Integrity Toys 1st on-line presentation 2013: Funny Face

The fourth and final line presented at the on-line event was the one most anticipated, as an ad had run in DOLLS magazine (much like Tulabelle) and also previewed at the 2012 convention and the W Club. Furthermore it had the success of last year's Sabrina line to buoy it. The result left all fans breathless. To me it is the best collection ever presented by Integrity Toys - and the one most likely to break us financially. Six dolls, most in giftsets of two to three outfits each and one more as the event doll that will be allocated to lucky W Club member via lottery. Each doll is only 400 pieces so it was only natural some would be sold out. If the prices were lower, I bet all would already be sold out.

This time Integrity did not use one sculpt only for the main character. It also did not give us only one character. A variety of sculpts and bodies were used with great success. Needless to say that after the event, I watched the film again, spotting the outfits in the film and enjoying the incredible talent that created it. As a reminder, Givenchy created all of Audrey Hepburn's Jo Stoctkon character Parisian outfits while Edith Head designed the rest. But enough rambling, let's see the dolls!

Item # 14011
Take The Picture!
Dressed Doll
The Funny Face Collection
Limited Edition of 400 Dolls
Suggested Retail Price: US $150.00
Estimated Delivery Date: Week of February 11th, 2013

The iconic moment in the film that Audrey is running down the steps below the statue of the Winged Victory of Samothrace in the Louvre, shouting to Fred Astaire "Take The Picture". There were two previous incarnations of the outfit on dolls, one by Mattel for a convention and one by Madame Alexander in 16" size. It is a magnificent reproduction. And the moment means a lot to me as this is my favourite sculpture in the world.

"Take The Picture!" is a 12" fully articulated vinyl doll with rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes featuring Integrity's Poppy Parker body (with kitten heel foot) and the original Vanessa Perrin head sculpt (i.e. Vanessa 1.0). The outfit consists of a long form-fitted red satin gown, dramatic white opera gloves, a jewellery set, matching kitten heels and a bright red chiffon shawl. It also includes an alternate set of hands, a doll stand and a certificate of authenticity. Magnifique!

Item # 14012
Think Pink
Dressed Doll Mini-Gift Set
The Funny Face Collection
Limited Edition of 400 Dolls
Suggested Retail Price: US $150.00
Estimated Delivery Date: Week of February 11th, 2013

One of the most memorable musical numbers in the film is "Think Pink" with the indomitable Kay Thompson (more about her later). So it was only natural that one outfit at least would be selected. Well, guess again: there are two. The 12" fully articulated vinyl doll has rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes and sports the FR: Monogram body (with Victoire Roux legs) and the Imogen head sculpt. The first look in the set (which is worn by a dancer in the film, when a bunch of painters change the colours of the office doors to pink and ladies appear to dance among them) is composed of a two-piece bright pink business suit with a white pill-box hat, short gloves and matching shoes. You can see it in the photo below, on the far right.

The doll is evoking the model Sunny Harnett who appears in the film along more famous models Suzy Parker and Dovima (who has a speaking role). Suzy appears with many outfits in the sequence but most notably the second outfit of this gift set  This look is composed of a pink satin two-piece gown with a transformable pink faux fur peplum that turns into a cape, as shown in the film.  Pink opera length gloves, bright pink satin shoes and a jewellery set complete the outfit. It also includes an alternate set of hands, a doll stand and a certificate of authenticity.

Wish I had the car to go with the doll!

Item # 14013
The Quality Woman
Dressed Doll Gift Set
The Funny Face Collection
Limited Edition of 400 Dolls
Suggested Retail Price: US $199.00
Estimated Delivery Date: Week of February 11th, 2013

As mentioned above, Kay Thompson (as Maggie Prescott) is the actress that sings "Think Pink". A veritable force of nature, Ms. Prescott was a multi-talented artist, with only five films, lots of jazz singing and of course writer of the Eloise books. She was a musical coach in MGM and was loaned to Paramount for Funny Face (along with most of the cast and crew). This gift set (named after her ideal woman to represent her magazine, Quality) gives us three of her outfits in the film, unfortunately not the best ones. I am posting stills from the film so you can see the outfits as worn by her, above is the blue and beige one. I think the shirt colour is not a  match.

