Does Anyone Collect Tonner? Pt.2

Even without articulation, Tonner has some of the best dolls ever produced. I love her spring time outfit and the flowers are beautiful too!

She's beautiful. I wish I had more Ellowyne's, always looking at the secondary market but the markup on them is way out of hand for me. I had several Ellowyne's years ago, but they got sold off to pay for bills when I was laid off. I think dolls have saved me 3 times over the past 10 years when work has been unstable (who knew that could happen in healthcare ). Barbie saved me twice and Tonner dolls the third time. I miss many of those dolls but looking at all my dolly collections now you'd never know there was ever an issue!!! I need a bigger house for all my dolly wants . Right now I would absolutely LOVE to have a room of nothing but doll houses and room boxes of all sizes.

 

@stellarphenomena Wow! That’s a beautiful sculpt. I love the frown.

I haven’t bought a new Tonner in years. But that one is so tempting.

 

That is an amazing sculpt!!! I'd like to have her for sure.

 

Juuuuuuust thought I'd point out that Doll Peddlar has several Evangeline Ghastlys in stock, including a resin one.

This one looks like she's resin, too - at $400.

 

She is stunning!

 

I’ve got three Tonners, starting with my Angel of Red Death, who is yet to be named and no story yet. The plan is to fit her into my Free Lands story. My 2 Ellis are WIPs, so expect pics when you see them.

 

Thanks @stellarphenomena. I hadn’t bonded with my Evangeline until last weekend when I modified a Doll Candy pattern for the SD Mori Girl tunic and sewed it up. I’ll post my Ellos after I find their clothes - we moved 4 months ago.and still looking for things.

I hadn’t seen the Lacie announcement. She’s adorable! Is it just me or does she look like a grown up Ello?

 

Hi Tonner collectors! I know very little about Tonner besides them being pretty and expensive, and sort of comparable to collector-level Barbies only even more so? (Forgive me if the comparison to Barbie is offensive, it's all I know of this type of fashion doll). I wanted to ask you guys what the appeal of Tonner is to you personally. Is it the faces, the clothing, the exclusivity? I'm really curious what makes this doll company stand out to you!

 

Specific sculpts (Sydney, Daphne and Deanna Denton) made me a huge Tonner fan. I was/am a Barbie collector and for the longest time I thought Tonner dolls were far to large to deal with (then I got my first bjd and noted Tonner dolls weren't THAT big after all ). Another thing was/is the fashions. Tonner is a fabulous clothing designer and has some of the BEST haute couture outfits around. And the clothes mostly fit slim size msd dolls which makes it even better. If only the shoes fit!!! I'm not a fan of all of his doll lines mostly the 3 sculpts I listed but there are outliers too. And before he stopped making all his lines of dolls, they really weren't a bad price at all for a full set doll. The secondary market prices though are scary for sure though.

 

@Captainnessbot For Tonners, I just love their clothes more than anything. Ellowyne Wilde is my favorite. I love her and her wardrobe.

I had no idea how big she was when I ordered one. I was expecting Barbie size. So, that was a shock. But the bigger size means more details, thicker fabrics and things like that. Mine were not excessively expensive when I bought them. He used to have regular sales, sample doll sales and conventions. Most of my dolls came from those categories. There were a few I knew would sell out so I jumped on them for full price.

 

@stellarphenomena wow, so pretty!

 

@stellarphenomena - I really appreciate you keeping us updated. Thank you!
That outfit is absolutely stunning! (I watched the YouTube video.) But the heart yearns for wigs... I've got my eye on the Neema in the white cape. BJDs have spoiled me. I love wigs now. Gimme that bald head, and I'll cover it!

 

Tonner lover and fan of the Virtual Doll Convention! I love the new Neema coming soon - the one all in white. I'm so glad Robert is back actively designing dolls again. I got to meet him in person, finally, at Wonderland of Play in 2023 and he signed my 2001 Tyler and Cory got his first Ellowynne there and signed by Robert as well. He really is a sweet man.

 

Oh yes. Year before last, I was at a doll convention in a panel in Texas, quite literally refreshing my phone under the table to buy one of the Graces. (I got Freckles). Rachel is from my interactions, a very generous and kind person. We got to visit her shop last year.
I picked up a Tonner that was part of that box from a collector.
This past Spring - I won a lot of Tonners and Gene Marshalls at an auction. I was most excited about the 23in American Model doll. But alas, she is still awaiting an outfit (still wearing an SD16 tshirt for months now).
I don't know if I will be able to get the Neema. Sadly, expenses have been high and there are 2 SD bodies I need more for floating heads.

 

Had a bunch of ellowyne and her friends dolls in a plastic container I had put aquarelle paper on the bottom to not have direct contact with the box it was like that for months just opened it today to tidy up and check out what stays or goes and thre was a nasty smell of plasticky pee ... it smelled like old smelly plastic (you know old barbie feet) and pee , the dolls were clean and dry when I put them in , I checked them and the softer vinyl parts were a bit gluey not much but a bit , now I am teriffied they are destroyed because I stored them in there for long does anyone has experience with that ?

