Full Spectrum Veronique Perrin

This is Full Spectrum Veronique Perrin from the 2014 Urban Safari collection. She is one of the many dolls I preordered with the intent to resell but ended up keeping. Originally, I'd intended to order her as a split (the nude doll only), but I loved the way her bright poppy day dress looks with the more muted tones of the Urban Safari collection.

Unfortunately, I ruined one of her hands. I was changing them (or trying to), and it got stuck--it broke off at the wrist. My husband was able to drill out the peg without damaging her lower arm, lucky for me. And I have other extra hands that will suit this skin tone, I believe. I've heard of this happening before; it was just my first experience with it: not fun!

You can see a few more photos of Vero on Flickr.

Runway Right Away Vanessa Perrin

Another grail doll from my collection, and a new addition from last year: Runway Right Away Vanessa Perrin. She uses the original Vanessa sculpt, and she's been given a new updated body, which unfortunately needs to be replaced. (As you can see, her hands have faded a little.)

Her hair has been rinsed, I think, from its original style, but I think it still looks pretty good. I'd love to restyle it somehow. This is a great color for Vanessa, in my opinion. I always see her as a redhead!

Provocatrice

Following my resolutions, I have been splitting my time this morning on laundry and photography. It's not a great mix, but it works.

Above, it's Anja Provocatrice from the 2010 Integrity Toys convention. I added her to my collection (I believe via trade) last year, and I've been wanting her for a while. I adore her blue hair--it simply speaks to me!

Steffie of the Day: City Shine Barbie Look - Gold Dress

The latest Bill Greening Steffie is really a cutie, and I'm relieved to see a new Steffie in Mattel's 2014 line-up--just barely, as she hasn't reached shelves on the west coast yet. She is for sale for $19.95 on Barbie Collector, or perhaps a little more from your favorite Barbie dealer. (I used my quarterly discount toward my purchase!)

She has rooted lashes, brown eyes, and the LA Tan skin tone. I think the combination is quite pretty with her hair. I can't wait to take her out of the box and restyle her.

Also, her dress is not quite as bad as I was expecting. I have to confess, glitter isn't really my thing, and this is a really glittery dress. The good news is that it doesn't look like the glitter will just flake off over everything--like that saying about glitter goes. And the structured style is pretty modern. It's better than lamé would have been, I think.

Her plastic jewelry isn't too bad, either--considering it's plastic. She uses a Model Muse body, of course--super slim, not very posable, etc.--but her skin tone looks very close to several Liv body donors, I think (just for you Frankensteins among my dear readers). I think she'd be a great candidate for a hybrid!

You can see a few more boxed photos on Flickr. I'll hopefully be taking her out of the box soon.

Surprise! It's Elusive Creature Natalia Fatale!

Integrity Toys Urban Safari collection has started to arrive to dealers, and then been shipping to collectors. I was unable to control myself this past season, and I ordered quite a few dolls from this line. I'd intended to keep just the outfits from some of the dolls, and then resell the dolls.

My original favorite of the line was Adele, Vivid Encounter, and she is amazing. The doll shown above, Elusive Creature Natalia Fatale, was one of the dolls I'd intended to resell nude. However, after receiving her, and experiencing her in person, I have to say she might indeed be the favorite from the collection.

Her hair might be the winning factor for me, I have to admit. It's super soft, long, blond waves--and perfect. That, combined with her tan skin, is very California--and very Barbie--so it was quite a shock to me to see this character done in such a soft way. (I might change her lip color--I don't quite see how they fit in with this doll, though when viewed with the rest of the collection, they look fine.)

I already knew I'd love her outfit. To me, a great IT outfit is one that can be mixed and matched with others--and this one goes great with pieces from Fashion Explorer Vanessa Perrin as well as others from the Urban Safari line. I love the mesh shirt, and the adorable box pleat skirt is cute, too. The pocket detail on the vest is nicely done, also.



And of course--she has fantastic accessories. A snakeskin purse is a necessity for dear Natalia, I'm sure, but I love the enamel bangles and earrings--earrings, even though they aren't entirely necessary with her hat (not my fave) and hair.



The boots are amazing, too. They actually do not zip in the back, and still, they were super easy to put on. I was delighted, since I tend to break every single doll shoe I touch.

You can see additional photos on Flickr. I'm pretty sure you can still find Natalia from a few dealers--she's limited to 800, and I saw her from Toni's Collectibles for $145, which still cheaper than the Dollpage and some eBay listings.

