Farewell 2016- A Genuine Molded Plastic Round Up.
Well. 2016 was not my favorite year. A lot of that was politics related. I finished my first year of my new job (which is great) but we are still not wild about Charlotte or the state of North Carolina. As is often the case when one is not completely happy, one compensates in other ways. To say that I indulged in plastic divas this year would be an understatement...I like to think it was no worse than previous years, but I know that is not the case. However, I did purge at least a quarter of my collection before we moved here in the fall of 2015. I then sold a good chunk of my Tonner collection too. I have a spreadsheet listing all my doll holdings and the number is relatively steady with outgoing dolls matching incoming for the most part. Of course, based on my financial realities, I should have sold everything and cut up my credit cards. Best of intentions right? Maybe I will be better (stronger) in 2017? It could happen. Stop judging me.Here's What Was Good...
Poppy Parker Bon Bon Collection...
Such a great line of gorgeous dolls. The best part was the mix and match potential across some of the outfits and the added value little accessories that help sell her delightful story line. Oh La La was my favorite. I also purchased Tres Bon Chic and Springtime Paris to get the outfits and that doggie. I regret not getting Bon Jour Poppy. I hope I can find the outfit later.
OMG I love this doll and everything about her. I really hope we see more edgy non-traditional dolls like this from IT. She inspired me to do a bunch of sewing and I bought a great outfit for her from Culte De Paris. I keep hoping they will do a male cyborg now.
Grail Doll Acquired..
I finally got my grubby mitts on It Girl Poppy. Huzzah! She is so fierce! I would love to see Poppy dolls with the 'exploding body' thing like on the recent FR and the new Tulabelle Industry dolls. Poppy's hideous ankle joint could be replaced with a high heel leg like It Girl and a flat foot one as well.
More Copious Spare Time...
One of the marvelous perks of my new gig is a reasonable amount of personal time to pursue my hobbies. So I have been sewing like the wind. I started my Etsy Store and was able to have a nice table of goods at the Integrity Convention to basically cover the costs of my attendance. I have even had time to do quilting again. More on that in a later post.
Mattel added three new body types to its play line dolls: tall, petite, and curvy. I got myself the cute little pink haired plump gal. I am also hoping to get the Harlem Madam Lavinia doll to make a Queenie custom for my Coven Doll Collection. This doll features the curvy body with articulation. I am hoping that they release some more Curvy articulated dolls. I would like to make myself a Mini-Me doll.
Hey...I Bought a Barbie...more like four Barbies...
You heard me. I was wooed back. First came the curvy girl...and then I could not resist the adorable Charlotte Olympia set for the fun accessories and fashion. The lack of articulation makes me nuts though. I need to see if a Made to Move doll body will work for her or maybe I will get Park Pretty to body swap and also because the yorky and latte cup are cute. Then I purchased an Anna Sui doll via eBay and an old Todd Oldham doll for the fashion. Its a slippery slope yall. And the final Barbie splurge was for the Silkstone Kitty Corner Francie. She is beyond cute. I always loved Francie. I also justified the purchase so that I would have a vintage body style to use as a model for my etsy store. Again, the lack of articulation is totally annoying but I heard that the new articulated Silkstones were not the best so I guess I am stuck.
2016 Integrity Supermodel Convention
Lots of fun. I got to spend quality time with my mom, who I dragged to the convention. I met lots of new people this year and had a swell time. I was very pleased with the Color Infusion Style Lab fashions and Jaeme Costas was a knockout. Tobias was another winner. The Poppy dolls were gorgeous and I was so happy to add Just My Style Poppy to my Poppy Posse. I adored the Tulabelle gift set and the pop art color. Glamazon Adele was stunning. I also still have Cover Girl Vero hanging around and she is growing on me. I think Check Me Out Colette is going to be my Quinn for my custom Scandal dolls. I also had a wonderful time room shopping and indulged more than I should have...but all in good fun right. I am really hoping the timing works out for me to attend again in 2017. A lot of it depends on when the plays open at the university and I am waiting eagerly to get the final schedule.
What Was Not So Good
Sticker-gate!
Oye...what a mess. IT messed up on this one. Using decals for the eyes without telling buyers a head of time was not the best move. When the truth came out (or was rather uncovered by a collector who found a decal eye stuck in a doll's hair), I think it could have been handled better. The company response was a bit condescending initially....especially since the end results of the "new water slide decal technology" were so mixed. I think it really soured many collectors on the company in a way that could have been avoided.