You can see the black and white ensemble above. I love that they have the accessories down pat. Her hair could have had less volume though.

The third one is the grey suit in "Think Pink". The shape marks the transition from the "New Look" sharp waist to the more boxy "Trapeze" and "A-line" silhouette of the late fifties and early sixties.

So what about the doll? "The Quality Woman" is a 12" fully articulated vinyl doll with rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes featuring Integrity's Victoire Roux body and Katy Perry sculpt (I asked about it in the on-line event!) in the role of Maggie Prescott. The set of three looks also features two pairs of shoes, gloves, three hats, a purse and a jewellery set. It also includes an alternate set of hands, a doll stand and a certificate of authenticity.

I think they could have missed the two-piece ensembles and have done the following two:

Or even the two shown below:

Item # 14014
On How To Be Lovely
Dressed Doll Gift Set
The Funny Face Collection
Limited Edition of 400 Dolls
Suggested Retail Price: US $199.00
Estimated Delivery Date: Week of February 11th, 2013

"On How To Be Lovely" indeed! Could not have chosen a better name! Three outfits here and all incredible. The doll has rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes featuring Integrity's Poppy Parker body and the new Veronique Perrin sculpt (who looks uncanilly here like Michelle Dockery who plays Lady Mary in Downton Abbey) . This gift set is composed of three complete looks as worn by the character of Jo Stockton in the film: the pink cape and white column dress worn in her transformation scene (above), the delicate wedding outfit worn during the photo shoot with Fred Astaire and at the finale of the show and the film and also the yellow dress worn in the fashion show (below). This set also features the accessories to finish the looks and of course the bridal bouquet. It also includes an alternate set of hands, a doll stand and a certificate of authenticity. 

I wish we had more photos of the bridal gown, the actual dress from the film has so many details!

Item # 14015
Bonjour, Paris!
Dressed Doll Gift Set
The Funny Face Collection
Limited Edition of 400 Dolls
Suggested Retail Price: US $199.00
Estimated Delivery Date: Week of February 11th, 2013

Another Jo gift set! More outfits! "Bonjour, Paris!" is a 12" fully articulated vinyl doll with rooted hair and hand-applied eyelashes featuring Integrity's Poppy Parker body and the original Veronique Perrin (i.e Vero 1.0) sculpt in the role of Jo Stockton. This gift set is composed of three complete looks as worn by the character of Joe Stockton in the film. This set also features accessories to finish these gorgeous looks and a bouquet of miniature balloons to recreate the iconic Parisian photo shoot scene at Champs Élysées   It also includes an alternate set of hands, a doll stand and a certificate of authenticity. The outfits are:

1. "Beautiful" dress and cloak. They missed the matching scarf though.

2. Catching a fish outfit - looks divine!

3. Balloon dress at Champs Élysées - it even has the balloons!

Item # 14018
A Woman Who Thinks
Dressed Doll Mini-Gift Set
The Funny Face Collection
Limited Edition of 400 dolls
Suggested Retail Price: US $150.00
Estimated Delivery Date: Week of February 11th, 2013

The best doll of the bunch strangely enough is not one of the Jo Stocktons but the one portraying Marion, or better yet, Dovima, the iconic 50's model who was an Avedon muse (she is in the famous elephant photo of his) and plays a parody of herself in the film, down to the comic she reads in a scene (she had a huge collection). "A Woman Who Thinks" is a 12" fully articulated vinyl doll featuring the FR: Monogram body (with Victoire Roux legs) and the Anja head sculpt in the role of Marion. Anja looks amazing as Dovima! This mini-gift set is composed of two complete looks as worn by the character of Marion in the film - the black scalloped neckline dress and the yellow full skirted one (the She-bop as they call it in the film). The set also features the accessories to finish these looks (unfortunately no comic or statue, LOL). It also includes an alternate set of hands, a doll stand and a certificate of authenticity. 

