The eagerly anticipated Integrity Toys 25th Anniversary Agnes Von Weiss does not live up to expectations

The official banner of the Integrity Toys 2020 25th anniversary Legendary convention, held virtually this year, and also the image on all doll boxes for the event, was a beautiful Agnes Von Weiss doll, which drew admiring comments from most participants and was expected to appear in some form during the event. It was announced instead that the doll would be produced as the company’s official 25th Anniversary doll for all club members. Everyone was delighted and people started speculating on when and how the doll would be making its debut. Yesterday, the W Club sent the email announcing the beginning of the preorders for the doll, along with a series of promotional photos of the prototype. The collectors’ reactions: legendary!

Item # 91503

Legendary Status

Agnes Von Weiss™ Dressed Doll

Official Integrity Toys 25th Anniversary Doll

Limited Edition: TBD

Estimated Arrival: Late Spring 2021

Retail Price: $175.00

**IT DIRECT EXCLUSIVE PRE-ORDER**

Head Sculpt: Agnes

Body Type: FR 6.0

Foot Sculpt: High-heeled

Skin Tone: FR White

Hair Color: Mahogany

Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied

Quickswitch: No

Included:

12.5-inch fully articulated doll with rooted hair styled in an intricate ponytail, as well as hand-applied eyelashes;

Ultra-luxurious mirror "jeweled" gown with dramatic golden yellow asymmetric overskirt and draped accents;

Bespoke "jewel" clutch purse;

Especially designed "stocking-shoes", micro-crystal covered stockings with built-in shoes;

High-contrast faux-sapphire adorned jewelry set (earrings and two assorted rings);

Pair of hands with modern French manicure;

Alternate pair of grip hands;

Doll stand;

Certificate of authenticity;

There’s a huge reaction to the doll and most of it is not positive. People feel disappointed from the reveal, saying that the make up of the doll is not as vibrant as the convention promo, that the hairdo is too severe, that the dress is a mess and so on and so forth. I would say that it is only natural to have all these reactions: when you build the anticipation for a doll with a heavily retouched photo (see below) for such a long time and then present the same doll in a different lighting and by a different photographer (as the doll designer Jessy Ayala mentioned on his Instagram post about the doll), it is not a good business practice and will surely cause a negative reaction. If people had seen these promo photos first and then the one retouched and used for the convention promotional material and packaging, it would have been quite a different beast altogether, aesthetics notwithstanding.

I find the whole look a bit of a mess actually. Too many different things vying for attention and trying to fit together. The mix does not work for the most part. It takes a special talent to juggle so many different elements together successfully and frankly, it is missing here. And with an asking price of $175.00, I’m not so sure I want to give in. The doll is actually beautiful and I think the make up colours and hair colour all work together well. The dress is garish and over-designed. It looks like someone took two or three different dresses, cut them up and sew them together - Galliano can do that with a varying degree of success, Rei Kawakubo usually does it even better. But here it falls flat, no matter how many rhinestones are used to blind one in submission. Ralph and Russo designs are already overboard by themselves, let alone combining two looks (here and here) together.

And then, there’s the price. This is not a mini gift set and yet it retails more than any convention doll, most of which are way more stylish and accessorized than this one. Is it the crystals? I will just end with this: NAP Aymeline is a doll worth her $295.00 - this one does not look like it does justify her $175.00, And if this is going to be the price of FR dolls come 2021, with the pandemic going on and people trying to control expenses, it might not be such a good business move at all.

Offer Type: W Club open pre-order.

Participation Deadline: December 4th, 2020, 12 PM (Noon) Eastern Time.

Pricing (FOR W CLUB MEMBERS ONLY): $175.00 USD + S & H.

($25 NRD deposit due now, $150.00 + S & H due upon arrival).

Final Edition Size: To be determined (will be based on all orders received).

Shipping Timing: Approximately late Spring 2021.

Availability: 2020 W Club members only.

Pre-order Limit: No limit!

The deadline to pre-order Legendary Status Agnes Von Weiss is Friday, December 4th, 2020 at 12 PM/NOON North American Eastern Time.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Prototype shown, final production may vary. For adult collectors ages 15 and up only.

