Intergrity Toys MLP Dolls

[Taffeta]

I actually wasn't sure when I heard about these what the idea really was, and now I see them, they're not that bad as dolls.

I'm not really interested in them - the only IT dolls I wanted were the Jem ones for certain characters - but as someone said above, the 500 sets sold out very quickly. I don't know if this is being run the same way as the Wclub but the members get first opportunity to buy, and that includes dealers/people who will buy multiples to ebay hike (it happened especially with Regine Cesare from the Jem line. A lot of fans of Jem missed out because a few people bought up multiples to resell at higher price.) I'm still not sure whether her price came down or not in the end. I was lucky that someone was kind enough to point me to a seller in France, as I was looking to get her on the FIRST official day of release and she was already sold out everywhere stateside.

So bear in mind if you want one of these, you need to be really attentive to release. One of the big issues the Wclub people seem to have had with Jem is that some of the Jem characters have very specific looks. These are fairly neutral in a lot of ways, and so probably appeal more to a broader audience. Redressing is possible. So is customising. In which instant you see the reason for the guy dolls. Male IT dolls are in demand in general from what I've seen, certaily with the fusion whatsit line. So I can see that being a big reason for the 4/2 split.

Wclub get first look but you can't join that till January, I think. I never bothered, so I'm not certain, but depending on the release order and dates of these, people who want them maybe should look at that as an option. They will probably appear on Ebay but they will get hiked. And as I said, boy dolls...are in demand.

From a doll quality perspective, I guess it's fair to say you get what you pay for in terms of detail on the clothing, accessories, etc. They are expensive dolls, but they are also collector dolls aimed at that market. I guess like some of the other MLP stuff is released at higher prices (some of the Funko)? It's aimed at people who expect to pay those prices. I didn't get all my IT ones new at full price, but I think the last two I did - Craig and Eric - were both $130.

Of course that was back in the days when the exchange rate didn't bite...

[Galactica]

I actually wasn't sure when I heard about these what the idea really was, and now I see them, they're not that bad as dolls.

I'm not really interested in them - the only IT dolls I wanted were the Jem ones for certain characters - but as someone said above, the 500 sets sold out very quickly. I don't know if this is being run the same way as the Wclub but the members get first opportunity to buy, and that includes dealers/people who will buy multiples to ebay hike (it happened especially with Regine Cesare from the Jem line. A lot of fans of Jem missed out because a few people bought up multiples to resell at higher price.) I'm still not sure whether her price came down or not in the end. I was lucky that someone was kind enough to point me to a seller in France, as I was looking to get her on the FIRST official day of release and she was already sold out everywhere stateside.

So bear in mind if you want one of these, you need to be really attentive to release. One of the big issues the Wclub people seem to have had with Jem is that some of the Jem characters have very specific looks. These are fairly neutral in a lot of ways, and so probably appeal more to a broader audience. Redressing is possible. So is customising. In which instant you see the reason for the guy dolls. Male IT dolls are in demand in general from what I've seen, certaily with the fusion whatsit line. So I can see that being a big reason for the 4/2 split.

Wclub get first look but you can't join that till January, I think. I never bothered, so I'm not certain, but depending on the release order and dates of these, people who want them maybe should look at that as an option. They will probably appear on Ebay but they will get hiked. And as I said, boy dolls...are in demand.

From a doll quality perspective, I guess it's fair to say you get what you pay for in terms of detail on the clothing, accessories, etc. They are expensive dolls, but they are also collector dolls aimed at that market. I guess like some of the other MLP stuff is released at higher prices (some of the Funko)? It's aimed at people who expect to pay those prices. I didn't get all my IT ones new at full price, but I think the last two I did - Craig and Eric - were both $130.

Of course that was back in the days when the exchange rate didn't bite...

Agree- it was REALLY hard to find the first wave of Jem dolls. The wclub does have priority access for a day.  I am SO LUCKY I got a Classic Jem, and it was only because someone had cancelled right before me. And she was an edition of 600! 

The popular Jem dolls that were in small editions of 500 sold out within minutes up to an hour of being released. (Except for the dolls released this year who were background characters, boys and redressed repeat characters - they sold out- but way more sluggishly)
 
Regine, Astral, Classic Jem and Hollywood Jem (the one that started it all) and Danse sold out SUPER fast and then the secondary market was horrible and only got worse as time went on.   But the dolls released in HUGE editions (the misfits) of 1200 never really sold out and you can still find them for cheaps if you look hard. That tells me there are more than 500 collectors willing to buy the main dolls - but less than 1200.

you can actually pick up Stormer at Toni's Collectibles for about $45 (which is believe it or not, a killer deal).

That said- I don't think the MLP dolls will be as popular as the Jem dolls.  Jem had nostalgia going for it.  The MLP dolls appear to be catering to pop culture. Not sure if that will attract more or less fans than the Jem collection.  But for sure if you are interested in the dolls, do not hesitate.  Editions of 500 are really small, even if the dolls are relatively unpopular with most, they will very likely sell out really fast.

[Princess Lala]

Im sitting here thinking about something thats driving me bonkers.

There are several hobbyist doll/toy collectors who do video reviews out there who intend on going after the entire set of these at once. How can they afford all of these dolls among all the other expensive LE dolls and toys they are also buying out of pocket and then also do vacation trips to other countries? Do you think they are planning to resell for profit? Just those 6 dolls come out to near $800! Thats my months rent!  Im over here still freaking out over how expensive these dolls are if you want the whole set. Arg its stressful thinking about buying one....

[Taffeta]

I thought the Misfits were 800 and the Stingers 1200, but I may be wrong since all of those except Jetta I got from other sellers and for less than retail price.

