When I ordered something from outside of the EU, it never comes as a surprise delivery at my door. The PostNL app tells me how much import tax I need to pay to release my packages from customs prison.
I preordered these two outfit sets on the 1st of March and they arrived last Saturday. They were shipped on the 6th of of May which means they weren’t too long on the way or in customs. I can’t recall how long the turnover time of the preorder was but seeing the amount of retweets the creator is doing daily of arrived packages, they sold more then just 50 outfits.
It was a letterbox, no signature package so I didn’t really need to stay home for it. This time the delivery guy was quite sneaky as the dog didn’t hear him. 😉 She usually barks up a storm when she hears the creaking of the letterbox lid. We have an outside letterbox, so no doggie destroyed mail. Doris is a good doggie though, she doesn’t wreck things.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the capelets are lined and the wee buttons and bows on them are really cute. They are sown by machine and seeing the size of the garments it is a pretty well done. The dolls themselves are around 12 cm high so it is a lot of minuscule stitching they have to make.
Without the capelets
I opted to put the black dress on the tan and white sheep as it contrasts nicely with her arms and black shoes. The pink sheep looks stunning in white. Looks like they are going on a Victorian outing. Victorian times are heavily romanticized, as I wouldn’t want to be a woman in that time period. The ribbons on the bonnets are really long, easy to tie them on their heads but hard to hide behind their backs. I had to use paperclips to keep them in place while I took photos.
With the capelets
If only I had some small suitcase and a steam locomotive. Heck, I would need to create a whole trainstation then, but I have no room to store such an elaborate diorama. Didn’t take a obligatory cat photo as I shoo’ed him away this time. He kept knocking them over T_T.
Having jumped up way more in wages than before, I have some a bit more cash to spend on my hobbies. Alas the grail doll that is only up for a lottery week is well outside my allowed hobby budget this period. You will be missed Ludo, the Grey Tail.
I don’t spend every penny I own on this, it’s a hobby not a means to go bankrupt. Besides my husband doesn’t always know what to gift me for my birthday so I do get a little extra $$ towards a purchase from him.
Lately I am into the smaller sized dolls, while my last addition to the collection was a wopping 75cm D=. I will write about this big boy in my next blog.
Mian Mian by Muhan’s doll
I received the shipping notice of this beauty above. I only purchased her head this time, no body (yep, I deal in body parts XD). Pouty lips is something I really like but I have no idea what type she is going to be. Maybe a red head with freckles, or a brunette. I have a box of wigs and eyes that I can scour through for the perfect fit.
Not sure if I will paint her myself or commission someone else. Can always turn it into a boy, sky is the limit.
Argent Tobi by Cocoriang
I love the pet dolls created by Cocoriang, I own a fox and I take him often outside for photoshoots. They are really tiny, 7,5 cm and you can easily carry them in a bag. I do need to be more careful and bring a proper carrier as I have rubbed some of the paint off my fox T_T.
I ordered Tobi with the sprinkle face up, I can’t do it and Cocoriang’s artists are really good with their face ups. I ended up ordering the wrong body (my bad). So he will not have the loppity bunny feet but the fairy body. Will be easier to sew him pants though. Lesson learned here: never order on your phone, can’t see for shit XD.
Yoyo Okie by Miu Shima
Bear Okie by Miu Shima
Up next are these two cuties. I first wanted to order one body with all the head and animal parts but why not make them girlfriends?! And I didn’t like the third head that was in the set. This is partly gifted by my husband because I was being difficult on which one to pick.
Will I paint them myself? No clue, but dressing them will be not that terrible because I don’t need shoes for them. My every day woe is, too many dolls not enough shoes XD. Most of my dolls have long dresses to hide their bare feet.
One of the girls will have heterochromie, I was thinking one blue, one yellow eye. Average production time is 90/180 working days so I have enough time to plan.
Red Rabbit by Coralreef Dolls
This is the only fullset doll I bought so far this year. Her dress is perfect. I just can’t create something like that yet. Sometimes I like to buy a doll that fits the category: deadly beauty. The rabbit mask has wee little fangs and if you take it off, you will see a rabbit skull underneath. Her tail is a rose and yes she has been sew back together.