All photos and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC. and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission. ©2020 All rights reserved. FASHION ROYALTY and all other character marks followed by ™ or ® are trademarks of Integrity Toys, Inc., Chesapeake City MD USA 21915. ©2020 All rights reserved. The W Club is a trademark of Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.

Layouts and graphics by Alain Tremblay, Marketing

Net-A-Porter exclusive Jason Wu doll for their 20th anniversary: Midnight Garden Aymeline

In my previous post, I mentioned that last Saturday, during the final presentation of the Integrity Toys 2020 Legendary convention, Jason Wu showed us a doll that was to be kept under wraps for a while. Well, the doll in question was our first glimpse of the new character Aymeline, that was to be used for the convention doll as well, but in a completely different incarnation, which shows the versatility of the sculpt: it is the original Avantguard sculpt, shrunk with computer 3d modelling to 1/6 scale. And that explains its versatility, as the AG one could also give very different dolls depending on hair and make up used. Jason made this doll, Midnight Garden Aymeline, to celebrate the 20 years of Net-A-Porter in business, to be sold exclusively by them. Everybody was enthusiastic about her and we were promised more details before the release, which arrived on Sunday. The doll had a staggered release on NAP’s different country sites, beginning with east Asia and Australia, in the wee hours after midnight Sunday. It sold out really quickly, sooner even than the estimated time the email had given, something that has happened before with NAP Jason Wu dolls. 20% of the profits from the doll will go to a British charity, Women For Women International.

Item # 12312

Midnight Garden

Aymeline™ Mini Gift Set

NAP X Jason Wu

Limited Edition: 400 Dolls

Estimated Arrival: November 2020

Retail Price: $295.00

*NET-A-PORTER Exclusive

Head Sculpt: Aymeline 1.0 (New Sculpt!)

Body Type: FR 6.0

Foot Sculpt: High-heeled

Skin Tone: FR White

Hair Color: Pale Blond

Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied

Velvet Touch: No

Quickswitch: No

The Story:

Designed to celebrate the long standing partnership between Jason Wu and online retailer Net-A-Porter, Integrity Toys is proud to introduce this fashionable mini gift set! Newcomer Aymeline comes dressed in a miniature version of a Jason Wu designer original gown and comes with the fashionable goodies that she found on Net-A-Porter, three totally glam, 100% fierce pairs of high heels! Which one will she wear to the party? You decide!

Included:

12.5-inch fully articulated doll with gorgeous rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes;

Jason Wu original designer gown;

"Golden" earrings and bracelet;

Hot pink lace-up pumps;

Citron-lime colored high heels;

Dark green high heels with black contrast detail;

3 miniature Net-A-Porter shoe boxes;

2 miniature Net-A-Porter shopping bags;

Alternate pair of hands;

Doll stand;

Certificate of authenticity;

The gorgeous Aymeline is a fantastic doll and comes with more accessories than previous Jason Wu releases ever did: proper jewellery, three pairs of shoes in their lovely shoeboxes and two shopping bags. The execution of the dress is stunning and the beauty of her face mesmerizing. I’m happy that she is coming home this week as it is my birthday on Thursday and she will be a perfect gift. I was lucky to check the W Club forum after reading the email and it was there, late at night my time (Athens time) that the first dolls started appearing on Asian and the Australian NAP sites and quickly selling out. When I saw that it was staggered, I calculated that it would come live for Europe early in the morning, and decided to risk it and wait as the prices were higher in Asia, plus I’d have to pay a huge amount of import tax. I woke up at 7.00 Athens time and it was right then that the doll started becoming available on EU sites. I grabbed the chance and she’s coming home. My first NAP Jason Wu doll! She is wearing a Jason Wu Collection original gown from his Spring 2019 collection, which you can see below.

Photo courtesy of Jason Wu Collection

I am posting here the details given by the club about the doll release, plus the photos from the Net-A-Porter website:

Photo courtesy of Net-A-Porter

NET-A-PORTER EXCLUSIVE

We have a limited amount of information to share. Note again, this is the information that was shared with us and we did not have any input/influence.

As the retailer is handling all of the specifics, we cannot confirm the accuracy of the information or that they will comply with the information given us. We also unfortunately cannot help solve any problems, should they arise.

