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.

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:

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It seems that Integrity Toys has an airline and they're hiring! Just kidding people! The giftset that was announced at the Cinematic convention finally did make an appearance as a lottery opportunity for the right to buy one of the 800 Poppy Parker IT Airways sets offered to members of  Club only. It is a gorgeous set, with a beautiful doll (Poppy in a bob and bangs is always great looking) and two colourful outfits that fit perfectly with the other Model Scene dolls. The story goes that Poppy is now a spokesmodel for IT Airways. After the doll photos, you can see the probable inspirations for the outfits.
Club members should note that the deadline to enter the lottery is the 3rd of December, noon ET.

Poppy Parker is a 12-inch fully articulated vinyl fashion doll with rooted hair and hand applied eyelashes. Poppy comes in a mod coat accented with lime green trim, a multi-color print shift dress with matching hat, and a two piece bright pink belted suit with apple green turtleneck. Mid calf boots, flats, earrings, lapel pin, and a white travel case with the IT Airways logo complete the ensemble. A doll stand is included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up.

And here are some of the probable inspirations for the outfits - mainly the Branliff air hostess uniforms designed by Emilio Pucci ins the mid and late 60s. Pucci’s clear plastic helmets were called Rain Domes, and they were meant to keep those 60s hairstyles protected from the elements. However, the impracticality of the Rain Dome was imminently apparent. They cracked easily and were abandoned after one month, as there was no space in the overhead bins, or anywhere in the cabin, to store the large plastic bubbles. Pity we do not get one for Poppy. Braniff also enlisted the first lady of American shoe design, Beth Levine, the designer of Nancy Sinatra’s boots for “These Boots Were Made for Walkin’” publicity, to create both leather and plastic footwearfor the crew.

Please note that the doll and outfits pictured in these images are prototypes. Final production may vary slightly. All doll 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.

This character was one of the most anticipated in the Jem and the Holograms line of Integrity Toys and now he is finally here to pre-order. He has the Count/Perry Marino sculpt, probably the ugliest face ever released from Integrity. He's definitely a pass from me but most Jem fans will surely add him to their collection. W Club got priority in ordering the doll, which is ready to ship by next week. Any dolls left after that, will be made available to the general public on Tuesday December 1st at noon ET. That link will be available through the company's Facebook page. 

Eric Raymond is a 12.5-inch fully articulated vinyl fashion figure with rooted hair. Comes complete with his signature business suit, briefcase, watch, sunglasses, exclusive character specific paper accessories and shoes. A stand is also included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up only.

Integrity Toys are doing the Happy Dolly Days week again this year - this means a week full of everyday new doll announcements and releases. The first dolls to be presented to the W Club this Monsay were from this year's Poppy Parker Fashion Teen collection. These are 16" dolls and, this time, apart from Poppy, feature her best friend, Mallory Martin. And guess what - the sculpt of Mallory is none other than the old Tulabelle sculpt. So people who loved that face will still have a chance to her new dolls in that likeness. Let's see the four dolls, now available to pre-order from Integrity Toys dealers.

Poppy wears a bright orange and blue halter neckline dress with a bow detail at the neck. The look features a clear vinyl coat with orange piping trim. White fishnets, blue and orange kitten heels, and an orange purse complete this look. Fashion Teen Poppy Parker is a 16-inch fully articulated vinyl doll with rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes. Comes complete with outfit, accessories and shoes. A doll stand is also included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up only.

Great looking Poppy and I was tempted to add her to my collection (I only have one 16" Poppy and she's blonde) but I could only get one from this collection and there's another one that won my heart in the end (see the last one). Love the outfit too, very mod, reminiscent of Marlo Thomas in "That Girl" TV series.

Mallory Martin is wearing a blue and white polka dot blouse, accentuated with a crisp white collar and cuffs and a hot pink necktie, finished up with a yellow miniskirt. Nude fishnet pantyhose, white faux leather knee high boots, and a matching purse finish off the ensemble. Fashion Teen™ Mallory Martin™ is a 16-inch fully articulated vinyl doll with rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes. Comes complete with outfit, accessories and shoes. A doll stand is also included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up only. 

So this is the re-use of the first Tulabelle sculpt. Mallory Martin looks great in this fashion era, although I never was a big fan of this face - I have not got any Tulabelle dolls. I love the outfit but would love more details in the accessories, she is a 16" doll after all.

Fashion Teen™ Mallory Martin™ is a 16-inch fully articulated vinyl doll with rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes. Comes complete with outfit, accessories and shoes. A doll stand is also included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up only.  

The long gold sequin gown features midnight blue trim at the plunging neckline with a bow detail for modesty. The white faux fur stole, metallic gold heels, and gold clutch finish off the ensemble. Fashion Teen™ Poppy Parker™ is a 16-inch fully articulated vinyl doll with rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes. Comes complete with outfit, accessories and shoes. A doll stand is also included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up only. 

This is the best of the bunch and the one I pre-ordered. She is of course a recreation of the Sparkle, Poppy, Sparkle! 12" doll from the Cinematic convention collection. I think I prefer this version, even though there is no ring to go with it like her miniature counterpart (tsk tsk tsk Integrity).

The dolls shown in the official product pictures are prototypes. Textures, fabrics and colors may vary slightly on the final production dolls. 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.

Jeremy Scott loves Barbie. He proved it by dedicating an entire Moschino collection to her, dressing women like the famous doll, accessories included. Back then, guests at the fashion show had received a limited edition of Barbie dressed in Moschino, that had collectors all over the world drooling in anticipation of an actual commercially released version. That time came today: the doll is available through Moschino, Net-A-Porter and, through Barbie Collector later on 6:00 am PT. 

There are two versions of the doll, a Caucasian and an African-American one, and she comes with two outfits: a leather "suit" and some sporty separates. Of course she has her Moschino shopping bag and assorted accessories. She's a limited edition of 700 according to Net-A-Porter (I guess each version will have 700 dolls released).

Jeremy Scott said: "I wanted to bring all of the Moschino elements to Barbie, as I had done the reverse by bringing all of the Barbie elements to Moschino for the spring/summer 15 collection. The thing I love most about Barbie, is that she is the ultimate muse, she's worn every style and design imaginable and at the same time she's had every possible profession you can dream of."

For me, the best thing about this release is that a boy is included in the commercial that accompanies the release - and nobody bats an eyelid. I know it should not be an issue in 2015 but there are still boy-girl distinctions in toys and it''s about time it stopped being so. So kudos to Moschino and Mattel for this.

Last time I checked, the AA version was sold out at Moschino but seems to be available on Net-A-Porter. Those who missed it go for Barbie Collector. Good luck.

Photos and video courtesy of Mattel and Moschino.