Sometimes I think up background stories for my dolls, its fun giving them a history. This girl has been an abused pet, hellbent on haunting it’s former owner before they are dragged off to oblivion. Last thing they heard was: “Do you want to play?”
The creator made various different outfits for this doll and I’m brimming with ideas so I am eagerly waiting for her arrival. I will have her exact size in my hands so I won’t ruin the fabric. A wine red ruff will look awesome on her, black velvet tailcoat, or golden embroidered waitcoat. What about a music box while dressed up as a tragic ballerina. SO MUCH INSPIRATION!
Cookey by Fairytown
This bear is not an asian ball jointed doll but also not something kids can play with. I adore retro looking plush toys. I was really into the Toysfield brand but sadly they aren’t produced anymore. You see them pop up on Ebay second hand for double or triple the price. I am not a big fan of ordering through Ebay, due to the amount of scams that happen on that website. I keep an eye on second hand Japanese websites (they have physical stores), my experiences are better with them.
I already own two retro lambs designed by Jenny. I couldn’t skip getting Cookey as a birthday present for myself. I want to take up crochetting again, I’ve found an awesome guide how to crochet when you are lefthanded and a scarf is pretty straight forward as a first item.
Now that I write this, I realised that I haven’t written about my two lambs either. Another blogpost for the future!
It might seem odd that I am already talking about the year 2022 but when it comes to dolls the waiting game is long. After my SO suggested I should try and take more photos, the interest in dolls came back to me earlier this year. It also helps that I have a better display case these days. I had a few dolls on my wanted list and some opportunities arised for me to procure them but that only counts towards the Supia and Lillycat order XD. The others just crossed my path.
In July I placed an order with Supia for a Nael with a Ballarina body and a seperate Haeun head. No face ups, either doing them myself or commissioning someone. I kinda need to admit that this doll already has an outfit lying ready for her. Supia has gorgeous headsculpts so I might order a few more in the future and with future I mean 2023 haha.
I ordered the new normal type skin and I am a bit worried as there are a lot of issues with new type tan and heavy discolouration after only a few weeks. There might be no issue at all but I can’t help it.
This order might arrive before the end of the year, 60 working days is the norm but I’ve seen a lot of people ordering during their special sale so it might be a little wee longer.
Supia Nael
Supia Haeun
Next up is a Lillycat Lulu in light caramel skin. I’ve always wanted a doll made by her and thought her chibi line was too cute to pass up. Lillycat is one of the many doll makers that have been hit by recasters. It’s really sad to see her dolls pop up on platforms for a fraction of the price. I always say to myself, if I can’t afford the price it is just not meant to be. Pretending to have a doll by her that was ripped off by someone who doesn’t give a toss about copyright is just bad.
Lulu is only 29 cm tall and finding clothes for her will be a bit of a challenge because her body is a bit chubbier than a regular YO-SD. But since I’ve never owned a Lillycat doll before, it might not be so bad. I have a few YO-SD outfits that I could try on her, otherwise it’s time to whip out my sewing machine again. She has fairy ears so it is quite possible none of my wigs will fit her but we will see.
Lillycat Lulu
This one was a bit of a surprise for me and as a big Y’shtola fan I couldn’t let this girl out of my clutches. And the aftermarket price will be insane so it’s best to get her now.
As some of you know that I am a big fan of the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. I’ve been playing FF for years since VII came out and played both of the online versions XI and XIV. So now Square Enix joined forced with Volks to bring our favourite catgirl Y’shtola out as a Dollfie Dream. They did it before with NieR Automata (which were gorgeous but not my thing) and I just couldn’t pass this girl up. She has a bit of a hefty pricetag but that is because she comes fully clothed in her pretty Black Mage outfit and staff. We are talking about a 99.800 Yen pricetag. I can’t recall if I do or do not pay salestax at Volks. But my SO wanted to go half on her with me, as a gift for our engagement. I can’t wear jewellery so this makes up for the lack of a ring haha. I took a sneak peak at some of the prices of an engagement ring but wow those rings can be expensive @_@.
