Tonner Spring 2012 Mainline release: Cami, Jon & Antoinette

Continiouing the Tonner new collection presentation, this post features the Cami & Jon line as well as their more high fashion sister, Antoinette, with whom they share the same body. The Cami & Jon dolls are more hip and youth oriented. 

First up are the basics: the Cami basic doll with the Cami head sculpt (much too doll-like for my taste) and Antoinette™ body in the cameo skin tone with inset blue eyes (another pet peeve of mine). She has a medium brown center part removable saran wig. She comes with a 2-piece cotton jersey bra and panties set with lace trim. LE 600. Her friend Jon basic doll has the Jac #2 head sculpt and the Antoinette™ body with the honey skin tone. She has inset blue eyes and sports a raven centre part removable saran wig. She wears a 2-piece cotton jersey bra and panties set with lace trim. LE 400.

 

 

We all know Robert Tonner loves Steam-punk (check out the video of those steam-punk dolls here) so it was only a matter of time to translate that to the fashion line: Steam Funk Cami is a dressed doll with the Lily skin tone and a medium brown centre part saran removable wig with bangs, sporting green inset eyes. Her faux leather dress has faux gold stud details and she even has an eye patch! The outfit is completed with a faux leather belt, a pair of  matching gauntlets, pantyhose with attached panties and dark brown faux suede back zip boots. LE 300. If it used red and black velvet and had a nice metal corset attached I would be in line to get her. Her belt looks a bit too big (the scale of the holes might be the problem).

Now lets get back to proper fashion: The Soho Sheer Dressed doll has the Cami head sculpt and the cameo skin tone. She has rooted curled golden pale blonde saran hair with centre part and grey/blue painted eyes. A proper angel! She wears a silver lamé mini slip dress under a chiffon tank dress - I hope it shows more in real life! To complete her look, she sports some sheer pantyhose , a multi strand chain and bead necklace, matching beaded bracelet and golden faux leather strappy boots with back zip. LE 300. Gorgeous doll.

Next up is the Skyline Dressed doll. Again it's Cami, this time with rooted dark brown saran hair, crimped and pulled up at the sides. She has green painted eyes (so much better than inset ones). Her outfit consists of a deep red sleeveless dress with a cowl neckline under a black crepe unlined coat with button lapel details (finally some sorely missed army inspiration). She sports sheer pantyhose with attached panties, a pair of black beaded earrings and black faux leather side zip boots. LE 300.

Of course there is a Jac dressed doll! And she's called All Business. She has rooted dark brown straight hair  pulled back in a ponytail and brown painted eyes. She wears an off-white silky tank dress under a grey/silver slip over dress with  a ruffled hem. Over all this she has a lined, printed brocade coat. Completing the look is sheer pantyhose with attached panties, a bead and chain multi strand necklace, matching beaded earrings and a pair of beaded black faux leather strappy sandals. LE 300.

Some outfits are included in the line as well. Most impressive is the Deep Pink Dream outfit. It is a deep pink (duh) satin and chiffon fishtail gown with nice draping details. It comes with a pair of black lace gauntlets, black rhinestone earrings and deep pink satin pumps. LE 300.

The New York Jet outfit is a black taffeta cocktail dress accessorized with a black rhinestone necklace, matching black rhinestone bracelet and black faux leather strappy heels with organza trim. It comes with a black short saran wig with bangs which adds to the New York style. LE 300. The centre draping is not my favourite as it always reminds me of those bordello-style curtains. Maybe it would look better in chiffon with a much smaller drape.

Little Red Riding Hood is in the house (I can see Ruby from Once Upon A Time wearing this)! The Dynamic Red outfit is a red knit fit and flare sleeveless dress with black shoulder straps under a red knit cropped duffle jacket. Of course there is the red knit hood with shiny faux leather trim. It comes with seriously glam black stretch over the knee boots. LE 300.

Antoinette is the haute couture "big sister" to Cami & Jon. She has always intricately made fashions and more outré make up and hair than her younger peers. Let's see what the line has this year.

