Anthony Julian Jem and the Holograms Integrity Toys Doll Review

Image Not Mine. Courtesy of Integrity Toys

When Integrity Toys announced that his doll was sold out on their Facebook page, I took sold out to mean, in fact, sold out. Although I did request to be put on the wait-list, I was mentally prepared to buy the doll on ebay. I was expecting him to cost close to $300 on the secondary market, considering that only 500 were produced, and it's hard enough as it is to find African American male dolls. I was pleasantly surprised that he was much cheaper, and ended up getting him for only $200. Luckily, Anthony arrived literally hours before the blizzard began Friday afternoon.

First off, let me state how impressed I am with this doll. I'm no Jem and the Holograms fan (lol that show was a bit before my time anyway), but whenever I can find a decent looking African American male doll, you can bet I'm making plans to get him. IT does a great job when it comes to diversity, and, unlike Barbie Collector, usually release at least one African American male doll a year. While I do applaud the effort, Anthony Julian in the first African American male doll from IT that a liked enough to actually buy.

Anthony uses the same face sculpt as Tobias Alsford from the 2015 Cinematic Convention, but I think this sculpt looks better with the darker skin tone and mustache.

I love his outfit! As I mentioned, Jem and the Holograms were a bit before my time, but I'm just curious as to why he's wear so many sweaters! Was he from somewhere cold in the cartoon? It seems to me that a turtleneck and the coat would suffice, or even a button-down and the v-neck sweater, but a turtleneck, another sweater, and a coat! I haven't undressed him yet, but each layer is seperate, so he is actually wearing a full turtleneck and full v-neck sweater under the coat. Ahh, yes, this is why I'm willing to pay more for IT dolls! The quality is definitely there! An added bonus is that the turtleneck has hooks in the back, so I don't have to struggle with putting it on or taking it off!

I didn't get a picture of his shoes, but they are black felt and very stylish! He also comes with black socks.

Now for the accessories. Love the watch! Unlike previous watches for IT, this one has an actual watch face!

Anthony also comes with a plastic bullhorn (very detailed; you can even see the On/Off switch and volume controls!) and a clap board (thick laminated plastic/paper material but still nice). As with all Jem dolls, Anthony comes with an extra pair on hands, including the closed fist left hand. I'm not sure why they included the closed hand with him, though, since he doesn't come with a microphone, and the bullhorn doesn't fit in that hand.

I don't usually keep doll boxes, but the Jem boxes are so bright and colorful that I can't resist keeping it!

No doll is perfect, not even IT dolls, so here are my complains:
First, his hands were ridiculously hard to get off. I was so afraid that I would break them that I stopped after a while. After building up the nerve to try again, with much, much effort, they finally came off. Suffice it to say, I will not be removing his hands again lol. Luckily his sweaters are stretchy to I should be able to remove them without having to remove his hands. I think this might be a new thing with IT dolls because Directors Cut Ace McFly has the same problem, but I haven't experienced this with the dolls prior to 2015.

The watch is a complete loop, which is annoying because of the hand issue mentioned above.

Anthony's legs are a little loose at the hip socket, but this doesn't bother me too much. As with the other Jem doll I bought, the stand rod part won't stay up, so I have to use another stand. I'm assuming this a problem with the Jem and the Holograms stands since I've never had this problem with stands from IT's other lines.

Anthony will be making an appearance in my photo stories pretty soon, so check out my photo story blog!