A new Monarch doll - was that what you were missing from your life?

Having new doll releases during this world-changing time can be a way to combat dreariness and escape a bit from the relentless pace real life moves. Isn’t doll collecting an escape into our own ideal world for most collectors anyway? Having said that, the release of a new, unexpected Monarch doll was definitely quite surprising - and to me, quite unnecessary. Rest assured, I always love a well designed and made doll, especially a guy. But this is not how I would have done it. He’s a lottery exclusive for W Club members in a lower than usual price, which is quite nice. And a new character too!

Item #21005

Most Influential

Paolo Marino™ Fashion Figure

The Monarchs™ Homme Collection

Edition Size: 700

Expected Ship Date: In-stock, will ship after winners' payments are received

MSRP: $175.00 Special Members-Only Price (During Lottery Only): $150.00 + Shipping

W Club Exclusive Right-to-buy Lottery Offer

Head Sculpt: Paolo 

Body Type: Monarchs 1.0

Skin Tone: Hungarian

Hair Color: Salt and Pepper

Eyelashes: No

Quickswitch: No

Included:

12.5" fully articulated fashion figure with rooted hair and flocked hair;

Bespoke slim-fitted business suit;

Tailored shirt;

Dashing satin tie;

Brilliantly engineered, multi-toned overcoat;

"Micro-suede" loafers;

Fully functional umbrella accessory;

Time piece;

Eyeglasses;

Alternate pair of "grip" hands;

Alternate pair of "gloved" hands;

Underarm fashion figure stand;

Certificate of authenticity.

Offer Type: Members-only right-to-buy lottery;

Participation Deadline: June 15th, 2020, Noon Eastern time;

Special Members-Only Price (During Lottery Only): $150.00 + S&H each;

Final Edition Size: 700;

Shipping Timing: In-stock, will ship once the lottery winners have paid;

Availability: 2020 W Club members only; Right-to-buy Participation Limit: Max. one (1) lottery ticket per 2020 membership only.

For those following the complicated storylines of the Integrity Toys dolls, Paolo Marino is the younger brother of Missima Cosmetics founder Perry Marino and is presented now as a ruthless billionaire financier ready to take over the world. Not exactly the guy to mess up with. The doll sure looks more like a hipster entrepreneur with that hair and that coat and less like a Wall Street guy. Even more, he reminds me of Eggsy, the character played in the Kingsman films by Taron Eggerton - see photo below. The sculpt could even be made to look like the actor. The sculpt is supposedly new but it looks like a tweaked Zipper.

Do I like the doll? Not with those ears! That god-awful hair style! Which will definitely, experience talking, will look much worse IRL. if I need a cobweb broom, I will get one from the supermarket, thank you very much. the suit does not help a lot, despite the narrow, tailored look. Red ties are forever ruined for me after Trump. Maybe a pinstripe fabric would have suited him better. A waistcoat would have bee so fitting. And definitely not that oversize patchwork coat, which is something Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen has been making variations of forever, and with much better results and aesthetics. Thom Browne does it too but in a more trompe-l'œil way. We have had two-toned coats before in FR Hommes and they never look that dapper to begin with. Some examples in the slideshow below (after the accessories photo), with a pinstripe look in the end that would be my favourite for this release. i would not mind the first look either, on a black gorgeous doll as shown IRL please.

Fashion photos courtesy of Alexander McQueen and Vogue Runway. Final fabrics, colours and textures may vary slightly. For adult collectors ages 15 and up only. All doll photos and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2020 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission. The MONARCHS HOMME, PAOLO MARINO and all other character marks followed by ™ or ® are trademarks of Integrity Toys, Inc. All rights reserved. The W Club is a trademark of Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.

Doll Photography by Jayme Thornton;

Layouts and graphics by Alain Tremblay, Marketing

The Man Of The Orchestra by The Corréa Sisters - and some Tonner dolls

Enjoli and Sophia Corréa, twin sisters from New Jersey, are making their dream film come true, through Kickstarter: Enjoli will be the director and Sophia the star of The Man Of The Orchestra, a glamorous story about the human nature of greed and how it can change you. The premise of the film is as follows:

A young woman, Olesya is blackmailed into framing Rick, a mysterious man for her own theft at a charity event for the American Troops at War. She falls for him but what unfolds along the way just may have him killed.

Here is Enjoli in her video, talking about the film:

So why is the film mentioned in a fashion doll blog? The sisters had a great idea: make dolls to accompany the film, portraying the film characters, to give away to Kickstarter benefactors. They contacted Tonner Doll about the dolls and the company accepted to make lifelike collectibles of the leading man and woman wearing replicas of the costumes chosen. With the long list of famous films the company has produced dolls for, the sisters have an ace up their sleeve already.

Story board by Enjoli Corréa

Stats of the dolls:
Hand painted To the likeness of the leading woman and man
2 lbs, 16" tall each
custom packaging
Replica costumes
Comes as one doll of choice or as a set
Made to increase in value as production grows

The dolls are available in the following pledge levels:

a) at $240 for one character doll (plus $10 if shipping outside the US)
b) at $250 for one character doll plus digital movie pre-order (with a handwritten thank you letter)
c) at $550 for both dolls or one doll plus another exclusive non-doll premium gift (shooting script or premium coin set).
d) all higher pledge levels feature a doll in the list of gifts accompanying it.
If you want to support without getting a doll, you can and receive a Handwritten Thank You Letter for $10.

