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| Yves St Laurent & Marisa Berenson |
I set time aside this morning to do a 2021 recap and then realized that I never finished covering the convention. Le sigh. It has been a month...and a year. During the virtual convention, I was out of town doing dress rehearsals for a dance performance at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC. So I was viewing convention shenanigans on Saturday either in a hotel on my iPad or on my cell phone. Then arrived back to roll into finals week at the university where I work and then holidays fa la la. Hence my lackadaisical blogging. So here is the old news, for what it is worth...
So lately my fashion interests have been very 1970s skewed. I think, in part, this is because the fashion in the 70s has a great deal of retro inspiration in it but with modern updates. The 'bohemian' flapper looks of Biba come to mind. Bill Gibb had some really swell 70's kaftans meets the Renaissance vibes. Halston was serving up 1930s slinky bias cut dresses in draped jersey knits. Of course the 70s also had complete outliers...like Vivienne Westwood breaking all the rules with Punk street styles and Zandra Rhodes with here psychadelic folklore fairy looks. Yves Saint Laurent was also bringing back the retro mashups. His 1971 Scandal collection was panned by critics for both being too referential to 1940s wartime fashion and looking more to street style for inspiration. But it proved to be fairly visionary and set the tone of the decade.
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| Snazzy new packaging |
Turning to Poppy, designer David Buttry has often used YSL as inspiration (the recent Outback Walkabout Poppy is a prime example). So when he mentioned that 1970s YSL was the spark for the Poppy Style lab, I was pretty excited. I feel like the majority of Poppy collectors prefer her either in the mod looks (which I like) or the sickly sweet early sixties petticoat looks (barf). However, I totally love it when we get the late sixties and seventies stuff. Okay, enough blather...on to the dolls.
For those who have never attended an Integrity Toys Convention, the Style Lab is typically a collection of separately packaged nude dolls, fashions, and sometimes accessory packs. You can buy them a la carte. Normally, you have to buy both a nude doll AND a fashion. I don't know if that was the case this year though. Since the first style lab, there have been a variety of doll lines and themes featured with some of the collections having as many as ten different dolls and fashions. We had the Dynamite Girls (2011) and then the Color Infusion lines (2012-2016) for a few years followed by The Industry (2017-2018). Then the blockbuster first Poppy Parker style lab for her anniversary (2019) and then a Fashion Royalty style lab (2020). On occasion, they have also had a 'build a doll' feature where each nude doll and fashion has a component in it which creates a bonus doll and fashion. This encouraged attendees to buy the entire set in order to get an additional complete doll. (EVIL GENIUS). However, this year's virtual convention was greatly expanded in terms of attendees and they decreased the number of dolls being offered overall. This year's lab only had five dolls, five fashions, and two accessory packs. There was also no 'build a doll' component. They also made it so that the edition number was equal to the number of attendees whereas the style lab in previous years was more limited. Consequently, if you did not pre-order the style lab in advance, you ran the risk of missing out on things. The Cinematic Style lab had a huge edition size and that stuff sat around for quite awhile and ended up on clearance via dolly days. After that year, Integrity has always made the style lab edition sizes around 100 or so less than the full convention with things like accessory packs being around 150-175 less than the full attendance size. This year they have brought the edition sizes back up. This meant that attendees did not have to make a mad shopping cart dash in fear of losing out on something. I really appreciated that. I also assume that this made things way more easy on Integrity there had to be a lot less angry emailing about things being sold out or the store not working as there was last year.
