Friday, January 20, 2017

Integrity Toys first 2017 news - streamlining the doll bodies

Integrity Toys through their W Club sent new information about updates to their doll bodies and finalised their naming so that everyone can understand which body they are talking about. They also announced that this year is the last one with the Jem And The Holograms line, the status of the Hommes update and that the mix-up with the skin tone of Agnes from the Sister Moguls set was a typo (so the two dolls had the same skin tone from the beginning). Let's see what's up then:

The Future of the JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS™ License 

IT officially announced that their licensing agreement for the brand will come to an end at the end of 2017. To complete the brand there will be a final wave of four collectibles, released throughout the year and the W Club has obtained the right to continue offering first dibs to its members ahead of the general public. An as-promised accessory set will be included as well.

FR2013 and NU. Face 2.0 Bodies

-The silhouette and proportions will remain the same, with the exception of the knees.
-Based on collector feedback, the knees are being refined to a more natural and realistic rounded shape.
-The waist articulation is being phased out completely (again based on feedback).
-In addition to the current lower legs which will still be used, new lower legs which feature new articulated flat feet are being created. This will now allow the FR and NU. Face girls to wear flat shoes and sandals. New dolls will come with either flat (the new style) or arched (the currently used style) feet/lower legs. You will be able to swap the lower legs with currently existing ones.

Poppy Parker 1.0 Body

-The sculpt/silhouette will remain the same. THIS IS STRICTLY AN ENGINEERING UPDATE.
-Starting with the next Poppy Parker doll that is unveiled, it will be possible to completely take the body apart down to its base components. Feet will be removable.
-In addition to the current articulated ankle and coming removable feet, Poppy will now have the possibility to wear high-heels like all of our other dolls, since she will be able to share the lower legs featured on "The Industry" branded dolls.
-Since the current foot can now be removed, a new flat foot sculpt is being developed (slightly different from the FR one, to be more in proportion with Poppy's height). Poppy will be able to wear new flat shoes at some point in the future.

Homme 1.0 Body

-The sculpt/silhouette will remain the same. THIS IS STRICTLY AN ENGINEERING UPDATE.
-Starting with the next male doll released, it will be possible to completely take the body apart down to its base components. This will make repairs and replacements (whenever needed) even easier than before, as bodies will no longer need to be returned should any issue arise with a body part.

The Industry

-No actual change to the body itself. 
-The new lower leg that features flat feet will also fit this body and will be used from time to time, if the style of clothing calls for it. As per above, this will be shared with the Poppy Parker body and will give the design team more possibilities in terms of styles and looks that can be created.

New Body Reference Names Coming in 2017

With all the new updates coming and to allow everyone to keep track of the changes, we have decided to rename all of the different bodies. This was implemented to help everyone easily keep better track of what's what.

The newly revised FR2013 body will now be known as "FR 6.0"

The newly revised NU. Face body will now be known as "NF 3.0"

The newly engineered Poppy Parker body will now be known as "PP 1.5"

The newly engineered Homme Body will now be known as "FRH 1.5"

THE INDUSTRY body will be referred as "TI 1.0" since no actual changes to the sculpt or otherwise have been made, except for the use of the optional flat feet, which will be featured from time to time depending on the style being offered.

Status of the New Homme Line

The new body is still being developed. For the time being, the current male silhouette will remain in use (with the addition of the "pop-out" feature).

Informational And Other Errors

This below is the exact, un0edited text from the W Club email, explaining the mix up with the Agnes skin tone from the Sister Moguls set.

We want to add in here a reminder explainer that the W Club is a separate entity from Integrity Toys and is run as such. As we mentioned earlier, our team acts as the collectors' voice at the table, bringing the Company information and feedback as a representative of the collector base. We also manage specifically the running of the Club and our leadership does provide some consultative services to Integrity, as well.
As part of our agreement with Integrity- and with you- is to provide you with first to know information as well as updates, we do get our information directly from Integrity. Being that many on our Club team, including our founder, are very "attention to detail oriented" (a nice way of saying "Type A"), we always ask to confirm information at least three times-- usually more. As there are a number of humans involved in each step of the process (design, production, marketing, shipping, etc.) and humans are prone to make a mistake from time to time, that information sometimes is or becomes incorrect without any of us knowing. This frustrates us, as we strive to always be helpful and accurate and because we know it is frustrating to you as a customer.
If there is a change in a product, it's typically not because Integrity decided on a whim to change something and not tell anyone. It's usually a communication error in the factory, whose employees speak a different language. It's not an excuse or excusable per se, but that's the reality. It's one that the Integrity team is aware of and is focused on fixing. While they will strive for 100% accuracy, I would expect that, with humans involved, that will not be the case.
If an informational error, such as us being told that Sister Moguls' Agnes was Cream instead of Japan skin tone (which you as collectors found out in receiving your items before anyone at the W Club staff did) creates a problematic issue for you, your first step is to contact Patient Care (patientcare@integritytoys.com). This is run directly by Integrity Toys to solve any product-related issues. Please note that while we all live online what seems like 24 hours a day, the Patient Care team, led by the lovely Veronique Lambert, can take several days to respond depending on email traffic, so please give them a few business days for a response. The team always does everything to answer as fast as they can.
If the issue is just annoying but you are still happy with your product and don't need any action taken, rest assured we all know of the annoyance and are in constant communication with Integrity to try to minimize those types of issues from happening again in the future.
If you are having problems getting a satisfactory response from Integrity after a few days or just want to tell us what's on your mind, you can reach out to the W Club Liaisons at wclub@integritytoys.com. We are just that- liaisons- to follow up and to pass on information on your behalf to the company, but we are always happy to try to make you happy.
You can also contact us if you think there may be something that shifted to get an updated piece of information.
We, as the W Club team, are busy working on our registration to come soon and other fun offerings for W Club members, as well as continuing to pass on real-time feedback to Integrity, so we hope that you find our offering valuable and we look forward to continuing in your service.


All text and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2017 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission.

Poppy Parker, Fashion Royalty, NU. Face and all other trademarks followed by ™ or ® are registered trademarks of Integrity Toys, Inc. Chesapeake City MD USA 21915. All rights reserved. 

HASBRO and its logo, JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro and used with permission. © 2017 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.

Graphics and Layouts by Alain Tremblay Marketing.

1 comment:

  1. Hmmm, I just pre-ordered my first Homme body from IT Direct yesterday. I wonder if this means it'll be the FRH 1.5 or not....

    ReplyDelete