FR16 Obsidian Culture Hanne Erikson

I didn't get this doll when she first came out.  It took seeing owner photos of her with her hair down before I realized what a stunning beauty she is.  The first time I saw the original promotional pictures of Obsidian Culture Hanne, I was in awe of how detailed the suit is, with the embroidered pink leaf design all down the sleeves and collar.  The jacket has working pockets!  The veil is on a headband that's adjustable, so it fits perfectly and doesn't need pins to hold it on.  The purse is detailed, and really looks like a minature of some haute couture purse.  The whole ensemble is amazing.  But I wasn't ready to jump into buying this newly-revamped FR16 line. 

The thing is, I'd bought three of the original FR16 dolls (one of Integrity Toys' 16" doll lines).  I kept waiting for them to release more like the original Freya, Anais and Elsa (the three I had), but instead, they decided to change the way they painted the eyes.  So there were new FR16 dolls this year, but they didn't match the ones I already had.  Sigh.  The new dolls had a more realistic look, as opposed to the slightly more doll-like look of the older FR16s.  

So, because they didn't quite match the dolls already in my collection, I resisted buying them.

But then I saw some pictures of Hanne redressed, with her hair down.  Suddenly she seemed amazing to me, and I had to have her.  It's astounding what one little change can do for the look of a doll. 

So when she arrived, that hair didn't stay up any longer than it took to snap a couple of pictures.  She went from eccentric fashionista to goddess in 30 seconds.  Taking the hair down was very easy.  It involved snipping two rubber bands, and unwinding one lock of hair that'd been wound around the base of the ponytail.  Then I just gently pulled the hair down with my fingers to give it its current look.  There was no bald spot in the back of the head.



Left:  How she looked right out of the box, before I took that down that giant mass of curls.

The set came with fur-trimmed gloves.  I made one half-hearted attempt at putting them on, but putting gloves on Integrity Toys dolls is like vacationing in the 10th Circle of Hell, so I left them in the box.  She couldn't wear her awesome ring at the same time she had the gloves on, anyway, and I wanted to show off the ring.  It's such a charming little accent, with a black stone in it to reflect her name, Obsidian.  The earrings are wonderful, too.  It's interesting they have pink stones to match the embroidery on the jacket, rather than a black stone like the ring.  It's an intriguing design detail that I find quite natural-looking.  How many people have rings that perfectly match their earrings, anyway?

 The one negative thing I have to say about Obsidian is not about the doll itself.  It's about her stand.  The stand was useless with my doll, because her skirt was so tight that I couldn't fit the stand underneath it.  If her skirt had been looser, the stand would have worked.  I'm going to have to get a waist-grip stand for her, because there's no way the average Integrity stand is going up that tight skirt.  (That sounds rude, but you know what I mean.  LOL!)

You'll notice I don't have any pictures of Hanne on her stand. 

Obsidian Culture is an exclusive at Couture Dolls.  There is one other version of Hanne, a blue-eyed blonde in a really incredible white dress ("Platinum Society" Hanne).   I had a hard time choosing between the two, and I *might* cave and buy the blonde for myself for Christmas. 



And now for a few more random pics.

Click on the pictures to see them larger.