 

So sadly, what you are smelling is ammonia (pee) and plastic degradation. This happens with all plastic over time. It sounds like you had a little chemical reaction brewing inside the container. The first thing to do is pull out and undress the dolls. Give the dolls a good look over and see if the plastic is starting to separate. If there are sticky parts and discoloration, the plasticizer is leaching out. This is an irreversible process, unfortunately. Basically, plastic death.

If, however, everything looks good, then you may have caught it in time. A gentle wash in warm soapy water with plain, uncolored and unscented soap, followed by a long air-dry in front of a fan may help remove the smell. The clothes may be what's falling apart, especially if there's any pleather.

Keep me posted, and fingers crossed, it's just the pleather you smell falling apart.

 

Oh thank you so much I wish I coughtin time !!! I'll do what you said and hope it is in time!!! I'll post updates for sure!!! 1000 thanks for the advice!!!!

 

Ok my update is that most dolls are ok , except one prudence 2 ellowynes and one rufus , those were very sticky in the soft vinyl parts , with some sporadic yellowing on the feet . After the bath and left dry the smell is gone but some of the stickyness remains , the yellow stains are less visible. I'll repeat the process and hope!!! they are certainly in better shape then straight out of the plastic container but still with issues. I had ellowynes in the same box before and never had an issue but this time because of moving is that the box remained cosed for months in storage , it was an inside storage at my brothers storage appartment but still it was too long. Also I noticed that because the moving house was hasty I had packed my superstar supersize barbie and 60cm pocahontas (which is same brand and era) in the same box with the ellowynes which I usually didn't do (I separate vinyl dolls by brand) this might also have been the catalyst to this mess. Doing some humor about the situation I knew Ellowyne and Barbie had bad relations but never thought one would try to melt the other. I can't say lol though cause I'm not laughing just bang my stupid head for let them marinate for so long in the container I'll post news after the second bath. Thank you by heart for the advice !!! it is far better and maybe just maybe a repeat will make it even better!!! you are a life saver 1000 thanks!!!

 

Ohhhhhhhh. That's the problem, and I'm so sorry.
I love Babs. Have hundreds of her. But Babs is a mean doll. By that I mean - Barbie plastics are nasty and do not play nicely with other plastics, including other Barbies, depending upon the doll you own. Some of the original Barbies were notorious for melting other dolls (the first set of flexible twin kids, specifically).
I suspect the Barbie plastics reacted with (attacked) your much more expensive Ellowynes. I would recommend a light airbrush water-based acrylic paint to cover the yellowing spots, and keep your girls separated, especially Barbie. Put Barbie in isolation where she belongs.
The sticky spots are plasticizer leaching out. If there's no face paint or blushing in those spots, a little acetone followed by a soapy water wash may remove some of the sticky.

Glad I could help, and I hope that there's no further degradation.

 

Thank you again you didn't just help but saved those poor dolls I was totally lost I did the acetone/warm water treatment the stickiness is now barely there the yellowing is barely there,I am not really good with anything that has to do with paint, once I thought I was but learned that no I m an utter failure with anything paint related but I have a cousin who has done lessons when young and my aunt works at fine arts academy they will probably be able to follow your instructions and fix the color. I will let them dry a bit more and then keep them on display. And yes l like babs too especially the old collector ones like dolls of world,lars and Mackie but their plastic is very reactive and even more those 80's Barbies like those supersize I put there. That's what I meant old barbie feet smell they all have a distinct smell in their soft plastic which probably are chemicals evaporating. I will be more careful keeping them separate. I thank you a lot and same my Elle's Pru and poor Rufus.

 

I'm happy I could help, and glad to hear that you're able to save your Elle's!
Also, if you decide you want to try painting again, I got a cheap nail art airbrush kit off AliExpress. It's great for practicing - and almost everyone sucks the first time they try something.

 

Oh thank you, I will snap some pics of them when I have time in weekend!!! Oh I practiced for years and still sucked lol I am a bit hopeless, if I practice for a decade I might be able to paint something that I have in my hands without painting my foot the wall floor and everything else and I manage to do this with brushes imagine an air brush. Everything I make is so ugly that people just get speechless lol but I have my peace with it everyone has different abilities it is just that this is not one of mine. Thank you again for all your help!!!

 

She is beautiful. Congratulations!

 

Oooh, I love that sculpt! Congrats!

 

I love the coloring on the Neema in black with the updo. If I collected fashion dolls she would be in my cart already

 

Just want to pop in to say how much I appreciate you sharing your dolls and VDC updates, stellarphenomena! Thank you!

 

Beautiful photo. She is lovely.

 

Neema "And Then Some" and her new friends

 

Stunning collection. STUN-NING.

 

Thank you These are the other ones.

 

Just a reminder: A new Ellowyne is on Sale:

Ellowyne and Neema Boutique — VDC