"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'.

The Truly Elusive Natalia Fatale

Integrity Toys had to replace the head for my Elusive Creature.  Followers may remember how the doll I received had very wonky eyes.  Unfortunately, I believe the quality control issues surrounding this doll significantly damaged her reputation.   Here is a photo of her still in her box (the eye issue is even more noticeable at a distance).

It took several weeks for me to receive my replacement, but , as you can see, the replacement is quite good.

Even though I was a fan of the "Urban Safari" theme, the fabric weights on these ensembles were just too far off from each other.  The skirt is thin material and very short, the blouse is mesh, but the vest is heavy and thick. I believe there are good mix and match possibilities with winter ensembles.  Here is a full length photo of the ensemble.

Here is a photo of the accessories separate from the doll.

The true beauty of Elusive Creature Natalia Fatale is not realized until you start redressing her.  It was a very snug fit around the hips, but this is the bodysuit from the Chameleon ensemble in 2006.

Elusive Creature Natalia Fatale may be the dark horse of the 2014.  She is quite gorgeous when set free to explore the wilds of the IT doll closets.