Joyful in Japan Poppy Parker

Ironically called "Joyful in Japan" Poppy Parker, because she seems to be the most sullen of the bunch.  LOL.  She's definitely not happy about something. 

Since you'd expect a doll representing Japan to look Japanese, I think of this one as being a model on a catwalk.  She's modeling a kimono for a big-time Japanese designer, obviously. Poppy Parker is a model, after all.

The kimono is very nice.  The fabric is soft (as always for this company's dolls).  I'm not sure I understand the white strappy thingie at her neckline. Apparently it's there just as a fashion statement.

Her face is colorful, which suits the outfit beautifully.  The pink eyeshadow might limit her redressing a little bit, but not by that much. 

I'm not totally crazy about the half-moons of lighter pink on the eyelids, on top of the darker pink.  It may be model-y, but no one wears eyeshadow like that in real life!  Her eyes are purple, which is pretty lovely combined with the platinum hair. 

I like her hairstyle.  :)

She comes with white tights underneath the kimono, instead of pantyhose. 

Her shoes are worth mentioning because they have redressing possibilities.  Since they aren't the traditional sandals you'd expect to see with a kimono, you can use them with another outfit.  Nice. 

Overall, Japan isn't my favorite of the International Fair Poppys, but I quite like her.  I think my favorite may be a tie among India, Switzerland and Polynesia.

Later, alligator.

Irresistible in India Poppy Parker

 "Irresistible in India" was the only one of the five International Fair Poppy Parkers I found mildly disappointing.  And it wasn't the doll herself.  Her face is amazing.  Her hairstyle is elegant and gorgeous.  Her jewelry is beautiful. ...

Well, the jewelry that didn't come broken was beautiful, anyway.  Her earrings came broken in the box. 

Her hairstyle is very goddess-like and wonderful.  Mine had some slightly messy hairs, though, and one of the tendrils of hair hanging on the side of her face was derpy.  (See first pic.)

I think when the dolls were passing inspection at the factory, mine must have come in dead last before the ones that were thrown in the garbage.  She had a stain on her left cheek!  I didn't even notice it until I'd deboxed her, but here it is.  In the light, it even had a fingerprint in it, as if someone had touched her face with a (very) dirty finger.  I panicked, but then thought I'd try some plain soap and water on a washcloth to see if I could get it off.  It came off.  Whew!  I don't know if you'll be able to see it in the photo.  If you do, you'll probably just think it's a smudge on your computer monitor.  LOL.

I do love her bangles.  She also comes with a gold clutch purse, and gold shoes that match the purse.

The back of her dress doesn't hang right, and she looks pretty bad from the back.  This is how it looks from the back, and I can't get it to flatten out and hang straight at all.

But from the front, she's still pretty beautiful.  (Now that her face is washed.)

Sorry this whole post was nothing but whining.  I was about two seconds away from sending her back to Integrity, but I think I may just send the earrings back and just deal with the rest.  If her face had been permanently stained, it would have been a different story and she would have been on her way back to the company right now.  Luckily, she has a perfect face.  She really is a beauty.  

Spicy in Spain Poppy Parker

Gray eyes.  I love that.

Of the five International Fair Poppy Parkers, I have to admit I was the least excited about "Spicy in Spain" because in her promo pictures I thought she looked a little vacant-eyed.  Well, I can happily say, she does NOT look spacey in person.  Not in the least.  Actually, she's pretty gorgeous. 

 

 

 

The sausage curl from hell. LOL.

I can't decide whether her hair is a light brown or a dark blonde.  In my part of the world, we'd probably just call it "dirty blonde." 

"Yes, I'm fabulous."

 

Her dress is all one piece.  It is NOT a separate blouse and skirt.  It zips in the back.  Gosh, I LOVE the hat.  It's just a beautiful miniature hat. 

She comes with an embroidered purse, gold hoop earrings and a nice ring.  I'm already expecting to lose the ring.  Any second now.  Three ... two ... one. ...

I have to say, though, I wish Integrity Toys wasn't so enamored of "clutch purses" without handles.  You can't hang the purses from the dolls' arms! 

