W Club registration open!

December is always eagerly awaited by Integrity Toys fans as it is the month when the registration for the W Club opens. There are a lot of perks if one joins this club: getting the latest scoop on every brand manufactured by Integrity Toys, gaining access to the member's only W Club forum and exclusive newsletters and, of course, W Club Exclusive Dolls. For 2014, every member will have an opportunity (in addition to the upgrade dolls) to pre-order two Club-exclusive Fashion Royalty dolls, one exclusive Poppy Parker doll, one exclusive Victoire Roux doll and again this year, 2014 W Club members will be guaranteed the ability to purchase a Club-only exclusive JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS™ doll. In addition to this exclusive JEM Club doll, members will also receive first to know JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS™ dolls updates. 

Members also get a free subscription to Dolls magazine, special coupons and incentives from Integrity Toys dealers, exclusive info to related events and the on-line company presentations. The registration ends on the 21st of January 2014 and you can go here to register now or download the brochure. Let's see the upgrade dolls this year:

Item # 91345

Fashion Explorer Vanessa Perrin®

Dressed Doll

The Fashion Royalty® Collection

2014 W Club Exclusive Deluxe Upgrade Doll

Doll Tech Specs:

Body Type: FR 2013

Head Sculpt: Vanessa 3.0

Quick Switch Feature: No

Skin Tone: FR White

Hair Color: Brunette

Eyelashes: Yes, Hand Applied

A sporty version of Vanessa Perrin, she has rooted brunette hair and hand applied eyelashes. She comes dressed in a multi-layered look composed of a sheer mesh top layered with a faux-suede shirt, a low waist wrap mini-skirt accented by a wide pleather belt, matching knee high boots that lace up the front, a perfectly coordinated oversized pleather duffel bag, jewellery and a newly developed pair of sunglasses. Doll stand and certificate of authenticity included. For adult collectors ages 14 and up.

This is a gorgeous Vanessa in her latest incarnation. A brunette as well, which mean I want her as I only have a red head version 3.0 - plus the outfit looks great and she comes with a nice bag. Just wish her jewellery was a bit better, as she comes with the $130 price tag that proper collection dolls come. I thought upgrades were supposed to cost less than the normal collection dolls (last year's Kyori was $95)

Judging from last year's upgrade dolls, the make up style of Vanessa will be the one dominating the main collection, which is good, it looks terrific. But I would have liked better earrings or a ring.

Item # PP059

The Girl from I.N.T.E.G.R.I.T.Y.

Poppy Parker™ Dressed Doll

2014 W Club Exclusive Upgrade Doll 

Doll Tech Specs:

Body Type: Poppy Parker® 

Head Sculpt: Poppy Parker®

Quick Switch Feature: No

Skin Tone: Caucasian / FR White

Hair Color: Raven

Eyelashes: Yes, Hand Applied

This year the main Poppy Parker collection has a spy theme, as it was announced in the convention. So look out for lots of mod styling again.The doll has fully rooted hair styled in a pageboy look and features hand applied eyelashes. She wears a black and white mini dress with black button accents, completed by a matching black "leather" vest, white tights, black "leather" boots, a mod handbag and her look is topped by a newsboy cap that matches the rest of her ensemble. A doll stand and a certificate of authenticity are also included and the The Girl from I.N.T.E.G.R.I.T.Y. collection will feature a brand new exclusively themed package design. For adult collectors ages 14 and over.

I love mod Poppy and this one is no exception. If they get the hair right (short hair is always tricky) she will be a smash. Emma Peel beware! She even has a gorgeous ring to complement her beautiful outfit.

She has lots of accessories, plus an extra pair of hands, but a price tag that's also more expensive than last year's Poppy Parker collection (the Poppy upgrade was $85 and the main collection $89 each). Not a very good sign. 

Item #14057

Countess Danielle Du Voisin™

Adult Collectable Doll

The JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS™ Collection

2014 W Club Exclusive Upgrade Doll

Doll Tech Specs:

Body Type: JEM / Color Infusion

Head Sculpt: Minx

Quick Switch Feature: No

Skin Tone: Caucasian / FR White

Hair Color: Blond

Eyelashes: Yes, Hand Applied

Danielle Du Voisin is a 12-inch articulated doll with fully rooted hair, styled in the character's (she's the Holograms' mentor) signature sophisticated up-do and has hand-applied eyelashes. This never before produced character seen here for the first time in doll form comes dressed in one of her key looks from the original TV series and includes shoes, a jewellery set and a variety of character related accessories. Doll stand and certificate of authenticity included. For adult collectors ages 14 and up.

