8/16/2010
8/15/2010
Picture of the Week Award ~ Al Gudka
I came upon this stunning photograph of the new Mini Avantguard doll Androgyny on the W Club board.
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| Property of Al Gudka |
Al's photography is a favorite of mine. He's a master of composition. You will come across his posts not only on the W board but also on Doll Divas and BC.Com.
Here are the answers Al sent to my questionnaire:
-This gorgeous doll is the Mini-Clone Androgyny AvantGuards with her original wig
-No changes were made to the doll itself, but I did release the wig's ponytail
-She is wearing the Barbie by Jonathan Adler dress; corset and stockings from Aerodynamic Vanessa; shoes from last year's W Club Eugenia; jewelry from Flight Pattern Kyori
-The Hows:
- The camera I used was a 15 megapixel Canon Powershot G10
- For the backdrop I used a white foam-filled poster board; doll is leaning against it
- The only prop was a little desk fan that doubled as a large industrial fan in 1/6th scale
- For lighting I used a cluster of three 35 watt daylight florescent bulbs placed directly in front of, and slightly above the doll, at approx 6 ft away. I hung a large sheet of tracing paper 2 feet in front of the lamps. This diffused the light and made it look like natural light.
-My inspiration for this shot was some behind the scenes footage of model Gisele Bundchen during a photo shoot.
-The biggest suggestion I would give to budding photographers is to get acquainted with Photoshop. It can transform a dull, lifeless photo into a brilliant, high contrast eye-catcher. It is also indispensible when it comes to white balancing your photos if your camera can't do it properly. I see so many beautiful photos that have been unintentionally marred by green or yellow color casts.
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Thanks for sharing your expertise with us, Al.
8/14/2010
Instant Gratification Dolls
Every now and then you just need to have a new doll immediately. At 9:30 PM tonight I found myself in that situation and off to Walmart I went. I live in nowheresville and 9 miles away is a slightly larger nowheresville called Kingston, NY. We have dollar stores and CVS by the dozen. Our Walmart and Toys R Us are not mega stores so the pickings are usually quite slim. The Barbie fraction of an aisle was kind of barren as I expected. The aisle over had lots of big head Livs and Moxies and tiny pet thingies. But I spied some Monster High dolls and snatched up the two that I wanted. I almost ordered these several weeks ago but stopped at the last minute.
Four individual characters were there but I chose the two without fangs. They are Lagoona Blue , Daughter of the Sea Monster, and Frankie Stein, Daughter of Frankenstein (Duh.)
At under $38. for both (that includes NY tax), I got a kick out of them. They're more articulated than any Barbie doll ever made! Dressed in their platform heels, they measure 11". Add another 1/4 inch with the stand. Each girl has a pet. Lagoona Blue's pet is a piranha that goes inside her fishbowl handbag. So cute. Frankie Stein's pet is a dog who is stitched together, just like his owner. He also has angel wings. Does that mean he is dead and risen?
The little details on their outfits are hilarious like the lightning bolt on Frankie's belt. Lagoona has webbed hands and lovely aqua streaks in her hair.
Their forearms are removable. These dolls are skinny with giant heads but it works and it's fun and now I want the Deuce Gorgon and Cleo de Nile gift set. It never ends.
Did I mention they're made by Mattel?
At under $38. for both (that includes NY tax), I got a kick out of them. They're more articulated than any Barbie doll ever made! Dressed in their platform heels, they measure 11". Add another 1/4 inch with the stand. Each girl has a pet. Lagoona Blue's pet is a piranha that goes inside her fishbowl handbag. So cute. Frankie Stein's pet is a dog who is stitched together, just like his owner. He also has angel wings. Does that mean he is dead and risen?
The little details on their outfits are hilarious like the lightning bolt on Frankie's belt. Lagoona has webbed hands and lovely aqua streaks in her hair.
Their forearms are removable. These dolls are skinny with giant heads but it works and it's fun and now I want the Deuce Gorgon and Cleo de Nile gift set. It never ends.
Did I mention they're made by Mattel?
Integrity Toys Announces New Dynamite Girls for Fall/Winter
Three Dynamite Girls were announced yesterday. They are all LE 300 and the SRP is $54.99. The last wave of DG dolls were $40 each.
From left to right they are: Aria, Eltin, Neve, Dressed in cute cold weather fashions they will be available at dealers late September/early October. I wonder if the cute chair will be an item for sale. I like it.
It was also announced that there will be lower shipping rates. In their email Integrity says, "Integrity has been able to negotiate special online rates with both UPS and USPS, so you should see reduced shipping fees across the board on every order." I didn't know one could negotiate with the United States Postal Service. I'm going to have to find out about that one. USPS and UPS have always had commercial rates. What I think is more likely is that the service/handling charges have been added to the product prices so they won't show up in the shipping.
I ship cartons and packages all the time and I've shipped hundreds of items. I haven't negotiated lower rates. When I weigh packages from Integrity they are always under the weight charged for. Last month (July) I received a carton containing 5 Gene Marshall replacement bodies. The carton weighed exactly 4.5 pounds although it said 6 pounds. Via Priority Mail with $150. worth of insurance, the cost would be between $11.50 and $12.40 total. I was charged $23.95 for shipping.
Just to check, I logged into the Integrity store. The Gene Marshall (16") bodies are no longer available but the Fashion Royalty bodies are. Of course they weigh 25% less since they are for 12" dolls. I ordered 5 bodies and the USPS shipping came to $17.15. That's still way too high IMO.
However, it sounds like they are listening to the customers on this issue and it's a good sign that they are attempting to address the issue.
From left to right they are: Aria, Eltin, Neve, Dressed in cute cold weather fashions they will be available at dealers late September/early October. I wonder if the cute chair will be an item for sale. I like it.
It was also announced that there will be lower shipping rates. In their email Integrity says, "Integrity has been able to negotiate special online rates with both UPS and USPS, so you should see reduced shipping fees across the board on every order." I didn't know one could negotiate with the United States Postal Service. I'm going to have to find out about that one. USPS and UPS have always had commercial rates. What I think is more likely is that the service/handling charges have been added to the product prices so they won't show up in the shipping.
I ship cartons and packages all the time and I've shipped hundreds of items. I haven't negotiated lower rates. When I weigh packages from Integrity they are always under the weight charged for. Last month (July) I received a carton containing 5 Gene Marshall replacement bodies. The carton weighed exactly 4.5 pounds although it said 6 pounds. Via Priority Mail with $150. worth of insurance, the cost would be between $11.50 and $12.40 total. I was charged $23.95 for shipping.
Just to check, I logged into the Integrity store. The Gene Marshall (16") bodies are no longer available but the Fashion Royalty bodies are. Of course they weigh 25% less since they are for 12" dolls. I ordered 5 bodies and the USPS shipping came to $17.15. That's still way too high IMO.
However, it sounds like they are listening to the customers on this issue and it's a good sign that they are attempting to address the issue.
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