Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! 

These are two custom, OOAK Patsy dolls I did this week when I was in a creative mood.  I gave them both glass eyes and new hair.  When I was in the middle of creating one of them, my husband walked into the room just in time to witness me digging into a bald doll scalp with my exacto knife.  Didn't phase him at all.  LOL!  He's so used to my doing strange doll projects, he doesn't even usually ask questions about them any more.  I just shouted out "Braiiiiinnnssss!!!" and kept on cutting.  He walked out without saying a word. 

The outfits are Tonner Patsy clothes from the 2014 collection.

I absolutely love the newer, super-articulated Patsy bodies!  I can't praise them enough.  They may be one of the best doll bodies Tonner has ever done, along with the Ellowyne and Antoinette bodies.   Just my personal opinion, of course. 

I'm actually planning on putting the blue-eyed one up for sale here on the blog in another week or so, along with three other customs.  The brown-eyed one isn't for sale, although I'm sure I'll do another brown-eyed Patsy some time in the future when my next order of brown glass eyes comes in.  (I ran out.) 

Hugs.

Summer Party Patsyette

I was able to add another Patsyette to my clan a while ago, when Tonner was having a sale day.  She's the dark-haired, grey-eyed "Summer Party" Patsyette that came out in 2014. 

The dress is so cute!  I'll show you pictures from both the front and back, because it has this enormous red bow in the back that's quite pretty.  Since she shares a body with the 8" Tiny Betsy by Tonner, the dress will fit Betsy as well. 

I had to do a photo shoot with my other two, "Spun Sugar" (the blonde) and Basic Patsyette (redhead).  The poseability of their bodies is limited, so they pretty much just sit on my desk being cute together.  I managed to lose the frilly blue dress that came with Spun Sugar, so I've redressed her here into a Tiny Betsy outfit.  The redhead is wearing a Patsyette outfit called "Sheer Delight," that was sold separately from the dolls.

 

I still think the bodies on these dolls needs an upgrade.  A simple arm switch to a more natural-looking arm sculpt would do wonders for this line, particularly if the new arms had bending elbows.  Just a thought.

Clicking on the pictures will make them bigger.  :)

New 2015 Tonner releases!

The main 2015 doll line was announced today at the Tonner Doll Company.  I thought I'd just show a few of the dolls that I find personally interesting.  To see the entire lineup, please click the link at the bottom of this post.  Right now, they all say "sold out," but it's because they aren't actually available for sale yet. 

It was kind of a fun coincidence that they've brought two new 8" Patsyettes to the line, since I spent last weekend photographing the three I have right now.  I was planning to post the pictures some time this week.  So I'll start off by showing you the two new Patsyettes.  I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the black-haired one in the white dress!  ("Sweet and Simple" Patsyette.)  Alice is OK.  I'm not crazy about her hair, but the dress is wonderful.  If I got Alice, I'd want to re-wig her with cuter hair. 

Anyway, here are the two new ones.  I hope they do a tan-skinned Patsyette some day.  She'd look so cute as a Latina or Native American child with big dark eyes. 

Tonner also debuted a new 18" play doll line called "My Imagination," which seem to be around the same size as American Girl, Journey Girl or Kidz N Cats.  It seems that only one has bending knees (My Imagination Deluxe Basic, not shown here).  The others don't, I'm guessing to keep the prices down.  I was thrilled to see they're offering separate outfits for these dolls.  I'd love to try one of the outfits on my Kidz N Cats.   Just from eyeballing it, it looks like these have a slightly slimmer body than American Girl, so perhaps their torso size is more in step with the slimmer Kidz N Cats.  Hmmmm.   Nice for redressing possibilities.

*EDIT:  Apparently the My Imagination line fits into American Girl clothes and shoes exactly, so they can wear AG clothes, and visa-versa. 

The new grown up Marley Wentworth looks intriguing, but I'm going to wait until I can see a live pic before I decide whether I'm going to get one.  The production dolls might look a little different from these promo shots.  Tonner dolls sometimes look better than their promo pics, so I have a lot of hope that Marley will be amazing.  It's hard to believe all four of these are the same sculpt!  My favorite is the one in lingerie, but unfortunately for me, that one is a wigged doll.  (I prefer rooted.)

And I just had to comment on this little girl.  She's so cute!  I like the new Trixie sculpt in their Patsy line, and this one, called "Autumn Days," is precious.  Just last week I picked up a couple of Patsy outfits I found on sale from one of the Tonner dealers, so I'll actually have a change of clothes for Trixie if I get her.  The hat is really charming.

EDIT:  I had to edit this post to add in one more girlie that was added to the Tonner page late.  It's this really nice Patsy, called "Lacy Summer Day."  The dress is so pretty!  I might have to get this one, too, as soon as my mythical money tree blooms.

Anyway, there are more dolls and outfits in the new release than I can post here, so please refer to the Tonner Doll Company web site for more new dolls.

Upcoming playline dolls for 2015

I wasn't able to attend this February's New York Toy Fair, so I've had to depend on the amazing reporting and photography from people who were able to go to find out what new playline dolls will be coming out in 2015.  I found this very informative blog called Raye Del Sol that's an absolute delight to read.  The writer, Raye, has posted pictures of a lot of the upcoming playline doll and toy releases.  Here is Raye's main blog page.

