Deva Doll, Angelo. He has blown away all the competition from the rest of the big guys who live here. I'll let the photograph do the talking as he's already been introduced in prior posts. His face was painted by Chewin who also designed the fashion and wig.

Brunel from Kingdom Dolls hasn't been here very long and I want to play with her. It's a problem when I have too many 'new' dolls. No doll gets the time it deserves.  She is perfect.

Poor Angelo has been trying to date her but she's not having any of it.

Ficon Bonita in a Cheryl Wood wig.
I have quite a few wigs made by the talented Ms. Wood but this is my absolute favorite!
Bonita is a gorgeous doll with great posing ability.

I added two gorgeous Sybarites this past year and several Superdoll outfits.

-a repaint of Dionysis by Yian.  (Chewin wig)

-Fidele wearing Bitter Fern. I removed the pink bow which was at the waist. 

The outfit from Langtry and Madra's Dogs (Ashton-Drake) modeled by Toxica.

The outfit from Masque modeled by Neurotica. Mohair wig by Ilaria.

The outfit from Gateau modeled by Domina.

I never tire of looking at my Sybarites and their gorgeous fashions.

Moving over to Integrity Toys, their FR16 dolls, at first, didn't impress me. Once I started collecting their outfits however, the dolls began to grow on me. Their bodies pose beautifully.
This is Tyler head on a Tulabelle body wearing a FR16 Platinum Society. It's a favorite.

As far as their 12" dolls issued during the year, nothing made the cut except three from the convention.

Going off the track here for Gloss' "Evening Siren" Ayumi who is such an improvement over the original Ayumi I felt it deserved mention and images from her spotty past. :-)
It's a fact that the face-up makes or breaks the sculpt.

This is the After:

Here are the Befores:

If at first you don't succeed...

I always felt that Natalia's original and more ethnic sculpt was beautiful and should have been preserved.  She was gorgeous.  The "refreshed" sculpt looked just like all the other dolls with their pointy little noses and pucker lips. They're OK but this Natalia was special. "Femme du Monde" 2006.

However, Grandiose Natalia was a surprise. I actually like her a lot and added her to my collection. What is it about this particular doll? It's not the pointy eyebrows. She's just stunning.

And then there's Elise. She has become my favorite FR sculpt. I've given up on Vanessa and although two were added to my collection this year, they are not favorites.

In the following photo, one of the 2014 convention centerpieces, Elise Jolie "Intrigue," is shown with Adrian Von Lamberg "Night Vision" from the 2010 Dark Romance Collection. That was the last FR convention I attended and I had him at that time but I was not collecting male dolls. That changed this year as I sought to add some special Hommes to the tribe.

About two months ago I swapped with someone for an Avantguard which had been repainted. It was pretty awful once I saw it in person. My dear friend, Vin Trapani, rescued this doll from a dark drawer with his inspired re-repaint.
She is currently on a Tulabelle body and looking great.

Memorable 1/6 scale fashions:

Poppy "Glamorous Darling" and "IT Girl" adorn one of my mini Avantguard dolls and a Monogram doll.

This dress was created by V.Jhon. It is modeled by Tropicalia Vanessa.

So there you have it.

I haven't determined my goals with doll collecting for 2015. What I do know is that I spend way too much time where they are concerned. I want to put together a book showcasing my black and white NYC-era photography. That will take a long, dedicated piece of time.

I've had so much fun with dolls and doll people over the last decade or so but I have to bring back the joy that my creativity gave me and let it out of its holding cell.