There is no image available on-line for this one, I had to make my own capture from the DVD!

And there was one more doll - the event doll. Another Jo Stockton one, but only available to W Club members through lottery. I entered the lottery and hope to win.

Item #14016
Let's Kiss And Make Up
Dressed Doll Gift Set 
The Funny Face Collection
2013 W Club Exclusive Lottery Doll 
Suggested Retail Price: US $199.00 US
Limited Edition of 400 Dolls
Estimated Delivery Date: Week of February 11th, 2013

"Let's Kiss And Make Up" is a 12" fully articulated vinyl doll featuring Integrity's Poppy Parker body and the closed mouth Vanessa Perrin sculpt (i.e. Vanessa 2.0, looking even more like Michelle Dockery than Vero's  2.0 sculpt does) in the role of Jo Stockton. The set is composed of three complete looks as worn by the character of Jo Stockton in the film: The Anna Karenina photo shoot suit, the yellow flower shop dress and the beige fashion show suit. This set also features the accessories to finish these looks: three beautiful hats, a travel purse, three pairs of shoes, a rose bouquet, a faux-mink coat, an umbrella (non-working) and the little dog of course! It also includes an alternate pair of hands, a doll stand and a certificate of authenticity. Here are the outfits:

1. The Anna Karenina train station suit:

2. The flower shop dress:

3. The beige suit from the fashion show (umbrella included but does not open):

So many dolls, so many dresses such an extraordinary collection. I'm going for broke trying to get them all and hope to manage it. Audrey is one of my muses and icons and it is a perfect homage to her and to this visually brilliant film.

Most film stills and valuable information for the film's costumes came from this lovely blog.

Please note that the photos are of prototype dolls and subject to changes and modifications. All photos and doll information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2013 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission.

Integrity Toys Tropicalia Convention 2012: W Club luncheon

Saturday morning: a few more workshops to attend, the Souvenir Shop to visit for those last minute items, the raffle room with all of the fabulous goodies available, the museum and the Style Lab to do some incredible creating. And let's not forget the always popular competition room. Guests could view all of the entries made by their fellow attendees and vote on which doll they liked the best. But, everyone would have to wait until the final gala event to find out which entry won.

One of the perks of being a W Club member is being able to attend the popular W Club luncheon that takes place during the Integrity Convention. W Club members had already been given a clue that a very special collector favourite character would be making her appearance at the luncheon and no one would want to miss out on this surprise. It was an FR2 centrepiece doll, none other than...Elise Jolie! Each member also found a beautiful FR2 shoe pack as their thank you gift for attending at each place setting.

Item #57024
Escapism
Elise Jolie™  
FR: Squared Dressed Doll
2012 Troplicalia Convention Exclusive Table Centerpiece  

I love this one! Elegant and ethereal, she would look great on any couture catwalk - again no tropical connection for me here (which is not necessarily bad). With the right posing, she will look amazing. The FR2 shoe pack again was really a great gift as shoes matching these ladies are hard to find.

Then it was the turn of Carol Roth and Chris Stoeckel to unveil the mystery doll to the members and everyone was thrilled to see that it was Victoire Roux. Keeping to the theme of the convention (someone should tell them that Saint Tropez is far from tropical though), Victoire sports a golden tan and wears a cute lavender fashion. All W Club Luncheon attendees were not only able to purchase the Elise Jolie doll, her being a centrepiece, but they could purchase Victoire.

Item # 76006
Saint Tropez
Victoire Roux Dressed Doll
2012 Tropicalia Convention Exclusive

Members were also given a sneak peek at the latest collection that Integrity Toys will be offering to collectors from the movies! Funny Face is the latest classic movie that Integrity is bringing to plastic! Photos and information will be coming soon! Good news there (not for my wallet) - after the success of Sabrina, the Funny Face is a natural sequel to the Audrey theme.