First is a line-up of three basics: the Antoinette basic (Blonde, Brunette or Redhead) has the cameo skin tone and painted light brown (Blonde) /blue (Brunette) /Grey (Redhead) eyes. The dolls have side part rooted saran wheat blonde - mink - copper brown hair (respectively). They all wear a pale pink side ruffle cotton knit camisole and pale pink cotton knit panty. LE 500.

This time there is only one dressed doll: Flourish has brown painted eyes and rooted saran golden blonde up-do. She wears a frothy pink-on-pink striped chiffon gown with a front beaded belt. The look is topped off with a pink flower petal hat. She has pink faux gem earrings, sheer pantyhose with attached panties and a pair of pink faux leather strappy sandals. LE 300.

The Desire outfit consists of a black bustier with attached sleeves and multiple mixed trims and a black, side slit multi-fabric ruffled skirt with train. It comes complete with black fishnet stockings, a ribbon choker, a tiny beaded cocktail hat, a pair of black lace gauntlets and black lace trimmed short boots. LE 150. She reminds me of my favourite Tonner doll, Ghost of Christmas Future.

The second outfit is literally Sparkling: a silver satin trapeze jacket with 3/4 sleeves and rhinestone buttons over a silver stretch strapless fitted dress. The accessories include a silver bead choker necklace, matching silver earrings, a pair of silver stretch gloves and silver strappy sandals. LE 300. I find the jacket too puffy and the dress a bit boring. The chunky necklace with the jacket stand up collar will not look that good.

Last, but not least, is the Winterberry outfit. Finally a suit! The ox-blood red wool jersey suit has a slim skirt and a faux leather belt with golden buckle.Accessories include a pair of golden earrings, ox-blood tights and matching satin short boots. There is also (surprise!) a bag! Topping it off: an ox-blood red hat. LE 300.

From the Cami line my pick is Soho Sheer. From Antoinette I would love the Desire dress without the puffy sleeves but only with the doll that models it, she looks gorgeous.

Tonner Dolls Spring 2012 mainline collection release: Precarious

On the 21st of March, the Tonner 2012 Mainline collection was release to the public. I think it is one of the strongest Tonner showings in ages (for fashion dolls) even though it does not include a single Tyler or Sydney to be seen! This first part is dedicated to their new fashion line, the very avant-garde fashion collection named Precarious™ .

Firs up is the Party Girl dressed doll. This is one of the most beautiful dressed dolls from Tonner in recent years. The face is the new Precarious™ head sculpt - all the dolls in this line have it. It is not a great sculpt, suffering from the classic Tonner problem: too wide. Their best sculpts usually are the narrow ones (like the old Daphne). I feel this line would have been perfect if it had such a sculpt to show. Her body is the Antoinette™ body, with the cameo skin tone. Her eyes are painted silver-blue and have applied eyelashes (another thing I love here - most Tonner dolls miss eyelashes sorely) They do look a it off though, I hope the production dolls have better lashes. Her hair is platinum rooted saran hair, pulled back in a high ponytail, secured with a loop of braided dark hair. And the fashion? Exquisite! A beaded neck brocade gown with eyelash chiffon skirt over silver stretch tights. I love this, very McQueen. She wears a crystal and pearl bracelet and silver faux leather platform shoes. A pair of earrings would have been nice. LE 300 dolls.

Next up is the Scandal Dressed doll, another favourite of mine. Again sporting the Precarious™ head sculpt and Antoinette™ body with cameo skin tone. Her eyes are painted light brown with applied eyelashes and she has black rooted saran hair piled up high on her head. She is wearing a black glitter/sparkle peplum jacket (all the rage this spring, structured like this or more flou) with beaded neck and cuffs and a sheer embroidered skirt with sequins. Her accessories are black and silver beaded earrings, rhinestone sewn on brooches, black sheer pantyhose and a pair of black sparkle heel-less shoes Lady Gaga would love. LE 300 dolls.

