Part 2: Celebrating Tonner's Antoinette Body

When Tonner introduced Antoinette in 2009, she was an instant success. My first was Cameo Antoinette.  You can do a search on this blog using the word 'Antoinette.'
The Antoinette body was used for Cami, newer Theatre de la Mode, Duchess, Jonquil, Breathless, Scintillating Ashleigh, and all Precarious.
Here is what remains of my dolls who share the Antoinette body type.

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Antoinette "Hear Me Roar" wearing a dress from RnD Designs. 
Hear Me Roar was part of the OZ line. There was a Tin Man, A Lion and a Scarecrow in fabulous costumes.

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"Heart on My Sleeve" Tin Man (Duchess)

Wearing Scandal

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Antoinette "Simplicity" wearing New York Jet
I don't believe the name of the dress has anything to do with the football team :-) but it's awfully close.
This is another gorgeous, curly-haired Antoinette.
One of the greatest contributions Tonner Doll Co. made to collectors was the creation of hundreds of individually available boxed fashions.  It originally came with a wig and different shoes than my model is wearing. I wonder what I did with that wig.

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Antoinette "Treasured"
Wearing "Party Girl's" Outfit
Treasured was the Banquet Souvenir at the 2009 Convention

Original Presentation

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Cami as Daisy
Wearing Theatre de la Mode Noir #99

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Cami as Zelda
Wearing "Swing"

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Precarious "Party Girl"
Wearing Diane Evan's Cocktail Dress

Original Party Girl Precarious

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New Theatre de la Mode

Glamorous #75 (Gina Sculpt)

Elegance #93 (Gina Sculpt)

Noir # 99 (Gina Sculpt)

Wearing "Griffin Splendor"

Her hair has been taken down.

Above is the original Noir #99. I took her hair down because the wrapped "bun" on top of her head was twice as high and made her look like a cone head.

Pretty Pictures

Tyler in "Swept Away" by Robert Tonner from his Theatre de la Mode line.

This silk gown is possibly the most sought after TDLM fashion ever produced. It's a work of art. In essence, it reminds me of some of Charles James' sculpted gowns. One main difference is that Swept Away does not have any the understructure found in many of CJ's fashions.
Below are two of my photos of doll-sized James' fashions developed by Sandra Stillwell for the Taste of Manhattan Convention.

The very beautiful Kingdom Doll, Logan:

Two Great Deals at Tonner Doll and the Demise of Tiny Kitty

If you're on the Tonner Doll mailing list, you are used to the constant barrage of sales week after week. It seems to me that the prices don't really move much. Today I thought I'd give it a glance and IMO there are two excellent deals .

This is "Classical." She is a 16" doll with the Tyler head sculpt in a cameo skin tone. She comes with changeable feet - ballerina and high heel. That makes her incredibly useful. Any dressed Tyler doll for $50. is a great deal because the Tyler BW replacement bodies themselves go for $39 apiece.
http://www.tonnerdoll.com/ballet/classical-special-pricing

I never collected Tonner's Ballet series. although I've loved most every one of them.  I don't see them as 'play-with-me' dolls. I visualize them being displayed on a stage, permanently doing their ballerina thing.

http://www.tonnercollectibles.com/nycb.htm
http://www.tonnerdoll.com/ballet/1


The next is a doll that I purchased when she first went on sale a long time ago. The price I paid was way higher than the current $75.00 which is incredibly ridiculous considering that she was first offered for $229.99.  Is there a lesson here on the markup of these dolls?

This is "Glamorous #75" from the Theatre De La Mode collection.
Sadly the photograph is awful and does her no justice which may be a contributing factor to her unpopularity.
This Gina is a beautiful doll using the Antoinette body.  The dress is lovely. The shoes do nothing for the fashion but are useful never-the-less. It's a very good buy!
http://www.tonnerdoll.com/theatre-de-la-mode/glamorous-75-special-pricing

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On another topic...
Poor Tiny Kitty. They can't seem to get rid of her this time around. No wonder. The outfits were designed with such a heavy hand it looks as though they were meant for a larger doll. It also looks as though they've made her head bigger.
If you're going to bring back a popular doll, why would you enlarge her head? It's not cuter. It doesn't fit. And what's with the strange lower lashes?

This has to be one of the worst outfits and hairstyles ever:

Most collectors do not want glitter covered dresses:

Sweet little Kitty of the past has flown the coop.

Has another company you collect ever brought back a doll with changes that you don't like?

Who Needs New Dolls?

There's always one more temptation as I spend countless hours scouring the doll boards looking at sales and pictures and wanting the next great doll or the one that got away. While I'm doing this, all the (last) great dolls are hanging around in my doll room waiting for someone to play with them. I often wonder WTF I'm doing with all of these dolls. Well, today I followed my own advice and played with the dolls I already have.
First was Heart on My Sleeve, a Tonner reinterpreted Tin Man from Oz. She's been dressed in her adorable, original fashion since I got her. I thought she was so perfect.

She's even more perfect now dressed in the Theatre de la Mode Noir #99 gown sans shrug. This doll uses the Duchess head sculpt on the Antoinette body.

Quite the transformation, right?

I never paid much attention to Hearts Aflame after I got her because the collector that sold her to me under-described the defects on this doll's face. She's got part of an eyebrow sanded off and there are three tiny green spots happening. She has the Queen of Hearts head sculpt, Tyler body. (2006)

 But I needed a full busted Tonner doll to wear Forbidden Forest Winter Stroll and she was it. This is one of those fashions that I had when it first came out, sold it and then bought another one. It's truly one of Tonner's most magnificent creations.

Here it is on Elphaba for whom it was designed way back in 2005.

Going back through my own collection and comparing photographs is so interesting. It's a history of what I've been doing for the past 12 or so years.

Follow your own Yellow Brick Road right into your doll room. Step back from the computer and put that credit card away. Take out a doll and redress it in something wonderful and admire your 'newest' toy. One day at a time.

What a Difference a Real Doll Makes

When Tonner released his promotional images of the latest two Theatre de la Mode dolls a few months ago, I criticized the one called Elegance #93 for the over-scaled flowers down the side of the dress. As time went by, I kept seeing her face and my 'want' grew. (You know that feeling, I'm sure.) I certainly was not going to pay the ridiculous $225. retail cost. When a favorite dealer offered them for less than half price, I jumped.

I was going to remove the flowers but I have come to like the whole package. This is a gorgeous doll! Besides the Gina sculpt, which is my current favorite Tonner sculpt, the hair, the colors, the styling...is all stunning and she makes a wonderful addition to my collection.

I still want to see a picture of the original TDLM fashion.

Tonner Doll: 2013 Fall Holiday Collection

More new stuff from Tonner Doll hit the airwaves today. This is a screen capture of the entire release. I'm hoping to see the releases in person at MetroDolls on Sunday and I will be better able to give an informed review.  You can click HERE to see everything in detail.

I can certainly say that if I were a Patsy Doll collector, there's a lot of good stuff to collect. This is beyond adorable!

Furry Flurries - Outfit Only  $89.99

 Sinister Circus is back.

"Dark Soul"  $259.99.

There are two Theatre de la Mode releases.

Elegance #93  $249.99. 

Glamorous #75  $229.99

I will have to hunt down pictures of the original dresses which inspired these doll fashions. If I purchased Elegance, the roses would disappear and I'd find some other size of fabric roses to sew in their place.

When a basic doll without a stand retails for $119.99, it's time to start doing something else with my money.

Precarious Bright White $119.99 - No Stand

 Many items are pre-order. Tonner is offering free shipping on all in-stock items and pre-order items as well.