Out With a Whimper...
Tonner as we know it is no more. Frankly, their product has not been up to par or even remotely interesting to me for some time. I grew tired of Ellowyne's frills and the bland Tyler fashions. I believe I only purchased two new Tonner items this year: the Harley Garage outfit and a blonde basic De De Denton to be my Power Girl doll (I had the outfit but was lacking a big athletic doll for it). I also picked up an old outfit: the super adorable Girl Friday fashion. But yeah, I don't understand the recent company memo that came out announcing the new Phynn & Arrow name with a total lack of information about what they will actually be doing. Evidently, they will still be doing the licensed dolls. I assume that means we will still be getting more DC Stars, Wizard of Oz, and Gone with the Wind dolls and eventually we will see the promised Outlander and Empire lines. I guess we have to be patient and hope that something cool will come out if it. The doll world could really use a shake up and it seems to me that technology such as 3-D scanning and printing would help it along. But what do I know. Tonner had some amazing innovations during its long run and there is no doubt that Mr. Tonner is a great sculptor.
Jem Trunk Sets...or why I should wait before I buy...Don't get me wrong. I loved these Backstager sets and totally bought them. What was not so good is that they all went on sale for like $40 less about three months later. Brutal. It kind of made me never want to order anything full price from the Jem line ever again. Of course, then I turned around and bought the Stormer with the bonus outfit...but yeah. It is a sickness. I decided to pass on the rest and hope they go on sale later or end up as a salesroom deal at the 2017 Convention.
Woeful Lack of Diversity in the Mainline IT Collections
When Mattel is showing you up...you got a problem. Adele, Jordan, Annik, Dominique, Isha, etc...all MIA. I think we only had one Kyori and the recent Nu Face Reckless Nadja in regular lines and the WONDERFUL Marie Laveau in the Coven line. There were also two FR16 gals and Dree Hill and Tenzin in the Color Infusion music capsule collection. Maybe there was a pasty Natalia too. The numbers were in the single digits to be sure. It was wildly disappointing to many collectors.
Where are the ladies?
Can you not find one female designer IT? Even if she is just a guest designer on occasion...
No Misty or Cordelia???
The long overdue and anticipated Coven line was finally announced. Huzzah! But wait....WHAT??? No Misty Day or Cordelia???? Crazy talk. Fingers crossed that they held these two fan favorites to be the anchors on a second wave of dolls. Though I speculate that they may have lost sales BECAUSE people did not want to buy the first wave and risk not getting Misty and Cordelia. But I could be wrong. I am not taking my chances and I have already acquired dolls to just make my own versions in case IT does not make official versions. Yeah...all in my copious spare time right?
To the FUTURE!!!!
To No Longer Being a Completionist!
I gotta say, it is such a relief to not HAVE to buy everything. Of course no one is forcing me, but for awhile I had every IT Jem offering. Once I was able to let go of a doll I did not like...I was able to let go of several others and pass on some new ones as well. Only get what you love...only keep what you love...if you stop loving it, let it go.
Swingin' London Poppy Collection...
Mod Poppy is always welcome. If the two dolls from the 2016 Convention (Kicks and Big Eyes) are any indication, this will be a highly desirable lineup. Since I have both Big Eyes and Kicks, I am not so sure how much room I have to add more dolls. I'd love more outfits though. I would be interested in a friend doll if the promised Ginger is a winner. I'm hoping for some bohemian retro Biba looks and maybe some Poppy girls with streaks or highlighted hair?
IT Designer Jessy Ayala
I cannot wait to get those Nu Face Reckless dolls in hand. Jessy is promising to be a really exciting new designer in the company bringing a youthful edge to his work.
2017 Fashion Fairytale IT Convention
Oh I hope I can go. The theme promises to be super fun and I am dying to go to Harry Potter world. Plus flights to Orlando are usually cheap. Right after I got home from this last convention, I set up an online savings account with capital one that automatically withdraws a little from each check...so that I will have no choice but to have a stash of money saved in advance of the convention and then will have a budget to stick with to avoid the 'convention mania' (that madness that takes over and makes you buy everything even though you don't really like it or need it).
Comments