The Tonner 2013 convention was held form the 16th till the 19th of May in Chicago. The title was Age Of Innocence. At first I thought that the theme would be centred around the Edith Wharton novel and/or the Martin Scorcese film of it but it seems the scope was broader - "Let’s explore times past both real and imaginary, from whimsical childlike innocence to sophisticated elegance" was the tag line from Tonner. If you want to read more about it, you can check the company blog here. Let's see the fashion dolls on offer there (there were a lot more dolls but from lines I do not consider as fashion dolls).
Gatsby themed dolls were one of the groups - it comprised of four dolls. First one up is Zelda (Fitzgerald's wife, not in the novel), a centrepiece doll. She is a limited edition of 200 dolls (sold out now), priced at $165. She has the Cami head sculpt and the 16" Antoinette™ body with the Cameo skin tone. She has painted brown eyes and a classic red saran removable wig. She is wearing a pale yellow crinkle chiffon dress with lace bodice and rhinestone buckle decoration at the waist, accessorized with a matching hat with ribbon trim, a pale yellow crinkle chiffon scarf with ribbon, nude pantyhose and faux leather matching shoes. I think she is the best doll at the convention by far. I love the dress and the doll looks beautiful, even though I am not a fan of the Cami sculpt. If she had a more mature sculpt, I might have bought her.
The souvenir doll of the Gtasby evening was Daisy, from the novel's main female protagonist. She has again the Cami head sculpt and the 16" Antoinette™ body with the Cameo skin tone. She has painted blue eyes and a summer blonde saran removable wig. Her mauve dress has a mauve and silver embroidered lace overlay and is finished off with a silver and mauve headband with rhinestone and feather decoration, a matching faux fur stole with a bow, a beaded necklace, nude pantyhose and faux leather matching shoes. She is a limited edition of 250 with a price of $165 (sold out). Great outfit and accessories. Lovely doll.
Jay of course is the novel's protagonist, Jay Gatsby. The doll (centrepiece) has the new Matt head sculpt and the 17" Matt O’Neill™ body with the Tyler skin tone, painted blue eyes and wheat blonde rooted saran hair. He is wearing a purple and white stripe cotton shirt under a natural linen vest and natural linen pants. He sports a tan twill hat, a mauve tie, off white socks and brown molded plastic shoes. He is a limited edition of 150 dolls and had a price of $165 (sold out). He looks more like the teen version of Gtasby than a grown adult. Maybe it is the oversize hat and huge buttons or the linen pants which look too sturdy in this scale. A softer fabric for the pants and vest and more well scaled accessories would make him look so much better. The horrid plastic molded shoes are something that Gatsby would never wear. Why not some suede ones at this price point?
Myrtle is the last Gatsby doll from the convention, a centrepiece as well. She has the Jon head sculpt and the 16" Antoinette™ body with the Honey skin tone, painted brown eyes and a golden brown saran removable wig. She is wearing a lavender crinkle chiffon dress with faux flowers trim, a lavender hat with ribbon and faux flowers trim, a matching crinkle chiffon capelet with faux flower, nude pantyhose, a faux pearl necklace and faux leather matching shoes. She is a limited edition of 150 dolls, her price is $165 and is not sold out yet. Why pick Myrtle instead of Jordan is anyone's guess - just imagine how striking a flapper beaded dress-wearing Jordan doll would have been. Missed opportunity. She looks a bit plain for that price point too.
The Carousel ball was the even with a theme closer to the Age Of Innocence novel and film, or at least the dolls look a bit closer to that era (but more Gibson Girl than late Victorian). There were four centrepiece dolls and one souvenir doll. First centrepiece is Lady Emily (above). She has the Daphne#2 head sculpt on a 16" Antoinette™ body with the Cameo skin tone, painted blue eyes and mink (darkest brown) rooted saran hair. She is wearing a white bodysuit with lace trim and faux pearl buttons under a red shantung bolero with navy blue and gold trim and a navy blue and red skirt with gold trim. She has a matching navy blue taffeta hat with red tulle and feather decoration, nude pantyhose, faux pearl earrings and navy blue taffeta shoes. She is a limited edition of 100 dolls at $199 and there are still a few left (as well as the rest of the dolls of this group) here. Impressive doll but the outfit is too loud for my taste. Something closer to the clothes worn in the Age Of Innocence film would look so much better IMHO.