The Intriguing Dressed doll is the most outrageous of them all. Same Precarious™ head sculpt and Antoinette™ body nt the cameo skin tone. Her blue painted eyes with applied eyelashes match her eccentric Peacock blue rooted saran hair that look like a maharajah's turban with the jewel at the front. She is dressed in a sleeveless blue and gold lace full body cat suit under a blue rose embroidered net cape made of tulle. She sports a satin tie belt, blue crystal and gold earrings, a matching blue crystal and gold ring, beaded crystal and gold necklace and matching bracelet. Her blue suede shoes are heel-less pumps. She's amazing. If the coat was not tulle (but organza or chiffon) and she had another face I would get her in an instant. LE 300.

There is a basic doll included in the line, called Simply Precarious. She has of course the Precarious™ head sculpt with the Antoinette™ body in the cameo skin tone, painted blue eyes with applied eyelashes and black and white up-do saran wig - so no rooted hair here. She comes also with a  Real Red saran wig with long red hair and bangs, so two wigs included for this doll - instant look change! She is wearing a white lace front sleeveless top with pale pink bow over black tights and black platform wedge sandals. LE 500

Luckily there are some outfits to put on the basic doll as well: first up is the Swing Time outfit. Obviously it will also fit dolls as Cami & Jon™, Antoinette™ and of course the Precarious™ line it belongs to. It consists of a flame red jersey dress, a matching flame red sculpted hat, black tights and black strappy platform sandals. So very 80s in a 2012 way. I love the shoulder detail. LE 300

Second in line is the Decadence outfit. It is a painted cotton canvas dress with an attached lamé halter detail and the skirt is slit at the front. It fastens with a beige pink lamé belt with a rhinestone buckle. There are rhinestone earrings, painted cotton canvas gauntlets, beige pink sparkle tights and a pair of beige pink faux leather strappy platform shoes. Looks late 60s/early 70s but for the waist. I wonder how the gloves will stay put this way. LE 300. 

Last but not least is the best one: the Anything Goes outfit. only. Over a black jersey tank bodysuit and a pair of black faux leather "jeans" comes an incredible black burnout velvet cape with detachable crinkle yarn hood. I wish the whole cape was crinkle yarn, it would be perfection! There is a tie-on rhinestone necklace, a  jet bead belt, a pair of black gloves and black on black brocade zip boots. LE 300.

I think this is a great looking line with much potential. It is more focused fashion-wise then the rest of the fashion lines, as it has a more coherent look and feel. Hope to see more in the future.

Let me see you POUT

POUT, the world premiere exhibition of high end Fashion Dolls by Integrity Toys in Melbourne, Australia, is on show at Chadstone from Monday March 5 to Sunday April 1, located in the Luxury precinct as a highlight of the 2012 L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival. Featuring a show case of 50 couture quality hand crafted high end fashion dolls, the exhibition will be presented on a built to scale fashion stage model designed with inspiration from the runways of Paris.

For those not familiar with the dolls (most of you regulars of course are!), the Fashion Royalty line was conceived and created by Fashion Designer Jason Wu in 2000 whilst he was living in Europe from where he drew much of his inspiration. Over two years in the making the Fashion Royalty collection has redefined the industry standard with their meticulous attention to detail and craftsmanship which has seen them become among the most collectible dolls for fashion lovers across the globe. From ultra limited production numbers to exclusive collaborations every detail is captured in the couture quality garments that transform runway looks to collectable dolls.

This impressive exhibition of high end Fashion Dolls is on public show for the very first time in a world exclusive making this exhibition a must see for lovers of fashion, style and glamour. POUT is set to capture the imagination of everyone that loves the allure and beauty of the Fashion world and should not be missed. The show is on until the 1st of April and there is no admission cost! Also some Australian designers have made clothes exclusively for the event, which you can see in this blog. One of the people asked to create an outfit for the exhibit was Hayley Hughes, a stylist and fashion blogger (her photo with her outfit below is from her blog which has many more from the exhibit)

I managed to find lots of photographs from the display through the website of The Age, an Australian newspaper, courtesy of photographer Ken Irwin, so here they are - Alain Trembley is featured in some (setting up the exhibit).

Integrity Toys at IDEX part VI: Nu Fantasy and the IDEX exclusive doll

Nu Fantasy is a way for Integrity Toys designers to re-interpret fairy tale characters into modern fashion, much like Tonner Dolls does with Re-Imagination (usually with much better results). This time around Hansel and Gretel are the dolls for Nu Fantasy.

