Tyler Wentworth Archive is Complete!

I was browsing through the recently completed Tyler Wentworth Archive today. This has been worth the wait. There are scores of dolls I've never seen including many OOAKs.

Go. Look.

Celebrity Doll - Ideal Deanna Durbin

The Ideal Novelty and Toy Company had a hit on their hands with their Shirley Temple doll. Shirley appealed to little girls everywhere - but what about older girls? Every doll manufacturer covered both their younger and older consumers, so in 1938, Ideal came out with another celebrity doll for their teen consumers: the Deanna Durbin doll.

Deanna Durbin, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is a contemporary of Judy Garland, and they appeared together in a short film called Every Sunday. Ms Durbin became Universal Studio's most popular female star of the 1940's, so Deanna Durbin dolls became popular, as well.

The dolls range in size from 15 to 21 inches (a 24 inch doll was produced in 1938) and are made of composition. They are jointed at the shoulders, neck and hips, have beautiful human hair wigs, brown sleep eyes, and an open, smiling mouth with six teeth. She is marked on the back of her head: Deanna Durbin Ideal Doll, USA.

At the height of Deanna Durbin's career, her image was also used for Ideal's Miss Liberty doll (a Deanna Durbin doll dressed in patriotic outfits with blonde hair), The Queen of the Ice (an ice skating doll also with blonde hair), and a short haired Gulliver doll. The Deanna Durbin doll face mold was modified only slightly for Ideal's Judy Garland doll, which came out in 1940.

My Deanna Durbin is marked and has her original face paint and human hair wig. Her eyes were crazed but have been enhanced. Her dress is a replacement but suits her, and she wears a tiara. My dad once told me he had had a crush on Deanna Durbin when he was a boy, so this doll will always be a little bit special to me.

Celebrity Doll - Ideal Deanna Durbin

The Ideal Novelty and Toy Company had a hit on their hands with their Shirley Temple doll. Shirley appealed to little girls everywhere - but what about older girls? Every doll manufacturer covered both their younger and older consumers, so in 1938, Ideal came out with another celebrity doll for their teen consumers: the Deanna Durbin doll.

Deanna Durbin, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, is a contemporary of Judy Garland, and they appeared together in a short film called Every Sunday. Ms Durbin became Universal Studio's most popular female star of the 1940's, so Deanna Durbin dolls became popular, as well.

The dolls range in size from 15 to 21 inches (a 24 inch doll was produced in 1938) and are made of composition. They are jointed at the shoulders, neck and hips, have beautiful human hair wigs, brown sleep eyes, and an open, smiling mouth with six teeth. She is marked on the back of her head: Deanna Durbin Ideal Doll, USA.

At the height of Deanna Durbin's career, her image was also used for Ideal's Miss Liberty doll (a Deanna Durbin doll dressed in patriotic outfits with blonde hair), The Queen of the Ice (an ice skating doll also with blonde hair), and a short haired Gulliver doll. The Deanna Durbin doll face mold was modified only slightly for Ideal's Judy Garland doll, which came out in 1940.

My Deanna Durbin is marked and has her original face paint and human hair wig. Her eyes were crazed but have been enhanced. Her dress is a replacement but suits her, and she wears a tiara. My dad once told me he had had a crush on Deanna Durbin when he was a boy, so this doll will always be a little bit special to me.

Barbra Streisand Doll from Mattel

From BC.Com:
She's instantly known by only one name: Barbra. Her inimitable style and personality are captured in this wonderful portrait doll, inspired by her early fame. She wears an iconic outfit, a striking re-creation of one she designed herself and wore at Hollywood's Coconut Grove in 1963.
I love Barbra but I don't collect celebrity dolls and I'd have to see it in person to give an accurate appraisal.
Available November 19, 2009 for $53.99.

A New Doll Discussion Forum - DOLL THERAPY

A new forum has been unveiled by Claudia Fowler, the former Admin of SilkSpa. The new forum is called Doll Therapy. I love the name! Although some of us may need therapy due to the stresses of collecting and spending, it's so appropriate to how the majority of us view our dolls.

I asked Claudia to talk about SilkSpa, her former doll board and about Doll Therapy, the new one.

TG: When did you start SilkSpa?
CF: All this started off a chat room actually, in 2002 with a few other hell raisers. Such a place was missing at the time and what came out of those chats was so fun and interesting at the same time, that people participating in them were asking for transcripts every time… I emailed out so many that we started talking about looking for a more permanent avenue. The actual forum started on 2003.