Natural Beauty Tooka - Dynamite Girl in the house

I'm afraid it may be some time before I can use my big (heavy) camera, so I'm sorry you'll have to suffer through these iPhone photos. I just couldn't wait to share Natural Beauty Tooka.

I haven't purchased any Dynamite Girls for a while--at least not for my own collection. However, Sooki is my favorite face sculpt, and to see her in this lovely A-tone skin really was a must-have for me. Honestly, though, I have to confess it was her tiny owl print dress that first grabbed my attention. It's so cute!

Integrity Toys promo photo

They have a new box style--a more recycled-looking box with a new logo--since the last time I've had any DGs go through my hands. The inner box top looks like this:

Whether it's actually recycled is another question. And a good one! I wonder if I can find out.

Tooka herself is gorgeous. As pretty as her promo photos, easily, in my opinion. The sheath dress is cotton, and IT did a great job with the fabric print. (I have a daughter whose favorite color is yellow, and who also happens to have a small fascination with owls.) In my personal opinion, the owls could have been just a teeny bit smaller, but I don't think their size is a big deal.

As you can see, she also includes a detailed denim jacket with buttons and pockets, though it only closes at the bottom with a hook and loop. I think this will be a fun layering piece, though, and it's very nicely done.

Her accessories are a great clutch, bangle bracelets, simple hoop earrings, and stunning tiny espadrilles.

Her hair is pretty wild out of the box--so long and curly--but super soft, too. It lends itself well to styling, so she's pretty versatile. I think the style suits her very well, and she's an absolutely adorable little doll for her price point--I think retail was $70. You really can't beat that!

Lien - the newest Picco Neemo!

Really, I only wanted one! I think Lien, my latest Picco Pure Neemo addition, might be my seventeenth Picco Neemo since October. It's really a sickness! Some have been trades, and most are second-hand, and many aren't complete. Some actually belong to my daughter Lauren. She adores these little dolls, too--both the 1:6 size and the 1:12 size above.

Lien includes a bunch of extra posing hands, as you can see. I'm never sure how to use the victory hands, though they seem to be my daughter's favorites. I love the soft holding hands--they seem to be the most versatile.

Lien's outfit is adorable, also--white boots, socks, panties, a box-pleated skirt, sleeveless shirt and sweater. Plus, did you know she's actually a miniature version of this doll, Angelic Sigh Lien, her original Pure Neemo debut? Now that I'm checking out Azone's website, it looks like many of the 1:12 dolls are miniatures of the original 1:6 Pure Neemos. Eeek! I can hardly wait!

Chicline Nanuri in Tonner's Dramatic Antoinette fashion

This is a recent trade acquisition, a normal skin resin Fairyland Chicline BJD with a Nanuri faceplate, face-up by 16-Bit FaceUps. I think she's quite pretty--I love her natural looking lips. I also have a Lishe faceplate for her, which is currently being painted as well.

She's wearing Dramatic, an Antoinette fashion by Tonner Doll.

You can see a few more photos of her on Flickr.

Display

I've been doing a little reorganization in my display cabinets lately. This was one my former Steffie shelves. Now, as you can see, I have a few other dolls in there along with Steffie as well. Notice my collection of Arnaldo Restorations is growing?

I've been going through a like-it-versus-love-it phase again, trying to rearrange my collection, redress dolls, and make things less crowded overall. I'm having lots of fun, actually. You can see a few additional photos on Flickr, showing my work in progress.

Tribute Steffie in Trina Turk

Tribute 2009 (Matt Sutton's Steffie contribution to the convention duo that year) is dressed in the other parts of Trina Turk Barbie's outfit. The shorts are really cute--and snug--and the shirt is a nice touch. She includes high heeled sandals, a scarf, sunglasses, a nice woven bah, and suntan lotion.

You can see additional photos on Flickr.

Magia 2000 at Grant A Wish

Check out the photos on Flickr if you'd like to see a selection of the dolls that Mario of Magia 2000 brought with him to sell at the Grant A Wish convention this year. Above, you can see the gorgeous convention auction doll.

Azone cuties

Azone cuties, a photo by alington on Flickr.

Nanoha has a new outfit--for Picco Neemo by Azone, of course. She redresses very well, especially for a blue-haired doll.

These Azone tinies are so amazingly fun. I'm surprised at how quickly they have been multiplying!

Spring Time

Spring Time, a photo by alington on Flickr.

Another new arrival - Spring Time. She's a newly released Tonner Ballet doll, and the second Daphne sculpt offered this year. She is available from dealers now.