Since everything was delayed in shipping (i.e. I still don't have ANY of my convention dolls nor a shipping notice yet....wahhhhhh cry), we don't yet know how much product is still left after the convention. Usually post-convention, the leftover products are either offered up to W Club members via a lottery or a first-come first serve situation in the IT store. In recent years, there has also clearly been a funneling of some desirable convention products to IT friends and family to sell off via eBay at secondary market prices. We have already seen some evidence of Obsession dolls being sold that way so it remains to be seen what, if anything, will hit the club lottery. The club buy/sell/trade section has become a bit of a cutthroat scalping hell-hole with what seems like a lot of people entering into lotteries or buying dolls only to flip them at a profit (sometimes doing a "drop shipment" directly from Integrity). Obviously there are a whole host of reasons that people make a choice to sell dolls and I am not going to try to dictate or shame people for those choices...but I also have been taking notice of people who seem to be regularly 'flipping' so that I don't inadvertently sell something at a "reasonable price" to somebody that is just going to turn around and mark it up 300% to sell. I try to operate on dolly karma. I have sold dolls in the past for crazy pants prices (cough *kicks* cough) and I am sure I will do so in the future...but I also try to balance that out with trades and offering things at cost on the regular. But the world is nuts right now...but the tension around selling and the seeming scarcity of dolls as of late has definitely taken a bit of the shine off this hobby lately. I fear a bit of a negative spiral approaching...similar to what happened with the comic book market in the 90s. Okay...enough of that....on to the dolls FOR REALZ.
Item # 77215
Beautiful
Ginger Gilroy™ Nude Doll
The 2021 Integrity Toys Convention: Obsession
Poppy Parker® Collection Style Lab
Edition Size: 1300
Special Convention Price: $70.00
Head Sculpt: Ginger Gilroy
Body Type: Poppy Parker
Foot Sculpt: High-heeled and Articulated Ankle
Skin Tone: FR White
Hair Color: Dark Auburn
Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied
Quickswitch: No
Cute...but I passed her on to another collector at cost.
Item # 77216
Glamorous
Poppy Parker® Nude Doll
The 2021 Integrity Toys Convention: Obsession
Poppy Parker® Collection Style Lab
Edition Size: 1300
Special Convention Price: $70.00
Head Sculpt: Poppy Parker
Body Type: Poppy Parker
Foot Sculpt: High-heeled and Articulated Ankle
Skin Tone: FR White
Hair Color: Golden Blonde
Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied
Quickswitch: No
David calls this one "Jessy's doll" as Jessy Ayala made a special request for a Poppy like this. Cute...but I don't think I am keeping her either. The side part on this and Gorgeous seem to be a bit extreme for my liking. I am planning to trade her I think.
Item # 77217
Gorgeous
Poppy Parker® Nude Doll
The 2021 Integrity Toys Convention: Obsession
Poppy Parker® Collection Style Lab
Edition Size: 1300
Special Convention Price: $70.00
Head Sculpt: Poppy Parker
Body Type: Poppy Parker
Foot Sculpt: High-heeled and Articulated Ankle
Skin Tone: Dark A-Tone
Hair Color: Golden Brown/Dark Brown Two-Tone Hair
Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied
Quickswitch: No
Waiting to decide on her in person, but I think I will be trading this one as well since I already have the Resort Ready Poppy coming in Dark A Tone and I like her hair a bit better.
Item # 77218
Alluring
Poppy Parker® Nude Doll
The 2021 Integrity Toys Convention: Obsession
Poppy Parker® Collection Style Lab
Edition Size: 1300
Special Convention Price: $70.00
Head Sculpt: Poppy Parker
Body Type: Poppy Parker
Foot Sculpt: High-heeled and Articulated Ankle
Skin Tone: Hungarian
Hair Color: Light Auburn Red
Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied
Quickswitch: No
Waiting to decide on this one in person. I don't currently have anything like her in my collection and I do love Hungarian...so she might stay. I wish she was side-glancing though. The centered eyes with the Big Eyes screening always look a little 'deer in the headlights' to me.
Item # 77219
Darling
Poppy Parker® Nude Doll
The 2021 Integrity Toys Convention: Obsession
Poppy Parker® Collection Style Lab
Edition Size: 1300
Special Convention Price: $70.00
Head Sculpt: Poppy Parker
Body Type: Poppy Parker
Foot Sculpt: High-heeled and Articulated Ankle
Skin Tone: Japan
Hair Color: Purple
Eyelashes: Yes, Hand-applied
Quickswitch: No
Thud. This one is perfection. I love fantasy hair colors and the side-glance with the Big Eyes screening is adorable. Love the nude lip too and the Japan tone with the purple hair.