She's a dead ringer for Paris Hilton! The outfit would have made Joan Collins proud, it's straight out of Dynasty. She would have made a fun addition to my collection but I want the other two more than this one (she's $130 when other Jem dolls with loads of accessories were $120) and she also has the Jem/CI body which does not fit with anything else in my collection. 

So while the W Club plain subscription price remains the same ($50), the dolls cost much more than they should. If this trend continues with the main lines, my spending will be less than last year to manage. And I bet other collectors think along the same lines.

**Please note that the photos are of prototype dolls and subject to changes and modifications. All photos and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2014 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission. HASBRO and its logo, JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro and are used with permission. (C)2014 HASBRO. All rights reserved.

Fashion Royalty: Darius Reid - High And Mighty

The first male fashion doll I am presenting is the latest release from Jason Wu's Fashion Royalty Cult Couture collection: High And Mighty Darius Reid. He is an African-American male doll, the third man to be added to the FR Homme Collection (the other two are Pierre De Vries and Francisco Leon). his story card is the first to be read only on-line- the one in the box does not have the usual text printed on it.

Darius has the face sculpt of an older Integrity play line male doll, Tariq. The body is the standard FR Homme body, tall and lithe, with articulation at the neck, chest, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees. FR Homme dolls still do not have articulated waists, but that might be due to the fact that it gives them a better looking "six pack"! Best part of the body, apart from the aforementioned abdomen, are the hands - they even have veins!

His face paint is done very well, he has a strong and firm look. His eyes are very well designed, probably the best made eyes in the FR Homme series up to now. He has no hair, sporting the shaven head look favoured by so many African American men. It also gives him versatility, because it means he can easily wear wigs. His skin colour is a dark chocolate brown, lighter than Nadja R but darker than Adele Makeda.

His wardrobe is exceptional for the most part. He is wearing a lovely coat, supposedly velvet (FR description) but in reality it feels like felt. It has "satin" lapels and it is very well tailored (lined too), with a false single button (it has a hook and eye to close). Under this, he has pinstripe flat front pants with vertical side pockets (but no belt, a major faux pas here), a vest from the same material, which is very well made too (the satin of the back is to die for) and the white shirt we have seen before on FR men - they could have given him a purple or fuchsia shirt, or even a copper coloured one, he would have looked more edgy.

The fun part are the accessories though. He has a fedora, a flocked thin plastic moulded hat with a "silver" chain in place of the classic ribbon. It is the worst part of the outfit and it looks unnaturally cheap compared to the rest of the ensemble. Given the success of FR in making extremely good and detailed accessories, this one seems neglected. There are sunglasses - these have the same lenses as other FR sunglasses but the arms are a whole different story: sculpted to look like entwined serpents, they give the edge this doll demands. The best FR sunglasses I have seen. Darius is wearing black socks and white sneakers, nothing special there.

His jewellery is very well executed: he sports a big "silver" shark tooth at the end of a chain and a lovely "stainless steel" watch that has a secure fastening and looks very good. It is easy to put on and does not look fragile at all, contrary to the one Pierre was wearing last year. The prototype doll had a golden watch on it, which had struck me as odd, considering the rest of the accessories had "silver" tones. Luckily they corrected it on the final product. I hope they improve the hat the same way next year. See the watch below up close:

Here you can check the hat, sunglasses and pendant:

And here are the shoes - they are plain with the ends of laces inside-makes them easier to put on:

Darius is very handsome and suave. He gives the FR ladies a run for their money. With the proper accessories and outfits, he could turn out to be one of the best and most sought after FR dolls. I cannot wait to see what Jason Wu has in store for him next.

Darius is a limited edition of 800 dolls worldwide.

Tonner - Women In The Media Awards Layne

The dressed doll release of Layne has a different colouring than her Basic Black counterpart. She has thick black curly hair cascading down her back and a slightly stronger face paint: more intense eyeliner, darker brows and stronger blush. See her in close up here:

She is part of the Haute Couture dress line of the Wentworth dolls - a limited edition of 1000 pieces. While the quality of the fabrics is excellent, and the three layers of the dress are excellently made (silver "Chantilly" lace on top of silvery fabric on top of white satin)the scale of the lace in her dress is too large for a 16" doll - almost human size lace here. The finish of the edges in rough cut organza strewn with beads and pallietes is poorly done - the description of the doll said layered organza, we only get a trim. The beads and sequins are OK but are lost on the hem of the dress, while showing better on her off the shoulder "sleeves". And the major faux-pas - the dress is shapeless. It looks like an A line dress but after the hips it looses shape and due to the nature of the material, does not fall gracefully to the floor.

