Integrity Toys May 2015 release part 2: FR 16 collection

Last year the FR 16 line got a major revamp that paid of in an exciting way. Not only it had a new face/character in Hanne Erikson (that proved to be quite successful) but also got people interested again in the series after some ho-hum releases that did not quite live up to its status as Avantguard replacements. This year the dolls are again incredible and one of them takes the whole collection one step further. But more below. Vaughn Sawyer worked wonders with the collection and also said that they are trying out an kind-of-airbrushed effect on the eye-shadow. They look terrific. As last year, there is again one Anais, two Elsa Lin and two Hanne Erikson dolls.

Item # 78015
Super Natural
Anais McKnight™ Dressed Doll
The FR:16™ Collection
Limited Edition Size of 400 Dolls
Estimated Ship Date: Approximately Late August 2015
Suggested Retail Price: $175.00
Available for Pre-order from Any Authorized Integrity Toys Dealer

Doll Tech Specs:
Head Sculpt: Anais
Body Type: FR:16™ 
Quick Switch Feature: No
Skin Tone: Light Honey
Hair Color: Bronze
Eyelashes: Yes, Hand Applied

Anais McKnight looks totally different from her incarnation last year. In elegant, slightly understated daywear, with nice accessories and great face paint. She is a fully articulated 16-inch vinyl fashion doll with fully rooted hair and hand applied eyelashes. A doll stand is included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up.

Item # 78016
Incognito
Elsa Lin™ Dressed Doll
The FR:16™ Collection 
Limited Edition Size of 400 Dolls
Estimated Ship Date: Approximately Late August 2015
Suggested Retail Price: $175.00
Available for Pre-order from Any Authorized Integrity Toys Dealer

Doll Tech Specs:
Head Sculpt: Elsa
Body Type: FR:16™ 
Quick Switch Feature: No
Skin Tone: FR White
Hair Color: Chocolate Brown
Eyelashes: Yes, Hand Applied

Whereas Anais changed look completely, Elsa looks so much like last year's Hot Blooded doll - with a beehive. Yes she is gorgeous and yes I was this close in ordering her. But I already have her almost twin from last year so I did not. I love the outfit too. The doll has such a 60s elegant vibe. She could have made an appearance on Mad Men. Elsa Lin is a fully articulated 16-inch vinyl fashion doll with fully rooted hair and hand applied eyelashes. A doll stand is included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up. 

Item # 78017
Fall Phenomenon
Elsa Lin™ Dressed Doll
The FR:16™ Collection 
Limited Edition Size of 400 Dolls
Estimated Ship Date: Approximately Late August 2015
Suggested Retail Price: $175.00
Available for Pre-order from Any Authorized Integrity Toys Dealer

Doll Tech Specs:
Head Sculpt: Elsa
Body Type: FR:16™ 
Quick Switch Feature: No
Skin Tone: Japan
Hair Color: Black
Eyelashes: Yes, Hand Applied

The second Elsa doll is quite different in her face paint from all the other Elsas but the outfit is like a rehashed version of the Hot Blooded one - same colour, asymmetry, fur detail. What a gorgeous face - and those eyes! Great accessories as well. Elsa Lin is a fully articulated 16-inch vinyl fashion doll with fully rooted hair and hand applied eyelashes. A doll stand is included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up.

Item # 78019

Shades of Grey

Hanne Erickson™ Dressed Doll

The FR:16™ Collection 

Limited Edition Size of 400 Dolls

Estimated Ship Date: Approximately Late August 2015

Suggested Retail Price: $175.00

Available for Pre-order from Any Authorized Integrity Toys Dealer

Doll Tech Specs:

Head Sculpt: Hanne

Body Type: FR:16™ 

Quick Switch Feature: No

Skin Tone: FR White

Hair Color: Black

Eyelashes: Yes, Hand Applied

Firs time Hanne appears with this hair colour and she looks amazing. I think she looks like the big 16" sister of the last W Club doll of 2014, that gorgeous Rare Appearance Dania. The detail of the dress is amazing, with the lace cap sleeves and the lace back panel. The coat is magnificent as is the bag. Again I was really tempted to get her but her other version finally won me over, you will understand if you read below. Hanne Erickson is a fully articulated 16-inch vinyl fashion doll with fully rooted hair and hand applied eyelashes. A doll stand is included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up.

I think the kind-of -airbrush effect looks so well done here. The make up is incredible and kudos go to designer Jesse Ayala.