Item # 77220
American in Paris Fashion
The 2021 Integrity Toys Convention: Obsession
Poppy Parker Collection Style Lab
Edition Size: 1300
Special Convention Price: $80.00
Body Type: Fits Poppy Parker
Shoes designed to fit Poppy High-heeled feet.
Love it. Fantastic outfit. Totally keeping this one. I love getting more casual and modern looks for Poppy. This looks also pairs nicely with the neutral toned accessory set.
Item # 77221
Pink Vamp Fashion
The 2021 Integrity Toys Convention: Obsession
Poppy Parker Collection Style Lab
Edition Size: 1300
Special Convention Price: $80.00
Body Type: Fits Poppy Parker
Shoes designed to fit Poppy High-heeled feet.
Also love the blouse and coat on this one. I do wish the shorts were the same material as the blazer though. I already have pink hot pants just like these from the Supermodel Tulabelle You Better Werk gift set which fit Poppy.
Item # 77222
Le Chic Fashion
The 2021 Integrity Toys Convention: Obsession
Poppy Parker Collection Style Lab
Edition Size: 1300
Special Convention Price: $80.00
Body Type: Fits Poppy Parker
Shoes designed to fit Poppy High-heeled feet.
I also passed on this outfit to another collector. Cute but not really my style.
Item # 77223
Gothique Fashion
The 2021 Integrity Toys Convention: Obsession
Poppy Parker Collection Style Lab
Edition Size: 1300
Special Convention Price: $80.00
Body Type: Fits Poppy Parker
Shoes designed to fit Poppy High-heeled feet.
Love it. My favorite of the lot. Great goth glam Wednesday Adams at the disco vibes. Going to look great on the Industry That Witch Sookie doll as well.
They also did this fun new fashion layout photography for the style lab this year. It is very cute and clearly inspired by recent trends on dolly Instagram. It does show off the fashions and accessories in a very cute way. I hope they continue the trend for Poppy at least.
Item # 77224
French Disco Fashion
The 2021 Integrity Toys Convention: Obsession
Poppy Parker Collection Style Lab
Edition Size: 1300
Special Convention Price: $80.00
Body Type: Fits Poppy Parker
Shoes designed to fit Poppy High-heeled feet.
Love this one. The purple fur is a direct reference to the emerald green fur in the YSL '71 Scandal show. I love the disco sequin dress. So much fun. I have this great growing collection of wild fur coats from the Poppy and Industry lines. I can't wait to add this one to the mix.
Item # 77225
Accessory Pack A
The 2021 Integrity Toys Convention: Obsession
Poppy Parker Collection Style Lab
Edition Size: 1300
Special Convention Price: $75.00
Body Type: Fits Poppy Parker
Shoes designed to fit Poppy Parker dolls with high-heeled feet only.
Love how they picked up the packaging print again here. That pink necklace is giving me Jem City Lights vibes and will likely get stolen.
Item # 77226
Accessory Pack B
The 2021 Integrity Toys Convention: Obsession
Poppy Parker Collection Style Lab
Edition Size: 1300
Special Convention Price: $75.00
Body Type: Fits Poppy Parker
Shoes designed to fit Poppy Parker dolls with articulated ankles only.
OMG I adore this set sooooo much. Super cute.
Overall, I think this was a pretty solid offering. I wish there was a bit more variety in the hair texture and hairstyles of the Poppies though as they all have long straight hair...but the looks that we got allow these dolls to sport modern looks as well as the late 60s-70s fashions. I also appreciate that they gave us both sets of lower legs which makes the doll+fashion price of $150 have a little more bang for the buck than recent mainline and club poppy releases. I personally like the smaller style lab offering as well and would not be sad if this is the amount of dolls offered in the future (with maybe the addition of at least one male doll in future offerings). Also as an FYI, recent style lab dolls typically do not come with doll stands. So you will need to buy stands from the IT store or other collectors, or get yourself some kaiser stands (which is what I do). Though...even Kaiser stands have become much harder to get in the last year.
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