Pullip Merl Nostalgia: Review

I got the adorable Pullip Merl Nostalgia back in April of this year, and she is by far one of the cutest dolls I've ever seen! This darling little sailor was released back in 2013, just a year after the original and very popular Merl. Although both versions of Merl have the same style outfit and hairstyle ( with the only difference being the color for both), that's about where the similarities between the two end. Merl Nostalgia is very much her own doll, and not just a carbon copy of the Merl that came before her!

Pullip Merl Nostalgia Comes With:

- Two hair bows (One large and one small) attached to a barrette

- Red Choker with miniature key pendant

- Sash with key charm

- Red coat with button detailing and pleated hem

-  Sleeveless cream colored dress

-Striped knee high socks

- Faux leather boots with ribbon laces

- White doll stand

- Pullip Merl Nostalgia's trading card

Pros:

- Great quality wig! It's styled very prettily in loose waves and is a beautiful sandy color! It's also very soft and manageable, and the wig cap does not show through! (May vary from doll to doll.)

-  She has a very nice faceup that consists mainly of pink colors with just a touch of shimmery white eye shadow near the inner part of her eyes, giving her a fresh and natural appearance! Her eyebrows are thin and somewhat short and match the color of her wig, and her lashes are simple and are painted a medium brown color. Soft pink blush and pink glossy lips finish off her look! 

-  Her eyes are a bright, vivid blue that really stand out, especially in pictures!

-  Most everything about her stock is beautifully made and is of good quality, despite being made of such light material! Her boots are especially well-made, and actually seem like they could be real shoes!

- Her shoes are very secure and fit her feet very well! There should be no issues with them falling off.

- She's very versatile and would look amazing in almost any clothing style and various different wigs!

- Type 4 body! 

Cons:

- The key charm on her sash can fall off, and it seems like it coming loose is a very common problem. 

Neutral:

- She doesn't come with any extra props, unfortunately. It would have been nice if she did, but most of the later Pullip releases tend not to come with much anyway.

The Final Verdict:

Pullip Merl Nostalgia is without a doubt, absolutely worth getting, whether you've got the original Merl or not! There's nothing really negative to say about her at all, and she's sweet looking and adorable. Also, as I had mentioned before, she would look good in just about anything! Currently, she is sold out on Pullip Style and on Groove's website, but she can still be easily obtained at a fair price on amazon and dollmarket! So, if you have her eye on her, I wouldn't hesitate to grab her while you still can!

Pictures of Marisol, my Pullip Merl Nostalgia:

First Impressions On New Pullip 2015 Releases Part 1

It seems like Groove is on a roll and is really pushing out  Pullip dolls! It's still pretty early in the year, and it feels like that there are already so many new dolls coming out! So far, it's been almost nothing but anime collaboration dolls that have been or will be released, and to be honest, despite the fact that I love anime, I'm actually a bit disappointed that we've yet to see a more original doll that isn't based on some character. Truthfully, most of these releases aren't very exciting to me, but even so, that doesn't mean that there aren't any that have caught my eye or that I don't have anything good to say about this new batch of dollies! Whether I'm absolutely in love with one of these new dolls or am completely indifferent to them, there's no denying that there is still a lot to say about each of them, and because of that, I feel very compelled to share my opinions and first impressions on them with you readers, and hopefully some of you will chime in and tell me your thoughts, too! With that said, let's get started, shall we?

First up, we have Pullip Laura! For those of you who may not know, Laura is a collaboration doll with Pure Embers! The doll is even named after her, which I think is really cool. I am really happy for pure_embers to be able to have one of her dolls become an official release, I think she deserves it! Her photography is amazingly beautiful and brilliant and she is such a creative person, however, I can't say I'm much of a fan of this doll. I feel really terrible for saying that, especially because I so love Pure Ember's work and I think what she does with her dolls is amazing, but I just can't get over the fact that this doll is essentially Seila, only with a different wig, eyechips, and outfit. It just seems a little lazy on Groove's part. I mean, I love the idea of them reaching out and collaborating with people who are exceptionally talented AND who are a part of the doll community, that's absolutely wonderful and it's so awesome seeing them get the recognition they deserve, but this isn't the same as their past collaborations with Poison Girl and Sheryl Designs. At least with those collaborations, we were getting dolls with unique and original faceups, while with Pullip Laura, we're getting a rehash of an old doll. If anything, I wish that Groove would have at least tried to change up Laura's look just a little bit, like maybe give her some bolder and more determined eyebrows to make her look as if she has a little attitude to go with that outfit she's wearing, as her expression doesn't seem to quite fit her overall image. A bolder lip color would have been nice, too. Any sort of change would have been nice just so it would seem more like Pullip Laura was her own doll instead of a copy. I'm sure that they could have gotten Pure Embers involved in making changes by consulting her and asking for her ideas for her faceup design. I will say though, I'm really loving her outfit. It looks to be of good quality it's dark and sassy, and a little sexy too! I also think it's interesting that the eyechips on her look to be new and  different from the usual stock eyechips. Overall though, that's not enough for me to want to buy this doll, and I would much rather get Seila over Laura.

