A few hours ago, the official Superdoll Collectibles Facebook account posted a teaser photo of an upcoming doll. She is a Venus clone, edition of 1000 and - gasp! - she is made of  V I N Y L. Yes you are reading correctly, she will be a vinyl doll. More details to follow when we find out too. Meanwhile, here's the photo.

It's the time of the year (albeit a bit later than usual) that Integrity opens up the W Club membership registration. There are lots of perks in joining the W Club: getting early bird information on every brand manufactured by Integrity Toys, gaining access to the member's only W Club forum and exclusive newsletters, having the privilege to buy five exclusive club dolls, getting discount coupons for lots of doll dealers and a free, year-long digital subscription to DOLLS and Haute Doll magazine. Of course becoming a member of a big and exciting doll family is the best perk of all. If you want to find out more, you can download a pdf brochure with all the details inside here. You can also watch the following video:

Or you can just go ahead and register for the W Club here. The deadline is 9:00 PM ET (New York Time) on February 16th, 2015. Did i mention there are upgrade dolls too? Oh yes! When you subscribe (and you can do that as many times as you want) there is the option to include upgrade dolls with your subscription, available only through this process. There are three different dolls and you can get one, two, three or none with each membership subscription. It's up to you. You pay a small deposit for each doll on top of the membership fee and the remaining payment will be made sometime this summer.

Baroness Agnes Von Weiss is a 12" articulated vinyl doll featuring long, fully-rooted platinum hair and hand applied eyelashes. Agnes is wearing a printed chiffon cocktail dress, cinched at the waist by a narrow patent leather belt. Her look is accessorised by a cloche hat, patent leather shoes, gloved hands, earrings and a bright red clutch. Doll stand and certificate of authenticity included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up.

An amazing Agnes is offered as an upgrade doll and I don't know why anyone would not pick this one up, she's perfection. I like the accessories too, even though the shoes are simple pumps - but sometime you need those as well.

The Poppy Parker line this year has as an inspiration the famous models of the 60s, so the upgrade Poppy is part of that. I love the doll but the outfit looks a lot like Barbie play line with all those colours and gold glitter. And instead of the classic bow on her pumps, why not a buckle?

A Colour Infusion guy instead of a Jem line doll this year. I like the face but the rest is not my cup of tea - he looks like the child of Don Johnson and George Michael. Love the watch.

**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. Prototype dolls shown, final production may vary slightly.**

Now that the first stage of DollObservers.com members-only nominations have been counted and verified, it is time to finally announce the lucky nominees for this year. What makes the DollObservers.com Fashion Doll Awards different is that both nominations and votes are made by doll lovers themselves. Public voting is now under-way and you are invited to vote now. Winners will be announced via the site on 22nd February 2015. The great news for The Fashion Doll Chronicles is that we are nominated for an award as best fashion doll blog! Thank you to all members that nominated us, it is an honour! You can vote here.

As part of the 10th edition of Firenze4Ever, LuisaViaRoma joins forces with Mattel to produce a limited edition Barbie designed by Japanese artist Hiroyuki Kikuchi. All proceeds will go towards the fight against breast cancer. The eBay Auction starts 12 Jan 2015. Firenze4Ever is a twice-yearly event hosted by LuisaViaRoma just before the Pitti shows in Florence.

Introducing Oriental Obsession Barbie, the latest addition to the Mattel family. The one-of-a-kind doll is realized by Mario Paglino and Gianni Grossi, members of Mattel’s special event team and the creative duo behind Magia 2000. The pair carefully crafted the doll’s oriental-inspired look based on images drafted by Hiroyuki Kikuchi. Hiroyuki Kikuchi is an art-director, illustrator and photographer. The Tokyo- native has curated important projects and campaigns in luxury sectors ranging from fashion to cars. Resident in Italy since 2003, he collaborates with major fashion, luxury and gourmet brands. His illustrations have been published in Vogue Italia and other international mastheads. 

Hiroyuki will create six different designs as part of the event at the LuisaViaRoma concept store over the first two days of Firenze4Ever. Inspired by the Oriental Zodiac, each of the pieces of artwork will be on display in store for the duration of Pitti Immagine. Only ten unique pieces have been produced, making Oriental Obsession Barbie a true collector’s item. The ten limited edition dolls will be auctioned off as part of Firenze4Ever 10th Edition and all proceeds will go towards the Anastacia Fund and the fight against breast cancer.

Internationally recognized singer/songwriter Anastacia has released a total of five studio albums and sold over 30 million records to date. A true survivor, Anastacia is a committed spokesperson for breast  cancer awareness who continues to share her own story and support others through her work with the Anastacia Fund. The Anastacia Fund was established through The Breast Cancer Research Foundation with the purpose of raising awareness and funds for research on breast cancer. After being diagnosed herself in 2003, Anastacia turned her effort toward the fight against breast cancer. The international superstar users her influence and public status to further the cause and is determined to help women take charge of their own health. Anastacia will represent the project, kicking off the auction at the LUISAVIAROMA concept store in Florence on Monday 12 January. The limited edition Oriental Obession Barbie will be auctioned on Ebay, with proceeds going towards the Anastacia Fund.

Magia2000, the artistic duo formed by Mario Paglino and Gianni Grossi, was playfully originated in 1999, during a warm sunny day, chaperoned by a playline Barbie sold as a magazine gadget. This way, the pure pleasure of play entered their adult lives.  They are creating these 10 incredible official Barbie dolls for Mattel Italy and LuisaViaRoma, following the design of the Japanese artist Hiroyuki Kikuchi. Their magnificently detailed craftsmanship and artistry is obvious once again in this latest of their creations.

Every year since 2007 I am part of a countdown that takes place in December: Greek music lover bloggers post their favourite 20 albums for the year in their blogs, beginning at December 1st and going up to December 20th with their number one. In the end, there's a tally and the best albums of the year are announced. Each participant usually makes a special presentation for the albums, using photos, videos or whatever they think best represents their relationship to the music they love. This year I decided to unite my love for fashion dolls with my love for music and use my doll collection in my presentation. At first I thought I'd do photos with the dolls holding the albums. Then I saw there were some albums that their covers could be reproduced using the dolls. So I decided that each album would be a different animal to confront, depending on its cover and the music inspiration, as well as the artist's image. So here are the photos I made as a slideshow. If you want to see them in all their glory, you can visit my music blog here. Enjoy!