Integrity Toys at IDEX part VI: Nu Fantasy and the IDEX exclusive doll

Nu Fantasy is a way for Integrity Toys designers to re-interpret fairy tale characters into modern fashion, much like Tonner Dolls does with Re-Imagination (usually with much better results). This time around Hansel and Gretel are the dolls for Nu Fantasy.

They look edgy (yes, this is edgy) and hip, ready for a night out in New York more than the woods. Do the faces look familiar?

 

 

Hansel has the Pierre sculpt. He has rooted and flocked hair, facial hair (painted) and a bit of a make up too.  His outfit has a gorgeous jacket, hideous cropped pants (always hate that length in men or women) and a short sleeved shirt. But his accessories are the best: patent leather boots, matching back pack, watch, earring and hipster glasses. I want these accessories!

 

Gretel has the twins sculpt (Eden & Lilith). Her dress reminds me a lot of the Versace Fall/Winter 1992 collection (the top) and the skirt has some lovely detail. Great boots and jewellery. Stud earrings complete the look (aaargh). Her hairdo is not to my liking but seems to be popular with collectors. If I am not mistaken, this is the first doll to become sold out at pre-orders from the IDEX preview.

 

Most doll companies offer an exclusive doll at trade shows - Integrity always does. For IDEX 2012, the exclusive doll is Luminous Ayumi. The new sculpt of this character is not as good as the old one in my opinion. She looks like a failed attempt for a new Kyori (would not be surprised if this is the case, as sculpts cost a fortune to make and using a failed one from one character for another makes business sense). Here she is offered with an FR2 body (she used to be a Nu Face model). The great part of the doll is the outfit - it is a Jason Wu original miniature outfit, taken from his spring 2012 collection. The shoes are great and the cuff too. The sunglasses have been used before but look good. Earrings? Studs. Again. On an exclusive US$160 doll. WHY?

This concludes the Integrity Toys preview posts from IDEX 2012. A very strong start for the year, with some gorgeous dolls. Let's see what will the main lines show.

Integrity Toys at IDEX part V: Poppy Parker Fashion Teen 16"

As I mentioned in a previous post, Poppy Parker must be the most popular Integrity Toys doll now. So it comes as no surprise that they decided to introduce a 16" version of her to capitalize on that popularity. This line will be called Poppy Parker Fashion Teen to distinguish it from the 12" line. It has a different body from the FR16 dolls but will be able to share shoes with them (not outfits). The style and look of this line is similar to the smaller Poppy dolls. The sculpt reminds me of Poppy but is more harsh.

 

Spring Morning Poppy Parker Fashion Teen has a gorgeous outfit: tweed slim coat over a pale yellow dress with matching short sleeved jacket, bag and shoes. This is the way to handle yellow, unlike the FR16 yellow gown. The copper hair of the doll though is not a good match for it in my opinion. Can we get this outfit in 12" size please?

 

Shop Around Poppy Parker Fashion Teen is the second doll. I don't like her braid but the hounds-tooth Capri pants look amazing. Lovely sunglasses too, a new design! She has a tote bag, lace top with sequins, shoes, necklace, bracelets and hoop earrings. She seems to be the most popular with collectors so far.

 

Love Letters Poppy Parker Fashion Teen is the second most popular doll of this collection. She is wearing a nice lilac dress with a fur caplet and has a silver clutch, shoes to match the bag and pearl necklace and stud earrings. White gloves are a must - and they are elbow length. The dress looks amazing and I love the details  on it's décolletage and skirt. The doll looks like a popular Greek fashion model called Vicky Kaya. 

 

 

Precious Love Poppy Parker Fashion Teen is the last doll of the collection. A bride doll. The dress is like a simplified version of Grace Kelly's wedding dress - in this scale, it should have been a bit more detailed. The veil is plain - some lace detail at the hem would have been nice. I will not comment on that head piece. A lovely white rose bouquet, white kitten heels, drop earrings and a ring finish the ensemble perfectly. But no gloves? That's something that was probably a staple for brides back then.