Next, we have Pullip Kanaria! Groove has released a set of Rozen Maiden dolls in the past before and just last year, they began to remake this line of dolls in honor of the new Rozen Maiden anime that aired in 2013! For the most part, I have to say I really love these new Rozen Maiden Pullips, but I'm kind of unsure about Kanaria. I really adore her wig, as it's such a pretty mix of what looks like green and blonde. It's definitely a very unique color; I can't even think of a Pullip with a remotely similar hair color! Also, how cute are those big, bouncy curls?! I absolutely love her hairstyle! She even has that little piece of hair sticking up, just like the actual Kanaria! I just hope that her hair really does look as nice in person as it does in her pictures! Her stock also appears to be of very good quality and I think it's really cute! Looking at her makes me think of a pumpkin, and I mean that in the best way possible! I think it's definitely an improvement from Dal Kanaria's outfit!  However, I'm a bit iffy when it comes to her faceup. For one, she reminds me a bit of Pullip Mami Tomoe, so it isn't too original looking, and secondly, I don't really know what it is, but something about her face also looks a little strange to me. I want to say it's probably her eyebrows and how short they are (though I understand that she may have been given those eyebrows to stay true to the character's design), or maybe it's the lack of color in her faceup. She does look slightly washed out to me, and I think maybe they could have added a pop of color somewhere on her. Right now, my opinion on her is pretty neutral. I may consider getting her in the future, but for now, I'm just going to wait for owner photos of her to start surfacing before I make my final decision! 

That's all I have to say for now! The next post will be about the new Pullip Souseiseki and Pullip Suiseiseki!

Pullip Regeneration Paja: Makeover

I've always thought that Regeneration Paja was as cute as a button as is, but unfortunately, her wig left me a bit disappointed with it's poor quality. Because of that, I had planned to buy my Mikan a new one as soon as I had taken her out of her box and saw how bad it was, but I kept procrastinating and getting distracted with buying more dolls to add to my collection instead, but then I got Evangeline (my Raphia) and dove right into customizing her, and after I had finished her, I was inspired to finally start working on Mikan! I purchased an orange wig for her, and I also ended up buying her some beautiful green eyechips with some yellow and brown mixed in from KiraKiraMeansSparkle! (The exact ones I had bought were in the color Frog.) Then, I thought that since I was going to end up taking her apart to change out her eyechips, why not paint her eyelids? I always thought it would be nice if her eyelids were a fun color instead of just plain, and that it would add a nice personal touch!

I wanted her eyelids to match her faceup and her overall color scheme, so I decided to paint them yellow, and then I brushed on green pastel at the bottom of each lid to create a gradient effect! 

Brushed on some gloss varnish to finish off her eyelids after I had finished painting them!

After doing all of that, and after having given her new lashes, it was time to put her all back together again! I was amazed with what a difference the new wig and eyes had made in her appearance!

Before:

And after:

She's wearing Isul Nekoneko Maomao's glasses!

While the biggest part of her transformation was finished, I still really wanted to get her a whole new outfit. I really do love her pajamas and her dinosaur kigurumi, but I also felt limited when it came down to taking pictures of her with it on, so I began to shop for clothes for her right away!

I was thrilled to have found her such cute pieces that had the same color scheme as her stock outfit and went well with her faceup! My favorite piece definitely has to be her overalls, which I bought from anniedollz on etsy! It suits her perfectly and is just so cute and well-made! In case anyone was wondering about the rest of her outfit, too, I got her hair clips from MilkChocolateDream, the shirt and the legwarmers from Cool Cat, and her green converse shoes from Mimiwoo! 

I think she turned out really darling, and she looks so vibrant and full of life! Even though I had not made very many changes to her, she definitely has much more personality than she did before, and I couldn't be more happy with how she turned out! I'd say that this makeover turned out very well!

Dal Vendettina: Review

Like Super Stella, Dal Vendettina is a SDCC 2014 exclusive and part of the Tokidoki doll series, being the first Dal to be included within the series! Crazily enough, I fully intended to pass this little villain up, but I still kept looking at pictures of her, and the more I looked at her the more I started to adore her! Her stock photos don't do her justice at all, and seeing her in person made me even more happy!


