The placement of those eyes makes them seem to stare right into your trembling soul.
Just like so many other things in life, sometimes you know right away that you adore a doll…but sometimes, a doll grows on you.
When I first saw pictures of Volks Mini Super Dollfie “Shinshiya” and “Miisha,” I thought they were hideous. Their eyes seemed too big. Their facial expressions struck me as creepy and vacant. I didn’t like that they had “weird” ears instead of normal human ears.
Then I saw pictures of Greeniebone’s Patridge. When I saw her in this picture, I thought she was adorable! At first glance I couldn’t figure out what mold she was, and then I read the details and saw that she was a Miisha. My opinion began to change. Suddenly the big eyes didn’t seem so bad. The little smile was endearing, not unsettling.
A little while later I read Machiko’s fantastic blog post detailing the assembly of a Miisha kit. Not only was it very neat to see the assembly so detailed with step-by-step images and commentary, the faceup that Machiko painted was just so cute! It really brought out the sweetness and innocence of those huge eyes.
And eventually I spotted Purple ♥ Enma’s photos of her Miisha, Eri. Again, the cuteness was almost overwhelming!
Even the Volks official pictures got a little bit less terrifying as the years passed.
Slowly, very slowly, I started to adore Miisha and Shinshiya. Every once in a while I’d contemplate trying to track down a Miisha or Shinshiya of my own on the secondary market…but these two dolls were discontinued before Volks introduced their newer resin. I’ve seen oldskin and pureskin resin, and I know that I am not terribly fond of the look of the oldskin type. I anticipated that I’d just enjoy everyone else’s pictures of their Miisha and Shinshiya dolls, because a pureskin (particularly newskin UV-cut) Miisha or Shinshiya was an impossibility.
The Miisha/Shinshiya headmold also existed as part of the Volks Full Choice System (FCS) as MSD F-12, but it wasn’t an option to order with the pureskin UV-cut–the head mold had been discontinued from the FCS lineup in September 2007.
In Spring 2013, Volks released Volks News 52. This volume contained an announcement that certain discontinued face molds would be available at the Tenshi no Sato FCS for a limited time: March 9, 2013 – May 31, 2013. The molds were SD F-07, SD F-10, MSD F-11, and MSD F-12.
This was the picture that renewed my interest in Volks MSD F-12.
Not only was MSD F-12 on the list, the picture they had chosen to feature for F-12 was absolutely adorable. She had flushed cheeks, a gentle smile, and the biggest, greenest eyes I’d ever seen. I loved the colour wig they’d put her in and the collar of her little dress. It was just too cute. So cute. The cutest.
In fact, it was so cute that I knew I’d have to place my own order. I wanted a normal (pureskin UV-cut) toned girl with makeup just like the model from Volks News 52. (Since her appearance in that pamphlet she has been photographed many other times for the Volks blog and Volks Twitter., allowing me to enjoy her cute little face every time she stars in a picture!)
My order was confirmed on May 25, 2013, so hopefully she’ll be finished in about two or three months. ♥ I’m very excited!