9/13/2008

Juku Couture Doll Photos

Here are the other three characters in the Fall 2008 Juku Couture line from Jaks Pacific, Audrina, Hayley and Kana. Also shown are two of the available clothing packs. The fourth doll, Jun, can be seen in an earlier post.






9/11/2008

Tonner's Tiny Kitty

The availability of articulated replacement bodies for Tiny Kitty and the appearance of another little beauty, Simone Rouge, has renewed my interest in these 10 inch gals. I purchased a bunch of bodies and unpacked my Kittys. They got their new bodies, were dressed up in the outfits I had saved and are now on display with my Simones.

Of course I had to purchase several of the new Kittys,


a few that I never got
and some outfits.....it never ends.

There's more but it's too embarassing. LOL

9/08/2008

MetroDolls on Broadway 2008 Event

MetroDolls organized and held this event to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS! charity. Many creative artists and other generous people donated OOAK dolls, doll furnishings, clothing and manufactured items for raffles and auctions. This fabulous and fun event was held at the Woodbridge Hilton in Iselin, New Jersey which is a 2 hour drive from my home. I arrived in the midst of a torrential rain storm caused by the passing hurricane. The staff was extremely cordial and helpful. Check-in took less than 5 minutes and I was very pleased with my room.
The evening's event began at 6:30 PM. The tables were decorated in black and white and the centerpiece was the red-haired Metropolitan Madra dressed in a rhinestone bra and bikini bottom, long white satin gloves, silver metal rhinestone heels and rhinestone circle earrings. She was holding two large feathered fans, perhaps for modesty. :-)


I was lucky to get the opportunity to purchase one of very few.


There was a presentation of vintage clothing on Saturday night by John Davey, the owner and collector of the garments. Here is a link to my photos from Saturday night.

http://www.goldphoto.com/MetroDolls_2008/index.htm

I was very lucky in the raffle and won several outfits and a Bronze Madra.

On Sunday morning I packed up my car and went back into the hotel for the luncheon. We had been switched to a large ballroom. I was handed a goodie bag upon entering the room. It had the special event outfit and several other little goodies. All around four sides of the room were raffle items and auction items. There was a sales room adjacent to the main ballroom. I never made it that far because there was so much to see and do and so many raffle tickets to drop into little bags. I took lots of pictures, talked to many people and just soaked in the atmosphere. It was just like a mini convention. Robert Tonner gave a wonderful presentation accompanied by slides. He talked about his inspiration for some of the new lines his company is producing. And, best of all, he showed a series of slides of the sculpturing of a new fashion doll, Miss Piggy. Raffles were drawn, and again, I was very lucky. I won Film Fatale Gene and Cold As Ice Kit. These are two dolls I have wanted! I would like to have won the White Witch of Narnia but it wasn't in the cards for me. I also won a fabulous outfit called Symphony of the Heart. A DAE outfit for 16" dolls.
This is a Brian Bulkley drawing that accompanies the outfit.
Here is a link to my pictures from Saturday:

http://www.goldphoto.com/MetroDolls_Sun/index.htm

After the raffles and auctions and presentations were over we were given our event doll, Magnolia. She is a new sculpt by Tonner.

Because I am not keeping the doll I did not unpack her earrings and other accessories. The future owner gave me permission to photograph her and here she is.

9/04/2008

Brenda Starr Look-Alike?

It's hard not to see the resemblance between Brenda Starr "Just My Type" doll and Sarah Palin, the VP candidate.

9/02/2008

Juku Couture Dolls from Jaks Pacific


Jaks Pacific has released a new line of dolls. I heard about the excellent articulation and saw pictures and knew I must have her. There are four different dolls and several separately packaged outfits. Jaks Pacific has attributed certain personality characteristics to all four of these dolls. The character in my pictures is Jun. Jun is 9 inches tall. Her reddish/brown hair is rooted and the pink and white curls are attached to clip-on barettes which are easily removed. The hair has a lot of product to hold it's style. She has inset eyes which make her look a little cross-eyed because their placement is a bit off but her features are delicate and pretty.


