"Around Town" Penelope Brewster, a Déjà Vu Doll by Robert Tonner

Penelope Brewster is a character from Robert Tonner's relatively new Déjà Vu line.  The story behind this line is that Penelope is a young woman living in Los Angeles and working in the movie industry. This seems fairly bland.  However things get considerably more interesting when Penelope gets bumped on the head and suddenly begins to recall moments from her many previous lives.  Among her earlier incarnations are Emma Jean McGowan from the 1920s and Anne De Légere from the late 17th century.  Not only do all of these versions of Penelope have their own unique story, but they have beautiful 16" vinyl dolls to portray them.  I think the idea behind the Déjà Vu line is detailed, imaginative, and thought-provoking.

The dolls have a brand new body design and are advertised as being extremely posable.  They all share the same face mold, which has a much more stylistic look than Tonner's previous 16" fashion dolls.  One of the most exciting things about the Déjà Vu line is the beautiful period clothing that is available for Penelope's historical manifestations.  I am particularly fond of the Louis XIV style dresses (and dramatic hairstyles) that Anne De Légere wears.  However, the intricacy of the outfits is in direct correlation with the price of these dolls...and none of them are cheap.  The options range from $99 for a basic doll (in undergarments) to $209 for the most dramatically dressed Anne De Légere ("La Vie de Versailles").  My favorite doll is La Vie de Versailles, but her price is so high, I opted for "Around Town" Penelope Brewster instead.  She's right in the middle of the price range, I like her face paint, and she comes with a full outfit.

"Around Town" Penelope Brewster  LE 500 ($159.99).

"Ahoy Patience" by Wilde Imagination

Patience is a new 14" hard plastic and vinyl child doll from Wilde Imagination.  Patience is sweet and upbeat compared to Wilde Imagination's more established characters like the elegantly melancholy Ellowyne Wilde and the fashionably creepy Evangeline Ghastly.

The debut Patience doll, Garden Patience, was a gorgeous little redhead with bright green eyes and an amazing, romantic dress.  When this doll was announced, I was so wrapped up in other things that I missed the beginning of pre-orders.  I want to kick myself now, because this gorgeous little doll sold out in a flash.  Unwilling to pay the high secondary market prices for Garden Patience, I had to be, ah, patient and wait for the new dolls to arrive.  I was thrilled when a trio of Patience dolls was released for pre-order before Christmas.  All of these newer dolls are still available on the Wilde Imagination site, and so I figured that this could be a good time for a review.

The Patience dolls are limited to 300 pieces each and cost over $150.  The available dolls are called "Wonderland Patience" (an Alice in Wonderland doll, $169), "Tokyo Patience" (a lovely brown-eyed Japanese girl, $199) and "Ahoy Patience," the doll whose platinum blonde bob and sailor dress tempted me the most:

"Ahoy Patience" by Wilde Imagination, $169.

Evangeline Ghastly "Dark Angel" by Wilde Imagination

Evangeline Ghastly is an 18.5" ball jointed fashion doll designed by Joe Petrollese and sculpted by Robert Tonner.  Evangeline is marketed through Tonner's company, Wilde Imagination, which is also home to the popular 16" vinyl doll, Ellowyne Wilde.  Evangeline Ghastly made her first appearance in 2007 as a resin doll.  Back in 2007, my doll collecting tastes were much narrower than they are today.  At that time, dazzled by Tonner's beautiful new Cinderella sculpt, I had little interest for the bizarre, dark-themed, and relatively expensive Evangeline.  When I saw her bug-eyed, lanky-limbed promotional pictures, I pretty much laughed and shook my head, grateful that I wasn't going to be tempted into collecting a new line.

Evangeline's exaggerated features fit well with her over-the top back story.  She is a mortician's assistant, lives in an attic, dresses with a flamboyant Victorian style and has a humanoid pet skunk.  The Wilde Imagination website says that Evangeline was inspired by Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, among other quirky icons.  This is a fun fact for me because seeing the Tim Burton line of Tonner dolls in person (during my trip to the FAO Schwarz store in Manhattan in June) was a big contributor to my new-found appreciation for the darker, stranger dolls in Tonner's diverse lineup.  If it weren't for this new perspective, I don't think I ever would have given Evangeline any serious consideration.  Two other things contributed to my willingness to acquire an Evangeline doll.  First, in 2009, Wilde Imagination added a vinyl version of this doll to their regular collection.  This dropped the price considerably, and also eliminated the concerns about yellowing and breakage that come with most resin dolls.  Also, I recently found a collector who was willing to take a doll I didn't want anymore in exchange for this intriguing Tonner Con vinyl exclusive Evangeline, "Dark Angel:"

Evangeline Ghastly "Dark Angel" by Wilde Imagination,
LE 200.

