Integrity Toys Dark Romance Convention 2010 part 6 - finale

The Saturday night ballroom was dark but festive as guests arrived for the final event of the Dark Romance convention. The centerpiece doll was a FR Monogram doll: Smoldering. The Monogram dolls are very popular with collectors and this centerpiece doll looks very elegant and Haute Couture like all the dolls of this line. I guess most of the attendees wanted the chance to purchase this doll. Also she is the first dark skinned Monogram. I think she looks great.

Then the final piece to the Fashion Royalty Gift Set given to all attendees was given to them. Every convention guest was given a fashion that completed the Agnes Fashion Royalty Gift Set. This completed gift set is called Head for Glamour Agnes Von Weiss and contains a complete mix-and-match set of fashions and accessories. Agnes looks a lot like Dressing The Part Agnes as I said before and is bound to be really popular. A dark haired version of her was given out to all helpers with the workshops - here is a link to a photo of her. Such a nice reward for their efforts.

Jason Wu was the event's guest speaker, announcing his intentions for the FR lines next year. He tried to answer several questions from the audience after his speech and also revealed sneak peek photos of Veronique Perrin, the first ever FR doll (along with Adele) who has been absent from the line's release for quite a while. I saw the photos and I do think she looks really good, hopefully we will see her sometime early next year. Here is a link to a photo from that peek (from Shuga Shug)

After the meal, Jason unveiled the exclusive Dark Romance convention doll which was, contrary to many people's anticipation (but probable since Veronique would not be seen this year) Dark Romance Giselle Diefendorf. Since she was supposedly doing the "fashion show" her big sister was hosting, it was only natural to be presented as the convention doll. She looks fabulous in her gorgeous black frilly gown with beaded bodice, smoky eyes (those grey eyebrows and eye-shadow remind me of Mel Odom's Gene so much).

(Part five will be posted when FR2 info becomes available)

copyright Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2010 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission.

Integrity Toys Dark Romance Convention 2010 part 4

Following the Dark Romance theme, Friday night's dinner encouraged guests to dress in their wildest Halloween creations to the theme of "Sea of Blood". As was to be expected, the attendees went all out and the costumes were fantastic as I could see in many flickr posts! Guests entering the ballroom were taken back by how spooky but fabulous the room looked. The centerpiece doll this time was another brand new character created just for this convention! Trapped inside an iron cage that looked like a coffin, Provocatrice Anja (pronounced An-yah) seemed to be reaching out to each guest at the table to release her from her prison (I know everyone would love to do that).

Anja is using the Simi sculpt from the Dark Hunters collection, so everyone who liked that one but did not warm up to a monster doll can enjoy this one. I still think she looks like Veronique. Each guest was given an autographed, special edition hardcover copy of Sherrilyn Kenyon's latest book "No Mercy" with a leather collector's box. They also received a gothic Dark Hunters doll chair.

Attendees were delighted to also receive the doll portion of their convention gift set; a gorgeous Agnes Von Weiss doll. She is platinum and in lovely underwear. She reminds me a lot of Dressing The Part Agnes. A raven one was the gift for those that helped teaching classes in workshops (thanks Uriah and well done!).

copyright Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2010 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission.

Integrity Toys Dark Romance Convention 2010 part 3

The convention second day luncheon had guests privy to another incredible event, this time with Poppy Parker. As I mentioned in the previous post, she has become very popular with collectors and everyone was very pleased to see their favorite girl once again at each of the decorated tables. The centerpiece doll, Shadow of your Smile was a dark version of the Look of Love outfit on a redhead doll. I must say I do prefer this version than the original.

This year again Integrity gave to every attendee their very own Poppy Parker: Tears Go By was part of the event swag, a gorgeous doll who will be, as I read in reports from the show, part of next year's Poppy Parker Collection - I hope so because I really want this one! Actually found out that she is a convention exclusive. 

And here is a close up. As you can see, they have returned to styling the eyes as in the first Poppy Parker collection.

copyright Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2010 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission.

Integrity Toys Dark Romance Convention 2010 part 2

In every Integrity convention there is a special collection made exclusively for it, available for purchase to the attendees. This year the interest was even higher as a new Fashion Royalty line called FR2 would debut. So let us see the dolls from the Dark Romance 2010 convention collection. First up from the new line, Always Polished Dasha FR2 Dressed Doll.