I know for sure I am going to have a terrible time styling her wig as Volks dolls wigs never get even close to what you see in the pictures. The wigs are good quality but not styled at all. Hopefully they will put out a tutorial because it’s not really Y’shtola if her wig is just straight. The dress will be stunning for sure as all my fullset DD’s have great clothes. Let’s just hope the delivery guy doesn’t play footie with my box.
She won’t ship out until December 2022 so I’d be waiting over a year for her. But this is not the longest I’ve waited. My Dollshe ordered took 14 months ^^;;
Volks Dollfie Dream Y’shtola
And finally a little Sharkboy or girl in tan skin which I preordered today. He or she has little shark teeth which I probably have no faith in giving the face up myself haha. Even with a tinier body than the Lillycat Lulu finding clothes will be a challenge. Maybe even finding shoes will be a nightmare. But I couldn’t resist this little one and so the collection grows even further.
They even have a Dragon up on the website but I had to make a choice. I have a few vampie teeth dolls already and none with full chompers XD.
Muhan’s Doll – Shark
After a hiatus of more then a year the Doll and Bear festival will be held again near me next weekend. I’m going to check out if they have some tiny furniture or anything else that I can use for my photo sessions. I’ll keep you posted on the arrival of these cuties. UwU
I bought my oldest Volks doll around 9 years ago, a Saber Alter v2. This was around the time that I moved to a different country, lost touch with a lot of my doll collecting friends and barely had funds to purchase anything doll related. Moving back and ending up with a better job it gave me more spending space for my hobby. Having a partner that doesn’t ridicule your hobby also helps.
My anime-type doll collection grew with Chezka, Ai and Megumi but finding proper clothing for them is a bit hard. Sure Etsy had a lot of lovely clothes but Volks keeps dragging me back to their fashion shop. And each month they bring out a newsletter with lots of goodies. My last order was in May of this year, so it was okay for me to put out another.
I really wanted the women’s hakama set for DD (1/3) and MDD (1/4) but the release was at 10:00 JST which meant I had to wake up at 3 o’clock at night to put my order through. Usually the website will crash when a lot of people are trying to purchase their most wanted. I figured if the items were gone when I woke up it wouldn’t be a great loss.
Suffering from chronic insomnia I woke up at around 5:30 (Yes, on my day off) and decided to check if what I wanted was still available. Maybe because it is limited to one per person, they still have the outfits that I wanted. Lucky me =D!
DD Hakama set
MDD Hakama set
While men wear hakama on formal and informal occassions, women rarely wear hakama, except for graduation and for traditional Japanese sports as kyūdō. It is a shame because a hakama looks very pretty on a woman. Saber already wears a hakama but I wanted the ‘official’ Volks version. Now I can dress up Ai and Megumi. Have a big graduation party, which only makes partly sense as Megumi is still in middle school lol.
I was already paying a wopping ¥4850 (approx. $44) in shipping, it would be a shame if I kept this order small. Import duties are always paid but I’d like to make my package worth the cost of shipping.
So bought a DDH-22 type head (very cute on MDD bodies), a pair of gripping hands and internal hand frames for MDD and DD. I keep switching out the hands of my dolls with internal frame on, trying to pry the hands, especially the MDD size hands, is a pain in the rear.
DDH-22
MDD gripping hands
Last year I couldn’t participate in the DD Gacha grab but it looks like this year there isn’t much interest in it. I added two to my order and it can either contain a pair of undies, a t-shirt or a pair of special eyes. I am hoping on either the eyes or the undies.
DD Gacha bag
T-shirts
Undies
Special Eyes
The last thing I added to my order was a saddle stand. I bought cheap versions on Aliexpress but alas with a lot of things on Ali it’s a terrible quality rip off. Won’t be doing that again. Saddle stands are easier to use as you just straddle your girl.
Saddle stand
So now the waiting game starts. Last time it took around three weeks for them to ship my order. Covid-19 and big order volumes has increased the waiting time but I am a patient person. Volks had never let me down with their quality. Hopefully I will get really lucky with those Gatcha bags.
Besides BDJ’s and other dolls I own a few Hot Toys action figures. These are a bit more expensive then your regular action figures but way more detailed. But really they are toys for grown ups: 1. because of the hefty price tag and 2. because they are very fragile.