"Flamingo" from the Tonner Doll Convention

From what I have heard, Tonner Doll conventions are extremely fun.  I have never been to one, but when there's a convention going on, I follow the excitement through Tonner's high-coverage blog, the Prego message board and Terri's blog.  Photographs from these events always include lots of big smiles, lots of people in elaborate costumes, lots of creative decorations and centerpieces...and of course tons of gorgeous dolls. This year the convention was in Chicago and the title was "Tonner Air."  Dolls from the event had an aerial theme, including airline staff characters and dolls dressed as different colorful birds.  How fun does that sound?

My primary objective when I am watching a Tonner convention from afar is to scope out any Cinderella-faced dolls.  Because, you know, I am a bit obsessed with this face.  Some of the most beautiful Tonner Cinderellas and Camis have come from conventions; Christine Daae, Lady G, Blue Fairy, Delight, Fare Game, Party All Night and Silver Splendor to name a few.  While I adore Cami, my heart belongs to Cinderella, and so I like it when Tonner revives this sweeter, less modern version of the face mold, as he did with Nu Mood Jess.  I also prefer that my Cinderella dolls be in ball gowns, rather than the more modern wardrobe of the Cami line.  So, considering all of that, you can picture my glee when I saw this year's convention Cinderella-faced doll, "Flamingo:"

Tonner convention "Flamingo," LE 300.

Nu Mood "Jess" by Tonner Doll: Cinderella Reincarnated

Robert Tonner's Basic Cinderella is probably my favorite doll of all time.  I have a huge emotional attachment to this doll and have collected almost every single Tonner doll that shares her face, including all of the newer "Cami" dolls that have a slightly re-sized version of the Cinderella face sculpt.  You might remember from my earlier post that I haven't been too happy with the more recent changes in these dolls. The introduction of "Wigged Cami Too" marked the first time since the debut of the Cinderella face that I decided not to spend my money.  I still have no interest in buying that doll.

Right before IDEX, Tonner premiered his "Nu Mood" line of basic dolls.  These dolls each have one of three body types (Curvy, Dance or Fashion) and they share interchangeable hands and feet and a mix-and-match wardrobe.  This is a cool idea, especially since one of the options for the switchable feet is ballet feet.  I really liked the New York City Ballet line of Tonner dolls, and seeing the re-introduction of the en pointe feet was good news for me.

Better news for me was that one of the Nu Mood characters has the Cinderella face.  Her name is Jess, and she comes with the Dance body.  Perfect.  These dolls retail for $59.99, but mine was less expensive because of a pre-order special.  I haven't paid this little or been this excited about a new Cinderella-faced doll for a while.  The thing that had me the most excited is that in the promo pictures, Jess looks like Cinderella, not Cami.  Don't get me wrong, I love Cami--I adore her, but seeing a new Cinderella after all of these years was like seeing a beloved old friend.  She arrived on Thursday and I have been patiently waiting for the weekend to get her out:

Tonner's Nu Mood Jess

Cinderella and Cami by The Tonner Doll Company

The Tonner Doll Company was started in 1991 by fashion designer Robert Tonner.  Today, Tonner makes a huge variety of dolls, from his signature fashion designer character, Tyler Wentworth, to popular fiction characters like Edward Cullen and Harry Potter, to action heroes and fairy tale princesses.  There's no way I could even come close to giving you a worthy overview of Tonner dolls in one post.   I am sure they will crop up on this blog again and again, though.

What I can do, is tell you the story of my absolute favorite Tonner doll...or actually, just my favorite doll.  Period.  In 2006, Tonner debuted his 16" Cinderella collection, consisting of Cinderella herself, the two stepsisters, Euphemia and Hortencia, and the Fairy Godmother. I think I knew instantly when I saw the promo pictures of Cinderella that, financially speaking, this was a doll who was going to spell serious trouble for me over the years.  I was right.  Cinderella is my absolute favorite fairy tale character of all time, and this doll captures what I think she should look like perfectly:

Basic Cinderella by Robert Tonner, $59.99 (2006).