Choosing dolls to release from boxes and add to my collection can sometimes be a long process. I have very limited display space, so I sometimes have to sell or rebox a doll for another to join those dolls currently out.
Unfortunately, when you collect Integrity Toys dolls, you can't just return a whole boxed doll and have it switched out for another. The Patient Care program requires that you identify the problem and then send back the specific part or head/torso for replacement. This takes some of the control out of a collector's hands about which dolls are released from their packaging first. It's what happened with NYFW Karolin Stone.
At the 2019 IT Convention, the "Fashion Week" theme was most apparent in the NuFace dolls. The only NuFace doll in the convention collection was London Runway Nadja Rhymes (#35 of 2019). At the W Club luncheon on Saturday, the centerpiece doll was Paris Runway Giselle Diefendorf.
(Hate the color of the interior of these boxes - yellow just doesn't look right on most skin tones). #54 of 2019.
It seems the NuFace dolls were unsettling to many collectors. Some collectors loved them, and some collectors disliked them just as much. The same is true for the W Club Luncheon gift doll that was included with the luncheon fee, NYFW (New York Fashion Week) Karolin Stone.
When I got upstairs and opened my doll, I found that she had not made a safe trip to Baltimore. She had come untied from her box and had been tossed around. Her head was twisted around like Linda Blair. Her eyelash was not secure and she was missing some of the paint from her eyeliner.
I took her back downstairs, hoping to exchange her, but the IT team had already boxed up everything. I went to the salesroom and they tried to help me; unfortunately, they were unable to find a doll to switch out, so I was told I would have to contact Patient Care.
When I got home, I had to remove the doll from the box, undress her, and disconnect her from her torso at the breastplate. She was mailed to Canada. I just got the replacement this week.
Here is a full length photo of the replaced doll in her entire ensemble. (Love those shoes!)
And a close up.
I added a hair ribbon to better show that gorgeous face because it is quite dramatic and beautiful. Fortunately, my replacement had a higher forehead than the original. This doll's best feature is her eyes. They are amazing! Again, the factory workers globbed on too much glue on the eyelashes, but I found a quick fix. I just took a small paint brush, some black paint and painted over the glue! It made a significant improvement in photos.
So how will she redress? How about how does she undress??
#53 of 2019 is NYFW Karolin Stone, a truly amazing doll to photograph! I think she looks almost like a OOAK re-paint. She'll be staying here for a long time. I see a lot of playtime in my future with this doll! I wonder when her value will increase as collectors realize her potential and she stops being overshadowed by other dolls from the convention...
Registration to attend an Integrity Toys (IT) Convention is not cheap. If you paid up front in one payment, it was still $550. For $550, you get access to the Salesroom, Style Lab, Room Sales, Bazaar, two dinners, one luncheon, and pizza was served during the Bazaar (nice touch!). This year there was a Welcome Doll (Fresh Perspective Agnes Von Weiss = #34 of 2019), a Gift Doll at the Welcome Party (Vivid Paradise Tatyana Alexandrova #49 of 2019), a Gift Doll at the Poppy Parker Luncheon (Pink Powder Puff - #48 of 2019), and the Convention Doll (Spring 2017 Elyse Jolie).
(#50 of 2019 is Spring 2017 Elyse Jolie.)
You also got the opportunity to purchase at least two of the centerpiece dolls.
At the Welcome Dinner, the centerpiece was Sting To The Heart Agnes Von Weiss.
That's right Agnes #2 and #51 of 2019.
The centerpiece at the Banquet was Ethereal Beauty Vanessa Perrin.
Yes, she is mold 1.0! #52 of 2019.
Even though they are considered "Gift Dolls", they are part of the registration cost. Excluding Fresh Perspective Agnes, most the "Gift Dolls" have received a very lukewarm reception by collectors and are not fetching very high prices on secondary market.
The doll least preferred by collectors seems to be Vivid Paradise Tatyana Alexandrova. Here is a photo of her NRFB.
And a closeup. IT has had quite a bit of trouble over the last three years with heads that are slightly different in color to the dolls' bodies. Unfortunately, this is the case with my Vivid Paradise Tatyana.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) At the W Club Luncheon, attendees got to view a slide show with embedded videos that walked us through the entire production process. It was very eye-opening. Each doll's head is individually rooted by hand. After the rooting process, the makeup is sprayed on by hand using copper molds placed over the rubber face. There are as many as 24 molds/steps to putting on a doll's face up. Eyelashes are then applied by hand. IT is having trouble keeping a trained workforce because employees are so transient. There is no "formula" for skin tones. Each head is produced by a colorist mixing the dyes by hand. The bodies are also produced in a similar fashion, and because the material for the body is different from the material used for the heads, they sometimes come out slightly different. Add to that the fact that the heads are "cured" by warming them and that process isn't uniform either, it's a wonder things aren't worse than they are. It made me look at my dolls very differently. It's near impossible to get a perfect doll.
(Back from Commercial Break) Vivid Paradise Tatyana Alexandrova came with some lovely blue shoes and a pair of awesome parrot earrings. There was also a simple bracelet and another pair of hands (without the long nails).
Since Tatyana is selling so reasonably on secondary market, I decided to buy a nude second one to use as a body donor (she has the "Sunkissed" skin tone which is a good match for the earlier "Tan" dolls). When my body donor arrived, I found that her head actually matched her body better than mine! Although her hairline isn't as perfect, she isn't quite as yellow. I decided to spend some time redressing her before turning on the heating pad.
Here she is wearing a pair of Elen Priv pants and an artist's blouse. She seems to redress rather well.
I am not usually a fan or lavender colored eyes, but I do like the face-up on this doll. I had to wash and boil perm her hair to make it more manageable. I also had to take a needle and remove some of the eyelash glue from one of the eyelashes. The workers at the factory have gotten very "heavy handed" with the eyelash glue this year. Sometimes there are really big globs of glue all over the lower eyelash.
While room shopping, I came upon a dress for which I had been stalking secondary market. I had seen this dress on someone's flickr page and loved it. I bought it at a room sale for $35!
Although she may be an underdog, I think she is seriously under-rated. This is probably due to the fact there were so many beautiful dolls produced for this convention. It's like saying one rose is the least beautiful in a bouquet. It's still a rose!
#35 of 2019 is Vivid Paradise Tatyana Alexandrova. (My "Tan" girls are still waiting for the body donor...)