They look edgy (yes, this is edgy) and hip, ready for a night out in New York more than the woods. Do the faces look familiar?

 

 

Hansel has the Pierre sculpt. He has rooted and flocked hair, facial hair (painted) and a bit of a make up too.  His outfit has a gorgeous jacket, hideous cropped pants (always hate that length in men or women) and a short sleeved shirt. But his accessories are the best: patent leather boots, matching back pack, watch, earring and hipster glasses. I want these accessories!

 

Gretel has the twins sculpt (Eden & Lilith). Her dress reminds me a lot of the Versace Fall/Winter 1992 collection (the top) and the skirt has some lovely detail. Great boots and jewellery. Stud earrings complete the look (aaargh). Her hairdo is not to my liking but seems to be popular with collectors. If I am not mistaken, this is the first doll to become sold out at pre-orders from the IDEX preview.

 

Most doll companies offer an exclusive doll at trade shows - Integrity always does. For IDEX 2012, the exclusive doll is Luminous Ayumi. The new sculpt of this character is not as good as the old one in my opinion. She looks like a failed attempt for a new Kyori (would not be surprised if this is the case, as sculpts cost a fortune to make and using a failed one from one character for another makes business sense). Here she is offered with an FR2 body (she used to be a Nu Face model). The great part of the doll is the outfit - it is a Jason Wu original miniature outfit, taken from his spring 2012 collection. The shoes are great and the cuff too. The sunglasses have been used before but look good. Earrings? Studs. Again. On an exclusive US$160 doll. WHY?

This concludes the Integrity Toys preview posts from IDEX 2012. A very strong start for the year, with some gorgeous dolls. Let's see what will the main lines show.

Integrity Toys at IDEX part V: Poppy Parker Fashion Teen 16"

As I mentioned in a previous post, Poppy Parker must be the most popular Integrity Toys doll now. So it comes as no surprise that they decided to introduce a 16" version of her to capitalize on that popularity. This line will be called Poppy Parker Fashion Teen to distinguish it from the 12" line. It has a different body from the FR16 dolls but will be able to share shoes with them (not outfits). The style and look of this line is similar to the smaller Poppy dolls. The sculpt reminds me of Poppy but is more harsh.

 

Spring Morning Poppy Parker Fashion Teen has a gorgeous outfit: tweed slim coat over a pale yellow dress with matching short sleeved jacket, bag and shoes. This is the way to handle yellow, unlike the FR16 yellow gown. The copper hair of the doll though is not a good match for it in my opinion. Can we get this outfit in 12" size please?

 

Shop Around Poppy Parker Fashion Teen is the second doll. I don't like her braid but the hounds-tooth Capri pants look amazing. Lovely sunglasses too, a new design! She has a tote bag, lace top with sequins, shoes, necklace, bracelets and hoop earrings. She seems to be the most popular with collectors so far.

 

Love Letters Poppy Parker Fashion Teen is the second most popular doll of this collection. She is wearing a nice lilac dress with a fur caplet and has a silver clutch, shoes to match the bag and pearl necklace and stud earrings. White gloves are a must - and they are elbow length. The dress looks amazing and I love the details  on it's décolletage and skirt. The doll looks like a popular Greek fashion model called Vicky Kaya. 

 

 

Precious Love Poppy Parker Fashion Teen is the last doll of the collection. A bride doll. The dress is like a simplified version of Grace Kelly's wedding dress - in this scale, it should have been a bit more detailed. The veil is plain - some lace detail at the hem would have been nice. I will not comment on that head piece. A lovely white rose bouquet, white kitten heels, drop earrings and a ring finish the ensemble perfectly. But no gloves? That's something that was probably a staple for brides back then.

 

You can see above some comparison shots: the first one shows the Poppy Parker Fashion Teen next to a FR16 doll and the second one shows the same doll next to her 12" counterpart. 

I am not a fan of this collection, although I am collecting Poppy dolls in the smaller scale. I can see the appeal of the doll and surely it is a good business move for Integrity. It needs some fine tuning but no one gets it perfect from the start.