Tag Archives: Volks

Mar 11

Sailor Soldiers Arrival

Sailor Moon, as a series, has meant quite a lot to me over the years, so when Volks announced their Sailor Moon Dollfie Dream in late 2017, I was pretty excited. I was lucky to have a successful lottery entry, but after the doll arrived… there was a lot of other stuff going on, and I didn’t even open her. As time passed, I felt guilty when I saw the sealed box, and I started to think that I ought to sell her… and then Volks announced Mars and Mercury. I decided to try for them both, and I was lucky enough to be successful once again! Now that they’re here, after the somewhat muddled Volks International invoicing and shipping delays, I took some time to do a box opening for all 3.

Three large boxes! I had quite a time hauling Mars & Mercury home… they arrived at my office on the same day, and the boxes barely fit in the IKEA bag I brought! Toting them home on the train was definitely an experience… XD
Who’s in the first box? It’s Sailor Moon! (It seemed only appropriate that she be opened first, since she arrived first.
Here’s the box! It’s the drawer-style.
Unfortunately, my box suffered some rough handling during its voyage, and one corner is pretty crumpled. (This was visible on the outside shipping carton as well.) Nothing inside the box was damaged.
And the first look inside! She’s packed like a Dollfie Dream, ribbon belts holding the plastic-bagged doll to an insert, not cushioned or bubble-wrapped like other dolls.
I know that her face hasn’t been the most popular, but I think she’s very cute!
Underneath the doll are her papers, accessories, wig, and outfit pieces!
And this is everything she came with! Uniform, extra hands, boots, wig, papers, and a box with her plastic accessories!
Another view of the uniform, boots, and the accessories tray removed from the white box.
She came with a lot of gloves, several of them custom designed for the extra hands, so that she can do some poses fitting for the character.
And here are the hands! I love the variety of extra hands, but I must say I’m terrible at the process of actually replacing them on the wrist structures.
This is the accessories tray, with the top removed for a better look. The tiara is just set on top; it was in a plastic baggie and taped to the back. This tray would fit a much shallower tiara, but they went with a different design than they originally intended, it seems.
And here’s her wig! The odango are rather odd-looking from any angle other than straight-on. I’m hoping I can eventually get her another wig for more general use… I don’t want to risk damaging this one!
And here she is, removed from the plastic bag! She has the Dollfie Dream Sister standard body, not to the new f3 that Mars and Mercury have, as she was released before it was introduced. It’s normal skin and medium bust, which does match Mars and Mercury.
Another picture of her face, this time without the plastic bag in the way! I like her eyes a lot more than I expected to…
Here she is, dressed in the uniform! (I got lazy and put the mitten glove on one hand…)
She doesn’t have one of the crescent moon charms on her boot, because the hook snapped off when I tried to affix it! Thankfully it was an easy repair with a dab of nail glue, which I keep on hand precisely for this kind of thing. It was drying when I took this picture. Usagi is watching while the other box openings continue.
And now, on to Sailor Mars!
Another picture of the box; this one didn’t suffer any major bumps on its journey.
On the inside it’s basically identical to Sailor Moon’s packaging.
I like the makeup and face of Sailor Mars a lot more than I expected to, given the promotional photos. Her eyes seemed much more angular; I’m happy with how they look on her.
All of her goodies are tucked below the insert that holds the doll!
Here’s everything from inside the box—uniform, high heels, wig, white box of accessories, and booklet!
I really like the fabric and colour chosen for her uniform. It has such a lovely sheen! I had a hard time capturing it well for this picture.
Her wig is very dark, so I couldn’t get too much detail when it’s flat like this. It has a nice violet sheen, just like Rei’s hair is usually illustrated.
Sailor Mars is on the Dollfie Dream Sister f3 body, normal skin and medium bust. I can’t really tell much of a difference from this and the previous body on Sailor Moon, but maybe that’s just because I’m not an expert.
I’m really happy with her face! She’s darling!
Obviously she needed to be dressed into her uniform! (A warning, though… there are some stains on her forehead and above her ears from wearing her tiara for these box-opening pictures! This did not happen to Usagi or Ami… I think putting tape on the back of the tiara would be a good idea to avoid this fate for anyone else.)
Now Sailors Mars and Moon are ready to welcome their next teammate, Sailor Mercury! (Although canonically, Moon and Mercury would welcome Mars… ;D)
It’s another box very similar to the others!
No damage here!
She’s in her box exactly the same way that Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars were packed. Honestly, it’s pretty efficient.
Underneath the insert with the doll is a sea of blue! She’s somewhat monochromatic compared to Sailors Moon and Mars.
Sailor Mercury comes with her uniform, boots, wig, a box with accessories, and booklet.
Her uniform is the same style and fabric as Sailor Mars, but in Mercury’s signature blues.
I wasn’t sure about her wig, at first glance, but when it’s worn by the doll it’s a very nice representation of her character’s hairstyle. I do wish it didn’t have a black wig cap, however.
Sailor Mercury has the exact same body as Sailor Mars—Dollfie Dream Sister f3, normal skin, medium bust.
I think Ami is my favourite out of all three! I feel that she really looks like the character [b” target=”_blank”>and[/b” target=”_blank”> she looks adorable to boot! She seems like she could be really versatile, even with the blue eyebrows.
Here’s the third sailor soldier of today’s box opening in her uniform and wig! I think she looks wonderful.
Here’s a quick side-by-side of all three dolls. I can’t really see much difference between Sailors Mars and Mercury vs Sailor Moon, even though they share one body type and she has the other. I know that the internal frame is slightly different, but it isn’t outwardly visible.
Here’s all three! Now that this happened, I have to say that I’m happy that I didn’t sell Sailor Moon… I hope I can find a place to keep them displayed together. It brings a smile to my face to see the trio. If Volks releases Jupiter and Venus I am definitely doomed! XD
What’s this? Oh right, their school uniforms! I entered for these in the same lottery as Mars and Mercury, and they arrived on the same day as the dolls!
When they’re not fighting crime as pretty soldiers, they’re ready for the trials of teenage life as schoolgirls.