Jun has 14 points of articulation including wrists and ankles and she can stand on her own.


I'm not a fan of the frilly, lacy, multi-layered baby-doll look but the clothes are cute, they fit well and are made fairly well. Fasteners are velcro. Boots are open in the back and go on and off easily. She comes with a poster which I have not removed from the box.


About the box...I always wonder why dolls in this price range have to be secured to the box with so many wires.
It took a good 10 minutes to un-twirl the wires and pull them out.


I think Jaks Pacific did an amazing job with this doll. I don't know how they managed to keep the price so low. Retail Price $19.95.

8/30/2008

Replacement Bodies - Fashion Royalty and Tiny Kitty


Yesterday members of the W Club received "confidential" notification of a top secret body replacement sale which will commence shortly.

Here is an excerpt from the email:
"These bodies will go up for sale next Tuesday (September 2nd). To accommodate members living in different time zones and with different work obligations, we are going to put up a portion of the allocation at 10:00 am CST (Chicago Time) and if that allocation sells out we will put up the remainder at 5:00 pm CST (Chicago Time). We understand these times might not accommodate every member, but we have done our best to try to accommodate the greater majority of members.

Should bodies remain, we will open up the offer to the public sometime on September 4th- we will keep you posted, but the information should remain confidential until that time (this means no pre-selling on eBay during this Club window or discussion on the boards)."
{I am trying to figure out if I am breaking confidentiality by posting this in my blog. I'm not pre-selling or discussing it on the boards as per the above caveat. So I guess I'm OK.}
When the Integrity Toys forum first opened I posted a poll which asked about the desire for replacement bodies. The response was enormous. This was quite a while ago. At that time I had already scraped together enough tall bodies to grow my first and second generation FRs to the latest size. The only dolls that needed replacement bodies were Adele, Vero (including Vanessa & Kyori), Natalia and Isha
. The other characters appeared on the scene after the bodies got tall. So all that was really needed were four different skin tones. There will be four skin tones and they are called White, Black, Latina and Japan. The "Japan" color makes no sense at all because all the dolls with that color came with tall bodies to begin with: Agnes, Luchia, True Royalty Vanessa, Mastermind Veronique and A Brighter Side Kyori. There will be no tall Isha body. The bodies will be a whopping $45. each plus shipping. That's a lot of moolah for a piece of vinyl. Each member will be allowed 3 of each color body.
But wait...here comes the funniest part of the email:
The replacement bodies will be marked on the buttocks to ensure that the bodies are authorized and authentic and separate them from the ones produced with the dolls, thus allowing future generations of collectors to distinguish whether a body has been replaced or is factory original.
As if it would make a difference to future generations. (Will the dolls last for future generations?) I have sold so many dolls that have been switched to tall bodies, I have lost count. Why would anyone care? What I care about is if the swinging hip syndrome has been cured. Picture holding your doll with your thumb and forefinger and gently rotating your wrist back an forth. Visualize the doll's legs swinging along. This means that your doll will not stand or hold a standing pose easily. Some just flop forward at the hips without the slightest provocation. If someone switches the head to a good, firm body, would you care if it is not the one that came with the doll? If I bought a doll that originally was a different body type, don't you think I would recognize that fact? Duh with a capital D.

Perhaps brand new Fashion Royalty collectors could be fooled into buying a modern head with an old body but the old body will not be labeled so that argument is worthless.

The bodies shouldn't have been priced higher than $30-$35. They probably cost less than $5. to manufacture anyway. Integrity has overpriced these.
...............................................

On the other side of the fence, Tonner has shipped articulated replacement bodies for Tiny Kitty. I picked up 7 bodies today at the Tonner store for $20. + tax each. They're not exactly the same color as my earlier TKs but they will do very well. They are priced correctly. They have been selling articulated (BW) 16" bodies for quite a while. I haven't purchased any but I think the price is $35. each.