TG: How long was SilkSpa in operation?CF: Three and a half very fun years and it was great. I have been posting on bulletin boards since before the internet and what I’ve always found so interesting to me is how people from everywhere and all walks of life can become like your extended family, or at least the bar where everyone knows your name. The community came together and we often wondered how big we should let this become before the Fire Department came over to close us down.

TG: How will Doll Therapy be different? What dolls are welcome? What features will we see?

CF: Doll Therapy is a very simple and seamless platform where everything you want from it is right there. It is purposefully very easy to read and navigate and yet, more powerful and full of features than any Doll Forum out there.

From it you can host your own pictures for free, publish multimedia posts and polls, review and rate, buy-sell-trade, leave auction-styled feedback, share how-to manuals and useful links, flaunt your OOAK’s, have your personal blog, friend your personal network, and of course have a chat room available 24/7, and we’re only scratching the surface.

We’ve been ahead of the curve since SilkSpa’s inception. At the time we were the first Doll site to provide a platform where messages weren’t lost at the end of the day. At the time all this new software either hadn’t been written, wasn’t evolved enough or I didn’t know that I could do this or that it could work so seamlessly, so Doll Therapy is truly it.

All Fashion Dolls are welcome. We will talk/chat/rate dolls we don’t collect ourselves as well... I think that what both newcomers and existing members were most impressed about was that we agreed to disagree, we really spoke our minds and didn’t hold back much, yet respected each other. The building blocks of a great community! …and I’d like to think that we’re just what the doctor ordered.

______

Well girls and boys, doesn't this sound great? I joined.

Check it out at this link and if you join - say Terri sent you! No, I don't get anything ;-)

DOLL THERAPY

A Plea from Rudy Teruel of R and D Dolls

Rudy posted a call for help on his blog concerning the devastating aftermath of the Typhooon Ondoy in Manila and surrounding areas. Please click this link and read what he has to say.

Please Help!

http://www.rnddolls.com/

Picture of the Week Award ~ 9/27/09

This week's spotlight goes to Mark Harris for this photograph of his Mdvanii clone dolls made by doll artist Darrell Wallace. Their clothing and jewelry was made by the photographer.
The composition, natural lighting, posing and styling all come together to create a photograph with depth and movement.
See more of Mark's creative photography here.

Congratulations, Mark, on the Picture of the Week Award!

Fashion Police

FAIL

Treasured Antoinette wearing Sensual

I just wanted to post this picture of my Treasured Antoinette dressed in the outfit from Sensual. It's a winner and I love it!

Tonner Doll - Antoinette "Pure"

I love the list of names they've come up for Antoinette and her fashions. Look at these: Evocative, Exceptional, Extravagant, Determined, Confidential, Striking, Idyllic, Hypnotic, Symphonic, Obsessed, Dramatic, Sensual, Emphatic, Enlightened, Optimistic, Serene,
Influential, Frivolous, Sinuous, Brilliant, Posh and Prim. It's a list of pleasant feeling words to help you develop your emotional literacy! So now, if you are having difficulty describing your feelings you can turn to your Antoinette collection for help. Yay! "Believe in the power of play."

I don't think I've ever felt pure. Pure anger, yes. Pure lust, yes. But just pure, no.
Here's a part definition from Merriam-Webster's OnLine Dictionary:
3 a (1) : free from what vitiates, weakens, or pollutes (2) : containing nothing that does not properly belong b : free from moral fault or guilt c : marked by chastity : continent d (1) : of pure blood and unmixed ancestry (2) : homozygous in and breeding true for one or more characters e : ritually clean...

______

The best part of Pure besides her wonderful Antoinette body and pretty face are the boots. But these are not worth $166.

The handbag is stiff and looks awkward on her arm. The shawl is just an edged piece of fabric without a lining or anything. She came with no jewelry.

What was I thinking when I ordered her? I wanted a raven-haired Antoinette.
It's depressing.

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.

Gene as "Candied Lavender" W Club Doll

The lovely brunette Gene doll, Candied Lavender, arrived this week and she is delightful! Her hair is slick and hard. It doesn't look at all like the promotional — to the dismay of some. Personally, I like hard hair on my Gene dolls.

Her eyeshadow is lavender above the blue/gray of her eyes. All in all, her facial screening is gorgeous.