♥ Thanks so much for reading! ♥

Jul 8

A Little Angel Nests Here

Every once in a while, it’s hard to really articulate what I like about a doll. I felt this way with YoTenshi Una when she was released in 2011. I took to her immediately–the first glimpse I saw, I thought, “Oh! That’s cute! Usually I don’t like YoSDs!” I don’t understand even now why I like Una when I’m not interested in Megu, Nana, Sara, or Kira–and she has the same “4 Sisters” face sculpt. I see them and I don’t really care much, but then I see Una–the exact same doll in white skin instead of normal skin–and my heart leaps.

Una is a YoTenshi and has stayed close to her origin of Tenshi no Sato. Her first few releases were incredibly popular and incredibly limited. A few times I saw this doll listed for sale, and the price was always well over what I was willing to save up for. Una wasn’t on my wishlist or part of my plan. She was fun to admire in other people’s photos, but that was the end of it.

Earlier this year it was announced that Una would be re-released in her YoTenshi size at the Tenshi no Sato 11th Anniversary event. Someone I know was attending that event, hoping to acquire an Una, and I expressed my combination of hope and envy towards her. She was lucky enough to get a ticket for Una and come home with one, and seeing her pictures renewed my feelings of appreciation for that cute little face. My friend mentioned that there had been enough Una to go around at the event, saying that there were even a flood of them on Yahoo!Japan Auctions.

When I logged on and searched, I sealed my doom. She was not exaggerating at the number of auctions and the variety of prices. After tormenting myself for a week, I bid and won a YoTenshi Una of my very own! ♥ Waiting for the tracking and delivery to update was so hard… but before I knew it, I had a parcel to bring home and unwrap!

Continue reading »

Jun 20

One-Off Miruku’s Arrival

When I got the email yesterday afternoon indicating that there was a parcel for me in the pick-up center, my heart leapt! It was my Volks USA one-off from their Grand Reopening Celebration–SD Miruku! I hurried over to claim the package, but I didn’t get to open it until my work day was over and I returned home.

