Things Are Beginning To Turn Around

Both in my collecting world and in my professional life.  I have taught at the same school for 12 years, and have been driving over 45 minutes one way each day.  I found a great job 7 miles from my home - still teaching gifted children.  I've had to move everything into my garage until I can get into my new school, but I'm ecstatic.

I got out my paints, magnifying glasses, and brushes and decided to correct Erin's eyelid myself.  I sealed it this morning.  I am no professional, but I know I can live with it.

She looks great in the Belk Barbie dress from a couple years ago.  It's very warm (downright HOT) here in the south, so I thought she needed something comfortable to wear.  I'm still having trouble bonding with this doll.  The hair color on the replacement head is better.  I think the eyes are more balanced in eyeshadow and crease definition.  But that forehead is just too high.  I believe Integrity Toys suffers from the Goldilocks syndrome.  In the promotion photo, collectors complained the forehead was too low - not it's too high.  IT needs to stay away from extremes.

The twins arrived!  I can honestly say their face ups are much better than the promotional photos.   I'm still not sure about the hair, and I don't want to spend any more money on re-rooting them.  (Has anyone noticed the absence of the painted lower lashes on all the NuFace dolls?)

Here is Eden:

And her sister Lilith:

I haven't decided whether or not to keep this duo.  Partly because I already own versions I like better.  Hard Metal is my favorite Lilith of all time.

And even though The Great Pretender is considered Lilith, she has blonde hair and is more like Eden.

And I adore Sweet Nothings Gretel.

The replacement skirt for Up All Night finally arrived!  It's perfect.

According to IT, this is a Lillith doll also.  And I like this doll more than Never Ordinary.

On a final note, my followers may have noticed I've been selling several of my older dolls.  This allowed me to get High Frequency Kumi on secondary market.  Ouch!

I hope to do a formal review soon when she gets released and redressed.  This is one beautiful version of the Eden/Lilith mold!  Things are definitely headed in the right direction!

Apathy ...

This year has been "lackluster" at best.   It has really affected my attitude about collecting, and I've struggled with remaining enthusiastic about my 12" dolls.

The year started out strong with my first newly released Integrity Toys doll, NuFace Polarity Nadja Rhymes.  With her hair pulled back, I really have grown to appreciate and enjoy this doll quite a bit.

In addition to Polarity, I had purchased two other dolls from this line:  Energetic Presence Giselle, and Voltage Erin.  Here is the link to the original post about these dolls:  NuFace New Releases

I have waited for several weeks for the head replacement for Voltage Erin.   When it arrived, I was pleased by the improvement.  The hair actually seems a little more strawberry blonde than the one I received initially.  The eyebrows are definitely more symmetrical, but the eye screening on the left eye is still a little off.  The eyeshadow on her right eye looks a deeper color and less crease is exposed.  It's a better version, but still not as good as the quality of IT dolls from a few years ago.

While I was sending off items for replacement, I included the skirt from Out All Night Lillith.  The packing receipt that came for the Erin head showed that the skirt was also included.  (You can see the defect in the earlier post by following this link: Out All Night Skirt Problem).  I excitedly tore into the package.  The only item inside was a pair of black shoes.  ????  I contacted Customer Care and have been assured the skirt is "in the mail". ….

Until it arrives, I guess I can redress and play with my wonky-eyed Erin.  It's not that noticeable in full length photos.

I guess we'll see what the Lillith/Eden gift set brings later this month.   The first IT reveal will be soon, but I am very reluctant to pre-order anything these days …  It is May 21 and no 2016 releases so far.