The Saturday gala is always a bittersweet event: while everyone is anticipating the presentation of the convention doll and lots of other reveals and gifts of the night, it is also time to say goodbye and marks the end of the convention. The Integrity Toys design team conducted the highly anticipated OOAK and complete collection raffles, unveiled the final dolls of the weekend and announced that next year's convention would take place in Chicago (the theme, dates, registration information and other details will be revealed approximately in the Spring of 2016). They also announced the winner of the design contest, Jason Kramer, who was attending his first convention and won both categories, the advanced with his 12" entry (which will be made into a doll from Integrity next year) and the intermediate with his 16" entry. Here are photos taken from the flickr profile of Crystal.

Jason Kramer - winner of the advanced category in the design contest

This is Jason Kramer's 16" entry that won the intermediate category. It is actually portraying model Shalom Harlow at the finale of the Spring Summer 1999 Alexander McQueen collection, where her dress was spray-painted by industrial robots live on the runway.

Of course the final two dolls of the weekend were revealed: Elyse Jolie was the centerpiece (the designers mentioned that the change in her name's spelling was requested by her and they had being writing it wrong for years!) and a new character was introduced in the Nu. Face collection, Ms. Karolin Stone, a model and actress. Everyone in attendance received the gorgeous Karolin doll who is the official convention doll. Not everyone was pleased, as Elyse or Vero were expected to be convention dolls. The fact that Jason Wu did not make an appearance during the convention and no doll was wearing one of his real life outfits in miniature was also much discussed and speculated upon.

I'm not a fan of this Elyse. She looks a lot like previous releases of her (On The Rise was the first that came to mind), while the dress is too transparent  - shouldn't it be lined? I really like the fabric buy maybe it needs a different design to look its best.

The face looks familiar. She could be using the Ayumi 2.0 (more likely, as it is out of use now) ot 3.0 sculpt. Her severe look and simplicity did not go down well with some attendees - I read somewhere that when she was announced, everyone was silent for a few moments. She looks modern and strong but I would not try to get her.

Note: The dolls shown are prototypes and final versions 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.

I like her a lot - she's probably in my top-5 or 6 dolls from the convention. In real life photos of her from the convention though, the face looks a bit strange. Could be the eyeliner or the eyeshadow. Would not say not if I'd won her. Love the jewellery.

For me this is the best doll of the convention, even though she's one of the simpler dressed ones. What a face! Channelling Grace Jones in James Bond, Nadja rocks with flocked hair like her previous favourite incarnation (Urban Outfitting) and Muse Adele, two of my most favourite dolls. And she should take pride of place next to them, no?

Note: The dolls shown are prototypes and final versions 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

Friday night had a Halloween themed party, so every attendee got to dress up with their costumes. They also got a nice Fashion Royalty outfit as a gift. The final event on Saturday night was the convention gala. It was highly anticipated, not only as the culmination of the whole convention but as the moment when the convention doll would be revealed. There was also a centerpiece doll. Let's check them out.

This is a gorgeous Elise - I wish she was part of the normal collection instead of convention! Gorgeous doll and amazing, sharp outfit. You cannot see it but she has a fantastic clasp on her low ponytail. Simply brilliant. The best doll in the whole convention for me.

Since she had not appeared in any guise during the previous days, it was rightly assumed that Agnes would be making an appearance as the convention doll. She looks like a cross between Silver Zinger and High Gloss. Gorgeous doll but not as perfect as Elise.

Her gown is shown below in its real life version, on the Spring/Summer Jason Wu catwalk.