Later,

Thoughts on Maudlynne Macabre

Now for a break from Poppy Parkers!  At least for a day.

This is Maudlynne Macabre, from Tonner Toys.  I've been wanting one for months and months (she debuted late 2012), but only just now decided to take the plunge.  Tonner was having a 15% off and free shipping week, so I no longer had any excuses not to get her.  She arrived today.  Wouldn't you know it, though. ... Three days after I bought her, Tonner put Maudlynne on sale for an even steeper discount.  Sigh.  Of course.

Anyway, she's mournful and cute, and in some ways reminds me of myself when I was a little girl.  My hair looked just like that as a kid, for one.  Black.  Bangs.  Long straight hair in back.  Yup.  I spent the entire first part of my life with that look.  Also, her backstory is that she's supposedly from upstate New York.  Me, too!  (Grew up in Binghamton.)  I never dressed in Victorian Gothic, though.  Maybe I should have.  I would have rocked the Wednesday Addams look.

She uses the Tonner LittleMissMatched Girls' body, so she can share clothing and shoes.  She's sort of a cartoony version of Tonner's earlier Agnes Dreary doll, who was very Wednesday Addams, herself.  I love that despite the Gothy appearance, Maud's not dressed in the predictable black.  Nice. 

With bangs pulled back to show her eyebrows.

She has dark navy blue tights.  I took them off to check for staining, and there wasn't any.  Yay!  Her dress is nicely sewn for a playline doll, and the fabric is soft and nice.  It fastens with velcro.  The black mary jane shoes are made of super-squishy plastic and are easy to get on and off the doll.  She doesn't have a slip or panties, but you wouldn't expect a doll with tights to also have panties, anyway.  She doesn't come with any jewelry, and her ears are not pierced.

Some other reviewers have noted she has bending elbows and knees, but not wrists and ankles.  I do think bending wrists would have been nicer for posing, but she still has more jointing than most Barbies.  I couldn't care less about jointed ankles, but someone else pointed out that jointed ankles would make it easier to dress her in long pants.  I have no intention of dressing my girl in pants, so I didn't even think about this.  She was right, though.

I would love to see more versions of Maudlynne.  I'd love to see a brown- or green-eyed version (Debut Maudlynne's eyes are purple), and a version without bangs.   Maybe with long curly hair and no bangs.  That would be darling.

The Tonner Doll Company was at Toy Fair this year.  They showed a prototype of a blonde version of the Maudlynne Macabre sculpt with an absolutely beautiful, frilly Victorian dress.  It's supposedly a new character, though, not merely a blonde Maudlynne.  The character is supposed to be Maud's friend Victoria, who is a ghost.  Here are links to pictures of the blonde prototype doll here and here and here.  I really hope she isn't produced with the exact same face as Maudlynne!  They should at least give her a new eye screening so she does look like a new character, and not just a blonde version of Maud.  She's lovely, though.  I hope they at LEAST change her eye color. 

I guess no review would be complete without mentioning her hair.  The hair is silky soft saran!  Yay again!  It feels really wonderful, and I already want to braid it.

Switzerland Poppy

"Sweet in Switzerland" Poppy Parker has an awesome hair color.  It's orange.

Bright orange.  I actually love it, though.  When I was a little girl, my best friend had very orange hair naturally (and blue eyes, and freckles all over her face. ... She was adorable).  Although Switzerland's hair is orange, it's a natural-looking shade, and is lovely in person. 

I think this might be the first Poppy Parker to ever have this hair color. 

Her outfit is very cute.  I was expecting the blouse and skirt to be separate pieces, but they aren't.  It's all one dress.  The laced white belt is removable, though. The dress fastens in back with tiny hooks.

She has the same eye screening as "Foto Fab," "Shadow of a Smile" and "In The Air," although with applied eyelashes.  The applied eyelashes really work nicely with this eye screening, and give her a slightly dreamy look without making her look stoned or sleepy.  She just looks sweet and innocent.  This eye screening is essentially a forward-glancing version of the famous "Bergdorf/Ask Any Girl/I Love How You Love Me" screening.   (Seriously. ... You can compare the eye screenings with this Poppy Parker eye chart.)

