The other day a friend of mine was kind enough to let me interact more with some of her ball-jointed dolls. She’s the only person I know very well who collects or is interested in ball-jointed dolls, so I had been talking to her a bit about my doll-related dilemma. I specifically wanted to contact her because she owns a great deal of Volks dolls, and I have been looking intensively at the Volks offerings. I prefer youthful adorable stylings as opposed to the look of mature teenagers or adults.

While looking around the website, I was enchanted by the face sculpt for the Volks Super Dollfie “Nono.” Large eyes always catch my attention, and something about her proportions appealed to me. (There is a similarity in the way her face is sculpted in comparison to that of Rosette Doll Violet, although they certainly don’t have the same type of look. Both have expressive eyes and downplayed noses and mouths.) Due to my attraction to the sculpt, I toyed with the idea of purchasing a Super Dollfie Nono–although I couldn’t quite decide on the standard or creating a Full Choice System doll.

However, the Super Dollfie sized dolls are not particularly immature in body sculpt. They do have some definition, and most of the clothing and footwear sold for them is that of a young lady as opposed to a child. There are some outfits that give off the impression of a younger girl as opposed to a slightly older girl, but mostly they aim for a slightly older girl. However, most outfits for the Mini Super Dollfie are styled like that of an adorable little girl–exactly the sort of thing that catches my eye. Additionally, I wasn’t sure about how the sizes were in terms of carrying the doll–what sort of carrier might be required to transport it, how it would feel in my hands, etc.? I have a hard time considering the size limitations.

She was kind enough to bring an SD and an MSD, even a cute little YoSD that I didn’t think to request the attendance of! We relaxed on the floor of my apartment, and she let me handle her dolls and ask as many questions as I wanted–which was a LOT of questions! It was a really nice experience. I had observed some of the different dolls–and even held one or two–at a local ball-jointed doll meetup, but I wasn’t entirely comfortable because it was the first time meeting many of the doll owners, and I didn’t want to make them uncomfortable by having a new person handling their precious girls~

It quickly became apparent that the MSD size suited me more. It was easier for me to handle; it was so cute and tiny; and I adored the chubby little hands and feet. (The non-slenderness of the Volks body sculpts really appeals to me–it’s so cute! I think it’s rather entertaining, since the slenderness of the Rosette body sculpt was a key draw for me due to the beauty. I guess in the end I’ll always be more for “cute” than “gorgeous/elegant.”)

This lead me to re-evaluate MSD faces that could look like the SD Nono. When I looked at Nagisa’s pictures again, I noticed it. The more I compared, the more I saw similarities. I hadn’t really been captivated at first because I don’t care for the way Nagisa’s face was made up, especially for the “Nagisa in Preschool” second release. Then I spotted a picture of a black Nagisa head, and the similarities seemed even more blatant.

Knowing I shouldn’t, I searched Yahoo!Japan Auctions…and spotted a full-set, still-in-the-box Nagisa in Preschool. I bid on it, as it was ending in 13 hours, and when it ended I was the only bidder. I’ve won the auction, but I don’t want to completely have my heart set on anything, just in case there’s some kind of trouble… Despite that, I know that really, my heart is already set on her to at least some extent… Oh dear!