(I can also recommend Toni's Collectables for buying these, I have bought two dolls from them, I think, and they were lovely both times. The only downside was the shipping cost, which obv. is only an issue if you are not in the US, and not the seller's fault at all. So yes, off topic but if you are looking to buy from someone reliable, I can recommend them).

Back on topic. I think the maddest Jem wave was the Regine/Danse/Video/Clash wave, although I think Clash either had a slightly higher edition or...I don't remember. What I remember was that I could afford two at the time, having saved, and thought I'd buy Clash and Regine, but in the end I bought Danse and Regine, because Clash was not disappearing so fast as the other two and I guessed - rightly, as it turned out - that I could pick her up later (which I did).

I've seen Classic Jem resell for the $900+ mark (bearing in mind, original price $130) because of the mad frenzy for Classic Jem. (I have never been so glad to be a Misfit fan, to be honest!) Selling Jem and Jerrica separately only made that crazy even worse in my opinion. I don't really think these pony dolls will net a resell value of $900+ (lol) because they are generic dolls without nostalgic identities. But I could see them, realistically, ending up like Astral and Regine, with resell prices around $250 when they hit ebay. I have seen a nude Regine sell for $90, so that gives some idea. True, Regine and Astral were obscure characters Hasbro made prototypes for in the eighties but never released, so the demand for them hugely outstripped the amount made, but even so, knowing how boy dolls are often expensive, even nude, I would be surprised if people didn't buy to resell with them.

A lot of people do very elaborate customs on dolls and they pay $130 for their base doll to work on, so you can only imagine what kind of price the eventual customs fetch. Doll collecting is just a really big money market. I don't know why exactly, but my experience with the Jem world and the amount of money some of the big deal collectors there have to throw around makes me think that the ones doing that kind of transacting are the ones who have a significant cash flow. I remember one Jem forum member who was spending $200-250 on a MIP outfit because he wanted to take out the gloves from it to display both versions of a fashion. Someone who will spend that on getting a pair of gloves (and then keep the rest of the outfit to display a second version) definitely isn't going to be fazed by a $130 price tag. Almost all of the Jem prototype materials from the production are in fan hands, and mostly in the hands of those kinds of people. I think the Stinger prototypes sold for around 10,000$. In comparison, $130 is pocket money. My impression is that not all doll collectors are rich, but the ones that you hear about doing a lot tend to have money.

One of the things I did - and somehow managed it with Astral - there used to be a seller on Ebay who would have these dolls as a retailer and he'd split them up - doll, fashion, shoes, accessories, etc. And sometimes they'd sell really low compared to a MIB doll. I managed to piece Astral together for about $85 altogether, and she is only missing her hat...so that may be an option. It's a gamble, though. I missed Astral's release so had no choice, but there's a certain amount of security knowing you have the preorder in at retail price and won't be paying over the odds from a scalper later down the line.

[Noxxbunny]

Im sitting here thinking about something thats driving me bonkers.

There are several hobbyist doll/toy collectors who do video reviews out there who intend on going after the entire set of these at once. How can they afford all of these dolls among all the other expensive LE dolls and toys they are also buying out of pocket and then also do vacation trips to other countries? Do you think they are planning to resell for profit? Just those 6 dolls come out to near $800! Thats my months rent!  Im over here still freaking out over how expensive these dolls are if you want the whole set. Arg its stressful thinking about buying one....

I'm sort in a way more expensive doll hobby, and it does still baffle me too when someone can drop $800-$1600 on one doll upfront out of nowhere, but I'm not their accountant lol. Even I have a doll who cost about $250 total. I just saved up for a year, but it did probably look like I conjured up most of the money out of thin air when I bought him. And I'm sure it'll look like that again whenever I eventually save another $250 for my next one's body alone.

But I agree with Taffeta. For some reason, all across the board, doll collecting hobbies really are huge money markets. I find that the people in them get very serious and passionate about it, therefore they invest a lot of money in it. I say "for some reason", but my own reason is that I find the hobby truly enjoyable, so therefore, I spend. Just like I do with ponies here and there.

While it is possible that reviewers buy them and resell after, it's also possible that they keep what they buy. Perhaps scalping or reselling isn't their intention from the start, and they end up reselling only if they don't like what they got. Or they like the resell price more than they like the item. But anywhere that there's a limited item...scalpers are always there. It just comes with the hobby, unfortunately.

[Akemi-chan]

I actually like the dolls more on their own without MLP representation, lol, but that's just because I've given up on anything G4 related a long time ago due to over-saturation.   I'm a huge doll collector and admirer myself, but unfortunately don't own any Integrity dolls.  I do love the faces on Twilight and Fluttershy though, and I absolutely love Rarity's hair!

[Galactica]

Im sitting here thinking about something thats driving me bonkers.

There are several hobbyist doll/toy collectors who do video reviews out there who intend on going after the entire set of these at once. How can they afford all of these dolls among all the other expensive LE dolls and toys they are also buying out of pocket and then also do vacation trips to other countries? Do you think they are planning to resell for profit? Just those 6 dolls come out to near $800! Thats my months rent!  Im over here still freaking out over how expensive these dolls are if you want the whole set. Arg its stressful thinking about buying one....

I think the dolls are for people with steady incomes and savings.  The collectors are mostly in their 30s, 40s 50s and up. They have good jobs or their spouses/partners have good paying jobs.  Or they save.
 
That is why I don't think these dolls are aimed at the broneis specifically- at least not the young ones.  I would not have been able to even consider buying even one of these dolls when I was in my 20s.

Now? Sure.

[Jocelyn]

The Pinkie one is actually quite cute. I can understand paying that much for a doll - I just bought two of those super realistic, Hot Toys-like action figures, and those are typically $180+. It's certainly another level of collecting...There's another one I want coming out sometime this year, but I gotta save up for it! So I don't think Pinkieguy will be a resident on my shelves