Back to our regularly scheduled program.
So ... I started reorganizing with Veronique Perrin because she was the first Fashion Royalty character introduced and the first one in my collection. This led me directly to blonde dolls with ponytails, which progressed to Dasha D'Amboise. Female Icon Dasha took me to dolls with short red hair, and I am now finding myself at Tatyana Alexandrova, which fits in with both blonde dolls with ponytails and short-haired redheads!
Here is a collage of my Tatyana dolls:
Tatyana started her life at Integrity Toys as the first Lana Turner doll, Ethereal Return. I remember collectors carried on about how this doll did not look anything like Lana Turner, so Integrity Toys revised her mold. That same year, a different character with the original Lana Turner mold showed up as the Convention Doll, Fete Accompli Tatyana Alexandrova and was the first character to appear with the Porcelain Skintone - twice in 2008 with Feta Accompli and Paris J'Adore. (Also released in 2008 withe the Porcelain Skintone was Queen V Veronique Perrin.)
At this point, you may be thinking, "Wow! This is a very interesting mold and can look quite different depending on the doll." Well ... Tatyana has never been popular with collectors. When she transitioned over to FR2 in 2013, she had some plastic surgery - there are two distinctly different molds. Part of the inspiration for doing this is the fact that the original mold went through a third character development, Jordan Duvall.
After completing my comparison of blondes with ponytails, I sold Goddess Tatyana. I have also listed Perfect Reign for sale.
Surprisingly, most of my Tatyana dolls are still NRFB. What's up with that? I'm not sure why, but IT also likes to use Tatyana's mold for villains or characters (Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, Bloodlines for Bride of Frankenstein, and Fashionably Ruthless for Cruella Deville). Two of the ten versions I owned have been moved into the "leaving" stack, so I think the others are safe for right now. I need to start releasing them from their boxes, but I need to make room for them first.
Since I mentioned Jordan Duvall for using the first Tatyana mold, I went ahead with reviewing this character.
Each of these dolls is special and unique in it own way. None have to worry about leaving the island any time soon.
... Now where to go next?
Before I continue my "Summer of Reorganization", I need to respond to some comments/questions that have been made to the previous few entries.
1. The East 59th Street body is different from all other Integrity bodies. It is shorter than the FR2 and NuFace bodies with shorter arms and legs. It has larger breasts than the FR2 and NuFace bodies but can share some tops, skirts, and dresses with FR2. The East 59th Street body looks great in Barbie Silkstone clothing, Barbie Vintage clothing, older FR clothing, and some FR2 clothing. The feet are like the older Dynamite Girl feet which could share shoes most Barbie dolls, The Industry, and all the older FR girls. The newer FR2/Nuface shoes are usually too big.
2. The W Club is open for memberships early in the calendar year for a few weeks. You cannot join except during the membership period. It's the best way to learn about doll releases but members are not allowed to share information with the general public. Unfortunately, most collections sell out before the general public even realize dolls are available. It is important to develop a good relationship with a dealer. You can go to http://www.integritytoys.com and click on the link "Find A Dealer" to see a list. You can ask to be put on their notification list for new lines. Also, it's important to join different Fashion Royalty/Integrity Toys groups on Facebook and other social media. There is usually a 24 - 48 hour sales window for W Club members and then everyone can share the information publicly.
3. Oomph Ayumi Nakamura was produced with a white scalp.
4. Unfortunately, I don't have any way of helping anyone sell a particular doll or their collection. My advice would be check doll boards and social media groups. Due to its fee structure, E-bay is not the most desirable way to sell dolls, but it can be the most reliable. I wish everyone great luck as they evaluate their own collections and figure out how to find the most joy in doll collecting.
I appreciate everyone's kind words and encouragement to keep this blog active. I am hoping to put more effort into everything this summer as I get my collection to a place where I am at peace with it!