For a dressed Haute Couture doll she has surprisingly few accessories. Supposedly she is a famous anchor, receiving an award in a ceremony. Imagine one such modern woman going to a gala without an evening bag. Or not wearing any jewellery other than a pair of earrings with this dress - a diamond bracelet would have been sufficient. Or not having a chiffon or organza wrap to anchor the dress. Her “award” is a badly designed and made clear plastic pyramid on a painted metallic base. I would have preferred a nice silvery leather or lace covered clutch instead of this. She does get an excellent pair of silver leather strap high heels though. She wears them with tights, which is a bit strange - I do prefer strap shoes on a nude leg. See her proudly showing them off here:

And a close up shot here:

Both Laynes together - which one do you prefer? I like both the same- each for different reasons. Hope to see more of her in future releases.

She photographs well - born to be in the media it seems!

Tonner's Layne Reese - Basic Black version

2007 saw a new addition to the basic body in Tonner dolls. The Basic Black dolls had an extra articulation feature: changeable feet. They come with two different sets of feet that can be changed to give a different look and pose ability to the doll, not to mention more outfit options. Fashion feet (aka high heeled arched feet) and flat feet. It is very easy to change them and the articulation is borrowed from action figures. They are an edition of 1500 pieces per character.

Basic Black Layne is part of that line, comprising of four basic dolls. Her face sculpt is the original Mameha sculpt, first used in the Memoirs of A Geisha line. She comes with a black one-piece swimsuit, with a semi-transparent panel on the front, all lined in flesh coloured fabric inside. A pair of sunglasses, and two pairs of shoes complete the outfit. One pair is high heeled plastic mules, the other is flat rubber sandals with a fabric strap.

Basick Black Layne Reese with her flat feet on

Her hair is auburn. It could have been a bit more dense, as it can be difficult to change the hairstyle a bit due to the quantity of hair plugs she has on her head. She has an elastic hairband too. Her face screen is nice but a bit bland for a red head. I think she needed stronger eye and brow colour. Lips are painted a generic red, which could also have been a bit more adventurous. Here is a close up:

The flat feet articulation is not that good looking or functional. She cannot stretch the foot to become a straight line with the rest of the leg, as she should have been able to. She can stand on her own with them though. That makes her stand redundant. It is the worst stand I have ever encountered on a Tonner doll. If she has her arched feet on, the metal circle of the stand cannot reach her waist - she's too tall for it. If she has the flat feet on, she can stand by herself. Plus it is a cheep looking stand, with a clear plastic base that is not the solid one most Tonner dolls usually get, but a hollow one that is not heavy enough to support a doll properly. And of course it cannot be used with full skirts or gowns. Utterly useless. Here is the flat foot detail.

She is versatile enough to provide lots of fun re-dressing and photographs nicely. I like the Mameha sculpt a lot - Asian ladies are so beautiful. They could have made the ethnic characteristics more pronounced though - it would have been so much more interesting to see that in the Geisha line too. But I guess it is all a matter of marketing.

Layne has also been released as a dressed doll, which we will see in the next post. Here is a photo of Layne seated:

And one in her sunglasses-star material for sure!

The earrings on this photo shoot are courtesy of Toni Brown from Bordello Dolls

Madame Alexander's Greta Garbo

Garbo as a doll eh? Sounds strange but here she is. Madame Alexander made two Garbo dolls, one in 2002 (along with a Dietrich and a Garland) and one in 2003. The first one was named Grand Hotel (from the film) and the second one Camille, each dressed in outfits from the corresponding movies. Each was released in 1500 dolls worldwide. I have the first one, Grand Hotel.

The body is not highly articulated - only joints in shoulders, neck, legs, waist. She does look like Garbo, especially if you play with her hair a bit. The face paint is good, the hairdo not as much. The problem is that, as in other Madame Alexander fashion dolls, the body does not seem to have proper proportions. But she does look a bit better than the highly articulated Alex doll.

She comes wearing a lovely blue satin dress, thirties style and simple, with a zipper down her back, and a single strand pearl necklace. The pearls do seem a bit large for her size. no earrings though. Over the dress she is wearing a blue wool coat with fake fur collar and big buttons. The ensemble is topped by a matching blue hat and completed by simple dark blue fabric pumps and a nondescript bag.

I like the sculpt a lot - she looks mysterious enough for Garbo and I just have to find the right outfits for her to wear to show the likeness off. Maybe from Gene's wardrobe. See her in b&w: a real movie star of days gone by.

Sans hat and coat: "Gif me a viskey, ginger ale on the side and don't be stingy!"*

* Garbo's first line on her first talkie picture.