The Tonner Doll Company, as they usually do every year, unveiled their 2010 collection during IDEX 2010. Lots of dolls, old and new, lots of directions to go for the company and collectors alike. I will not be posting all the dolls that are in the line as that would be space-and-time consuming. Instead I will focus on what I liked from the vast ofering plus some new lines. For more check out their website.
Cami
JonCami & Jon is their brand new line and most awaited this year. It is about three basic 16" fashion dolls with the Antoinette body and many outfits - in other words, a new sculpt for Antoinette. I do not like the Cami face, it is too dolly-like and not very realistic. I think she looks like Tyler Wentworth. The outfits are contemporary fashion styled but nothing extraordinary. Although I must say that the quality of Tonner clothing always makes their contemporary fashions very desirable - and the Antoinette collectors will love the variety now offered.
Update: Jon is finally up on the site, the face sculpt is Jac, a very popular and loved face. It is always good to see more diversity in skin tones.
Alice
In their usual mode of operation - building up excitment and tension without an actual product to show - Tonner announced they will be officialy producing Lord Of The Rings dolls, starting with Aragon and Arwen. No photos yet, still pending approval of faces. If they are as late as the torchwood and Doctor Who dolls, they will have another bomb in their hands. Same goes for Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland - but at least here they have an Alice to show. Supposedly a likeness of Mia Wasikowska, the doll looks ugly. At 16" with the geisha bust, she looks too adult to be Alice. Mad Hatter, Red and White Queen pending approval - I hope these turn out to be more interesting.
Cristal
DC Stars are more action figures than fashion dolls, so I will not show any here. But the fashion doll that shares their body, Deanna Denton, has a great looking doll in the collection: Peggy Harcourt Cristal. The gown is excellent and her face paint a bit more daring and sexy than the usual Tonner style. I would get this one if I could afford her. The rest of the collection is very predictable. They also offer one gown for the DC ladies (which DeAnna can wear too) which looks great: Onyx, from the Tonner wardrobe collection, which consists of outfits and accessories made for the action figure/doll series, making them look more casual and properly dressed - can't wear tights and capes all day long!
Onyx
Jessica Rabbit
The aformentioned gown can be shared by a new doll added to the Disney line of princesses Tonner is making: although she is no princess, Jessica Rabbit sure can steal the limelight from all of the blue-blodded belles. With the 17" athletic body and a cartoonish face, she does not thrill me a lot (why couldn't she look more like Cristal for example) but I am sure lots of collectors will want to add her to their collections. The two new princesses, Tiana and Cinderella are not approved by Disney yet.
Ava Gardner Black Magic dressed doll
Hollywood Glamour Fame and Fortune outfit
Joan Crawford Woman Of Passion
Gene Marshall "Unforgettable" by Ashton Drake
There is a new Ava Garnder dressed doll, as well as a new Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. I wonder how many dolls of the same actress can one collector have before stopping - one or two is more than enough for me. Maybe they should just keep releasing the Hollywood Glamour outfits for them and make new stars to release as dolls - how about Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich etc. The outfit on the new Crawford doll reminds me of Gene Marshall Unforgettable by Ashton Drake.
Antoinette Wanton dressed doll
Antoinette Alabaster mannequin
Antoinette this year has become a bit stale outfit wise. The only interesting one is Wanton but they should have made it in colour, not black. The white skinned mannequin, Alabaster, intrigues me as she could help me finally realize a long dreamed of project for a doll.
Scarlett O'Hara "What my lamb gonna wear?"
Gone with the Wind from Tonner finally releases the famous green dress from the barbeque at 12 Oaks. And they do it in WHITE? Are they kidding? Is their designer colour blind or is it possible they could not find a proper fabric? This one has been done so many times by so many companies that one would think Tonner would get it right - epsecially considering their GWTW releases so far. But no, they go and majestically screw up one of the most iconic dresses in the history of film making. And she has no lace shawl either. Mammy would be furious! They are also doing the same doll in 22" size as well as the All Dressed Up Like Racehorses dress (the Honeymoon dress), which has been done much better by Franklin Mint.
Mei Li basic black doll
The basic Tonner fashion doll line, Tyler Wentworth, has only three dolls (so far at least) a basic Mei Li, a dressed Tyler and a dressed Sydney, both of whom are boring to say the least. But Mei Li is a much sought after sculpt and her re-release in basic form will make many collectors happy.
Backstage Invitation Reneé Devereaux dressed doll
The Re-imagination, Fashion Zombies and Sinister Circus lines are presented together. These dolls leave me fashionably numb. Horror and fashion never merged well. But there is one final doll that may be the best one in the line-up: One of the Deveraux Sisters, the flapper dolls that Tonner makes. Backstage Invitation has it all: the extravagant lush outfit (with velvet robe and silk slip) and the dreamy facepaint. No wonder it got a Coty award. I wish I could afford this one, she looks smashing.
Alice
Cristal
Onyx
Jessica RabbitThe aformentioned gown can be shared by a new doll added to the Disney line of princesses Tonner is making: although she is no princess, Jessica Rabbit sure can steal the limelight from all of the blue-blodded belles. With the 17" athletic body and a cartoonish face, she does not thrill me a lot (why couldn't she look more like Cristal for example) but I am sure lots of collectors will want to add her to their collections. The two new princesses, Tiana and Cinderella are not approved by Disney yet.
