Friday, December 25, 2020

Best of 2020 - Number 7: Miami Glam Kesenia Valentinova

Forgive me for writing this, but I don't believe the digital videos did any favors for the convention dolls.   I'm not sure the photographs were taken in the best lighting or used the best production versions of the dolls.  Style Lab Isha looked horrible in the promos, but she turns out to be one of the best of the Style Lab and is beginning to fetch more than $200 on secondary market.

On Thursday night, digital convention attendees got to see the "Opening Ceremony" table centerpiece and the souvenir doll.   When I saw the photos of the souvenir doll, my only comment was, "Look at that!  They copied Miami Glow right down to her big forehead!"  

Those of you who have been around for a while remember how Miami Glow Vanessa was produced with this extremely high forehead.  (Mine was sent off to Veronica Hage to have her irises  corrected.)

The doll in the promo photo had a similar issue.   I knew there were many things that could go wrong with the production of this doll.  Wonky eyes ... high forehead ... mismatched head/body skin tone ... shortened hair ...

I decided to reserve my judgement until I saw real life versions in collectors' hands.  I even listed her as an "Honorary Mention" when I made my Top 5 of the Legendary Convention collage.

In true Integrity Toys form, the production versions showed quite a variance in eye screenings and hair rootings.   I decided to wait until I found a version that I really liked that fit my budget.  Fortunately, I was able to jump on one rather quickly.

Here is Miami Glam Kesenia Valentinova in the box.

A full length shot.

Out of the box realness!

A lot of collectors struggle with this mold.  I have several versions of Kesenia Valentinova and am a fan.  As a matter of fact, Miami Glam would've been much higher on my countdown on a different year.  This year just had some really great dolls.  


Collectors actually received two versions of Kesenia Valentinova this year.  In addition to Miami Glam, the 2019 Ferocious lingerie doll arrived earlier this year.   
These two versions represent the first time the character has appeared on the taller FR2/FR6 body.  Kesenia Valentinova first appeared at the 2010 IT Convention.  There have only been nine versions of her ever produced.  She is one of the few molds for which I have owned every version.   Still residing here are:

2011 Follow The Line
2012 Long Cool Woman (Miami Glam actually reminds me of this doll a little)
2012 Your Kind of Model (still NRFB)
2015 Entice (transferred to a tall FR2 body)
Appearing for the first time in my countdown, Best of 2020 - Number 7: Miami Glam Kesenia Valentinova.  (And number 32 added to my collection in 2020).


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