When the Mandalorian was announced I was a bit skeptical about it. I didn’t really like Boba Fett and never saw the other prequel movies besides the Phantom Menance. I know, I know, how can you call yourself a Star Wars fan if you didn’t watch the prequels. I read a lot of books on Star Wars to fill in the Star Wars canon, same with the comics. I think Darth Vader has cool moves and all but Anakin Skywalker is an annoying emo-teen/grown up. But George Lucas is to blame for the acting in the movies not the actor. I am really happy that they had John Favreau as director of the Mandalorian.
Mando’s preorder came up on the website of Gator, which also has a physical store in Nijmegen, so no import fees for me YAY! The release date was set around November 2020 but due to the pandemic I noticed that a lot of merchandise production had a lot of delays. Very understandable because the workers need to be able to work safely. But a week ago I finally received my shipping notice.
What I love about Hot Toys Sixth scale figures is the work that they put in these figures. It has little holster with a strap for his blaster, his rifle has a strap, the cape looks and feels like weathered fabric and you can attach sensors and explosives to his belt. My other Hot Toys are Captain America and Deadpool, so Mando will be a bit out of place XD.
Boxed Art
Tightly packed
His rifle is one of my favourite weapons
Close up with more details
Can’t remove his helmet, so no Pedro Pascal underneath but that’s fine. I was a bit worried when I had to stick the spikes in the base. They are very snug fit and I was afraid I would break them when using too much force. Luckily for this my SO has a delicate hand. All in all I am really happy with this figure. I plan to do a future photoshoot with all his poses and photoshop a Star Wars worthy background in. That will happen when I finally find my adapter for my DSLR camera. I misplaced it a few months ago and been making photos with my mobile instead.
There are different types of dolls in my collection. I have Barbies, Disney fashiondolls, Holala’s, Blythes, Pullips, Ruruko’s, Azone, Dollfie Dreams, Smartdoll and several BJD’s but never owned a Momoko. She hails from the same company that made Ruruko: Petworks. I felt guilty purchasing a Momoko outfit all most two years ago and didn’t have a doll to put it on. So I finally dragged my sorry butt of procrastinate mode and bought one from Dolls Moe. I didn’t feel like dealing with custom fees as I have a few packages from Japan on the way so I opted purchasing her from a Spanish based shop. And she is wearing a Kirby Sweater Dress. I love Kirby.
Cute Kirby photo on the box. *hearts*
Close up
She was made in 2018 so she has been around on the market for a while now. I tried getting the newer versions but they sell out fast lol.
She comes with a plastic baseball cap, gray rubber sneakers and light blue tights. The best thing about this doll is the poseability. She has articulated joints like all the other types of fashion dolls which makes them easy and fun to take photos off. When the weather is better I will take her for a few outdoor shots.
The inside of the box is line with drawings of peaches and I realised that momo is peach in Japanese so maybe her name is something like Peach girl. Let’s look it up online.
Momoko (桃子, 百子, 杏子, ももこ, モモコ) is a Japanese name for girls. Momo is usually written with the kanji character 桃 for “peach” or 百 for “one hundred” or 杏 for “apricot”, followed by -ko, a common suffix for girls’ names (meaning “child”).
It’s adorable and I think a very fitting name for the brand of Petsworks. X3
Sits like a charm on the edge of my laptop
Standing on her own
The dealer added stickers, a winter postcard and a little wallet calendar as gifts. This is why I like buying from dealers, they add little gifts when you buy from them. I will certainly use them.
Out of the box Liesl shows a lot of character and I am really happy that I finally got a Momoko doll of my own. I see a lot of potential with this doll and hope to design her some clothes. Is she classy, more sport or just the mori type girl? One thing is sure, this doll is going to be a lot of fun to sew for. The hardest part will be finding fabric with small print. Maybe look into creating my own print on cotton. Ah, the possibilities. Something great to do to get through the extended lockdown.
Sometimes I check certain Facebook groups while waiting for my lottery win Dollfie Dream Kizuna Ai to be shipped. I am not really an active participant in discussions on FB, just a lurker. I did post that I won the lottery bid just because, no real reason too but I wanted to be a bit more active. FB has grown to become a massive pain in the rear for me, lots of negative energy which is not good for a person like me. So I just lurk but I wanted to be a bit more active in the doll hobby since Covid-19 has hit us globally.
