Shopping for Dolls: Wilde Imagination

The "Bitter Cold" outfit

Back at home at last!  But my camera seems to be MIA, so please forgive today's photo quality!

A few weeks ago I ordered a pair of outfits during the one of Wilde Imagination's regular sales; The "Bitter Cold" outfit and the "Seeing Red" dress.  Both items were on sale already, so that was an additional bonus.

As you might remember from my review of my Ellowyne Wilde line Lizette Spice, I liked the doll and her basic outfit, but didn't adore them, so I was curious to see what the non-basic outfits would be like.

The package arrived within two business days (as happened with the doll), so again I'm very impressed with their packing/shipping times.  I wasn't home to open it up that early, but it's still solid service that's worth mentioning.

Upon coming home and picking up the box, the biggest surprise was the sheer size of it:  the box for these two outfits was just as large as the one that had come when I ordered a doll!

Look at the size of this box!

The size of the box was somewhat excused by the size of the inner packaging (although there was quite a bit of extra space as well) - each outfit had an additional thick cardboard box inside:

The second layer of packaging

Within each of those was another box, this time the decorated Ellowyne Wilde-branded ones:

The "Seeing Red" Dress box

Inside the dress box, was an inner layer of thin board to which the dress was stitched to.  That part was wrapped in a layer of tissue:

Seeing Red Dress

The Seeing Red dress is simple in style but is a lovely colour and a solid quality material.  The dress portion isn't lined, but the top is.  The buttons on the front are non-fuctional; the dress closes via a series of snaps up the back.  Being a fairly simple piece of clothing, it's easy to get on the doll, and has a classic look:

Lizette in the Seeing Red Dress

The Bitter Cold outfit, containing more pieces, came in a larger inner-box (and one with a clear plastic window):

The Bitter Cold outfit

The top adds too much bulk.

As with the red dress, this outfit was stitched to an inner layer of board.  The full set included leggings, a top (which turned out to be leotard-style), a coat and boots. 

I quite like the style of this outfit, but unfortunately the quality was hit-or-miss.  The leggings on their own are fabulous:  they're a nice quality material, an in-scale print and they're lined which is wonderful.  On their own, they fit the doll perfectly.  Unfortunately though, because this outfit's top is a leotard, there's extra bulk on the doll when the two pieces are worn together, and because of that it's near-impossible to get the leggings to close.

The too-small left boot

The boots were even more disappointing.  the colour (a dark blue) goes perfectly with the colours in the leggings, and the style is an eye-catching one - lace-up high heels, slightly higher than ankle-length.  Unfortunately though, the quality doesn't live up to the appearance.  The first challenge was just getting the books on as the zippers on the backs are both weak and stick easily (I had a similar problem with the boots on my Tonner DW Martha Jones).

The tip of the heel.

Even after getting the zippers unzipped, only one of the boots went on as the right boot turned out to be too small for the doll's foot.  And then to top it off, it turned out that the glue on right heel tip had started coming off, and the tip was hanging off of the boot.  That's an easy one to fix at least!




All of that said, the coat didn't disappoint, and is a solid thickness, is nicely lined and has solid details.  Still, with all of the other issues with this outfit, I'm very pleased that I didn't pay full price for it.

The Bitter Cold outfit (minus the boots).

New Arrival: All Natural Lizette Spice (Ellowyne Wilde)

Lizette "Spice" from Ellowyne Wilde

As I mentioned during the invasion of the fashion dolls, I've not been hugely impressed with the Tonner releases that I've come across - I fully understand why other people love them, but somehow they just don't seem to be my thing.  And it was that feeling that kept me from picking up anything from the Ellowyne Wilde line - I liked the way they looked in the photos, but was afraid that I wouldn't be a fan in person.

But then there was a sale (15% off and free shipping) and I decided to take the plunge, and ordered a basic Lizette in the "Spice" colour (the same sculpt is offered in a lighter "honey" colour as well).  The doll came with two wigs (on straight and one curly), a saddle stand, a pair of shoes and a simple dress.  The sculpt is painted in a fairly neutral style, and has inset (I believe acrylic) eyes and attached eyelashes.  The left eyelashes were crushed slightly, so I'll need to reattach those (naturally I only noticed after I'd taken photos).

I have to say that I was impressed with the shipping time: I ordered this doll on the final Monday of the sale, and yet she shipped out almost instantly, arriving in only two days.  The doll was packed in the standard fashion doll style, with ties at the neck, waist and feet.  She arrived with one wig on, which unfortunately stained her head.  She came dressed, but with the shoes packaged separately.

In the box.

Since the outfit and shoes are part of the "basic" release, I'd wondered about their quality, but I needn't have, since while they're simple pieces, they are very well made.  The wigs are also both solid quality and seem to be both soft and sturdy.

She can reach her hair.

This is as close as she can get to
reaching her face.

The doll is nicely jointed, and has more flexibility than I expected, but she still doesn't have the full range of motion that one would expect of a ball-jointed doll or figure.  For example, her hands can be positioned to touch her hair, but not her face.  The knees have even less flexibility as they are simple hinge joints.

Still, given the limited posing of Tonner's Doctor Who dolls, I was pleased to see that this doll offers a broader range of movement possibilities.

Overall, I'd say I'm pleased but not thrilled with this doll - she has a more expressive face than a painted-eye fashion dolls, which is wonderful.  And proportionately she can fit in well with a variety of other dolls and figures of this size, so with a different outfit, I think she'll be a nice display piece (I've also found a huge number of patterns for this size of doll, so the possibilities are almost endless).

The curly wig.
The crushed eyelash is causing the left eye to
look a bit strange here.

In comparison to the Martha Jones doll from
Tonner's Doctor Who line.