 

You can see above some comparison shots: the first one shows the Poppy Parker Fashion Teen next to a FR16 doll and the second one shows the same doll next to her 12" counterpart. 

I am not a fan of this collection, although I am collecting Poppy dolls in the smaller scale. I can see the appeal of the doll and surely it is a good business move for Integrity. It needs some fine tuning but no one gets it perfect from the start.

Integrity Toys at IDEX part IV: Poppy Parker as Sabrina

"Isn't It Romantic?" - who has not watched Sabrina, with the incandescent Audrey Hepburn, and did not fall in love with the feisty, romantic heroine that transforms into a chic, independent woman. Not only did the film secure the rising star of Hepburn, it made an indelible mark in fashion and marked the beginning of one of fashion's most enduring relationships: the one between Givenchy and Audrey. It also gave us the definite little black dress, a staple of women's closets ever since, in a myriad of incarnations.

Although Edith Head won the Oscar for Best Costumes for the film, most of Hepburn's outfits (if not all) were created by Hubert de Givenchy and chosen personally by Audrey. Edith Head refused to share a credit with Givenchy, so only she was given credit for the costumes - Parisian designers were not powerful brand names back then and Givenchy was still fresh and young. I am certain though that the Academy's votes were for Hepburn's attire. The film began the life-long association between Givenchy and Hepburn that gave us so many wonderful outfits. There's also a rumour that Givenchy, when Audrey first booked an appointment at his atelier, thought he was seeing Katharine Hepburn, was disappointed to find out otherwise and told her he had very little time for her, so she picked the stuff out of his collection.

Integrity Toys, after their first foray into film territory last year with Breakfast at Tiffany's, now presents us with Poppy Parker™ as Sabrina®. Four dolls (two dressed dolls and two gift sets) are included in this collection and already it seems to be the hit of the year.

 

 

Miss Fairchild Poppy Parker™ as Sabrina® is the dressed doll with the famous Little Black Dress (and white petticoat underneath). She looks lovely in it and the make up is exactly like Audrey's. I love the red insteps of her kitten heel shoes and she even has a daiquiri just like in the film! Brocade clutch bag, gloves and beaded knit cap included. Can you spell perfection?

 

Isn't It Romantic Poppy Parker™ as Sabrina® is the second dressed doll of the series. She is wearing the big white ball gown from the film, with the black embroidery and huge train. I already have this one in the larger scale from Madame Alexander and have always wanted it for my smaller dolls. I wonder if the train will be detachable like in Madame Alexander's outfit. Gorgeous doll with perfect hair and make up.  Drop earrings, black kitten heels and white gloves complete the look.

 

 

 

The tour de force of the collection is the Most Sophisticated Poppy Parker™ as Sabrina® gift set. It includes three distinct looks from the film, plus a myriad of accessories. The main outfit is the elegant Parisian suit she arrives at the train station in. Of course she has a lovely black bag, a white pleated satin turban, a suitcase, a beauty case, black kitten heels, gloves, hoop earrings and her poodle dog (with a diamanté collar!). And if this was not already enough, two more looks as well. First she has the shirt and shorts look from the scene at the boat and then the beatnik outfit with a long coat, black scarf, black cigarette pants and black blouse. Two more pairs of shoes are included for these looks. One of the best gift sets to be released ever.

 

 

The Chauffeur's Daughter Poppy Parker™ as Sabrina® is the second gift set of the collection. In contrast to the previous one, this looks dull and plain. Here are the two outfits Sabrina is wearing before her transformation as well as a beige coat. Simple flat shoes (two pairs) and pearl stud earrings complete the set. The doll also has longer hair (in a pony tail) than the other three dolls of the collection. I am willing to bet this one is the least popular of all.

A stunning collection from Integrity - I love the fact that they use Poppy instead of that dreadful Holly sculpt from last year. With the right make up and hair style she even looks more like Audrey. The outfits are amazing, the accessories incredible. Simply irresistible.