My plan this year would be visiting the Volks store in either Tokyo or Osaka and build my own custom doll but pandemic hit and travelling to Japan is not an option anymore (even if I could, I just didn’t want to travel with this shit still running free in the world). That was the main point for joining the lottery. First ever and I won, weeeeee. I had to wait a week for the results to come out and waiting with others was quite fun. We kept discussing our plans with our new girl.
Her face is what attracted me to her, don’t really care for her full set outfit.
After the results came in, some were really disappointed but if you lived in the USA, you could still join the Volks USA lottery. So Americans and Canadians got a second shot at her. Some people were already putting out threads to buy Kizuna Ai if you changed your mind while you wait for her to be shipped. It took a month between the announcement of the results and the shipping of the actual doll.
In one of the threads the discussion about scalpers came up. Scalpers are people who buy up much wanted items to resell them at a higher price. You have these fuckers in any consumer field: tickets for concerts & festivals, sports events and products. You wonder how they do it in the doll hobby as some items are limited to 1 per person. Well here is how: on a live event at one of the stores the scalpers pays others to stand in line to claim the doll. I’ve seen a video of a guy passing out a wad of cash to around 8 girls waiting in line. Infuriating. Online lotteries is the same practice, he has others set up accounts and uses them as mules for the transaction and shipping.
The main problem with this is as long as suckers keep paying the scalpers for overpriced stuff, they keep doing it. Back to the discussion because some of the members said they really need to have this girl. I mean I am lucky but I have missed out on preorders before and I’m just a stubborn bastard because over my dead body I will pay double or even triple the price. But discussions like these make me retreat again from FB-communities. You can’t change their minds if they want something at all costs and just leaves me annoyed.
For my birthday I decided I wanted a new Dollfie Dream girl. Initially I had planned to get one during a trip to Japan later this year, but with Covid-19 going around I doubt we will be able to travel. Dollfie Dream are ball-jointed dolls made by Volks and they are iconic for their anime/manga look. I own one already, she is a 1/3 scale girl but I really wanted a MDD which is a smaller scale girl (1/4 size). Because I want to avoid the hassle with customs, I normally try to buy through European dealers and for Volks doll that’s a bit hard. I only know of two official dealers here in Europe which are Sakura Dreams and Papettes Store.
Just received notification that my girl is in the process of being shipped, but I’ll write about her when she gets here.
In my doll collection I do not have a lot of 1/4 scale dolls (they are around 45cm and called MSD), I have either SD (60cm) or YOSD (30cm). The MSD that I have is a slim version which means that her clothes are more mature and don’t really fit the bulkier shaped MSD dolls. So I need more shoes and clothes for my girl that’s on the way. I had already bought an outfit from Volks so she won’t be nude when she gets here. But she still needs more.
Etsy is my normal go to for doll apparel but I really wanted to try ordering from somewhere different. I’ve been eyeing Taobao for a while but ordering is difficult as some sellers don’t ship abroad and everything is in Chinese. Taobao is like an online marketplace, where sellers offer their handmade products. There is also a lot of knock-off products on there so you have to be a bit careful with what you buy. Orchid Dolls‘ review on BJD Bhiner gave me a proxy service I could try out.
Bhiner is one of the many proxy services that help you make purchases from Taobao. They communicate with the sellers and collect your order in their warehouse before shipping it overseas. For their services they will charge you a fee. What differs them from the other proxies, is that they have a website that collects a lot of BJD related sales on one page but you can also add links from other Taobao sellers if you find something off-site that you want to buy through them.
The sale pages look a lot at what you find on Aliexpress and ordering almost works the same way. I think Taobao is owned by the same owner as Aliexpress. Only difference is that you can quote the items that you have in your cart, Bhiner verifies with the seller if the item is in stock and confirm this with you. It’s your own responsibility to not wait to long with your purchase or else it could be gone.