For your convenience, here is the information that we have been given so far (please do not contact the Liaisons; we do not have any further information to share about this doll):

What we have been told is that the offer is expected to go live on NET-A-PORTER.com on Nov. 9th, 2020, at approximately 7:00 AM GMT (which is 3:00 AM Eastern/New York Time). While they have told us this time is across the platform, it is possible that it is a “rolling” time and they may launch later, depending on the location-specific site. We know this is inconvenient, but unfortunately, we are not involved in this release and are only sharing information available.

It is our experience that often retailers don’t follow their release plans exactly. Please check their site at your discretion, since previous offers have gone up early and others late. Again, we understand that this is inconvenient and have communicated that to them, but again, it is out of our direct or even indirect control and we don’t want you to miss out. As we do not have a link, we would check a variety of search terms including “Jason Wu” and “doll”.

We don't know of any international shipping restrictions for this item, but we also cannot confirm whether there will be any on the country-specific sites, so we recommend starting with NET-A-PORTER.com but perhaps checking their related country-specific sites just in case; exact shipping information will be available on their site once the offer goes live.

Photo courtesy of Net-A-Porter

And here is the information taken from the Net-A-Porter website.

EXCLUSIVE AT NET-A-PORTER. It's a little-known fact that Jason Wu was a toy designer for ten years before launching his eponymous label, so naturally this limited-edition doll has the same attention to detail as any of his ready-to-wear collections. It's created in partnership with high-end specialists Integrity Toys and dressed in one of the label's frothy tulle gowns. Fully articulated with a display stand, it has carefully rooted blonde hair and comes with two NET-A-PORTER shopping bags, a trio of different pumps and interchangeable manicured hands.

20% of the profits* from the sale of this product will go to Women for Women International (UK). Women for Women International (UK) is a registered charity in England and Wales (charity number 1115109).

*"Profits" means the sale price of the product less operational and landing costs, including transportation fees, customs, duties, taxes, insurance, currency conversion, crating, handling and payment fees.

Photo courtesy of Net-A-Porter

DETAILS & CARE

Comes with three shoe boxes, three pairs of shoes, two shopping bags, gold-tone earrings and cuff, pair of hands, certificate of authenticity

Can be attached to Perspex stand

Comes in a presentation box

Photo courtesy of Net-A-Porter

IMPORTANT NOTE: Prototypes shown, final production may vary. For adult collectors ages 15 and up only.

All photos, unless otherwise stated, and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC. and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission. ©2020 All rights reserved. Jason Wu and all other related brands is a trademark of JWU, LLC. All rights reserved. Used under permission. FASHION ROYALTY and all other character marks followed by ™ or ® are trademarks of Integrity Toys, Inc., Chesapeake City MD USA 21915. ©2020 All rights reserved. The W Club is a trademark of Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.

Doll Photography by Jayme Thornton. Layouts and graphics by Alain Tremblay, Marketing

Integrity Toys Legendary 2020 Convention day 3: The Jason Wu Gala and convention doll

And we finally reached the finale of the convention, which is the Saturday night gala, with Jason Wu as a special guest. Jason appeared on our screens and had a nice talk with Carol, reminiscing about how he started with doll design and Integrity Toys and it was so nice to see how he’s still passionate about the dolls, despite having a big real fashion house of his own now. One titbit we got from Jason was that Adele’s original sculpt was based on Erykah Badu, way before Fashion Royalty debuted. He also gave us information on a new doll but we have it under wraps for a few days more. The winners of the design competition were revealed: photography (Lester Javier), styling (Ramiro Rivas) and diorama (Lani Billitti). And, closing the convention in a fantastic way, here are the two gala dolls - the centerpiece and the convention doll, which, surprisingly, is not either Elyse or Agnes (btw, the Agnes you saw on my first post for the convention will be the 25th Anniversary Doll and will be released later this year).

