In early August, Mane University in Hawaii hosted a beauty conference for Dyson's Supersonic hair dryer. it seems that Barbie (Mattel really) was hired to produce sponsored content for it. You can check the Barbie Style instagram by Mattel to see the related content, or check the photos from that account below:

It seems a bit weird to hire a doll (no matter how famous she is) to advertise a super expensive ($400) high tech hair dryer. In the age of Kardashian/Jenner social media reign and companies paying 6- figure sums to influencers with millions of followers in order to promote their products, hiring Barbie must have some secret meaning I am just not getting - is it the colour?

Integrity Toys announced last year that they had secured the license from Hasbro to do < 3 MLP (My Little Pony) inspired dolls to honour the fans of the My Little Pony brand.  This special-edition collection includes six fashion dolls and figures inspired by My Little Pony brand enthusiasts and fans of all ages, four boys and two girls. Each fan figure keeps the theme of their favourite MY LITTLE PONY character, wearing clothing and accessories inspired by that pony, complete with a "cutie mark" on their respective figures i.e. a tattoo matching the one on the pony. 

I was not expecting to like anything in this collection. It was a nice surprise to find that most of the dolls are looking great and I am already thinking of buying one of them. Jesse Ayala, the designer of this collection, has done an outstanding job in creating the dolls inspired by fans inspired by the ponies. The attention to detail and realisation is great and I am sure that the series, available in a staggering release through IT Direct only (and not through dealers) will be a success. Jesse also said that Alain helped him with the pony images on clothes and accessories and the design of the skateboard graphics. Each doll is an edition of 500, retailing at $130. w Club members will have the privilege of ordering ahead of public.

The event opened with these two dolls, which I guess was not what everyone expected, as we already got four of these earlier in the year. These two are completing that collection. I have one from the earlier release and do not intend to get a second one. The dolls are nice but not enticing enough, even at this price. Higher is the better of the two by far. They are IT Direct, with w Club members getting early access to their sale. Public be able to buy any available dolls on the 18th of August approximately noon ET time, through the IT e-shop.

The dolls featured in our product pictures are prototypes. Final production may vary slightly. All photos and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2016 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission. Graphics and λayouts by Alain Tremblay Marketing.

Following the Fashion Royalty collection, it is only fitting to present the event doll, available to pre-order to all W Club members. This will have an edition size according to the number of people who order her, so I am guessing it will be quite large, more than 1000 dolls for sure. She is a gorgeous doll, in line with the collection and the second best after Elyse. This dress is the right way to make a gown in this style, instead of the one Luchia is wearing (see previous post). Her accessories are gorgeous, especially the shoes and bag. I wish she had a more styled hairdo, but that can probably be fixed. Love her colouring too, she is like a paler version of Optic Verve Agnes. Pre-ordered already!

Baroness Agnes Von Weiss™ is a 12.5-inch fully articulated vinyl fashion doll with long, fully rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes. Agnes wears a beaded lace gown, which features a top-stitched ribbon corset detail at the waist. Agnes completes this look with a satin clutch purse and silver jewelry. A doll stand and a numbered certificate of authenticity is also included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up.

Pictures of prototype shown; final production colors and textures may vary slightly. All photos and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2016 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission. Fashion Royalty and all related characters are trademarks of Integrity Toys, Inc. and JWU LLC. All rights reserved. Graphics, photography and Layouts by Alain Tremblay Marketing.

As the W Club started later than usual in 2016, it affected the pacing and schedule of new doll releases. This past weekend was the second unveil of the year, after the first with the Poppy Parker collection early this summer. This one included the Fashion Royalty collection, arguably the most important one of Integrity Toys, plus the My Little Pony (MLP) franchise collection and a couple of ITBE 16 dolls. This event was a live webinar presentation, unlike the previous one which was done through emails. The presentation was done by Carol Roth, W Club founder, assisted by Alain Tremblay, but without the Fashion Royalty designer, Vaughn Sawyer, who was in China attending production procedures. The team was completed with Jesse Ayala for the MLP line (more for that in the relevant post). They also mentioned that the collection was based on a concept worked by Jason Wu and Vaughn together. Jason will also be making an appearance at this year's Integrity Toys convention in Chicago and Alain said that if anyone is still interested in attending, to contact him at the company email - there may be a few places available.

As was expected, the Fashion Royalty collection generated a lot of talk and probably raised more questions than it answered. The main one was the new decal eye (hybrid eye as IT names it, meaning the actual eyes are water slide decals and the eye make up is painted with stencils as before) process that some of the dolls are now using, which begun, without the buyers knowing about this, with the upgrade Vanessa club doll and the IFDC Dasha/Annika doll. I will make a separate post about this so will not elaborate further here. As you will see reading on, the dolls that have decal eyes from this collection have it in their specifications.  Most are available to pre-order (with Natalia and Elyse already sold out at most dealers) while Vero, as a basic doll (a much welcomed return of the Close Up dolls), will be available later in the year through IT Direct.

How I saw the collection "A Delicate Bloom" as a whole? I was again underwhelmed, much like with the Poppy Parker one. While it looks nice and coherent, with some gorgeous details and dolls, it is not what I was expecting based on the Vanessa upgrade doll and her delicate, intricate outfit, hairstyle and accessories, that all the dolls would have a similar styling and aesthetic. And while the intense colours and lack of black (much to the joy of several collectors) did stay the same, the rest were severely lacking. I know many people loved it and that is good, but I was waiting to see something entirely different. Another thing that raised a lot of noise was the lack of non-caucasian dolls. With the exception of the asian Kyori, the rest of the dolls are caucasian, even the Latina Natalia has the FR White skin-tone. And no, the so called Hungarian skin tone is not ethnic, just a slightly tanned variation. It is a bit weird coming from this particular company, especially considering last year's gorgeous darker skinned dolls and their popularity. More about how I see each doll below.