Showing posts with label doll stand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label doll stand. Show all posts

8/29/2015

Review and Comparison: Sybarite Chandelier

This Sybarite arrived faster than the previous 4. She is the last in this series and I decided to debox this one. I have been asked many times about the differences between resin Sybs and the new ones and now I can answer the questions.

Deboxing was not fun. It reminded me of the process we used to have to go through to get an ordinary Barbie out of a box. Chandelier was attached to the back of the box to within an inch of her life. Clear, flexible plastic was pulled taut around her arms, legs, chest and elsewhere. Finally there was a coated wire which could be accessed only by tearing the back of the box open. Her hair was held in place with thread that was stitched to the box on both sides.
Prior Gen X dolls had loose items inside the boxes; this one did not. However, I dislike this packaging immensely. It feels cheap.

Reminder: clicking on the photos will enlarge them.


I like the fashion and all the bits and bobs included in the ensemble. She comes with a tiara, two 'gold' necklaces, a ring, several thin bangles (not shown.) The outfit consists of a t-shirt which is actually a bodysuit, pantyhose, shoes, handbag, skirt, rhinestone buckled belt and a Chanel-like jacket. It's an interesting mix of sophisticated and bling.

The skirt is too large and sits very low on her hips. I would have liked it better if it were shorter.  I order to remove the crown necklace, one has to open a jump ring. The other chunky necklace fits over her head but be careful not to screw up her hair.

The fabric used for the skirt is beautiful. It's like a miniature upholstery material blinged up with the coppery gold points on the hem. The jacket is very nice but be very cautious about the rhinestone settings catching fabrics and causing pulls.


The belt is adorable. It has two purses which can be slid off if desired so the belt can be used as a conventional one...as if a hot pink belt with a rhinestone buckle is anywhere near conventional.

The fingers are all separate and rings work very well. It arrived attached with a rubber band. What I do to secure rings is put some Elmer's glue on a toothpick and touch the back of the ring's band so the glue also touches the finger. It's easily removable when dried and the ring won't fall off on it's own.

Look at that cute pony! While I'm not a huge fan of hot pink faux fur, the bag is adorable.


More:
The color of her vinyl is sallow. She looks a little sick. In the comparison pictures, you can see it accurately. I think the previous 4 vinyls were a better color but I don't have them here to compare and I never deboxed them to take pictures.
The dolls are very close in size but not shape. Gen X has an incredibly high arch. The shape of her breasts are different and possibly larger.
The sculpt has changed somewhat and I think the original is prettier.
Chandelier weighs 18 ounces (1 lb. 2 oz.); my resin girl weighs 21 ounces (1 lb. 5 oz.) I was surprised at Chandelier's weight; I thought she'd be lighter.
The vinyl doll sits well with her knees together.


Superdoll's vinyls come with 4 sets of hands and instructions for changing them. They are like the Fashion Royalty hand-speak hands and Tonner's removable hands but these are hard to remove. The brochure suggests warming in hot water for a short period of time. I could not remove the hands on my own.

My biggest pet peeve is a doll stand that doesn't support the doll. This stand is a piece of crap. The wire saddle is too high to allow the dolls feet to rest on the base. If she were wearing platform shoes, it would be fine but she's not. The funny thing is, the stand is adjustable albeit in the wrong direction.  Poor engineering.


Look closely at the saddle part. There's a raw end of wire ready to snag pantyhose or scratch the body.  Of course I know that I can coat that on my own with something to protect my doll and her clothes but why should I have to?


The parts of the outfit I tried out fit my resin Syb, including the shoes. No, she will not be wearing the crown. 
I want to shorten the skirt!


Bottom line:
The first three Gen X dolls were the nicest ones of all. Superdoll needs to up their packaging and engineering

8/18/2015

Jamieshow's Alejandro and Marlena "On Michigan Avenue" Dolls

At the end of May, 2015, the new "On Michigan Ave" Jamieshow dolls debuted. I ordered Alejandro and Marlena at the convention in Chicago. They arrived three days ago.

This Alejandro differs from my other one in that he has facial hair screening. I know they're supposed to have the same sculpt but I see a difference in the nose. My new one appears to have a narrower, longer nose. I guess it's possible that the casting changed a bit. His eyes look different as well. I like them both.
Here are closeups side by side. The new one is on the right. Both are wearing Chewin wigs.



The pink jacket, blue shirt and ripped jeans are all Jamieshow products which were available separately a while back. The quality of these items are far superior to what he came dressed in. Someone reminded me that he is only a basic doll and one can't expect much. What I do expect with a $400. doll is a stand. George Gonzalez, an owner of Jamieshow Dolls, says that the reason the male dolls don't come with stands is because they're anatomically correct. That is not a good reason as far as I'm concerned. All my dolls are on stands unless they're sitting down. I'd never display a resin doll without a stand. His junk doesn't keep the stand from working in any way especially when he's dressed.

Marlena has an unusual look with her very pale resin and sharp features. When I started playing with different wigs, I saw more possibilities. In these photos, she is wearing a Chewin wig meant for Sybarite dolls. Her fashion is a Superdoll outfit called "D-I-V-O-R-C-E."  It fits pretty well except in the bust area. Marlena has a smaller cup size.




She has a look that can kill. With those piercing blue eyes and thin, mean lips she is not a doll for the faint of heart. I enjoyed putting a flowered hat on her. It's so opposite from the vibe she gives off.


9/24/2009

Integrity Toys' "Attention" Avantguard Doll

Chelsea's Collector Cottage exclusive Avantguard doll "Attention!" arrived yesterday. She looks exactly like the promotional pictures. The dress is cute.

Her facial screening is immaculate and I love the colors.

The shoes are cute.

The feather hat sheds on everything. (She reminds me of the Statue of Liberty in this picture.)

The wig is not made properly and the stockings had defects in them from where she was tied to the box.

I don't feel the WOW factor with this doll. Something is missing. I think this dress should have been an individually available fashion, not something for a $250. exclusive doll. It's not enough. The earrings are such a waste of time I didn't even bother. Every pair of earrings one inserts into an Avantguard head has to be snipped shorter and after I struggled to get the wig on (sort of) I wasn't about to knock it off to put two little studs into her ears.

___________________________
Every now and then I'll be playing with a doll or photographing one and I begin to wonder why I am collecting dolls. It happened today. It wasn't just about one doll, it was the cumulative effect of poor engineering and/or design of certain aspects of three of my new dolls. Why do I continue to spend hundreds of dollars on dolls whose stands don't support? In two cases, the stand didn't even fit between the doll's legs because the dress was slim-fitting. You can't tell me that this fact is not known by the designers. What do they do, shrug it off? While it's true that I don't use stands when I am photographing my dolls, I do use them to display my dolls.
Tonner's saddle stand and Integrity's Avantguard stand add a good amount of thickness to that area of the doll supported by the stand, namely the crotch and the butt. It used to be that one could hide the ugly plastic of a stand when the doll was wearing a gown or a skirt. Now that many of the styles have become short and tight that doesn't work anymore.

Robert Tonner may have been on the right track with the stand that inserted into the crotch area - at least for some dolls.