Dal Vendettina Comes With:

- Candy-shaped hair clip with a scull printed on the center
- Sequinned mask
- Cape with skull and bone clasps and Tokidoki character designs printed on the inside and a skull and cross bones printed on the back
- Black faux leather one piece dress and clear plastic underlay
- Heart and cross bone faux leather belt held together by velcro
- Fishnet arm warmers
- Black and purple skull and cross bone cropped leggings
- Black faux leather boots with bones printed on them
-  Black staff with skull and bat wings
- Black doll stand


Pros:

- Her wig is in a cute shoulder length style and is a beautiful deep purple color with fuschia and yellow streaks!
- No wig cap showing through! (May vary from doll to doll.)
- Striking bright blue eyechips that really stand out!
- Amazing faceup! Vendettina has sharp purple eyebrows, giving her an angry expression suited for a villain. She also has amazing blue eye shadow as well as blue bottom lashes, which is very different as most doll releases don't have colored lashes like that! The inner rims of her eyes are painted black, and she has glossy purple lips that are just gorgeous!
- Her stock outfit has some really fun details and prints that scream Tokidoki!
- Type 4 Body!
- Boots stay on her feet very well!

Cons:

- The material that her one piece and boots are made of are not my favorite. The vinyl material is kind of cheap looking and it tends to wrinkle and crease, and it's not very sturdy.
- Her belt is very flimsy and the emblem on it can fall off of it very easily.
-  Unlike Pullip Super Stella, Vendettina is unable to hold the staff that she comes with.
- Her body is pretty floppy and she has some loose joints. (May vary from doll to doll.)


Neutral:

- Vendettina's cape is not posable like Super Stella's is. It would have been neat to have that feature so that you could see the design on the inside of her cape a bit better.
- She's a little on the expensive side on Pullip Style. (She's priced at $120 USD) She is a limited edition doll though, and part of a collaboration at that, so it's somewhat justified. I suggest looking around though to see if you can find an even better deal just in case. On ebay, you can actually find a listing priced at $99 USD right now! Here's the link for anyone who is looking to buy her!

The Verdict:

Dal Vendettina is a pretty unique release and is perfect for those who are Tokidoki fans! Even if you aren't a fan of Tokidoki, I say that she's still worth getting because of her very original faceup! She would look very good redressed in other styles too, especially in punk or gothic fashions!


Pictures of My Dal Vendettina:

Pullip Galene: Review

Pullip Galene is the newest addition to my Pullip family, and I couldn't be more happy to welcome her to it! I've had my eye on her for a little while now, and to finally have her is like a dream! Galene is a Creator's Label doll that was released in 2012. She's quite a gorgeous doll with an elegant style, and it's a mystery to me as to why she so often gets overlooked! I don't know if people are put off by all the grey she's wearing, but I think that it really is unfortunate, because she's a real beauty, and this is coming from someone who usually gravitates to the more brightly colored dolls with crazy colored hair!

Pullip Galene Comes With:

- Floral headdress that ties around the back of her head

- Lavender coat with silver button detailing

-  Choker neck dress embellished with beads at the front and sheer netted skirt with multiple layers

- Gray ruffled shorts

- Detachable ruffled train skirt that snaps on

- Lace arm warmers

- Beaded bracelet that ties around her wrist with ribbons

- White thigh high stockings with lace lining the tops

- Beaded snap-on ankle cuffs with tasseled bottoms

- Brown heeled Mary Jane shoes

- White chair

- Pullip Galene's Trading Card

- Black doll stand

Pros:

- Her wig is an unusual dark gray color that isn't a common color found on most Pullip dolls and is styled into thick, full ringlets!

- No wig cap showing! (May vary from doll to doll.)

- Pretty faceup! Her eyebrows are straight and fairly light, and are a bit on the thin side. Her eye makeup is simple and not overdone. She has smokey grey and brown eye shadow, and has a bunch of faint, thin lines painted right above her crease line, which is kind of an interesting detail. She also has brown eyeliner around the top of her eyes and lots of thin brown lashes bordering the bottom of her eyes. The inner rims of her eyes are also painted pink! Finishing off her look, she has light pink blush and beautifully painted lips that are nude and coral pink in color and are shaped in a way that make them look very full and pillowy!

- Amazing black eyelids with shiny black eyeliner!

- Her eyechips don't have any sparkle or painted designs in her pupils, but they're a very interesting greenish-gray color and are somewhat transparent looking!