Story board by Enjoli Corréa

The dolls will be designed after casting is done (backers will have a say in the casting too). Shipping is estimated for March 2015. The Kickstarter campaign ends on September 16th so, if you want one of the dolls, you'd better hurry. More details on the campaign page here. Every supporter will weigh in on casting decisions, costume design (the official costume designer is Lena Mossum, who has dressed Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Harvey Keitel, and Demi Moore. She will design all costumes from scratch and backers will vote to help select the costumes for the movie), and be thanked in a live stream Thank-A-Thon after the campaign. Backers will be charged at the end of the campaign on September 16th, 2014 only if the fundraiser reaches or passes its goal. There's no charge if the sisters do not reach their goal.

Tonner 2012 Fall Holiday release preview Pt.4: Marilyn Monroe

The first Marilyn Monroe dolls by Tonner were shown at the company's convention Flights Of Fancy back in  May. They were a 16" Marilyn dressed in an outfit from How To Marry A Millionaire (which has been previousle done by Mel Odom and Ashton Drake on Gene) and a 22" version of the actress in her famous pink bow dress from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Now the doll gets a proper release, so let's check her out.

The first doll is the 16" version of the Diamonds one at $189.99 Dressed Doll LE 1000 She has the Marilyn Monroe head sculpt of Tonner on the 16" Starlet body - this is a new one, with the Tyler bust and the Curvaceous hips, in the Tyler skin tone. This body was first introduced on the convention 16" Marilyn. She has blue painted eyes and blonde rooted saran hair. Her peony dress has a back bow with black trim and she sports matching peony gloves and belt. She has a rhinestone necklace, a black ribbon bracelet with rhinestones, three rhinestone bracelets anda pair of rhinestone earrings. Her accessories include a pair of peony shoes and nude panty-hose.

My opinion on this Marilyn version: I do not like her. She looks more like Madonna than Marilyn. Her face looks harsh and angled, not curvy and sweetly sensual like the actress looked like. I know open-mouthed sculpts are hard to make but this one fails miserably. Great hair though. And I do not understand why she could not have the curvaceous body that DeeAnna Denton has. It would fit her to a T and would make this outfit really stand out. Now she looks anorexic. Or modern. Like Madonna. Again.

The second doll of this collection is Marilyn Monroe as Pola Debevoise (from How To Marry A Millionaire) $124.99 She is a Basic Doll  LE 500. As before. she has the Marilyn Monroe head sculpt on the 16" Starlet body with the Tyler skin tone. She has blue painted eyes and blonde rooted saran hair. She wears a red bathing suit with elastic straps and a silver inset, with a rhinestone flower decoration. Rhinestone earrings and metallic red faux leather shoes with clear resin soles complete her outfit.

The basic Marilyn has a slightly different hairdo than the Diamonds one. If you have the first one, you can skip this one unless you are a completist. The shoes look great though.

There are four outfits in this release. The first one is called "I am Lorelei Lee" from the film "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" - $99.99  LE 300 Outfit Only Fits 16" Starlet body and Tyler body. It consists of a blue dress with a blue matching belt and a blue bolero jacket with matching lace trim. Accessories include a tan faux fur scarf, a pair of blue bead earrings, a rhinestone bracelet and faux leather blue shoes. This one looks great. I love the fact that they are releasing more outfits than dressed dolls, as it makes it easier to purchase them. Wonder if these fit the Franklin Mint Marilyn. It is missing the black clutch bag and her shoes were proper closed pumps, not peep toes, as you can see below.

The photo also gives you the chance to see how the sculpt compares to the real thing. Meh.

The next outfit is also from the same film - "I Just Adore Conversation" $124.99 LE 300 Outfit Only. Fits 16" Starlet body and Tyler body. This is an orange chiffon dress with sequinned straps and trim, with an orange chiffon scarf finished with metallic fringe. The accessories are a pair of rhinestone earrings, a rhinestone bracelet and gold faux leather shoes. This one looks nice but the sequins look a bit overdone (the real looks like it combines sequins and beads), plus the fringe is practically non existent in the real dress (see below) - instead it has sequins (and beads?) too.

Anyway, it is a good enough version of the dress. The Franklin Mint one was worse (dreadful beads).

Next up is her Niagara outfit, called Hot Night - $89.99 LE 300 Outfit Only. It fits 16" Starlet body and Tyler body. It consists of a fuchsia dress, accessorized with a white chiffon scarf, silver earrings, a gold bracelet with a heart charm and a pair of black patent leather shoes with black ribbon straps.

This is the famous Kiss song scene. The outfit is very faithful to the actual one (the clutch is not in the film scene). They should have included the miniature record with it. Love the charm bracelet.

The final outfit is from the movie Love Nest (1951) and it's called Roberta Moves In - $99.99 LE 300 Outfit Only. Fits 16" Starlet body and Tyler body. The suit consists of a dark blue and white skirt and jacket with black beads on the jacket. The shoes are made of metallic dark blue faux leather. Accessories include white gloves, a faux pearl bracelet, a crystal beaded bracelet, a pair of flower beaded earrings, a white hat with dark blue trim and black veil.

Compared with the real thing, the doll outfit has lots of discrepancies. The hat does not look like the one worn by Marilyn, which is flopped to the side and looks sturdier. Her shoes are definitely not peep toes.The shape of the collar is completely different (narrower on top and wider near the buttons). The skirt is longer too. And just think how much better it would look with the bag and vanity case included! I also think the veil is very much out of scale for her face. The earrings look great though.

I might try to get the "Lorelei Lee" outfit if I find out they fit the Franklin Mint body. Otherwise I am not going to get anything else from this series, which for me was a small disappointment.

Photos © 2012 Tonner® Doll Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.