Item # 91481

Haute Desire

Dania Zarr™ Dressed Doll

The 2020 Integrity Toys 25th Anniversary Convention: Legendary

Fashion Royalty Saturday Centerpiece

Limited Edition: 600 Dolls

Head Sculpt: Dania Zarr

Body Type: FR 6.0

Foot Sculpt: High-heeled

Skin Tone: Hungarian

Hair Color: Chocolate Brown

Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied

Quickswitch: No

Integrity Toys sent a notice about the doll’s dress colour:

Important note: We noticed that during the presentation this evening, Alain commented that Dania's dress was blue; however, we checked with the design team and it is really more of a deep royal *purple*. Depending on your monitor/device calibration, this color might read differently, but in person, it is a deep purple tone. We wanted to alert you to avoid any confusion vis-à-vis what was said on our "virtual stage".

Dania looks gorgeous here, in a Sofia Vergara kind of way. The original inspiration is Most Desired Eugenia, one of the FR holy grails. The new incarnation looks better to me and I’m sure this will be a new grail doll.

Item # 12319

Celebration

Aymeline™ Dressed Doll

The 2020 Integrity Toys 25th Anniversary Convention: Legendary

The Jason Wu Collection Saturday Official Convention Souvenir

Limited Edition: 600 Dolls

Head Sculpt: Aymeline

Body Type: FR 6.0

Foot Sculpt: High-heeled

Skin Tone: Light Honey

Hair Color: Raven

Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied

Quickswitch: No

Velvet Touch: No

A new character debuts as the convention doll - and if she looks a bit familiar it is because the sculpt is the original Avantguard one, redone digitally in 1/6 scale. The name is probably referring to the known fashion model Aymeline Valade, but this look is totally Diana Ross. Unlike the debut of Karolyn Stone, this one was received enthusiastically. After the end of the presentation, main package ticket holders were invited on a zoom virtual after party, to celebrate the end of Integrity Toys first virtual convention. It was overall a great success, very different from a real one of course, but people still had a good time and got great dolls. If the presentations were live, like webinars are, and not pre-recorded, it would have been even better. Maybe next time.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Prototypes shown, final production may vary. For adult collectors ages 15 and up only.

All photos and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC. and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission. ©2020 All rights reserved. FASHION ROYALTY and all other character marks followed by ™ or ® are trademarks of Integrity Toys, Inc., Chesapeake City MD USA 21915. ©2020 All rights reserved. The W Club is a trademark of Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.

Layouts and graphics by Alain Tremblay, Marketing

Integrity Toys Legendary 2020 Convention day 3: The W Club Event

With the convention this year being virtual, Integrity Toys decided to open up the W Club event to all members of the club. And that is the reason most of us managed to attend the convention, even though we did not have access to the convention collection, the style lab or any other event dolls apart from this one. Still though, it was really nice and a great experience, even online. The club event was great, all the Integrity Toys designers were in the pre-recorded presentation and talked about their history with the company and the lines they design for it. Some news from the talk: the LatinX character (not Isabella Alves)will be part of the Nu Face line. Mark Tinkley is going to revisit a popular brand that “lets people’s fantasies come to life” - could it be Nu Fantasy? Chris Stoeckel said there will be new characters added to the East 59th line up. Vaughn was really vague and did not give out anything but all designers, during the Q+A section agreed that costume and fantasy dolls are very possible. The centerpiece doll left everyone with their jaw on the floor when it was revealed in the beginning of the presentation, with Jessy commenting on it later on. This doll will be a preorder for the participants, as the number of attendees of this event is way bigger than the rest of the convention, so the doll will ship in Spring 2021. Add to that the delay of the arrival of the giveaway doll (it will ship late December - early January) and we will not see the actual dolls of this event for quite a while yet.

Item # 91482

Wicked Narcissism

Eugenia Perrin-Frost™ Dressed Doll

The 2020 Integrity Toys 25th Anniversary Convention: Legendary

W Club Event Centerpiece

Limited Edition: TBD

Head Sculpt: Eugenia

Body Type: FR 6.0

Foot Sculpt: High-heeled

Skin Tone: Cream

Hair Color: Raven

Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied

Quickswitch: No

What an amazing doll! It’s not often that we get this much goth in Fashion Royalty and this one is done in a very elegant way, The original inspiration is Dark Narcissus Kyori Sato but the capable internet sleuths quickly discovered an Alexander McQueen Fall/Winter 2019 outfit that matches this one really well. Add the lace details from another Alexander McQueen outfit, this one from Fall/Winter 2018 collection and you get Eugenia’s outfit.