- Her stock outfit is extremely well made and so detailed! There's ribbon, ruffles, and beading everywhere, and it's all so lovely! Her coat is versatile and can be used with other outfits, and the detachable skirt is a fun way to change her look up a bit.

- Her nails are actually painted! It's a really neat touch! There definitely aren't very many Pullip dolls released that have painted nails, and actually Galene is the first out of all my dolls to have that detail!

- The chair she comes with is really nice looking and also very well-made! It is made from plastic but it has been painted to look like wood, and the seat of it is actually somewhat soft and lightly cushioned! It needs to be assembled and the pieces snap together, but it is also still quite sturdy. It really is a fun prop to use in pictures, too!

- Shoes stay well on her feet!

- Type 4 body!

Cons:

- Like most curly haired dolls, her wig is quite frizzy, and the shorter curls near the top of her head are a bit strange looking.

- Her shoes are a really soft plastic, which unfortunately means that the heels of her shoes are prone to bending under her weight. It's a pain to deal with when placing her on her stand, especially.

- Her headdress has a tendency to fall off her head.

- Her stock outfit has a lot of thin, delicate materials on it that can easily tear if you aren't careful.

Neutral:

- She's slightly pricier than some of the other Pullip releases, but it isn't too steep. Pullip Style currently has her for a bit less than normal at $120.

The Verdict:

If you are considering getting Galene but are a bit hesitant about whether or not you should buy her, I will have to encourage you to take the plunge and  do it, because she is worth it! I cannot stress enough how unbelievably stunning she is! She is really one of a kind and definitely not one anyone should pass up on! I understand how some may feel that her stock is too busy, but if you look past that, you will see just how lovely she is and that she can actually look great in different clothing styles and wigs! 

Pictures of Fiore, My Pullip Galene:

Needle Felting: Mokona

With the completion of my custom Yuuko doll, I thought it would be really cute to make some little props for her, too! I decided that the first thing I'd make for her would be something needle felted, as I really wanted to improve my skills at needle felting, and I figured that Mokona would be perfect! I actually ended up making the White Mokona, as I had lots of white wool on hand and I wanted to use it as a test to even see if it was possible for a beginner like me to make something that wasn't from a needle felting kit before going out and buying all the colored wool that I would need to make Black Mokona!

To my surprise, it was actually a very easy project. Mokona's body is essentially egg-shaped, and his hands, feet, tail, jewel, and ears are all very simple shapes to make! I actually feel that the most difficult part was getting the face right, to be honest. Despite that, I feel very confident to start working on Black Mokona now! He's already in the works, and the base of his body is just about done! I'm considering posing him a bit differently from White Mokona just so he doesn't seem like an exact copy. Yuuko will have her little companion with her, soon!

Pullip Youtsuzu: Pullip Makeover - Ichihara Yuuko

Roughly a month ago, I got the idea in my head that I wanted to buy Pullip Youtsuzu for the sole purpose of transforming her into CLAMP's Ichihara Yuuko! I picked Youtsuzu because I thought the accessories and even parts of her outfit would really come in handy, plus, I thought that the way her eye makeup was painted was pretty close to Yuuko's eye shape! I just felt I had to do it no matter what, and so I got started on her right away, and just a couple of days ago, I had completed her! For comparison purposes, here are some pictures of her before I got to work on her!

As you can see, she is a very beautiful and elaborate doll! She's absolutely perfect to keep on display. I was actually almost hesitant to start this project when she had arrived, but I'm glad that I decided to go through with it!

There actually weren't too many changes I did on her to achieve Ichihara Yuuko's look, but it was still a time consuming process. What I had to do was change her wig and style it a bit, replace her eyechips, give her thicker and longer lashes to help make her eyes appear more narrow, remove her blush, and of course, re-do her lips! (The lips were actually the most challenging part, as I used acrylic paint on them. It required a lot of going back and forth painting on multiple layers and then sanding it down to create a smooth, clean, and even appearance, and it was so hard to do all this while trying not to ruin the shape I had created for them!) Also, you guys may not be able to tell in her current outfit, but she was also re-bodied with a large bust 27 cm Obitsu body! I felt it was necessary, considering that Yuuko is fairly busty, but still really slender. 

If you are familiar with Yuuko, then you can see how close this body is to her body type! The only thing it's missing are those long, willowy limbs that CLAMP characters are so well-known for!

I'm actually really happy with the outcome! I personally feel that she quite accurately portrays Yuuko's character! She's already become one of my most favorite customized dolls so far!