Item # 78018
Exuberance
Hanne Erickson™ Dressed Doll
The FR:16™ Collection 
Limited Edition Size of 400 Dolls
Estimated Ship Date: Approximately Late August 2015
Suggested Retail Price: $200.00
Available for Pre-order from Any Authorized Integrity Toys Dealer

Doll Tech Specs:
Head Sculpt: Hanne
Body Type: FR:16™ 
Quick Switch Feature: No
Skin Tone: Japan
Hair Color: Titanium Blond
Eyelashes: Yes, Hand Applied

This is easily the best FR 16 doll ever released, reminding me so much of the Avantguards (but more refined) and also a tamed version of Sybarites. All elements combine to make one great doll, from the hair colour (which mixes silver and platinum) to the face paint to her outfit and accessories - although a ring is sorely missing for this price range. Well done Vaughn and Jesse. This is the one I am getting and I am so happy about it. Hanne Erickson is a fully articulated 16-inch vinyl fashion doll with fully rooted hair and hand applied eyelashes. A doll stand is included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up.

So what do you think of this FR 16 release? Tempted to finally enter the larger doll world? Let me know in the comments.

Please note that the dolls shown are prototypes and the final production dolls, colours and fabrics may vary slightly. Note that these are all 16-inch tall fashion dolls and are not in 1/6 scale. All photos and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2015 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission

Integrity Toys May 2015 release part 1: Katy Keene collection

Later then every other year, Integrity Toys unveiled four new collections of dolls this past weekend to the members of W Club through a webinar presentation. The event was not without its problems; many people, including me, were not able to see the photo slides of the dolls, were instructed to log out and back in again which resulted for many in a message saying the webinar is full. That meant no live presentation - we had to rely instead on other members that posted screen caps on the club forum. The company apologised profusely and promised to take the matter up with the software maker. I am not too familiar with the mechanics behind such presentations but I guess that when you organize such a large, worldwide event on-line, things can go bad really fast and also it is good to have immediate access to IT people supporting the event so that they can fix such problems in real time. The dolls are available to pre-order now so get in touch with the dealers from the IT list ASAP.

The collections will be presented on separate posts here in the blog, with a fifth one dedicated to the event doll. Let's start with the first group presented, which is a new brand for Integrity Toys: the Katy Keene collection.  These are dolls based on the iconic comic book character Katy Keene and her fashionable friends from Archie Comics. David Buttry presented this collection and said they were inspired by the comics and the related paper dolls produced throughout the years. I was very thrilled to see these incredible fashions and gorgeous faces until I saw that all dolls have Color Infusion bodies. This means that they cannot share fashions and shoes with most of my other dolls. I also think that this is the wrong type of body for this era. I believe that the dolls would look better with either the previous Fashion Royalty body (the tall one with the large bust) or the Victoire body, so that they could exchange fashions and accessories with her, since their eras match. I do not know the reasoning behind the body choice but it made me not order any doll. Otherwise, they look amazing. The detail in the clothing is fantastic and the face paints and hairdos are perfection. On to the dolls:

So who is Katy Keene? A character created by Bill Woggon, she has appeared in several comic book series published by Archie Comics since 1945. She is a model/actress/singer known as America's Queen of Pin-Ups and Fashions. The readers were encouraged to submit original drawings of outfits and accessories for her and her friends to wear, as well as designs for cars, homes, interiors, etc. These designs were used in the comics with credit given to published submissions. Many issues featured paper dolls of Katy in various costumes. After a 20 year hiatus from the 60s to the 80s, the character was revived, was retired again in the early 90s and re-introduced in 2005 as a high school student. I am glad I am not alone in noticing an eerie resemblance of Katy Keene and Katy Perry. Writer Donna Dickens of Hitfix.com wrote an article in April 2014, suggesting pop star Katy Perry had based her entire fashion persona on the character. The story generated enough Internet buzz that Perry actually issued a statement to Rolling Stone Magazine saying she in fact did not base anything about herself on Keene, although jokingly acknowledged the coincidences. Well, sorry Ms. Perry but the resemblance is too strong to have me convinced. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Item # 14069
Winning Number
Lucki Red Lorelei™ Dressed Doll
Limited Edition Size of 425 Dolls
Estimated Ship Date: Approximately Late July 2015
Suggested Retail Price: $145.00 US
Available for Pre-order from Any Authorized Integrity Toys Dealer

Doll Tech Specs:
Body Type: Color Infusion
Quick Switch Feature: No
Skin Tone: B-Tone
Hair Color: Red
Eyelashes: Yes, Hand Applied

Lucki Red Lorelei is  Katy's best friend. She is a superstitious redhead, also a model, and wears green as it is a lucky colour, as well as accessories shaped like a horseshoe or a four-leaf clover for the same reason. She is stunning and apart from being beautiful, also wears quite an intricate suit - and green. If you want to sell me something, paint it green. She has the Jem sculpt from the Jem and the Hologram line. If she was on another body I would have snapped her up. Lucki Lorelei.is a fully articulated 12.5-inch vinyl fashion doll with fully rooted hair and hand applied eyelashes. A doll stand is included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up.