Integrity Toys at IDEX part III: Poppy Parker

It is no secret that Poppy Parker is probably the best selling series of Integrity Toys dolls. And of course they would have some new dolls to show at IDEX. The big news here is Poppy's boyfriend, Chip, who is making his first appearance, after a small sneak preview back in October and Integrity's convention.

Chips is presented as a gift set with his beloved Poppy. The set is called Baby It's You and Chip's full name is Chip Farnsworth III (so he's probably rich) and they're both in evening attire as they are attending a college dance. Chip looks very cute and will make a smashing couple with Poppy. Love his pompadour hair and his tuxedo. He is wearing suspenders!

Poppy Parker looks gorgeous too - even in such a puffy prom dress. Her shoes are to die for and so is her make up. If I see another stud earring I will scream. I like the price - US$150 for a two doll gift set is fine.

 

Moonlight and Kisses Darla Daley makes her appearance in an elegant long baby blue gown with matching shoes and clutch bag, a bracelet, studs (aaaargh!) and her very own microphone!The blue eye shadow is not to my taste but she looks beautiful. And the new Darla sculpt is not cartoon-y as the old one was. 

"What, only three dolls?" you may ask. Well, not exactly. Check out the following post for the surprise new endeavour that Poppy Parker finds herself into.

Integrity Toys at IDEX part II: FR 16

Up until now, Avantguards were the 16" dolls of Integrity. They were very coveted at the beginning, later becoming increasingly repetitive and finally were neglected even by their makers. Now they have a totally new body, with different articulation, more sculpts (compared with only one on their previous incarnation) and additional skin tones! And they are called FR16 now. They were first unveiled at the Integrity convention back in October and they have a storyline that connects them with their smaller scale counterparts. So how are they this time around?

 

Press Magnate Saskia Tate is the first doll. I think this sculpt is the old Avantguard one. She has a Caucasian skin tone, rooted hair and a brown/caramel make up - sporting eyelashes too. A white blouse and a black leather skirt complete her look. Her accessories include a red clutch, bracelet, stud earrings, black shoes and a black fur scarf. She's nice but not the kind of doll I would expect from the successor line of Avantguards.

 

Fit To Print Anais McNight is the dark skin tone doll of this collection. Saran rooted raven hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail, smoky tones in her make up and probably the same sculpt as Spring Kissed Avantguard that was the premium bonus doll for W Club members last year. Probably the most sophisticated one of the bunch. White sleeveless blouse with black cigarette pants, an envelope leather bag, strappy heels (without platforms, finally), fur capelet, bracelet, stud earrings (no budget for big gorgeously detailed earrings at this scale is a shame). They call the outfit edgy in the company email but actually it is what any career woman would wear at the office (minus the capelet). Christopher Cane is edgy, not this.

 

Main Feature Elsa Lin has a new Eurasian sculpt and skin tone. She does not look very Asian to me but she's the most interesting face of the bunch. Probably this is the reason they gave her the worst outfit. Yellow? Come on, it is not even fashionable! It is channelling Adrian and his 30s gowns but fails to capture the magic. No indication of what shoes she will have. Her glued back short hair probably make her ideal for wigs. Love the bag, this is what Monogram Allure should have had too.

 

Perfect Layout Freja Mossimo is the Latina of the bunch. She has the old Avantguard sculpt but with a very different make up than Saskia. Her outfit is very plain for her - the blouse is boring (colour blocking is out out out) and the draping of this skirt looks bad even at the prototype stage. Her accessories are great though - the bag, shoes and bracelets are gorgeous. She will probably look better redressed.

So what is the verdict? No more fashion forward looks from the 16" Integrity dolls - they became just blown up versions of the FR2 line. I do not see the attention to detail that the larger scale needs and also at this price range, the earrings should have been more than simple studs. I love the make up most of them have but it still needs fine tuning. The new body does not fit the old Avantguard fashions easily - it is slightly larger at the hips, so be careful with that.