The dress is a fine example of miniature tailoring with it's lower peplum which ends at the side seams and the upper reverse gathering of fabric over the bust area. The shoes are the same fabric as that of the dress. Her hat is a wonderful little beaded creation with an odd loop of tulle which I have pinned down to create a bow. The jewelry is a very fragile-looking creation of dark-colored rhinestones surrounded by clear beads. I'm not sure of the color of the rhinestones; they might be navy blue or black. The earrings were not engineered properly - the studs are too large for the scale of the doll and stick out too far. An additional piece of jewelry is a large rhinestone pin which I have placed at the center front of the dress.

The long faux leather gloves are useless. I did try to put them on and decided it wasn't worth it. I would have liked a small beaded clutch bag instead. However, the weakest part of the outfit is the cheap-looking stole. It is the worst looking piece of faux fur ever.

Overall the doll is a real keeper.
Her price was $125. plus shipping.

Barbie Dream Sale!

The Barbie Dream Sale started 9/23/09 AM at 12:01 Central Time and will end on 9/29/09 at 11:59 PM Central Time. On the first day, everything in the online shop except club dolls is 25% off - including items that are already on sale. On Thursday and afterward the sales amounts and items change. Good buys are to be had!

Go to Barbiecollector.com to shop.

Picture of the Week Award ~ September 20, 2009

This striking photograph caught my eye several weeks ago. I like the composition, the use of white with one accent color and, of course, the dolls are gorgeous. I asked Gerri Strawinski (aka Gerri in PA) to tell me and my readers something about it. Following is what Gerri wrote:

I love this photo because it consists of 3 very popular dolls: Antoinette, Sabbatha Sybarite, and Daphne, repainted by Vanessa of Star Studio all dressed in white with white/platinum hair and my favorite ruby red lips.  It was a Theme Photo for Prego in which the subject was '3'.  Prego members chose 3 of anything they wanted.  My pick was to show all white because it was summer and the emphasis was on cool and light.
Regarding the lighting and background:  [I] used a white panel background atop a white snack table.  [Photo was taken] in natural light and [I] used a side accent light with a 27 Watt Compact Fluorescent Photo Lamp (5500 K, Daylight) 92 + Color.... with just the ideal afternoon sun coming in and the side light, it happened to come together and provide a nice shadow effect behind the dolls as well. 

Gerri is a very active member of Prego and feels that the best part of doll collecting is the community of collectors that she's met on-line and at events. 

Gerri has two blogs. One deals with all fashion dolls and is called MY PASSION IS DOLLS.
The other is about the Sybarite Dolls. The title is INFIDEL.

Thanks, Gerri, and congratulations on the Picture of the Week Award!

 

Doll Land update

A kind blogger let me know that the comment function in Doll Land wasn't working - so I've had to change templates. There will be some continuing updates to the functionality of Doll Land, but at least, now you can leave comments or ask questions if you like.

Thanks, Giovanna, for letting me know.

Regards,
Melanie O.

Doll Land update

A kind blogger let me know that the comment function in Doll Land wasn't working - so I've had to change templates. There will be some continuing updates to the functionality of Doll Land, but at least, now you can leave comments or ask questions if you like.

Thanks, Giovanna, for letting me know.

Regards,
Melanie O.

Fashion Fuel - A W Club Exclusive AvantGuard Fashion

On 9/14/09 members of the W Club received an announcement of an exclusive Avantguard fashion that is going to be available only to members. It is called Fashion Fuel and the edition size will be according to the number of orders placed.
It comes with a wig, jacket, belt, slip dress, shoes, gloves, fishnet stockings and stud earrings and is priced at $110.
My first impression:
—I like the shoes.
—The mini dress is probably cute but you can be sure that the stand will not fit between the doll's legs in that outfit.
—I'm not a fan of belted jackets but if the jacket were all black, the look might have been less jarring.
—There is too much going on with the jacket: peplum detail, gathered pocket flaps, lace-covered, draped second lapel all squished up with a belt! Perhaps I've been watching too much Project Runway. I don't see this as taking a design risk; I see it as trying to put everything into one piece.
—The wig might be "Old Hollywood" glamorous if it were combed properly.
—The last time an outfit contained faux leather gloves they looked like black potholders. Look at the thumbs and the length of the hands in the picture. The gloves do not fit properly. At least one can be thankful that the doll's hands have not been dipped into black paint.
—The Avantguards, like the Sybarites, do not have attractive joints and the fishnet stockings don't do anything to improve the appearance of the vinyl beneath.

That being said, I'm going to get it anyway.

Madame Alexander Cissy

In the mid 1950's, Madame Alexander added a fashion doll to her range. This doll has arms jointed at the elbows, and legs jointed at the knees. She is made of hard plastic, has sleep eyes and wears an elaborate wig. Her name is Cissy.

Cissy is 21 inches tall. She comes with a large array of costumes, most of which were high fashion of her era: swing coats, pencil skirts, and Chanel-type dresses with petticoats, hats, wraps, and high heels with stockings. Cissy was the first fashion doll made with a "high heel" foot. Cissy is a teen doll meant for older girls with dreams of being all grown up.


The Cissy face mold was previously used for Winnie and Binnie Walker, but Winnie and Binnie have little girls' bodies. Cissy's body is more mature and is jointed so that she can be posed in many ways.

Madame Alexander ended the first Cissy run in 1962, and later dolls were made without the elbow joint. So influential was Cissy to a teen girl's sense of fashion, that the Fashion Academy awarded Madame Alexander with a gold medal award - three times!

In 1996, Cissy was revived and a modernized version of the doll was born. Modern Cissy has a hard plastic body and a vinyl head and arms and stands 20 inches tall. She has a slightly narrower bust and smaller waist than Vintage Cissy, but both dolls are favorites with collectors.

As you can see, I have one of each - a Vintage Cissy and a Modern Cissy. Both dolls are gorgeous, for different reasons - each representing her own era. Vintage Cissy is marked Alexander on the back of her head, and Modern Cissy is unmarked (which is why saving those hang tags and tagged outfits is so important.) Modern Cissy is Holiday Cissy from 1999. She wears her original outfit and comes with her own earrings as well as a pair of matching earrings for her adoptive "mommy."

Madame Alexander Cissy

In the mid 1950's, Madame Alexander added a fashion doll to her range. This doll has arms jointed at the elbows, and legs jointed at the knees. She is made of hard plastic, has sleep eyes and wears an elaborate wig. Her name is Cissy.

Cissy is 21 inches tall. She comes with a large array of costumes, most of which were high fashion of her era: swing coats, pencil skirts, and Chanel-type dresses with petticoats, hats, wraps, and high heels with stockings. Cissy was the first fashion doll made with a "high heel" foot. Cissy is a teen doll meant for older girls with dreams of being all grown up.


The Cissy face mold was previously used for Winnie and Binnie Walker, but Winnie and Binnie have little girls' bodies. Cissy's body is more mature and is jointed so that she can be posed in many ways.

Madame Alexander ended the first Cissy run in 1962, and later dolls were made without the elbow joint. So influential was Cissy to a teen girl's sense of fashion, that the Fashion Academy awarded Madame Alexander with a gold medal award - three times!

In 1996, Cissy was revived and a modernized version of the doll was born. Modern Cissy has a hard plastic body and a vinyl head and arms and stands 20 inches tall. She has a slightly narrower bust and smaller waist than Vintage Cissy, but both dolls are favorites with collectors.

As you can see, I have one of each - a Vintage Cissy and a Modern Cissy. Both dolls are gorgeous, for different reasons - each representing her own era. Vintage Cissy is marked Alexander on the back of her head, and Modern Cissy is unmarked (which is why saving those hang tags and tagged outfits is so important.) Modern Cissy is Holiday Cissy from 1999. She wears her original outfit and comes with her own earrings as well as a pair of matching earrings for her adoptive "mommy."

Dream World Dolls

Dream World dolls are 11 inch composition dolls that were marketed to the "average" family who could not afford more expensive toys.They were sold throughout the 1940's and were available with a range of costumes: historical, ethnic, occupational, and fantasy.

These unmarked dolls have side-glancing painted eyes and mohair wigs that are glued directly to the head, as opposed to being constructed on a skull cap. Their costumes are stapled to their bodies, so costume changes were not intended for Dream World dolls. As a result of very little handling by little mommies, Dream World dolls tend to remain in very good condition. They don't appear to suffer from the same cracking and crazing as other dolls of their era with "better" composition. The dolls wear oil cloth shoes with laces.

I have two Dream World dolls. Both are ladies of the French court. Their costumes have a few age-related holes, but the dolls themselves are in great condition. When you purchase a Dream World doll, you will most likely also purchase her original costume, which makes her a true representation of her manufacture.

These dolls are delightful and aren't costly at all unless you're fortunate to find one with her original hang tags and in her original box. They are a great representation of their era and sometimes get mistaken for Wendy Ann or Tiny Betty dolls; however, the stapled on clothing, glued on floss, and lack of maker's marks gives them away.

Dream World Dolls

Dream World dolls are 11 inch composition dolls that were marketed to the "average" family who could not afford more expensive toys.They were sold throughout the 1940's and were available with a range of costumes: historical, ethnic, occupational, and fantasy.