She's brunette with brown eyes with a rather frou-frou outfit that is surprisingly well done with tulle, sequins, and silk flowers. I'm rather delighted with her overall quality.

She includes high heel feet as well, and I'm kind of interested in trying her out in formal wear. You can check out lots of additional photos, including of her braided up-do, on Flickr.

Wonder Woman 52

Wonder Woman 52, a photo by alington on Flickr.

The lovely Wonder Woman 52 makes her appearance on the blog (finally) in the Amethyste fashion (an older Theatre de la Mode gown from 2003, I believe, which barely snaps over her rather busty heroic figure).

Wonder Woman uses the Tyler Wentworth 2.0 sculpt with raven hair and blue eyes. I think she restyles very well, though she'd fit better in DeeAnna Denton fashions, I think. I love her!

You can see a few more photos on Flickr.

Divinely Daphne

Divinely Daphne, a photo by alington on Flickr.

An oldie, but a goodie--it's Effanbee's Divinely Daphne, the first basic Daphne Dimples released as part of the Brenda Starr line in 2004.

She was an open edition, so there were many produced. She can still be found on the market today for a pretty reasonable price. You'll want to be sure her bangs are in good shape.

I'm embarrassed to say I've had mine in the box for a while, and I'm quite pleased with her: I find her face paint rather pleasing in a vintage/pin-up way. You can see a few more photos on Flickr.

Nanoha

Nanoha, a photo by alington on Flickr.

Ack--they keep coming! It's my latest arrival, another 1:12 scale Picco Neemo by Azone. She's a character from a movie, I think. Her box says she's Nanoha, the Musical Lyrical Girl.

She has rooted blue hair, extra hands, including one extra gloved hand, extra bare feet (she's got molded boot feet!), and a book. Eek, she's cute!

Goldie Grail

Goldie, a photo by alington on Flickr.

On days like today, I can see when doing the dolly shuffle is all worthwhile. I'm in the middle of like-it-or-love-it frenzy, as I recently discovered two older dolls on the marketplace which I have been longing to add to my collection for years.

The first has arrived, and she does not disappoint! You can see her deboxing photos on Flickr. She is one of the first suntan Goldie BJDs produced by Peak's Woods in 2008, and she is indeed gorgeous.

Her resin is a much lighter shade than later tan dolls by the same company, and she has yellowed only slightly over the past years. She's in excellent condition--she only needs to be sueded.

I'm surprised by how much I love her face-up. I was thinking I might prefer a more dramatic or smokey eye--but I'm delighted by this lighter face-up style, which was painted by Lilikoi.

Taking the first few photos of this doll has really encouraged me to continue in the endeavor. I think you'll be seeing more for-sale posts from me shortly!

Touch of Teal

Touch of Teal, a photo by alington on Flickr.

My next project is well underway--a work about Daphne Dimples by Effanbee/Tonner Doll. She's currently my favorite Tonner sculpt. (Well, it's a toss-up between Daphne and the Duchess.)

Touch of Teal was surprisingly hard to find. She was limited to 300 when she was produced in 2007. I think she's one of the prettier Daphne dolls available, and many collectors like keep her in their collection. I can totally understand.

You can see a few additional photos on Flickr.

Wicked Style Aika

Wicked Style Aika, a photo by alington on Flickr.

Ack! I don't know what is happening to me, but these girls just keep showing up!

Worse, this one, Wicked Style Aika, included an extra body. (I found her used, but I'm not 100% sure she's original--can any reader help? Heather?? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?) (Doesn't that name look weird spelled out? I actually had to look it up!)

The dressed body looks like an original body, but the legs don't bend. I think it might be an Advance A-Type body, actually. The package included an Advance D-Type body (the one in the photo), nude and wrapped in tissue, in addition to both option sets A and B (which include tons of extra hands and a set of shoulder pieces).

In the photo above, I've dressed the sitting body in Chocolate Mint Ice Cream outfit (Sahras a la Mode), which is a nice fit--possibly a bit large in the bust, but still fine. Then, I simply popped Aika's head on the peg--no heat required, since the vinyl is so soft.

She's so cute and easy to redress. I'm afraid she won't be my last Azone addition!

You can see additional photos on Flickr.

Gold Glam ITBE

Gold Glam ITBE, a photo by alington on Flickr.

She's here already--so fast! (I also entered for Isha, and didn't win her.)

Gold Glam is the first lottery event of the year, or perhaps the last event of 2013 Integrity Toys W Club, and she is limited to 300 dolls, and uses the Adele sculpt in tan skin with red hair.