First photos of the new articulated Silkstone Barbies are out!

The new year has begun and with it new fashion dolls are starting to appear. Some of the most anticipated dolls this year will be the articulated Silkstone dolls that were announced late last year. The first images have already appeared from three different sources: an interview in Wall Street Journal of Mary Jordan, stylist for Mattel (to read the interview google the article and read it from there as it is locked if you try to access it directly from the link), the instagram stream of another Barbie stylist and designer, Zlatan Zukanovic. and the official Barbie Collector site with a Robert Best interview. The dolls look really good and if the quality of the vinyl is the same as their non-articulated sisters, the bodies will be a hit for re-boding some of my Mattel dolls, depending on the final price of course.


The image above is from the Barbie Collector interview of Robert Best.


In this photo we can see four different versions of the new Silkstone.


The dolls seem to have two different bust sizes - or is it just an illusion?


Tools of a doll stylist - and the new articulated Silkstone as a red head.


Zukanovic posted this doll in his Instagram feed.


A close up.


And another shot - if I get more than one, I might keep one complete.

Photos courtesy of Wall Street Journal/Emily Berl (first three from top) and Zlatan Zukanovic (last three).

FInal W Club exclusive for 2015 is in the trunk (literally)!

As it is the 10th anniversary of the W Club, it could not let the year go out without a bang! The final club exclusive doll was announced to its members and it is a stunner. Hearkening back to the good old days of the early gorgeous gift-sets from Integrity Toys, Elyse Jolie will be available to pre-order (members only of course) until the 5th of January 2016, in a fabulous gift set called  J'Adore La Fête. It includes an evening gown, a suit and lingerie, and it is packed inside a lovely suitcase.


Item # 91387
J'Adore La Fête
Elyse Jolie™ Dressed Doll Gift Set
The Fashion Royalty™ Collection
2015 W Club Exclusive
Limited Edition Size: TBA 
Estimated Ship Date: Late Spring / Early Summer 2016
Regular W Club Price: $225.00 + Shipping, Handling and Applicable Sales Tax*.
Special W Club 10th Anniversary Price: $175.00 + Shipping, Handling and Applicable Sales Tax*.   
*A non-refundable deposit of $25.00 due immediately at pre-order, balance of $150.00 + shipping and handling (and tax for Maryland residents) due approximately late Spring/early Summer 2016.


Doll Tech Specs:
Head Sculpts: Elyse Jolie
Body Type: FR2013
Quick Switch Feature: No
Skin Tone: FR White
Hair Colors: Raven
Eyelashes: Yes, Hand Applied


Elyse Jolie is a 12.5-inch fully articulated vinyl fashion doll with a fully rooted hairstyle and hand-applied eyelashes. This gift set includes three complete outfits for Elyse: a lingerie set, a two-piece suit and a gown. A jewellery set, a clutch purse and two pairs of faux-leather shoes are packaged in a carry-on trunk. A doll stand is also included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up.


She is gorgeous! Only the second Elyse in FR White skin tone (the first was a convention workshop edition), she has the A Fashionable Life screening but (unfortunately) not the hair style. The dress top half looks a lot like a Dior gown worn by Charlise Theron at the 2014 Oscar Awards ceremony:


The colouring and style of the gown also remind me of Born To Gamble Kyori:



Her "tweed"suit looks like Chanel, even with the flounce - I'd rather have it with a longer pencil skirt though. Her bag does not look like something extraordinary but we will see when she arrives (end of Spring 2016). There is only that one bag unfortunately, the suit really needs another one - it has its own shoe pair, why not another bag? A miniature version of the trunk would have been great. 


Love the jewellery too, and the lingerie looks great as well (although I have enough black lingerie sets from Integrity by now). A welcome return to luxurious gift sets for Integrity, after the lame one that was Veronique this spring.



Pictures of prototype shown; final production colours and textures may vary slightly. Dress form and other staging props are not included. All photos and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2015 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission.

Tonner Doll merging with One World Doll

Yesterday the holdings company One World Holdings announced the merging of One World Doll with Tonner Doll. What does that mean? Probably access to cash and resources for Tonner Doll and access to insider know how and resources for One World Doll. Will it provide for better dolls? It remains to be seen. Below is their press release.


ONE WORLD HOLDINGS, INC. – Houston, Texas – December 3, 2015. One World Holdings, Inc. [OTCPink:OWOO] and Tonner Doll Company, Inc., today announced that their Boards of Directors have approved a definitive agreement for The One World Doll Project (a subsidiary of One World Holdings) to merge with Tonner Doll Company. The agreement was entered into on December 2, 2015. The agreement is a friendly, stock-for-stock transaction in which 100 percent of Tonner Doll Company’s 145,200,000 shares outstanding will be converted into an equal number of shares of One World Holdings. Each Tonner Doll Company share will be exchanged for 1 share of One World Holdings common stock, resulting in Tonner Doll Company shareholders owning approximately 15% percent of One World Holdings common stock upon closing. Also following the closing of the merger, The One World Doll Project will change its name to Tonner One World to reflect the combined business of both companies. Under the definitive agreement, all assets, licenses and contracts of both companies will become the property of Tonner – One World, which will remain a wholly owned subsidiary of One World Holdings, which will file with FINRA and the state of Nevada to change its name to Tonner One World Holdings, Inc.