Payment is always upfront as they have to pay the sellers and the shipping costs to the warehouse. When the items are received by Bhiner, you will get sent photo proof that the items have arrived and get the second quote for shipping from China to the Netherlands. I was amused to see that from mainland China you can have your parcel shipped by train. How cool is that!
I ordered 5 items from Bhiner. 1 wig, 2 pairs of shoes, a graduation hakama for my DD girl and a Neko hat. The hat is a custom order, which means it can’t be refunded. I had more in the cart but the order was already at $99 so I called it quits. I find it easier to spend money on clothes and shoes for my dolls than on clothes on myself ^^;;.
Bhiner order
So on an order of $99 the agent fee is $6.67, which is very low in my opinion. I had to pay around $14,90 in domestic shipping to the warehouse and now I wait until it arrives there. I have no idea how long it will take, one item in my order will take around 5-10 days before it ships.
It is always hit and miss with AliExpress when purchasing stuff for dolls. Dolls I will never buy on Ali, as most of them are recasts. Recasts happen when somenos purchases a doll from a sculptor and then copies it for anyone who wants to have it cheaply, selling it for a much lower price. Usually the quality is inferior and.. well.. the design is stolen. So no dolls bought on Ali for me.
For other stuff like doll clothes and shoes, you’ll sometimes find good quality on there. Lately I’ve noticed people reselling stuff from Ali on Etsy for a higher price. Heck, I even saw people resell a toilet bag bought on Ali for €2 for €9,95 on Bol.com. It’s not against the law but it is annoying, especially when you find out the quality sucks afterwards. So with doll clothes I am a bit cautious when buying for the first time from a new seller I discovered on Ali. Losing €10 on a skirt for a doll that looks terrible isn’t a complete waste of money.
It is quite hard to find fitting clothes for my Smart Doll and Dollfie Dream as they have anime features, extremely long legs, tiny waists and sometimes huge breasts. I try to keep the chest size small or medium, as I really don’t like the big ones, unless I can cover it up with clothing. My normal SD clothing doesn’t really fit my anime style dolls as they are too wide and sometimes too short. So slowly I started building up my Smart Doll and DD clothing collection. First try out was with WAW Dollhouse and from them I bought an inexpensive skirt that costed me €10,01 in total including shipping.
Skirt WAW Dollhouse
I am surprised by the quality of this skirt. The fabric feel sturdy to the touch and the finish in brown stitching is done neatly. It has two functional pockets and the final finish was done with a overlock machine. For this type of quality I would have gladly paid more for this skirt. For the record, I have spent over $100 on a single outfit for dolls.
Overlock finish
Suits my DD nicely
The waist is a bit wide, but I cover it over with t-shirts or sweaters. The store had two versions: the white with blue stripes that I bought and a darker denim. The darker one goes on my next to-buy-list along with a few other items now that I tested the seller. All and all I am very happy with my purchase and will definitely shop there again.
The best photos I make of my dolls is when I take them outdoors, often to nature reserves. I love taking photos of them, but I hate the stares I get when I am taking the photos. Luckily I am armed with my boyfriend these days, which makes me less aware of people staring at me.
I’ve visited this nature reserve in Oisterwijk quite often. I used to take my dogs there and spent many hours roaming the fens. In the early hours of the day it has very mysterious atmosphere, especially when there is fog. But today the sun was out, and so were the pollen. I love being outside, but my hay fever often kicks my ass the next day.
Fuyumi
Fuyumi
At one point a man thought I was taking photos of a mushroom, while I was posing Fuyumi. A very strange mushroom indeed ;P.
Pip
It’s still early in the season so the bug count was very low. During the hotter part of the year, the fens will be swarming with a lot of nasty that stings. After putting some colour on our cheeks, we treated ourselves with a big lunch. No photos were taken as I was famished and practically inhaled the food xD.
complementary action photo
For my boyfriend it was his first time out to the Oisterwijk Fens and he really enjoyed it. I made him say it a couple of times, just to make sure 😉 We will certainly be back, maybe take his dogs with us next time.
The Big Event Doll and Bear Show is one of the conventions I look forward to each year. Normally set in the fall, the organisation decided to also hold one in the spring. One of the first conventions I went to was held in Rotterdam but they moved to a more central location in my hometown a few years ago. Often I go by myself, but sometimes friends accompany me.
You can find anything here when you are a doll or stuffed animal collector, even some very old antiques which cost a small fortune. I’m always happy to see if there is at least one BJD or Blythe related stand. This time there were four. I always wished I have a big bag of money for these conventions but with Record Store Day and Blythecon EU around the corner I had to keep to my budget.
BJD apparel Angels Designs
I had been thinking to put my Barbie’s on display again, but I needed some nice clothing for the ladies instead of the default Mattel garb. Lucky for me ELENPRIV was also selling at this spring show. I forgot to take a photo of her stand, due to my excitement. But my girls have two amazing outfits. Well worth the price when you look a the quality of the fabric, design and skill.
Fashionistas
And I couldn’t resist to buy another handmade bear. I wanted to take them all home, but that meant I had to rob a bank to do so.
Bear by Catootje en Co
Cheska was also spoiled a little with a new dress but I haven’t had the chance to take photos of her yet. Will do so soon.
All in all, a great Doll and Bear Show – Spring Edition for me. Bought some great outfits for my girls, a new handmade bear and had the chance to chat with some friends. Can’t wait for the Fall Edition.
My two Azone girls don’t have a big pile of clothes like my Blythes or BJD’s. So I’ve started to fix that problem by ordering them some clothes and shoes. The biggest problem I have with these girls is getting nice shoes for them, they have tiny feet.
I remember ordering once from Hobby Search long time ago. Normally I go to AmiAmi, but Hobby Search has everything that is released by Azone International, the manufacturer of Pure Neemo dolls. Which means I finally have more shoes for the girls instead of one pair each.
Sadly, the yukata with sandals went out of stock which means that Reiko is still missing her shoes for her Miko outfit. Next time I will get them.
Shipping is always super fast with EMS, down part is the ransom money I need to pay to the post office. I don’t mind paying for the VAT, the amount of administration costs pisses me off.
Kimono
Slip-on Shoes
Cute Boots
The quality of the kimono and shoes are fantastic! Worth every penny. Shoes this small which look so adorable are hard to come by. I’m happy I’ve placed the order so I can keep dressing my girls up in cute outfits.
Fuyumi
All I wish now is for the weather to clear, so I can take some outdoor photos with my girls. A shrine photo would be fantastic, but these are hard to find here in the Netherlands.
My Smart Doll Cherry was only held hostage for one day at the Dutch customs, which is a miracle. They can hold a parcel up to 4 weeks but she was processed quickly. So it took her little over a week to get from Japan to my house. My mother was so sweet to pick her up from the pick-up point and pay the ransom. The custom fees were €75 this time, which is not bad considering I paid almost €300 for my Dollfie Dream a couple of years ago. The penalty you have to pay for spending your money outside of the Netherlands. TAX IT!
The funny thing with receiving parcels, my cat’s curiosity is activated and he stuck his big fat nose in my unboxing. I had to stop him from attacking the items I received with the doll. Anything that has threads attached = cat attack.
unboxing Smart Doll Cherry
unboxing Smart Doll Cherry
My girl was carefully bubble-wrapped in the iconic ‘Keep calm and carry a Smartdoll’ bag together with a box of apparel. The extra things I ordered (because I didn’t want to go overboard with spending) were a telescope stand and some leggings to protect her from staining her legs. To my surprise I received a second free telescope stand as a gift. A little card refers you to a ‘welcome’ website where you learn everything about your doll and how to handle her. I had a general idea on what apparel she would receive, but the set is quite lovely. Greenish jeans with a white v-neck and brown ankle boots.
unboxing Smart Doll Cherry
Cherry is nicer in person than on photos. I didn’t even notice that she had light lipstick/gloss and it really suits her. The hardest part left is finding her a name. I kinda hoped I had thought of one during her transit, but life caught up with me and kept me busy.
unboxing Smart Doll Cherry
unboxing Smart Doll Cherry
I am surprised how light she is, I think she weighs less than my Dollfie which is also a vinyl doll. Can’t wait to have photo shoots with her, but first she needs a name and a story.