Item # 14070
The Odds are Stacked
Gloria Grandbuilt™ Dressed Doll
Limited Edition Size of 500 Dolls
Estimated Ship Date: Approximately Early July 2015
Suggested Retail Price: $145.00 US
Available for Pre-order from Any Authorized Integrity Toys Dealer

Doll Tech Specs:
Body Type: Color Infusion 
Quick Switch Feature: No
Skin Tone: Japan
Hair Color: Pale Blonde
Eyelashes: Yes, Hand Applied

Katy's rival in her career and love life is the wealthy and snobby blond Gloria Grandbilt - the name is a take on the socialite Gloria Vanderbilt. She's the blond of the trio and what a gorgeous doll, again in a perfectly detailed suit the colour of rubies. The doll uses the Tilda Brisby/Roxy sculpt - and to good effect, looking better than any previous incarnation. Again, if she was on another body, I would get her too. Gloria Grandbuilt is a fully articulated 12.5-inch vinyl fashion doll with fully rooted hair and hand applied eyelashes. A doll stand is included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up. 

Item # 14071
Blue Serenade
Katy Keene™ Dressed Doll 
Limited Edition Size of 500 Dolls
Estimated Ship Date: Approximately Early July 2015
Suggested Retail Price: $145.00 US
Available for Pre-order from Any Authorized Integrity Toys Dealer

Doll Tech Specs:
Body Type: Color Infusion 
Quick Switch Feature: No
Skin Tone: FR White
Hair Color: Black
Eyelashes: Yes, Hand Applied

The third doll presented is the protagonist of the line. She is using the Rapture sculpt from the Jem line. This particular outfit was picked from a paper doll; it was shown in the webinar and it is almost an exact copy down to the accessories. Katy Keene is a fully articulated 12.5-inch vinyl fashion doll with fully rooted hair and hand applied eyelashes. A doll stand is included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up. 

Item # 14072
Shimmering Dynasty
Katy Keene™ Dressed Doll 
Limited Edition Size of 500 Dolls
Estimated Ship Date: Approximately Early July 2015
Suggested Retail Price: $145.00 US
Available for Pre-order from Any Authorized Integrity Toys Dealer

Doll Tech Specs:
Body Type: Color Infusion 
Quick Switch Feature: No
Skin Tone: Japan
Hair Color: Black
Eyelashes: Yes, Hand Applied

Since she was revived in the 80s, David thought it would be a good idea to have an outfit based on that era. Very Nolan Miller/Dynasty like (hence the doll name), it could have easily appeared in the series, worn by Joan Collins. Look at the jewellery! Katy Keene is a fully articulated 12.5-inch vinyl fashion doll with fully rooted hair and hand applied eyelashes. A doll stand is included. For adult collectors ages 15 and up.

Item # 14073
Everything's Keene
Katy Keene™ Dressed Doll Gift Set
Limited Edition Size of 500 Gift Sets
Estimated Ship Date: Approximately Late July 2015
Suggested Retail Price: $185.00
Available for Pre-order from Any Authorized Integrity Toys Dealer

Doll Tech Specs:
Body Type: Color Infusion 
Quick Switch Feature: No
Skin Tone: Cream
Hair Color: Black
Eyelashes: Yes, Hand Applied

So this is actually a gift set with a good price. She has two dresses, a coat and lingerie, with two gorgeous pairs of shoes - the beige ones are to die for. And does she look like that other Katy or not? Katy Keene is a fully articulated 12.5-inch vinyl fashion doll with fully rooted hair and hand applied eyelashes. A doll stand is included as well. For adult collectors ages 15 and up. 

So what do you think about this line? Let me know in the comments. I am certain that if it is a success, we will also see the men in Katy's life: the red-headed boxer K.O. Kelly, his rich blond rival Randy Van Ronson and their 80s replacements, the Latino airline pilot and talented dancer Ramon Ramirez and the Arnold Schwarzenegger parody Arnold Horsenlegger. She also had a sister, simply called "Sis" that could also make an appearance. People in the webinar asked about other Archie characters entering the line and David said it would of course depend on the success of the line.

Please note that the dolls shown in the photos are prototypes and the final production dolls, colours and fabrics may vary slightly. All photos and information contained herein is copyrighted Integrity Toys, Inc. and Intercap Merchant Partners, LLC 2015 and may not be reprinted or disseminated without express written permission. KATY KEENE is a registered trademark of Archie Comics. ™ & © 2015 Archie Comic Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used Under License.