Thursday, November 4, 2010

Archive Links

Updated on January 27, 2011
 
I added tabs at the top of the blog for the main references (heads, skintones, hands, and soon an overall body types). 
Here are the rest of the pages (individual body/line reviews, etc.) :

FR2 vs FR body type comparison

The Dark Romance convention 2010 launched a new line of Integrity Toys 6th scale fashion dolls. The new line is called FR2 and features a new body type with more articulation.

The twist-and-turn torso joint of FR dolls is replaced by a similar one of AG dolls. There is one joint below the breasts and another one in the hips. The hip joint can twist around at least 90degrees sideways as well as bend and crouch enabling a much more movement in the torso region. Also the elbows and knees have been renewed and seem to pose much further than their FR counterparts. The body type also features new hands and feet sculpts. The hands sculpt has been much criticised for it's petal like appearance reminding of those horrible beaver tale hands of Mattels pivotal body. The good side is all the fingers are separate so you could (with effort) make real gloves for the dolls, and the hands are hands-speak-system so you can always replace them with the more elegant FR sculpt if preferred. The feet are bigger and have an higher arc than FR and I've heard they closely resemble Valia's feet in shape and size - good news for all Valia collectors starved for more shoes. The toes are all tightly together (FR has a cap between the big toe and others) limiting the range of shoe styles a bit. The feet do make these 13" amazons a tad taller than FR who already were towering over barbie, ken and other fashion dolls. However, I'm happy tell that IT's Homme are still holding their own against the new fashion creatures and can pose together quite comfortably.

The FR2 collection features 3 head sculpts so far: Elise, Dasha and Dominique. Elise is the familiar face from the last convention where she debuted as a part of the FR line. Dasha is a completely new sculpt (possibly created as a by product of the Veronique revival, as the creation of the Lana Turner doll brought us the twins, Jordan, Tatyana and Dania in addition to the 2 Lana dolls.) The character of Dominique debuted in the last years convention as well, but used the Josephine Baker sculpt. However, the FR2 Dominique seems to resurrect the old favourite from Integrity playline. Janay. It is probable that the old mold has been tweaked a bit, but those high cheekbones and exotic nose are very recognisable and people have been requesting comeback for Janay for a while now - and IT provided.

What comes to sharing clothing, so far I haven't heard of any trouble. The bust size is closer to FR Monogram than FRs, so the newcomers might be able to wear the whole range if IT fashions from FR, monohgram and NU.Face as well. Two FR2 dolls were sold at the convention: Always Polished Dasha and a centrepiece doll Dark Swan Elise. In addition, the prototypes of at least 9 more FR2 dolls (3 of each character) were on view there, but the time table for their release is yet unknown. All in all I must say that FR2 has a fair chance of rekindling my fading passion for 6th scale fashion dolls. The outfits are chic, accessories are back and I love the sculpts of the new body and faces.

SKINTONES
- Pale White - ELISE (all - 3 so far) - new skintone - a bit more yellow than MM0, a bit more grey than FR1 Japan/Agnes skintone - darker than FR0 porcelain skintone - I will take comparison pictures in the next photoshoot.
- Caucasian - FR2 - DASHA (all - 3 so far)
- Light AA - DOMINIQUE (all - 2 so far) - new skintone - for comparison pictures see
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24046227@N04/sets/72157627145761365/

Now for the comparison photos provided by Christina aka Shuga-Shug: