Here we are hitting number 8! Yay! 
(as per the invite from ShaunWong)
I’m afraid the toy collecting for this year has been rather sparse–and although I could separate them to better fill out the list — I think a couple of figures fall in the same spot on the list so I’m forcing them to share the spotlight.
#8 London by Night Ayumi & Old is New Giselle
Description of Toy/Toyline:
London by Night Ayumi & Old is New Giselle are part of the Fashion Royalty Nu Face line. Fashion Royalty dolls are pricey but occasionally come with good accessories (most notably their shoes & highly detailed purses & nicely made clothing). Integrity toys are the makers of the Fashion Royalty Doll line btw.
Prices for FR dolls range between $99 USD — upwards (I’ve seen them for 500+) and can sometimes be gotten off doll boards for a decent price. It does pay to shop around. :wink: Ayumi was bought off a board (nude but new) & Giselle was bought as an anniversary present in November.
(I was going to link to the FR site but frankly it’s so out of date I don’t know wtf they’re upto. Giselle isn’t even listed!! You want more info — search the web, I guess?)
So why did they make my list?
1) They have fantastic facemolds, and they also have a lot of potential for customizing if I ever get bored of their current faces. Ayumi is a favorite facemold & I can probably admit to getting any future releases of her. That might also hold true for Giselle.
2) Giselle is part of the new “Hand speak System” (This is Integrity’s way of saying oh! We’ll give the dolls replaceable hands) IMO it’s a step in the right direction although I’d have expected either a better selection of hands or bubble packs/accessory packs selling additional hand styles.
Hello, Integrity? Want to make some money? Make more hand poses!
3) Giselle’s outfit. I love the Blazer & Sheer floral Blouse. (see below)
What I didn’t like AKA why they’re low on the on the list:
- Articulation (or lack thereof).
They still have “fashion doll” bodies & the half-assed articulation that goes with them. IMO there really isn’t any reason in this day & age (and with all the examples out there) for them not being better articulated and still aesthetically pleasing. (Although I’ve seen other people body swap them with relative success: I will likely leave these two on their current bodies–and keep an eye out on feebay & the boards for heads for sale to body swap) Jendini has done a good comparison here.
- Eyelashes
Maybe it’s just me but so far, to date on the 3 FR dolls I’ve gotten so far the eyelashes have been screwed up a bit (or totally) on all of them… which means I have to
1) go back and fix them or 2) remove them. I like the look they add it would just be nice if the Quality Control could be more on their toes.
- Handspeak system is pretty limited with (as of yet) no additional hand sets to be bought. I think this is an area that Integrity Toys / Fashion Royalty dolls would do well to expand upon *and yea, I know it’s a step in the right direction towards articulation…I know*
So that’s it for Number 8!
3 Responses to “Top 10 toys of 2009 …. #8”
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I have London by Night Ayumi, and I WANT Old is New Giselle.
That orange blouse looks great on Ayumi. I love the way you pose them in a room.
I gotta say you have good taste in the FR girls
Thanks about the orange blouse (although it’s actually pink and I tweaked it in photoshop to a color that suited her better!)
Definitely get Old is New Giselle as soon as you can! She’s great!
I’m not sure that Integrity is actually interested in making lots of money — for one thing, their production runs seem too low which encourages the collector’s market, but isn’t putting money directly into their hands, and for another thing, they can’t be bothered to keep their website remotely up-to-date.