A Time for Magic

 Some of my favorite dolls from Tonner's Harry Potter line. Ron and Harry from the Deathly Hallows.

Steppin' Out Barbie

I have an old china cabinet in my dining room where my Silkstone and some other black/white/pink themed Barbies reside.  Today I thought I'd take one of the girls out that had never been photographed.  This is Steppin' Out Barbie and she is so reminiscent of Old Hollywood Glamour.

The Mackie face really is so lovely.

I really love her hair.............and her understated makeup as well.

The Illusions

Still in a bit of a Barbie mode, I decided to get a couple of dolls out of my curio to photograph. These 2 girls have been in my collection for quite a while. The Nolan Miller "Illusion" girls. Sheer Illusion came first I believe.

And then there was Evening Illusion. I love everything about both of these dolls, from their gorgeous hairstyles and makeup, to the wonderful gowns.

I think they are both timeless.

Back to My Roots

As I've said before, my collection is extremely diverse. Over my 20+ years of collecting, I have sampled a little bit of "most" everything fashion doll related. As my tastes changed, much of what didn't suit anymore went on to find new homes, but one constant within my collection has been Barbie.

Barbie started it for me when I was 3 years old and first held one in my hands. I still have that one by the way. A little worse for wear, but she has held up well over the years all things considered. In 1990 or so Barbie re-entered my life, and has had a place within my collection in some capacity ever since. The Silkstone collection is one of my favorite's within the realm of Barbie.

And even though my main focus tends to be my BJD's these days, I still have all of the Silkstone dolls I've collected over the years and enjoy revisiting them for play time every now and then. I also enjoy the added articulation in the play line dolls and have added quite a few of those over the past several years as well. Harley Ken is one of my favorite sculpts among the Ken line.

He cleans up pretty well I'd say. This morning I just felt like playing a bit with a couple of dolls within my Barbie collection, and thought I would share.

A Stroll Around the Grounds

Took two of my Tonner Vampire Diaries dolls out for some photos today.  Catherine is wearing a dress actually done for Tonner's  Gone with the Wind line. Since the doll was based on the character from roughly the same time period I thought it would work well on her and go well with Damien's gray suit coat.

This is one of the outfits done after one of the "lost sketches" in the Gone With the Wind line. I believe it was called A Day at the Races.

As always with Tonner, the tailoring on the menswear is wonderful as well. The actor likeness was also exceptionally good on Damien IMHO. A lot of Tonner's character sculpts were hit or miss. Damien was definitely a "hit" in my book.

Catherine's sculpt isn't near as good as Damien's, but I like this version of her MUCH better than I did the sculpt when she was presented as "Elena". I ended up selling that doll on as I didn't think it looked anything like Elena. Catherine isn't perfect, but I do think she hits the mark much closer than Elena did, proving that paintwork can certainly play a major roll in conveying the feel of a character likeness doll.

Classic Tonner

Felt like spending time with another of my "old favorite" Tonner dolls. Originally introduced as Mameha, I believe this sculpt eventually became Layne. This version is one of the original "Mameha" dolls with her hair taken down. I have another with the original updo. 

I always thought this sculpt had such a sweet, serene expression. And she actually has great hair when taken down!

Tonner did some fabulous fashions over the years, and this one has always been one of my favorites. The whimsical fashion print on the coat is fun, and the underlying classic sheath is beautifully form fitted to the body. Finished off with patent mules, I believe this outfit was called Tyler Made, but not 100% certain. The names all start running together after all these years. Whatever the name, it's a beautiful, fun spring outfit.

And I think Mameha models it beautifully.

Some Tonner Love

I haven't checked in on this blog for a while. I've been more into the BJD's lately, but I always seem to come back around to Barbie and or Tonner a few times a year. Both Barbie and Tonner are such a huge part of my doll collecting history. Today I just felt like getting a couple of my Tonner repaints down for some camera time. 

Quinn is a Russell repainted by the incredibly talented Sonya Giddens. I have 2 guys repainted by Sonya and they are keepers on my shelf.

I loved the braided hairstyle on Urban Sport Esme as soon as I saw her, but her original lip color wasn't to my liking, so I had mine enhanced by Gena Claire. I somehow never got a BW body to transplant her onto, but I still enjoy her on her original BA body.