These unmarked dolls have side-glancing painted eyes and mohair wigs that are glued directly to the head, as opposed to being constructed on a skull cap. Their costumes are stapled to their bodies, so costume changes were not intended for Dream World dolls. As a result of very little handling by little mommies, Dream World dolls tend to remain in very good condition. They don't appear to suffer from the same cracking and crazing as other dolls of their era with "better" composition. The dolls wear oil cloth shoes with laces.

I have two Dream World dolls. Both are ladies of the French court. Their costumes have a few age-related holes, but the dolls themselves are in great condition. When you purchase a Dream World doll, you will most likely also purchase her original costume, which makes her a true representation of her manufacture.

These dolls are delightful and aren't costly at all unless you're fortunate to find one with her original hang tags and in her original box. They are a great representation of their era and sometimes get mistaken for Wendy Ann or Tiny Betty dolls; however, the stapled on clothing, glued on floss, and lack of maker's marks gives them away.

Fashion Police - FAIL

Picture of the Week Award ~ September 13, 2009

The theme this past week on Prego was "Let's Hear it For the Boys!" The many and varied male dolls posted were hunky and fabulous.
In particular, Dalila's post blew me away. Doll after doll - she posted 16 - was drop dead gorgeous and photographed beautifully. I could not choose a favorite. I picked one. Then I changed my mind. This went on for at least one hour. I just kept looking at the pictures and fell in love with each one. Here's Thor.

Dalila told me that Thor is a former "Cole" ("Super Hero" male body sculpt) that has had an extensive makeover (all done by {her}): re-sculpted cheekbones, full repaint, haircut and style with rooted-in additional hair and "champagne blond" highlights. Loosely inspired by Dolph Lundgren.

Here is the original Aquaman. What a stunning difference.If you would like to see more of Dalila's wonderful dolls and great pictures of them, click here
and here.

Congratulations, Dalilah!

After a While, They All Start To Look the Same

Maybe I'm imagining it.

New Monogram Doll, Blue Chip, celebrates Jeffrey's 10th Anniversary

I admit that I didn't know the store called Jeffrey until Jason's Amanda LePore dolls were released. Guessing that I'm not the only challenged fashionista who collects fashion dolls, I will tell a little about Jeffrey's here. First of all it is located on the west side of Manhattan at 44 W. 14th St. near the Hudson River in what is known as the Meatpacking District. In 1900, Gansevoort Market, as it was called, was home to 250 slaughterhouses and packing plants.
Prior to the 1990's, the area contained an unsavory mix of sex clubs, drug dealers and prostitution. Many of the clubs are said to have been Mafia run.
Beginning in the late 1990's the Meatpacking District went through a transformation. High-end boutiques such as Diane von Furstenberg, Christian Louboutin, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Rubin Chapelle, Scoop, Theory, Ed Hardy, Puma Black Store, Moschino, ADAM by Adam Lippes, Jeffrey New York, the Apple Store, and CALYPSO by Christiane Celle, custom home furnishing boutiques such as Establishment, restaurants such as Pastis and Buddha Bar, and nightclubs such as Tenjune, One, G-Spa, Cielo, APT, Level V, and Kiss and Fly, all have recently opened in order to cater to young professionals and hipsters. In 2004, New York magazine called the Meatpacking District "New York’s most fashionable neighborhood".[Wikipedia] In other words - trendy and very expensive.

Jeffrey's is celebrating it's 10th year in business. Here is a link to an article about the origins of the store and some information about Jeffrey Kalinsky himself:
Article from The New York Observer, April 4, 1999

Kalinsky recently sponsored a "fashion-in-miniature" project in which more than 50 designers participated. The dolls used were the Monogram sculpt. They were dressed by the designers and went on display last August. Bidding is going on until September 17th and the proceeds will go to charity.

Patriciann aka The Cottage Couturier, posted this picture of the doll she purchased at Jeffrey's on 9/11. It's a Jason Wu Monogram doll wearing a version of one of his designs. The doll is called Blue Chip.

It seems that the doll's dress could have used better detail in the area of the waistline. At $175 per doll...one expects details like that to be included. To date I think the only Monogram doll that nearly pulls off Jason's 'fashion from the runway look' is the first one that was done for Colette in Paris. http://terrigoldphoto.blogspot.com/search?q=colette.

I have to admit that I ordered this one in spite of my initial feeling to let it go. I'm weak and easily enabled. Now you know.