Ava Gardner Black Magic dressed doll
Hollywood Glamour Fame and Fortune outfit
Joan Crawford Woman Of Passion
Gene Marshall "Unforgettable" by Ashton Drake
Antoinette Wanton dressed doll
Antoinette Alabaster mannequin
Scarlett O'Hara "What my lamb gonna wear?"
Mei Li basic black dollThe basic Tonner fashion doll line, Tyler Wentworth, has only three dolls (so far at least) a basic Mei Li, a dressed Tyler and a dressed Sydney, both of whom are boring to say the least. But Mei Li is a much sought after sculpt and her re-release in basic form will make many collectors happy.
Backstage Invitation Reneé Devereaux dressed dollThe Re-imagination, Fashion Zombies and Sinister Circus lines are presented together. These dolls leave me fashionably numb. Horror and fashion never merged well. But there is one final doll that may be the best one in the line-up: One of the Deveraux Sisters, the flapper dolls that Tonner makes. Backstage Invitation has it all: the extravagant lush outfit (with velvet robe and silk slip) and the dreamy facepaint. No wonder it got a Coty award. I wish I could afford this one, she looks smashing.
Just to let you know, the fabric in the original "Barbecue Dress" that Vivien Leigh wore in the film Gone With The Wind WAS green print on a white background. All those companies that made it with a mint green background fabric got it wrong.
ReplyDeleteRight on target about the Crawford, Davis, and Gardner dolls. Other than bland hairstyle changes, no reason to keep buying multiple dolls for each star. The Crawford Woman of Passion outfit is awful; someone went crazy with the bows & laces! Ugh! I love Jessica Rabbit, but the face sculpt really misses the mark as far as likenesses go, and so does the dress. Just not slinky enough. I sure do like Cristal, though! Great review as always!
ReplyDeleteIf this is a review of what you liked...it makes me wonder what a review of what you *disliked* would look like.
ReplyDeleteWow, that second shot of the Renee Devereaux doll is amazing!
ReplyDeleteAnd you're exactly right about the Scarlett outfit: what a mess...
I kinda like the Jessica Rabbit one, though; maybe if it weren't so cartoonish.
Thanks for sharing all this. :)
@anonymous no.1: Everywhere you see photos of the actual dress it looks a very light green - not mint. If you have any source about the colour I would be very interested to see. But the Tonner dress deos not look like the original in any case.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cardboardstandups.com/images/Standups/649%20Scarlett.jpg
@anonymous no.2 - we can all have our opinions about things we like and don't like. And I think I do make a very clear case of what I really like in my post.
Davelandweb - thanks. The Gardner doll does not even have different hair actually - she looks like the one I got, Dinner with Ole Blue Eyes, which actually has Black Magic hair instead of what the promo picture shows.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tonnerdoll.com/2009TonnerSite/2009fh/AvaGardner/dinnerwitholblueeyes.jpg
@Ginger Ingenue - thanks. I like Jessica too, if she had the Cristal face she would be perfect!
ReplyDeleteThe source for the colour of the GWTW dress is the movie itself.
ReplyDelete@anonymous - I have seen the film both in cinemas and on DVD (the special edition) and still see a very light green background on the print. I must have my eyes checked :-P
ReplyDeleteCami has the Cinderella face; I believe it is scaled down a bit though.
ReplyDelete@Barb - thought she looked familiar! Are they going to put all the regular Tonner sculpts on Antoinette bodies? Looks promising.
ReplyDeleteI think that some readers don't accept that you have an opinion and this is your blog. I love the new Cami doll and I also have several Antoinettes. Tonner's selling of separate fashions is the best thing since sliced bread because I have more than enough bodies/heads to last me a lifetime but I do love to dress them up differently. I hope they continue to just give us the clothing options. I used to love the Tyler Boutique stuff. My girls had stuffed wardrobes!
ReplyDeleteMy problem is that I like Tyler, Sydney, Antoinette, Cami and a few of the Power Women AND I also collect other dolls. It gets confusing in a major way.
The Sinister Circus stuff is interesting and bold. I admire Tonner's sense of adventure even if I don't care for the figures. They're very amusing to see in person. Fascinating, in fact. So ugly! Tonner is daring and there's a market for it.
From what I can remember of "Who Killed Roger Rabbit" this is what Jessica Rabbit looked like. I think it's a very good likeness.
ReplyDelete@Terri - thanks!
ReplyDelete@ SadeeAnne - she is indeed - I just would also prefer a more "real" Jessica, not only a cartoony one - the option to buy either one.
fantasticly real!
ReplyDeletelove how the dolls projected with life!
The ultimate source on costuming for GWTW is the book "GWTW on film" and it describes the BBQ dress as off white with green floral pattern.
ReplyDeleteAs for this Tonner version:
Actually the sash should be velvet and darker. And the green in the dress a deeper shade of green on an off white.
Stratos,
ReplyDeleteYour photos are wonderful. I especially love the Louise doll. I just bought two of these dolls and think I am going to buy this one. Thanks for the eye candy.
photos are Tonner's
ReplyDelete