I Hate You, Poppy Parker

As many of my followers know, Poppy Parker and I have had a difficult relationship.  I actually purchased (I still have trouble writing "started collecting") Ms. Parker when she was first released.  Many of my earlier Poppy Parkers have been sold, but she keeps sneaking her way into my heart ... I mean collection ... every now and again.

When the "Poppy Goes to Paris" line was premiered, my response was simply, "I don't need these.  I really don't like the styling on these dolls.  Anyway, I don't collect Poppy Parker."  As I looked over the photos, I started realizing that two of these girls were going to live here whether I won the lottery to purchase them or not - Powder Puff and Miss Amour.  I rationalized, "At least I didn't order from the retail line." 

When this collection started showing up in the hands of collectors and "real life" photos started being posted, I did a double take.   The doll that I had originally considered the weakest in this line was "Night at the Ballet".   The fabric scale was wrong, the screening did not appeal to me, etc.  Here is the promotion photo from Integrity Toys.

Well... the production doll is amazing.   I think they softened her eyeshadow and it made such a dramatic improvement.    I have to blame Rebecca Berry for this one (it's not the first time Rebecca has impacted my wallet).  Her first flickr photos were amazing.  I completely folded when I read her review Inside the Fashion Doll Studio - Night At The Ballet Review

I was able to order one at retail price because collectors had not realized yet exactly the sleeper this doll was to become.  First, I love the packaging on this line.  It is just so "girlie" - the little bow on top is the perfect finishing touch.

Here is a full length photo inside the box.

I do like the little accessory boxes they've started including with Poppy now.  And here's a closeup of the face.

Here are the accessories.   The shoes are "everything" - just look at the detail here. 

This doll reminded me so much of Elizabeth Montgomery's character, Samantha Stephens, from the television series "Bewitched", which was my favorite show when I was a child.  I used to make believe I was "Sam" in play.  

Unfortunately, when I took my doll's hair out of the hairnet, there were several "pieces" that had pulled away from the rest and were folded under in the back.  BAD quality control, BAD.  I am not a hair stylist, but here is my attempt at correcting the mess in a full length photo.

The fur stole is a nice finishing touch.  

I redressed this doll in an earlier Poppy Parker fashion, Sealed With A Kiss.  I love her in this.

I really do love this doll very much.  For someone who does not collect Poppy Parker, how did 26 of them find homes here?  The latest addition, and one of my very favorite versions of this character, Night at the Ballet Poppy Parker, is breathtaking in real life. 

"Eye Just Don't Get IT" - A Review of Emerging Rebel Kyori Sato

I try to be very careful about making decisions on a product change.  The new eye decal  process by Integrity Toys (IT) has been very controversial, but I waited until I had personal experience to make a judgement.

When the Fashion Royalty mainline collection was announced last month (the first mainline launch in over 12 months), I wasn't excited about what was presented; I wonder if the delayed reveal caused my apathy.  I only pre-ordered three dolls.

One doll I was most interested in owning was Emerging Rebel Kyori Sato.  I have purchased every version of Kyori Sato since the mold makeover, and I have sold almost all of them.  It has been very difficult for me to bond with mold 2.0, so I decided to give Emerging Rebel a try (the hair color was refreshing and I loved the ensemble).

Emerging Rebel arrived last week and I took my time trying to bond with her.  I am very particular about my dolls' faceups.  I have sent several dolls off to a friend for professional tweaking, but have learned to do minor enhancements myself.  I wear jeweler's glasses which makes the work easier.

Here is my experience with Emerging Rebel and the new eye decal process.

The doll's hair was partially inside the hairnet and partially out - which is a sloppy way to present a $140 collectible doll.   Since the hair was tied by thread to the liner, I had to remove the tape and thread to just get the hair put in place.   

When I put on my jeweler's glasses, I immediately realized the eyelash on the right eye was applied below the lid line.  Normally, you can take a needle and coax the eyelash up enough to compensate for this.  

ACK!   When I tried this, it actually tore a small hole in the decal.  The decal on my doll's eye was not flat or sealed.  It was rubbery and almost like thin chewing gum.   WTF!  

The eye decals were not set evenly - the right eye had a small amount of white on the inside of the eye (close to the nose), whereas the left iris was all the way to the outside edge.  There have been times, when you can use that trusty needle and carefully scratch a little of the paint off to expose white.  When I tried this, it exposed the brown decal instead of white!

I wound up repainting the white on the right eye and painting black liner on the bottoms of both eyes to correct my mess.  I used a matte sealer on the paint which actually helped the decal area considerably.  

So, my photos are not 100% factory original.  They have been tweaked by me in response to my dealing with these crazy decals - which I now believe to be from the devil himself.

Here is a full length photo in the box:

And here is a closeup:

The accessories throw off the dress because nothing really matches.  I like the jewelry quite a bit though.

Here is Emerging Rebel outside the box, standing on her own.

Another closeup.

I don't think the dress works well with Emerging Rebel's coloring.  I decided to try it on Elusive Creature Natalia. I think I like it better on Natalia.

So what should Emerging Rebel wear?  How about a Dynamite Girl dress?  I love this one on her.  It softens her somewhat.

In summary:

After my horrifying experience, I do NOT like the eye decals!  Fortunately, I was able to correct my mistakes.  

I like the eyes now and love the hair color.  The faceup and smaller eyes make her look more Asian.  She is an attractive doll and brings a new element to my collection.  I do not have another doll that looks similar.

I can't say I will never buy another doll with eye decals, but I will definitely leave the eyes alone if I do.   The eye decals are not a "deal breaker"; however, they limit how much tweaking you can do on your own.  Eye just don't get IT on this "improvement'.