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.
