Best of 2025 - Number 1

For the third time in the past five years' countdowns, the top spot is going to a line other than Integrity Toys.  Three collections were produced and shipped in 2025.  From those collections I added seven dolls plus another I got in a trade for one of my duplicates.  Here are the links to my reviews of these collections and the dolls I received:

Jamieshow/Owensu Muses Garden Party (Jasmine/Astrid/Keira)

Jamieshow/Owensu Muses Mini-Collection The Swans (Alexis and Grace)

Jamieshow/Owensu Muses Time & Timeless (Thea and Daphne)

I have been collecting Jamieshow/Owensu since their Premier Collection debut in 2020/2021 and have been waiting for the design and quality to level off.  It hasn't.  Somehow designer Owensu keeps finding a way to give collectors better and better designs and the production quality is beyond anything available to collectors.  

It may not seem reasonable to compare mass produced plastic dolls to these hand painted/hand blushed resin ball-jointed little works of art, but they both are produced made-to-order to the general public.  The cost of a nude Muses doll is more than 250% that of an Integrity dressed doll with accessories, but the quality truly is there.   The ensembles cost between $175 and $300, but they are made from the finest fabrics and are designed and sewn with the greatest attention to detail.   (It helps quality control that Owensu oversees the entire production process himself overseas.)  Since the dolls are the same size and can share the same clothing and shoes, they display quite nicely together.   (If anything, I think Integrity Toys should learn from this and offer a high end alternative to their own collections called "IT Atelier".)

In an effort to be as fair as possible, I gave Jamieshow/Owensu one place in my countdown as a doll line, but the only place they belonged was the Number 1 spot.   More and more collectors seem to be willing to move from quantity to quality in their collections and are joining this line, creating a very loyal following.  

Jamieshow/Owensu doesn't do those silly lotteries that always seem stacked against collectors, nor is the secondary market filled with dolls offered by employees/family members of the parent company at jacked up prices.   If a collector wants a Jamieshow/Owensu doll, they just place a pre-order and they get it.  No stress.  No worry.   No aggravation.  The smartest thing Jamieshow does is over-produce their orders so they can offer "leftovers" publicly after all collectors receive their orders.  It gives us the opportunity to see post-production photos on social media and pick up items we may regret overlooking from the pre-order window.  Again, this prevents collectors from having to go to secondary mark-up for items.

Representing Jamieshow/Owensu Muses in my countdown is Garden Party Astrid wearing ensemble pieces and accessories from Time & Timeless Look 4 over Bonjour Paris Sabina's mini-dress.

Best of 2025 - Number 1 is easily Jamieshow/Owensu Muses

Best of 2025 - Number 2

I sort of "painted myself into a corner" this year.  I created my countdown and started it on December 21.   A couple days before Christmas Day, a collector listed the Yuri/Kumi twins at a great price.  I purchased them thinking they would arrive after December 31, so my countdown wouldn't be affected.   The seller wrapped them as Christmas gifts and sent them immediately after purchase and they arrived the day after Christmas!  Kumi and Yuri truly are two of my very favorite dolls I purchased this year and definitely belonged in a top spot in my 2025 countdown.  

This meant I had to pivot in my blog.   I was too far along in my countdown to leave any out!  So, I decided that my very favorite Integrity Toys (IT) dolls from the Fashion Royalty and Nuface lines would share the last spot dedicated from the IT brand.

I think the NuFace line shifted in 2017 with the production of the Fairytale convention line which produced several grail dolls; some of the best versions of characters produced to date.  I think the response to these dolls gave Jessy a lot of confidence.  He has often pushed the envelope on convention NuFace dolls since that time with the likes of The Enchantress Nadja Rhymes, Tantrum Erin Salston, and La Sombra Alejandra Luna.

Jessy did not disappoint collectors with this year's offering, Le Cirque Cabaret Clownesque Nadja Rhymes.  I have seen photos on social media where collectors have taken the hair down into a big pink afro and she is gorgeous!  Definitely another little piece of doll art!  (I added the balloons prop.)

Best of 2025 - Number 2 - NuFace Clownesque Nadja Rhymes

There were some beautiful Fashion Royalty dolls that made it to collectors in 2025.  My very favorite was one from a W Club lottery.  She is truly an incredibly gorgeous version of one of my very favorite sculpts.

Best of 2025 - Number 2 - Fashion Royalty Martini Social Eugenia Frost

Best of 2025 - Number 3

When Jessy Ayala promoted the 2024 NuFace Audio/Visual Capsule there was A LOT of collector buzz.   This line introduced the NuFace 3.5 body and a new sculpt.  Yuri and Kumi have always used the Lilith/Eden Blair sculpt in the past; it was about time they got their own identity.   

It was near impossible to get Yuri from a dealer, and I was unlucky in the W Club lottery for Kumi.   When post-production photos of these two dolls started showing up on social media, I was so disappointed that I didn't own them (especially since I think Yuri looks like Christina Applegate when she played Kelly on Married With Children).    Their secondary market prices had prevented me adding either to my collection.  

Fortunately, I was in the right place at the right time just before Christmas.  A very kind collector offered these two at an incredible price I couldn't resist.   We all know the twins have to travel together, so they are sharing one spot in my countdown.  Even though each doll individually could certainly demand one their own.

Best of 2025 - Number 3 is Demonic Strings Kumi and Angelic Sound Yuri.