As I could see from photos of attendees posted on flickr (thanks to Shuga Shug, Terri, Juan and Mary T for their posts, tweets and photos that helped me get a great feel of the event), the new line has a body closer to BJD as far as the articulation is concerned. They are more poseable and flexible than the regular line gals, having a feel of the larger Avantguards dolls. Dasha's sculpt looks like a closed mouth Monogram sculpt. Her outfit is reminding me of old Ungaro Couture stuff, especially the print and the drape of the fabric. They said that this line will have characters that do not appear often in the storyline of Fashion Royalty, but more about that at a later post.

Next doll of the convention collection is Fine Romance Eugenia Perrin Frost Dressed Doll. She looks very different than previous Eugenia's, her face screening making her looks Frost-y indeed! Classic ball gown as outfit, I love the purple colour. Lovely jewellery again (I like the darkness of them) and small clutch bag as well.

The twins. Lilith and Eden, were very popular ever since appearing at their first convention. Now they have a new sculpt and they come again as a giftset: Wild at Heart Lillith and Eden Gift Set. Now they look more like Colette from their line (Nu Face), that to me means more cartoon-y, which is something I never liked in fashion dolls. The outfits looks interesting but their two-tone hair (and thin ponytail) means no styling flexibility (I wonder how will they look if someone tries to take down that ponytail). I also think that the reddish eyebrows of Eden do not look good with her purple grey eye-shadow but that's just me. I know many collectors loved the duo and the general reaction was very positive.

The name alone conjures up endless possibilities for this doll. But Scarlet Woman Adèle Makéda® Dressed Doll leaves me in the cold. The facial screening is too harsh, the hairdo is indifferent, the dress a rehash of Alexander McQueen's last collection and the shoes look like they belong more to a flirty summer outfit than this puffy gown. This kind of dress also need more outré jewellery. Major disappointment for one of my favourite characters.

My other favourite FR character is Kyori. And this version of her was, for me, a major dissapointment as well. Out of the Blue Kyori Sato® Dressed Doll looks more Caucasian than ever, a Kyori so subdued she could be any model out there. Where is the fierce competitor we came to love and cherish? I love the outfit, it looks so nicely tailored and the colour is gorgeous. Her cuffs are the best in the collection but the matching gladiator shoes have been done to death and look boring. Also something more interesting for the head than a net wrap would be ideal - something like a spider perhaps, to keep up with the Halloween theme?

Everyone was expecting the new male character that was scheduled to appear in the collection, as we all knew that Baroness Agnes Von Weiss was invited by him to hold Giselle's show in his castle. So imagine the dissapointmet to see that Night Vision Count Adrian Von Lamberg Dressed Figure is just a rehash of the Asian Takeo Misutani doll sculpt. A blond Takeo that looks more Eurotrash than all of Ibiza can muster in a season. I would have preferred a more mature male doll in his place and more elegantly dressed.

The real star of this collection (and as it seems of the hwole convention as well) was Poppy Parker. Her popularity seems to go up from release to new release and her fans and collectors multiplying. Ask Any Girl Poppy Parker Gift Set  pleased eveyrone and gave us another gorgeous addition to the Poppy roster. You can see her wearing the tweed suit above, and her gorgeous dress with brown details below.

And if that was not enough, she also has a pair of separates! Check them out:

Simply gorgeous!  So what do you think of the convention collection? Did it match your expectations? More dolls to come in the next posts.

copyright Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2010 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission.

Integrity Toys Dark Romance Convention 2010 part 1

Every year Integrity Toys and Jason Wu hold an event for their dedicated collectors of fashion dolls. This year was not exception. The convention took place in Pittsburgh again  from the 28th till the 30th of October! The title of this year's event was Dark Romance and of course it fit perfectly with Halloween. 

As the doors opened for the first official event on Thursday night, guests walked into a ballroom that definitely was one made up for a Halloween event. Each guest found the first part of the doll gift set they would be building up like last year, a gorgeous fashion, waiting for them as they sat down.  Another gift for all attendees was a fabulous new Fashion Royalty doll named Hourglass Kesenia. The new FR character is one of Baroness Agnes' (who is supposedly the host of the event) models. So here she is:

Kesenia is based on one of the face moulds (The Contessa) for the Brides Of Dracula series of dolls made by IT for Ashton Drake. Here is a close up:

The Thursday night dinner centerpiece was a huge crowd favorite, Dania Zarr as Smoke Screen. She was standing on a web-like structure with a dead fashion victim skeleton caught up in it - great idea. Here is the doll, which looks a lot like last year's Silver Zinger Agnes.

Dania looks great and I am sure she will be much sought after by collectors. I love her screening and the outfit looks great too. The jewellery is gorgeous although she could have had a bracelet as well. As far as I can see the shoes are great too! More dolls from the convention on the next post.

copyright Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2010 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission.