How should I be looking at my glass?

I made it through six months this year and managed to keep my two New Year's Resolutions:

1)  No new doll that comes into this house will stay in its box for more than two weeks.  It will either come out of the box or be sold.  (Amended:   It can stay in its box as long as one of the NRFB dolls comes out of a box- that way the number of boxed dolls will not increase.)

2)  For every doll that comes in ... one goes out. 

Unfortunately, I think the following photo sums up my doll shopping experience this month. To quote, Penelope, "Full steam ahead!"

With the recent first release of Integrity Dolls and the "Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF)" deal at Toys R Us, I have completely upset my apple cart. 

While I was at Toys R Us, I literally lost my mind.  (If anyone happens to be shopping in the Athens, GA Toys R Us and finds it, please forward it to me.)   Other than the Barbie Basics, I haven't purchased many Barbies lately, but the BOGOF sale was just too much to resist.  I believe this photo pretty much sums up my doll shopping for the month of July.

I got the Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and Beverly Hillbillies dolls.  I watched these series as a child and they were my very favorite shows.  Now if I could get Mary Ann and Ginger dolls from Gilligan's Island, all my favorites would be represented!

I picked up the Japan doll because I found one with terrific hair and screening.  I also added the Russia doll and Sydney Opera House doll.  I love the screening on the Sydney doll and hope the hair can be tamed and managed.  I got an extra Pirate doll for a body donor for this girl.  (I know several collectors bought multiples of this doll so they could use the body for other dolls.)  Eight dolls and $160 less in my bank account, I left the store with my arms loaded and a big smile on my face.  

My readers met Heat of Glass Aria in my last blog.  The other dolls I purchased from the Plastic Inevitable line were Rock Candy Rufus Blue and Most Beautiful Boy Auden.   Auden is probably the best male doll IT has ever produced.  BUT his price on the secondary market makes me scared to take him out of the box.  He has sold for over $500.  Should I sell him and use the money for a grail doll?  or should I just let him out?   All three DG dolls were pre-ordered and I paid retail price.

The other three IT dolls are Magnificient and Extravagance Monograms (purchased at retail from an Integrity dealer) and Red Desire Mini-Gene which was purchased on the secondary market at original price.

When I went home this week for a reunion of my mother's family (many followers know that I lost my mother this year to cancer), I stopped at the Tuesday Morning nearby.  I found the Juicy Couture set for $39.99 and just couldn't leave it behind.

I think one of the most pleasant surprises from Mattel this year was the Pirates of the Caribbean dolls.  Not only is the screening terrific, the dolls are on articulated bodies.   The Angelica (Penelope Cruz) doll is actually on a Barbie Pivotal body.  The outfit is actually quite well made, allowing for many redressing possibilities.   You can see that the pirate blouse (reminds me of that Seinfeld episode) is actually a body suit that slips on and off easily. 

The bustier is separate and closes with a snap.   The little sword is amazingly detailed.  The only disappointments were that the the boots were not actually boots and her hair is rather messy.  With a proper reroot, I think she would be amazing.

I'm sure everyone here can count.  There are sixteen dolls (17 if you count both dolls in the Juicy Couture giftset) in the photo.  When added to the 8 dolls already added to my collection this year, that brings my total to 24/25 dolls.   22 dolls have left this year, so I am officially upside/down in my resolution.  I also have A LOT of deboxing to do.

It's always wonderful to have dolly friends.  When I was talking to my sister about the amount of money I spent this last month, she said, "But you purchased everything at either retail price or at the Buy-One-Get-One-Free sale.  So, it's better to look at this as how much money you saved!"  I guess the glass is actually half-full.

Being highly evolved ...

It has become increasingly surprising to me how my blogs don't follow any rational plan.  I mean I start out with a plan ... honest ... I do.   But then something happens and I wind up writing about something else.

When I started this blog, it was going to show a direct progression of my doll collecting this year.   I was going to open each arrival in the order in which they showed up on my doorstep.  I was going to follow my resolutions and stay on track.  HA!

I managed well enough with the first eight dolls added to my collection this year.  Then someone got moved to the head of the class ...

She is Heart of Glass Aria from the Plastic Inevitable Dynamite Girl 2011 Collection.  She is made by Integrity Toys.   I knew when I saw this doll in the Spring preview show that she was going to be a doll for my collection.  She has such an exquisite expression.   I loved the edge to her outfit which is incredibly detailed.  The jeans are very stylized with grays, silvers, golds, reds, blues, etc.   They snap in the back and have pencil legs.   They are a fantastic fit.  The jacket has all sorts of little button details.  It is one of the best DG pieces ever produced in my opinion.   Under the jacket she is wearing a lace blouse with sewn in bra. 

 This girl is extremely versatile.  I put her hair up and added the skirt from Suited Luxury Adele (this is the blouse under the jacket).   I have mentioned to other collecting friends that this Aria does not look like other DG models to me.  I decided to try her on a NuFace body.

One thing I did note right away.   This year's DGs came with pierced ears.  I thought that was a wonderful surprise. 

Some members of the collecting community had orginally purchased this doll with intention of adding the outfit to their NuFace girls' wardrobes.  There is still too much difference in heighth for the DG and NuFace girls to share pants.   Here is a photo of the evolution of the DG girl with a NuFace doll thrown in for comparison sake.  They are all on similar stands and the same distance from the camera.

The first doll is Feelin' Fierce Dani (farthest to the left).    She is one of my favorites of the earlier girls and is on the original body (pre-2010).   The original DGs had legs similar to the second generation FR girls.  Collectors did not like the way the knees looked in photos.

The design team at Integrity listened and decided to come out with an improved knee.  The second doll is last year's Vintage Vinyl Sooki.  You can see the leg length is a little longer than the original doll body.  The new DG body can still share pants with Poppy, Misaki, Barbie, and the earlier DG models.   The NuFace leg is even longer and is somewhat "thicker", which prevents them sharing slacks.  They can still share skirts, dresses, and most blouses.

When I put the four dolls next to each other, I noticed an even further difference.  The forearms on the dolls are different lengths.  Even though Integrity solved the problem with the knees, DG collectors wanted MORE.  We wanted better hands.  Something more graceful.   So this year, the DG models have nicer hands.  I am only speculating here, but I think IT had to change the forearm a little for the newer hand (it must not have been as aesthetic as desired).   The newer dolls does have a longer forearm.  It still is not as long as the NuFace arm, but it is a little longer.  This brings in a further challenge in long-sleeved wardrobe options.

I believe Aria is exceptional.  She is definitely #9 now in my collection.  One of the best things about the DG girls (and guys) are their price.  IT has managed to keep their prices down.  The Plastic Inevitable dolls were retailed at $59.00.  For the quality of doll and clothing, you can't beat that price anywhere!   Unfortunately, the production numbers were very low and they sold out almost immediately in pre-orders.   One of the male dolls has been fetching as much as 5  - 8 times his original price..  Fortunately, I have a great relationship with an incredible dealer and was able to pre-order all of the dolls I wanted this year.  But Aria didn't have to wait; she moved directly into her place in my collection.