The cape-style coat is made from the nicest material!  I'd love a real coat for myself made from this fabric, in this pretty shade of blue.  I love the furry hat, too.  It left some white fuzz on top of her head, though, that I didn't notice until after I'd done this entire photo shoot and loaded the pictures up onto my computer.  LOL! 

The ice skates are a wonderful quality, and fit well.  The blade underneath is solidly on the shoe and doesn't feel like it's going to snap off.  They have a band of thin fur around the upper edges that is perfectly in scale with the doll.  I don't know where Integrity Toys got fur like that, but I sure can't find it in my fabric store.  It reminds me of the fur used for the coat for "Reluctant Debutante." 

The skirt part of the dress is satin, and is lined.  She also comes with a white fur muff to keep her hands warm, which you can barely see in the third picture.

Can I find anything negative to say about this doll?  Not really.  Well, she doesn't come with any jewelry.  No earrings or anything.  There.  That's the only negative thing I can say about her.  Considering all the other extras she comes with, I think no jewelry is a pretty fair trade-off.  :) 

Hugs.

Polynesia Poppy

"Pretty in Polynesia."  Yup.  She sure is.

I'm getting a crop of the new International Fair Poppy Parkers this week, so I thought I'd go through them one by one so you can see each one in minute detail. 

"Pretty in Polynesia" has a multi-layered outfit which looks wonderful.  It has an Asian-inspired royal blue jacket, and a separate wrap skirt that can be removed to reveal a one-piece bathing suit underneath.  The fabrics are so soft and an excellent quality.  (But that's pretty usual for Integrity Toys.)

The jewelry is detailed and pretty.  I love the bracelets!  She comes with a lavender clutch purse that matches her shoes and the flowers in her skirt.  The necklace is made from beads, but is sturdy and doesn't seem like it's going to fall apart any time soon.  I haven't messed with the flower in her hair yet, but it seems to be stuck in her head with a pin.

She has the same face screening as "Holiday in the Hamptons" and "Dream Teen" Poppy Parker.  It's my second-favorite Poppy Parker eye screening, so I knew I'd love this girlie.

This last picture isn't great, but I wanted to show you the bathing suit without the matching wrap skirt.  Just pretend you don't see that she's sitting on an uncomfortable-looking doll stand.  LOL!  I didn't photograph the shoes because I'm mad at them.  They're lavender and cute and match her outfit nicely, but they don't stay on her feet very well.  Sigh.

Click on the pictures to make them bigger.  :)

Tomorrow:  Switzerland!

To The Fair Poppy Parker

Sorry I've been neglecting my blog lately.  My 5-year-old just finished four weeks of swimming lessons, and needless to say, that's taken up a lot of my time here lately.  I've still been photographing dollies here and there; I just haven't had a lot of time to post. 

This week I'm oohing and ahhhing over the newest crop of Poppy Parker dolls that are just now being shipped.  I was lucky enough to get the Poppy Parker W Club upgrade doll "To The Fair."  She's really stunning!  Definitely a keeper, although I'm sort of drowning in blue-eyed blonde Poppys now.  Still, "To The Fair"  is certainly one of the most beautiful Poppy Parkers Integrity Toys has ever done.  (In my humble opinion.) 

She is very much like "I Love How You Love Me" Poppy ... same face screening ... although with slightly brighter coloring.  Compared with ILHYLM, "To The Fair's" eyebrows, hair and lips are all a shade darker.  Her eyeshadow is more peachy, while ILHYLM's is more yellow.  "Fair" has applied eyelashes, while ILHYLM does not.  However, if you took off "Fair's" eyelashes you might have trouble telling the two girls apart.

Her outfit is modeled on the uniform used for tour guides at the 1964-65 World's Fair held in New York City.  I think it's terribly cute, and the white blouse and blue skirt have some mix-and-match possibilities.  Right now I don't plan on taking her out of her uniform any time soon, though. I'm enjoying her as-is at the moment. :)  She would re-dress splendidly, though.

L-R: Simply Simpatico, To The Fair, I Love How You Love Me