**All text (with modifications and my comments added) and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2012 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission.**

Integrity Toys Jet Set Convention 2011 - part I

Every year Integrity Toys hosts a convention in October for their fans, presenting their new lines, taking feedback from their die-hard customers and giving all an opportunity to get to know each other better. This year, marking Fashion Royalty's 10th anniversary, they named the convention Jet Set. Let us see what dolls are being presented there,either as exclusives or new lines (tomorrow there will be another post with the convention collection and convention doll).

At registration, each guest received a welcome swag bag that contained the ever popular "empty" surprise convention gift set box, a travel backpack suitable to stow all necessary gear for the weekend, a convention emergency survival pack (that has everything you need to survive at a convention, including doll shoes!), and a goody donated by Azone. There was a room available for viewing called the Museum, displaying several prototype dolls that have never seen before - this one must have been a big treat! The theme for the first evening's event was "Living the Jet Set Life" and mistress of mayhem Kyori Sato was the table cenetrpiece doll as "No Reservations". A very glamorous one I might say. This is probably the last Kyori in the original sculpt (my guess) since all the rest of the original dolls have been given a face lift. The late 50s-early 60s styling is great, although she should have had a bag and a pair of gloves to complete the nice outfit, which consists of a dress and a jacket.

There was also a gift doll for all attendees at their tables: Business Class Anja, wearing a lovely print sheath. She looks gorgeous - each new Anja looks better than the previous one! I am fond of green so the matching accessories look great to me. 

One of the big surprises of the evening, was the unveiling of a new ultra limited edition IT Direct Exclusive Collection at the convention, including the debut of a new line, "Les Silhouettes". In an onstage interview with host Alain Tremblay, IT designer Chris Stoeckel unveiled the details of the mini-collection which consists of two introduction collectibles, Victoire Roux, the main character, and a fashion.

People are still talking about who's sculpt is this. Most agree that it is the old Jasper sculpt. I think she looks great, love the outfits and styling but have a question: why another line that comes too close to the Monograms? Maybe this should have been part of that line. She is supposedly a 50s Parisian Haute Couture model, discovered by a couturier that has his atelier on Avenue Montaigne, but her name is Faubourg Saint Honore - the thing is both are streets of Paris that have most of the Couture and Pret-a-Porter big names boutiques and Houses but Avenue Montaigne was not a hip spot for couture in the 50s when this is supposedly going on. It became the hot spot for fashion in the 80s. The stand-alone fashion is called Avenue Montaigne and looks great. From what I can tell, the fit should be good for FR bodies, as Integrity mentioned that the fashions should fit most fashion dolls.

Integrity says that the IT Direct collection is meant to be a fun way to add dolls and costumes to your collection at a reasonable price, direct from the manufacturer. This introductory collection is done in low numbers, however the goal is to eventually adjust quantities based on demand and popularity to reach a maximum of collectors. Future editions will only be available directly from IT Direct online and at the conventions. The rest of the dolls presented in this collection were two basic underwear dolls, one dressed Basic doll and an Homme doll. The Bare Essentials basic dolls and "City Girl" feature the IT body (first seen on the Brides of Dracula Collection), removable hands for easy dressing, rooted hair and applied eyelashes, while "Backstage Ambition" features the "Homme" body.

The raven doll is called Bare Essentials Night, while the blonde is Day. Night is Dania's sculpt, while Day has  Natalia's old sculpt.

City Girl is Imogen with IT body. I do not like the outfit but the doll looks nice.

And here is the man of the collection, Backstage Ambition. He has the Count Dracula sculpt and I think it shows. I did not like it even for Dracula, let alone this one.

So this was the first night's dolls, on the next post I will feature the dolls presented on Friday.

Photos courtesy of Integrity Toys.