As a component to the merger, a Connecticut based private equity firm that has been a primary funder of One World Holdings for the past three years has agreed to fund the company with an additional $750,000, and plans continue to fund One World Holdings until it completes a proposed $5,000,000 round of private equity financing. In connection with the definitive agreement, One World Holdings will increase its authorized shares to 1.6 billion shares, which management believes will facilitate the merger transaction and permit One World Holdings to collateralize the $750,000 funding, as well as provide shares potentially needed to facilitate the private offering.

“The combination of The One World Doll Project and Tonner Doll Company creates an exciting opportunity for our company, for our customers, and for our shareholders,” said Corinda Joanne Melton, President and CEO, One World Holdings. “In addition to creating a world-class toy company, this is a compelling financial and strategic transaction for our shareholders,” she added. “Robert Tonner and his team have created a multi-million dollar collector doll company that, combined with One World, has the foundation for massive future growth, new product development and maximization on current licenses to create product for some of Hollywood’s biggest television and film projects.”

“This combination creates a company that delivers maximum value for us and we are thrilled to be joining forces with the amazing team at One World,” said Robert Tonner, CEO of Tonner Doll Company.


Management of both companies believe that the new toy company, which will be led by CEO Corinda Joanne Melton, President Robert Tonner and COO, Jack Kralik, will generate multiple benefits, including an accelerated deployment of products into big box retail stores and innovative ventures into ancillary properties ” such as character licensing, children’s  television programming, apparel, accessories and publications.

Through the merger, Tonner – One World will acquire Tonner Doll Company’s approximately 15 thousand customers. The merger agreement between The One World Doll Project and Tonner Doll Company has received board and shareholder approval from both companies, and is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2016.

For more information about the merger, hear interviews with company executives about Tonner One World, log onto tonneroneworld.com.

About The One World Doll Project: Established in 2010, The One World Doll Project, a subsidiary of One World Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: OWOO) is committed to changing the retail landscape of the doll industry. The Prettie Girls!™ (Positive Respectful Enthusiastic Talented Truthful Inspiring Excellent), The One World Doll Project’s debut collection, is a line of fashion play dolls that are diverse in culture, interests, and style. Founders Trent T. Daniel and Stacey McBride-Irby, a former Mattel® designer who designed Mattel’s first authentically designed African-American dolls, developed the Prettie Girls! to capture the essence of positive values and attributes that every little girl can embrace.

About Tonner Doll Company: Tonner Doll Company, founded by Robert Tonner in 1991, is an established collector doll enterprise based in New York. The company has earned an esteemed reputation for creating the highest quality and most detailed collectible doll and accessories. Tonner’s products have been displayed in the Louvre complex and his immaculately proportioned creations have earned him the rights to bring: The Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter, The Big Bang Theory, Twilight, Avatar, Superman, Spider-Man, Gone With the Wind, and myriad other film, television and comic book characters to exquisite life worldwide.

The Andy Warhol Barbie: a new storm is brewing

Back in early November, a story appeared on WWD about the Ron Robinson deal with Mattel for an Andy Warhol/Barbie collection, exclusive to the Ron Robinson shops: the one in Fred Segal on Melrose Avenue and the flagship in Santa Monica. The collection has many items in small quantities, designed by various artists and inspired by Warhol and Barbie. The collection will become available in the shops on December 1st but pre-orders have begun from November 15th online. What interests this blog is of course the doll. It is a Platinum edition of 999 dolls but they are nowhere to be seen on the Robinson website. What is really strange though is that the doll surfaced on the Bloomingdale's website on the 18th of November. I do not know if it was possible for anyone to make a pre-order (I did read in Facebook that some people did but nothing concrete), but the site shows the doll unavailable. Having in mind that it is supposedly an exclusive for Rob Robinson, it looks even weirder. I suspect a new storm will hit Barbie Collector with this one.

UPDATE: Barbie Collection will have the doll for sale on the 3rd of December, 10am Pacific time.



Doll details:
Platinum Label collector's piece with commemorative box and certificate of authenticity
Set includes signature Warhol Barbie doll, stand, accessories, decorative paint set and canvas
Doll measures approx. 11.5" tall, box measures 13.5" x 12.5" x 2.5" 
Plastic; accessories: acrylic/plastic/polyester 
Hand wash or spot clean 
Imported 
Web ID: 1560278 


There is no price mentioned. Fro mthe packaging I'm guessing it will be around $150. The sculpt is the Mackie sculpt, made to look like the iconic artist. To me it looks cheap and hastily made. The fact that it includes painting brushes and colors shows either how ignorant is the one who designed the set (Warhol never painted but silk-screened the polaroids he took to add colour and effects) or it was a company decision to make the doll look more "artistic" - i.e. "let the ignorant buyers know that Warhol was an artist, let us include some paintbrushes and colours". It is insulting to the collectors and mainly to the artist. 


If you really want this one, get another Mackie Barbie cheaper, give her a razor cut and buy clothing and accessories to make the set yourselves. I bet one can find even a polaroid camera in scale from companies that make action figures - maybe even an older Barbie set. You can find the iconic Warhol Barbie portrait easily to print in scale too.



Photos courtesy of  Mattel.