A major streamlining is happening at Integrity Toys' doll line up. Earlier this year when the company announced details about the 2013 convention, it was hinted that some exciting news would be released closer to the convention. And that seems to be this streamlining, which basically has a new FR body as the cornerstone. The last major update of the FR body happened in 2006 (the "tall" body as it is called). Starting with the 2013 Convention Collection, the regular articulated Fashion Royalty body will enter a retirement process and will be replaced by a newly refined version of the FR: Squared (FR2) body. Dolls in other brands that had been planned using this body will be marketed in the near future.
First generation FR Body (2001)
What does newly refined mean? Probably the FR2 body will have minor tweaks and changes to either accommodate a lower price than the FR2 have compared to regular FR, or to bring it closer to the FR body type (larger breasts, smaller feet, higher waist joint, narrow waist). That remains to be seen this autumn. Also starting with the convention collection, Fashion Royalty and FR2 will be unified as one doll line, which seems logical as otherwise they would be sharing very similar bodies. The W Club exclusive Dasha that was recently released is officially the last FR2 branded doll. However, the Dasha character will now find her place in the lineup of Fashion Royalty, alongside characters like Adèle, Véronique, Vanessa, Agnes, Natalia, Elise and all of the others.
The 2nd generation FR body, called Expressive (2005)
As far as the Monogram line is concerned, the last dolls from this will appear at this year's convention, after which time, the brand will also be retired. It seems that Integrity wants to give their main doll line a newly revamped, more unified visual image, thus making a stronger statement. Also it was announced that no replacements bodies of any type will be available. The renovated FR2 body will be compatible with all FR2 clothing manufactured so far and some of the older garments as well, although not all (the Classic Tall Body torso shape and the FR2 torso shape are a little different).
The third generation FR body, called "The Classic Tall Body" (2006)
With all the upheaval, Nu.Face and FR: Homme couldn't remain unchanged. A refreshed Nu.Face body will be unveiled in approximately the Spring of 2014 and a refreshed FR: Homme body the following Fall. These timelines are subject to change, but that's the best information available right now. So any Nu Face or Hommes released this year will be the last of the current body type.
The FR2 body
With all these changes, a new re-branding was deemed necessary, so here is a sneek peek of the newly designed Fashion Royalty logo. The convention collection will be the first to have a sleek, newly redesigned package sporting this new banner.
It looks classy and fashion-y, as it should, although the "metallic" effect gradient is passée. It reminds me of some well known fashion house logos, like Givenchy, Tom Ford and the new Saint Laurent branding, which is a good thing. Cannot wait to see the packaging.
