Showing posts with label Regal Solstice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Regal Solstice. Show all posts

12/06/2010

Dania Zarr "Lady in Waiting" & The Cost of W Club Dolls

Dania Zarr "Lady in Waiting" is the first of two 2010 W Club dolls. She arrived a few days ago and had her photo shoot last night. She looks just like the promotional photos...
Integrity Promo Photo
 
until you start to comb her hair to get the flyaways and other distracting hairs fixed. The more I tried to smooth it out, the worse it became. I used three different products by the time I was done and it still wasn't perfect. Photoshop helped this image a great deal in that area.
The jewelry is interesting. The earrings are overscaled and in real life they would tear her ears off. The necklace is stunning and I've seen loads of huge neckpieces on the market recently. It can be gently adjusted. My recommendation - put it on before you do her hair and tape it in place temporarily. It wants to turn around backwards.
The dress came with a stitch holding the skirt to the box between her legs which created a dip in the fabric. The bottom of the dress is rather stiff due to the applied ruffles so I don't know if that can be steamed to make the shape more moderate. I think if it were carefully pinned to shape and then steamed, it might hold. Her shoes are the omnipresent gladiator style with a platform sole.

W Club dolls are expensive when you do the actual math.
There is the base membership of $50. which shows up as $25 in the math below.

Dania cost $110 plus shipping per doll. Everyone got a $20 coupon so the doll came to $90 ps. which cost me $14.05 as I purchased two of them.
$90. + $25. + $7.02 =  $122.02 per Dania.

The second club doll, Anja, is selling for $135. plus shipping. If I order two and the shipping remains the same, that doll will cost me $135. + $25. + $7.02 =  $167.02! Holy Moly. That's a lot of money for a doll whose promotional photo looks iffy. She may actually be the only W Club doll that won't be purchased by me. 

There's also the upgrade membership which, this year, included the option to purchase an Avantguard doll (Freeze Frame) and a Fashion Royalty doll (Spring Forward Eugenia) neither of which I kept. That membership cost an additional $105. above the base membership. At least I think it did. The dolls were an additional sum.

12/04/2010

New W Club Doll: Anja "Regal Solstice"

The new W Club doll, due to be delivered during the first quarter (Jan-Mar) of 2011 was announced to members today. She is the new character, Anja and is called Regal Solstice. 
I don't follow the story lines but they are saying that she is wearing the "grand finale gown" of the Von Weiss 2010 fashion show and it's one of Giselle's creations. 
The dress is put together with embroidered chartreuse organza over navy blue tulle. The shoes are hot pink with purple lining and black straps and the jewelry is black multi-strand, multi-shape beads.


Integrity Toys Photo

Integrity Toys Photo
Integrity Toys Photo
Integrity Toys Photo
My first reaction was "what happened?"  The Anja from the convention had a beautiful, sparkling face.  Upon careful inspection of the closeup one can see that the lighting on the doll's face makes her nose look elongated and beak-like.  Look at the shadow under her nose. The overhead light should have been moved about 20° to the left to create a beautiful shadow which would enhance the sculpt.  Lifting  her face and looking at her in a different light will show how gorgeous she really is.

I don't understand the fashion and I will be looking at the latest runway images to see if there is something current going on here. I love the colors and it does look like there is an abundance of detail in the organza overlay. The style doesn't make sense to me.

I would have liked black hair on a doll wearing these colors. Her eyes look stunning.  What does the back of her hair look like? Is her hair short? Could it be a cute little pageboy cut that can be opened up to frame her face in a more casual way?

I've read many mixed reviews so the jury is out until the real Anja shows up.