Lady Catherine is the second centrepiece doll from the Carousel ball (all centrepiece dolls were placed on carousel horses, making for an impressive setting on the tables). She has the Antoinette™ head sculpt on a 16" Antoinette™ body with the Cameo skin tone, painted brown eyes and pale blonde rooted saran hair. Her outfit is a purple satin and chiffon dress with bows and a gold lace bodice overlay, with nude gauntlets, purple satin and tulle hat, nude pantyhose and purple satin shoes. Limited edition of 100 dolls. $199. She looks great but the bottom part of the dress looks like a last minute addition. It should have been fuller, with more fabric and draping, and maybe some tulle under layer to make it stand better.
Third centrepiece is Lady Ann. She has the Precarious™ head sculpt on a 16" Antoinette™ body with the Cameo skin tone, painted green eyes and black rooted saran hair. She is wearing a pink shantung dress with chiffon collar and a black lace trim, flower appliqué, and an attached blue satin belt. Her accessories include blue lycra gloves, a Pink hat with faux flowers and feather decoration, nude pantyhose and matching shoes. Limited edition of 100 at $199. If this was in subtle, era-appropriate colours I would have got it.
Final centrepiece of the Carousel Ball is Lady Agnes. She has the Duchess head sculpt on a 16" Antoinette™ body with the Cameo skin tone, painted blue eyes and strawberry rooted saran hair. She is wearing a burgundy iridescent gold, and black poly taffeta and velveteen corset with cream lace collar and sleeves and bow accents over a burgundy iridescent and black poly taffeta and velveteen skirt with black cotton lace trim. Her accessories include a black horse hair hat with faux flowers and bow decoration, black bead stud earrings, nude pantyhose and matching burgundy iridescent shoes. She is a limited edition of 100 dolls at $199. I think this one looks much better than the rest of the centrepiece carousel dolls. There is no studio photograph of her and the one up on the company website is not flattering for the doll so I picked a photo of her from the company blog. Very tempted to buy this but the price is forbidding.
The souvenir doll is Lady Grace. She has the Cami head sculpt on a 16" Antoinette™ body with the Cameo skin tone, painted green eyes and chestnut blended with strawberry rooted saran hair. She is wearing a cream lace and chiffon dress under a matching jacket with faux pearl closure and faux flower decoration. She has a cream hat with faux flower decoration, nude pantyhose and cream satin shoes. She is a limited edition of 300 dolls at $199. Lovely colours but the outfit and sculpt are not favourites.
Another theme was 60's mod (Mad Men anyone?) and a 60's luncheon to go with it. The souvenir doll was the beautiful Sydney Chase A Go Go doll above, a limited edition of 125 dolls, not available on the company website. She has a silver dress with a lame bust connected to a micro-sequinned skirt with metal rings. Matching boots and a lovely era-appropriate hairstyle and make up finish her off to perfection.
Mod-Tyler is one of the two centrepiece dolls. She has the Tyler head sculpt on the 16" Tyler bending wrist body with the Tyler skin tone, painted blue eyes with applied eyelashes and golden brown rooted saran hair. She is wearing a blue sequinned dress with a blue glitter canvas headband, nude pantyhose with attached panties and blue glitter canvas boots. She is a limited edition of 125 dolls at $150 and is still available. No match for Sydney though.
The second centrepiece doll was Mod Ava. She has the Model-JV head sculpt on a 16" Tyler bending wrist body with the Honey skin tone, painted brown eyes with applied eyelashes and mink blended with golden brown rooted saran hair. She is wearing a purple sequined dress with bell sleeves, a purple glitter canvas headband, nude pantyhose with attached panties and purple glitter canvas boots. She is a limited edition of 75 dolls at $150 and still available. I do not like this sculpt but the outfit would be perfect if it had the same type of sequinned fabric Sydney's has.
All doll photos courtesy of Tonner Doll Company, Inc.