Friday, January 1, 2016

How to Start the New Year off...

I decided to do a shoot comparison with some of my silkies and some of the new Integrity convention girls that came into the doll room for Christmas.. It really is hard to choose. Which is your favorite- Silkstone Barbie, regular collector Barbie- or Integrity toys with Poppy Parker, the Fashion Royalty 2 line, Style Lab Color Infusion, and the list goes on...




The last photo is a closeup of some of my Silkstones by themselves, with Stage Presence Veronique looking on from behind. I have to say that Boater and In the Pink from years past are still two of my favorite Silkstones. I do have more Silkstone Barbies than this just wanted to put a few in the shot that would go with the girls I had already set up in evening dress.  

The reason I am posting this is because of the recent email from Barbie Collector I received about re-joining...


This year, I am, of course, going to join. But I had to stop and think twice. I really , really did. First of all, I haven't purchased that much from Barbie Collector. I purchased Lady of the White Woods (backordered, had to wait.) then I purchased Queen of the dark Forest, (backordered, had to wait) both of these dolls, I used my reward. I ordered Haunted Beauty Zombie Barbie using my third reward , and then, finally, Boucle Beauty Silkstone Barbie with the last reward and free shipping. But this year whenever I have tried for that wonderful hard to get doll, such as Toki Doki- or there was another Platinum, it has been quite literally a disaster. 
The Andy Warhol doll was a one doll I was somewhat glad I did not try for. Some collectors ordered, paid, then were told later after being charged that the website had over extended the order and they would not get their doll! And the waiting room business- all of this to order a doll. 

For this reason, I have done business with Integrity. You don't have to fiddle around with someone who plays guessing games whether or not they want to sell to you or make you 'hunt the doll'. Plus their quality control is on point, they give you articulation, the clothing is beautifully made. 

I will say my only reasons for joining BarbieCollector...nostalgia, and I am eager to see what they do with the articulated Silkstones. But I believe not making some of the Silkstones non-articulated is a really bad decision- not all the collectors like articulation. (why,I have no idea unless you're stuck in 1959 and refuse to come out. ) There has been alot of talk on the Barbiecollector forum about who will stay and who will not buy and I think those collectors are not giving the new articulated Silkies a chance. 

But then again, who am I? I'm just a nutty diorama builder who hates mannequin dolls. I do love my Silkstones I have, and won't change them, but at the end of the day, they are mainly shoppers in my town, I cannot change their pose, their stance. They are not the stars, my buildings are. 

Two...I am collecting the Faraway Forest series of dolls and am hoping...HOPING. that Mattel will add some knee articulation into these idiot Model Muse dolls. We are paying $100 or $80 with a reward for a doll with jointed elbows and model muse legs. The outfits are stunning and so are their facial sculpts. I would love an articulated body on the bottom to go with it so I could get more poseability in pictures when they are out of the box. I was unable to acquire Forest Elf, the first in the series, so am hoping to get the others in the series, there are going to be seven in all. 

Probably my buying with BarbieCollector will be as skimpy in 2016 as it was in 2015...As there are some dolls or action figures on my list that I am simply dying to acquire. Integrity may be put on the back burner as well. I have vowed unless they come up with something that WOWS me, I will not be placing pre-orders.  Especially on the registration to join. Last year I purchased all three, this year I am hoping to save some money. lol...

So what about you? Any thoughts on your dolly purchases in 2016?

2 comments:

Smaller Places said...

The Silkstones are really lovely, even compared to their Integrity neighbors.

Dolly purchases in 2016? My thought at the moment is "as few as possible" for a couple of reasons. One is that the doll civilization has expanded so fast and needs to settle down a bit. The other is that I'm underwhelmed by basically all play line face-ups at the moment, and it's play lines that I collect. There aren't even new fakies to be excited about.

So my 2016 plan is to finish the 1:6 house and make a lot of doll clothes.

Lisa Neault said...

smaller places, great plan! I look around at my doll room and wonder, where am I going to put anymore? So putting a limit on anymore doll purchases and concentrating on finishing projects is a great focus.