In January I saw a shrine maiden outfit pop up on AmiAmi and thought this was perfect for Reika. Compared to Fuyumi, Reika doesn’t have a different outfit besides her default clothing she was shipped with. So it was time for me to get her the outfit.
Azone Shrine Maiden uniform
The quality of outfits made by Azone always blows me away. Very delicate stitching and high-quality fabric. The dolly hobby is an expensive hobby because all manufacturers hold up high quality standards. You always get your money’s worth.
Buying this outfit also helps me develop her background story a bit. She is following in her mother’s footsteps as a miko and is highly skilled in sacred cleansing.
Reika as a miko
There are still a few accessories I need to make for her including socks, sandals and a gohei (a wooden wand with two zigzagging paper streamers). But she is looking really adorable already.
In the past I just bought dolls (ball jointed) on a whim. Which resulted on having several on the way and at the same time selling dolls I’ve lost interest in. I bought dolls which had fantasy parts like dragon wings or bird feet which ended up being very impractical for me. I like taking the dolls out on walks and take photos of them. Dolls with huge parts just didn’t work out as a carry on.
My wishes have grown smaller in the past. I don’t feel the need to buy when browsing through the vendors’ websites. But there are a few dolls that are on my list that I will get one day: a Lillycat girl, a Fairyland Minifee and a Smart Doll.
Since November I’ve been debating with myself which one of the girls I would want to have. It’s tough to make a decision when you like a lot but can’t have all of them. After three months I’ve narrowed it down to two molds and at the moment I am leaning towards Cherry, she is a seasonal limited. When I saw that one after the other was vanishing from the list, I feared I wasn’t able to nab her up if I waited too long. So I placed my order on Tuesday the 5th. I was surprised to wake up to a shipping notice the next day.
I know they have several dolls in stock but I didn’t expect her to ship the very next day. Now the waiting game started. Shipping from Japan is not bad, usually takes a few days to get to the Netherlands. Dutch Customs is usually the killer. In busy periods they can take up to a month to process your parcel. OUCH!
At the moment I am keeping her wig and eyes like this. Her cherry coloured eyes look quite lovely in photos and I want to see them in real life before I make a decision. I have a box with glass eyes for my other bjd’s and after ending up with over 30 pairs of eyes I don’t want to go crazy on the anime eyes this time.
When buying a doll from Smart Doll you get the option to add a set of clothes for only 10.000 Yen extra which is a steal. Buying these items separately you will pay double the price. Because Cherry is made from vinyl, she is prone to staining which is a nightmare. I had a lot of issues with staining on my Dollfie Dream Saber Alter. I was prepared this time so I also purchased anti-stain leggings for under her jeans and have a pattern for a bodysuit if I get darker clothing for her.
I’ve preordered an Azone outfit from AmiAmi which is more of a classical girl style but I am still searching for her look and of course a name.
I’ve been collecting dolls for quite some years now, it might be 10 or more. I started with Pullips, moved on to my first ball-jointed doll. Then Blythes came into the picture and my collection grew with 5 different types of dolls. I’m not picky when it comes to what I like, kinda like Pokemon (gotta catch them all).
So I am on type 6 now, Pipita, designed by Jenny Yi. I’ve seen her other doll, Holala, popping up on my Instagram for a while. Holala is cute but when I saw pictures of Pipita I was sold. I think its the little puckering lip that attracts me the most.
Obtaining a doll from Jenny is always a challenge. They are hand painted so you can’t count this doll as a mass production one like Barbie. Jenny herself was at the previous Blythecon EU last year and they went like hot cakes. I try to refrain buying from the second hand market when the dolls are scarce, sometimes people drive up the price to ridiculous heights just because there is a demand.
I was overjoyed when a pre-order for Pipita opened in November. Jenny’s assistant sorted out insured shipping for me and the waiting game started. When the first arrivals started popping up on Instagram, I couldn’t wait for mine to arrive. Lucky for me no custom fees and she arrived on the 19th of January 2019. Today I unboxed her and named her Pip.
The quality of Pip is amazing, she is prettier in person and you can see that a lot of care went into her assembly. The last few weeks I lurked on Etsy and bought two outfits for her, which are also on their way to me. Let’s hope the weather will clear up so I can take some outdoor photos of Pip.