Traveling box!

The box and I jostled home on the train, much to the confusion of other passengers. I was very thankful that I leave my office just before rush hour–I would have had to wait for so many trains if they were actually jam-packed with commuters. I was lucky to have space to set the box down, giving my arms a rest. It isn’t a very long ride, and after a short walk my box and I were safely home~!

Continue reading »

Aug 8

Wigs, Wigs, Wigs!

I couldn’t wait to see how different styles and colours of wigs look on my new F-12. ♥ I love her darling face! I’ve been itching to place an order with Crobidoll for some wigs, but I’m trying to hold out for another month or two. It’s not like I’m lacking in wigs. XD

Last night was a wig-only photo shoot. Honestly, she looks cute in all of them! Continue reading »

Aug 7

A Tale of F-12: The Arrival

I was absolutely thrilled when my shopping service informed me that my Full-Choice System (FCS) order had shipped! I don’t really have trouble with being patient, and for dolls I try to be very open about how long it might take for the order to be processed. I didn’t expect my FCS order to be ready until late August, potentially being shipped to me in early September, so this was quite a lovely surprise!

I ordered my FCS via Enya on Den of Angels. She was offering a Tenshi no Sato shopping service, and the limited reintroduction of the F-12 MSD head was only available at the Tenshi no Sato location.

I was very pleased with Enya’s shopping service. She communicated well during all aspects of my order–when I had questions before placing the order, when I placed the order, when she traveled to Sato, when she placed the order at Sato, when my doll arrived to her when the order was complete, and when my doll was shipped to me. At no point did I feel that I was “in the dark” or unaware of what was going on. I feel that she communicated my wishes well, as there were no complications with my order. My new F-12 is absolutely perfect in every way. I’ve read about people being less-than-satisfied with the faceup results for custom faceups requested through FCS, but my doll’s faceup is absolutely everything I want it to be. If I were going to order another FCS I would consider Enya as my first choice to order via.

And now, on to the package! Continue reading »

Jul 5

Best Face Forward

Improvised Solution

There’s a headless body about the house!

Basically since the day I purchased her, I wanted to have Mimi’s face repainted. Mimi is a Volks Super Dollfie Nono “2008 Renewal” version. She has Zoukeimura airbrushed makeup in tones of peach and brown. As far as factory face ups go, it’s not all that shabby–but it didn’t really appeal to me in the sort of way that I wanted it to. I wanted to look over at my doll and think, “Wow, she’s perfect!” but instead I’d always look over and think, “:3 Yessss, a Nono of my own.” Not a bad thought, but not exactly what I wanted. The factory faceup is versatile and simple–both things I like–but it was exactly what I would have asked for if I were having her painted on commission.

Finding an artist that seemed right for the task was not easy. In my opinion, Nono can be a difficult sculpt to work with. Her face has very dramatic proportions and features. Her huge eyes are spaced pretty far apart. Her nose is narrow and pointy. Although I looked at the work of many artists, I didn’t see any examples that fit the type of look I’d like or seemed well suited to be painted on Nono’s head. I also kept putting off looking seriously into having Mimi’s face repainted due to the cost. There are face up artists all along the cost spectrum, but when I reflected on the dolls of others that I most admired, it started to seem like I’d be paying for a pricier artist. Pushing the commission of a new faceup to a future month was easy every time I moved it; Mimi already had a decent faceup–I just wanted an upgrade. Upgrades can wait. Continue reading »

Jul 3

A Tale of F-12: The Beginning

Miisha

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. Continue reading »

Jul 3

2013 Doll Resolutions

I really failed at getting around to making resolutions this year! It’s halfway over already!

I guess that’s okay–because I haven’t made any progress on the things I initially thought I would aim towards, and I’ve changed my mind several times. Whoops. It’s been an interesting doll year so far! I’ve got quite a few things that I need to write about!

In the meantime, here are my current doll resolutions. I’m not going to bother yet with the things I might have considered and abandoned already. XD Continue reading »