Item # 82132

Charmed Child

Ayumi Nakamura™ Dressed Doll

The 2020 Integrity Toys 25th Anniversary Convention: Legendary

W Club Event Souvenir

Limited Edition: 1369

Head Sculpt: Ayumi 3.0

Body Type: NF 3.0

Foot Sculpt: High-heeled

Skin Tone: FR White

Hair Color: Crimson

Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied

Quickswitch: No

This is a beautiful; Ayumi! The original inspiration is Miracle Child Ayumi, which is the first one ever released (and had the original sculpt). The dress is a bit simpler than the original and she does not have the gorgeous red bag that was with that giftset. The hat reminds me a lot of this year’s upgrade Eugenia. Her hair colour is gorgeous and fits her so much. I’m happy for our W Club doll.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Prototypes shown, final production may vary. For adult collectors ages 15 and up only.

All text and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC. and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission. ©2020 All rights reserved. POPPY PARKER, METEOR, EAST 59TH, FASHION ROYALTY, NU. FACE, COLOR INFUSION, THE INDUSTRY, THE MONARCHS HOMME and all other character marks followed by ™ or ® are trademarks of Integrity Toys, Inc., Chesapeake City MD USA 21915. ©2020 All rights reserved. The W Club is a trademark of Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.

Layouts and graphics by Alain Tremblay, Marketing

Integrity Toys Legendary 2020 Convention day 2: The Poppy Parker Gala

The evening of the second day of the Integrity Toys Legendary Convention brought the Poppy Parker Gala event, with an online presentation by Alain Trembley and Carol Roth, featuring David Buttry, the line’s celebrated designer, as a special guest. He told us a lot about his history with the company (he started with the W Club), as well as the history of the creation of Poppy Parker. Apart from already known details, like the models who inspired the doll’s face and style etc., he also shared unknown stuff. like the email correspondence between him and Jason about the doll’s name. He also gave us the moodboards for next year’s Poppy collection, which will be all about Palm Springs - that means late 60s - early 70s and a very lounge, laid back chic modern aesthetic. He mentioned that Ginger and maybe Chip will be part of next year’s collection but also that we will see Ginger sooner than 2021. Also, all 2021 Poppy Parker dolls, apart from the convention ones, will be part of the Palm Springs line.

Item # 77191

Commanding Attention

Poppy Parker™ Dressed Doll

The 2020 Integrity Toys 25th Anniversary Convention: Legendary

Poppy Parker Friday Centerpiece

Limited Edition: 600 Dolls

Head Sculpt: Poppy Parker

Body Type: Poppy 1.5

Foot Sculpt: High-heeled

Skin Tone: FR White

Hair Color: Light Blond

Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied

Quickswitch: No

There were many who had already guessed that one of the convention Poppy dolls would channel Center of Attention and indeed the centerpiece of the gala was Command of Attention. More glam, in a huge ballgown, and more mod in style - the early ones were more early sixties. Beautiful face and an eye catching colour combination we do not often see, Lovely bag.

Item # 77192

Lovely in Lilac

Poppy Parker™ Dressed Doll

The 2020 Integrity Toys 25th Anniversary Convention: Legendary

Poppy Parker™ Friday Souvenir

Limited Edition: 600 Dolls

Head Sculpt: Poppy Parker

Body Type: Poppy 1.5

Foot Sculpt: Articulated Ankle

Skin Tone: Japan

Hair Color: Dark Golden Blond

Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied

Quickswitch: No

It was a bit weird finding out that the giveaway doll of this event was inspired from Lilac Frost Poppy, as that doll never had the aura of being a grail or legendary. She is a beauty nonetheless. The fabric used on the vest and shorts is the exact same used on Lilac Frost’s suit. Her face is gorgeous and so is her blouse in this fabric. The monochromatic look may through some people off but it works great here.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Prototypes shown, final production may vary. For adult collectors ages 15 and up only.

All photos and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC. and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission. ©2020 All rights reserved. POPPY PARKER and all other character marks followed by ™ or ® are trademarks of Integrity Toys, Inc., Chesapeake City MD USA 21915. ©2020 All rights reserved. The W Club is a trademark of Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.

Layouts and graphics by Alain Tremblay, Marketing