I'll include links to all the upcoming new dolls that I thought looked neat, or that I thought would be interesting to the readers of DollyPanic.  The photos I've included are official promotional photos from the toy companies, not Raye Del Sol's pictures.  For her personal Toy Fair pictures and commentary, you'll have to visit her blog.

23" My Ballerina dolls based on The Nutcracker Suite:
http://rayedelsol.com/my-ballerina-dolls-the-nutcracker-collection/#more-1147

Monster High report for 2015:
http://rayedelsol.com/mattels-monster-high-showcase/#more-1062

2015 Barbies:
http://rayedelsol.com/barbie-showcase-new-york-toy-fair-2015/#more-1127

Ever After High:
http://rayedelsol.com/mattels-ever-after-high-showcase-new-york-toy-fair/#more-1122

Disney Descendants dolls by Hasbro:
http://rayedelsol.com/disneys-descendants-dolls-first-look/#more-1003

I have to make a comment about the Disney Descendants dolls.  At first I thought it was a blatant rip-off of Ever After High, because the line seems to be telling the stories of the children of fairy tale characters.  But then I found out that the dolls are actually based on an upcoming Disney Channel movie.  I couldn't tell you how good or bad the TV movie will be, but the dolls are so cute!  I love their faces, and they have articulated limbs, which is another win.  Anyway, these look like dolls to watch out for, and I look forward to seeing them in person in stores.

Here's a link to some promotional hype about the movie.  I don't get the Disney Channel, so I guess I won't be watching it. 
http://nypost.com/2014/12/15/5-things-to-know-about-disneys-descendants/

And one last link from a different web site, called Toy News.  This is a report about upcoming Harry Potter figures in the Funko line.  I can't wait to see these.  My husband got me a Funko figure for Christmas (the character Glenn from The Walking Dead), so my interest in the Funko line has been sparked.

Harry Potter Funko Figures:
http://www.toynews-online.biz/news/read/us-toy-fair-2015-funko-reveals-harry-potter-pop-vinyl-figures/043955

I love how the Hagrid figure is bigger than the others.  LOL. 

Later,

Summer Swing Cami by the Tonner Doll Company

A weird thing happened this year.  My birthday came and went, and I didn't buy myself a doll.  This is unheard of.  This is sacrilege.  I didn't buy myself anything, actually.  I humbly ate some birthday ice cream cake, picked out by my 7-year-old (she liked the cake with the big blue and pink flowers) and sat doll-less but happy.  I was completely surrounded by NO NEW DOLLS whatsoever. 

But then a couple of weeks after, Cherished Friends put this lovely 2013 doll on sale.  She wasn't just on sale, in fact ... the price was so low, I'm sure they were losing money selling her so cheap.  Making room for 2015 stock, I guess.

Her original outfit and shoulder bag.

She's the under-appreciated "Summer Swing" Cami by Tonner, still available at a lot of dealers.  The thing is, her face is really quite lovely, but you'd never know it from her promo pics, which show her face covered in sunglasses and ... that's it.  They never showed her on the web site without those dang sunglasses.  She has pretty eyes, people!  Her eyes are the best thing about her, and the promo pics covered them up.  I really think that affected sales.  I know I'd never buy a doll unless I can see the whole face first.  Luckily, this doll had been out long enough that I was able to look up some owner pics of her, so I could see her eyes before buying.  I love the big brown eyes, and she has nicely-painted eyelashes that give her a pleasant expression. 

Not sure pink is her color.  I thought she needed to be redressed in some neutral shades of brown to tone down that vivid hair.  So, the pink dress is her original one, and the brown outfit is where I redressed her into an older, wonderful Tyler Wentworth fashion called "City Tweed."  I think she looks gorgeous in it!  The skirt fits her, but it's very tight on her.  The shoes from this outfit unfortunately are a little too small.  (She wears shoes sized for the Cami/Antoinette body type, a little larger than the Tyler foot.) 

Another reason I think she hasn't sold so well (compared to other Camis, at least), is the dress is underwhelming.  Her original price was $169(!!!) and there's no way that pink dress is worth that much.  Or even half that much.  She doesn't even come with jewelry.  However, she is SO WORTH buying at a cheaper price.  The dress is actually adorable, but it's very simple, and made from an inexpensive knit.  It has snaps in the back.

Her shoes are super cute!  They're the best thing about the outfit.  A really delicious pink, in a style I like, that's easy to put on the foot and stay on.  Her bag is cute, too.  It's casual, but not Walmart, ya know?  And the bag has two working zippers.  That extra zipper on the side opens to an extra pocket, just like a real bag.  I suppose you could keep her sunglasses and shoes in there, if you wanted.

My mother loves these types of bags in real life.  She has about four or five like this in her closet.  I know she does, because she keeps wanting to give me her extras.  My mother is obsessed with giving me shoulder bags.  I think it's because she enjoys buying them, but then feels guilty she has so many, and decides to gift them to family.  LOL.

I need doll shoes like this in EVERY COLOR.

Anyway, I wanted to share this sweet but much-overlooked Cami with all of you.  Cheers!

Click on the pictures to make them bigger.