New Arrival: Volks Yo-SD Tinatsu/Chinatsu v. 2

I was browsing Mandarake (the Japanese second-hand chain) looking at doll outfits the a few weeks ago when I came across a listing for a YoSD Tinatsu (also called Chinatsu, but I'll be using the former since it's what appears on her paperwork). While I debated buying her, she sold.  But a few short days later another Tinatsu was listed, this one at 3000¥ less because her eyes had been swapped and were no longer the default brown.  Since I can't resist a good deal, I decided to add her to my cart.

Unlike some of their larger dolls, there are no standard dolls in the Yo-SD size (26.5cm), so all of the releases have been limited run for the various Dolpas ("doll parties") and other events.

2018 in Review - Doll and Figure Entrances and Exits

2018 was quite a dramatic year for me personally and included relocating back to Canada.  As a result, I ended up selling and donating more dolls and figures than I have in years.  But let's start with the dolls and figures that joined us!

In February, I was joined by  Disney's Couture De Force 20th Anniversary Esmerelda from Hunchback Notre Dame. When I first posted about her I hadn't planned to keep her, but in the end she stuck around.

A Good-Bye to a House (with Lumedoll Atik)

If you ever scroll far enough back to my first few posts on this blog, most of the photos in those posts are of BJDs in the garden in my house in Burlington, Ontario.  It's been five years since I've lived there (it was rented out while I was living in the US), but this past summer we decided to sell the house.  As of yesterday, the house is now in the hands of its new owners. 

The week before closing I took my Lumedoll Atik along and shot a few final doll photos. I wish I could have photographed him from a few other angles, but unfortunately his faceup was damaged during our relocation up from Houston. The weather is too damp to redo his faceup right now, so he'll have a "good side" until the summer.

These photos aren't as good as the older ones as I was using my phone (if you'd like to see some of the older photos, check out Dolls in the Snow or Dolls in Springtime) but I wanted to commemorate the event regardless.


As I was outside, snow started to fall, which added to the mood.

A quick look at Granado's Vinyl VINDOLL Udell

Granado's Udell

It's been a while since my last post: we've moved house, gone on a family holiday to the UK and Ireland, and I'm off to another family event in Belgium next week. And in between I've been organizing and selling off some of my doll collection.

But in between all of that there was one new arrival: Granado's Udell, the first doll in their new vinyl VINDOLL line. Granado has been putting out lovely large resin dolls for a number of years now, and this new line is an vinyl interpretation of one of their existing resin lines (the 70cm line).  Being vinyl, they're a third of the weight and half the price, which is nice.

I'll be attempting to do a more thorough look at the posing of the line (once I have some extra free time - and once I figure out where the best light is in this new house), but until I get to that I thought I'd share the unboxing of this guy.

Not for the sensitive: there's one photo of an unclothed anatomically correct doll beneath the cut.

Happy Father's Day!

This is Father's Day weekend in the US and Canada, so I thought I'd post a quick on-theme photo for the occasion. And for all the fathers, grandfathers, step-fathers, and father-equivalents out there, enjoy your day!

The dad here is an Iplehouse EID Arvid in light brown
and the son is an Island Doll Kevin in tan.

And for all the non-Dads, hope you've had a great weekend as well!

Time for a new outfit!

Just two quick photos to share today: I've had Angela (SD16 Amethyst) in the same t-shirt since she arrived in January, so I thought it was time to see how she looked in a fancier outfit (she's pictured with SDGou Claude, who is still in his default clothes, minus the coat).

Happy Bunny Day!

Retro Week will continue in a couple of days, but since it's Easter it's time for our friendly neighbourhood Pipos Dark Rabbit to make his annual appearance, this time accompanied by a clown sidekick.

I hope you're all having a great Easter if you celebrate it, and that you're having a great weekend if you don't.

Dolls in Springtime

We may be just out of February, but flowers are already blooming here in Houston.  While I haven't been able to do any major outdoor photoshoots with them yet, it did inspire me to go through my photo archives and dig up some photos from my old Burlington garden to share.

In addition to the garden, featured in these photos are "Shep" (Illusion Spirit ZhuQing), "Roland" (Soom ID51 London), and "Zed" (Angel Street Zazaen).

.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Since today is the holiday of love (or the holiday of being forced to buy flowers, if you're a cynic), how about some happy couples?

Tagged: Brini's Questions

A big thanks to Brini of Brini's Doll Domain for passing around the Liebster Tag.  I did a variation on it earlier this month, so I'll be skipping the tagging round, but since Brini's questions are different than the ones Musume had, so I'm going to answer do the Q&A section.

1.  What is your most treasured doll and why?

That's a tough one! Nostalgia complicates things, but if we're talking about dolls that I've collected as an adult, it would have to be a tie between these two:

"Karel" (Volks SD13 Heath) and "Tshepo" (Iplehouse YID Aaron)

They're definitely my "who to grab in case of fire" pair.

A quick comparison: Iplehouse EID and Dollmore Glamor Model Heads

I've been asked a few times by people who own one but not the other if Iple's EID and Dollmore's Glamor Model heads and bodies are compatible.  The answer is not really, but it might be possible for people willing to make some modifications.

Iplehouse EID Chase & Dollmore Glamor Model Mettaa

Comparison shots of the heads (and head swaps) below the cut:

Out of the Box: Volks SD16 ebony Amethyst

I've mentioned that this doll was incoming a few times since the October FCS, but now she's finally made her grand entrance.

There was a little drama getting her back from the post office: I'd been out of town over the holidays, and when returned home I found a parcel pick-up slip from the post office. On the 30th I went over to pick her up and found that the location listed on the slip had been closed permanently as of the 29th. They listed a replacement address, so I went over there.  And that place  turned out to have a sign on its door saying it was closed until the new year for renovation, and listed the original, now permanently closed location, as its replacement. Luckily for me the new year was only a few days away, but still!

In any case, let's get on with the de-boxing!

Tagged! Liebster Award 2016

The Liebster Award question tag is making the rounds, and thanks to Musume of My Dolly Adventures, the tag has come my way. I always have fun reading other people's answers to these, so let's get on with it!

RULES:

1. Thank the person who presented you the award and link back to their blog (Thanks, Musume!)
2. Post the award image on your blog. 
3. Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter. 
4. Nominate 5 blogs with less than 200 followers. 
5. Create 11 questions for the nominees to answer. 
6. List these rules in your post. Inform the people you chose of their nomination by leaving a comment on their blog and link them your post.

Review: Grace's Bistro Set (American Girl)

Every year American girl puts out a new "Girl of the Year", a limited one-year doll with a number of tie-in books and accessories.  Some of these sell out before the year is over, but the ones that don't usually go on sale.  I happened to be wandering through the American Girl Place Houston shop in December, and came across the 2015 doll's bistro set at a 30% discount.  Given my great love for doll chairs, it ended up coming home with me.

Grace's Bistro Set

A Quick Comparison: Illusion Spirit mini and Volks SDC Hands

Since Volks has yet to release option hands for the SDC boys, a question that pops up fairly often is about the alternatives that might be out there. Illusion Spirit's jointed hands are one option that comes up fairly frequently, and while I don't have those, I do have an Illusion Spirit mini with their standard hands, which have the same wrist joint, so if you're curious about the fit, this is for you!

Top row: IS hand on SDC arm front & back.
Bottom row: SDC Miko and IS Zhu Qing, each wearing the other's right hand.

The wrist joint on the IS hand is slight smaller than the SDC one, but still fits reasonably well. I can't speak to the colour match since my IS sample is tan, but it looks like fit wouldn't be an issue at least.

Body Comparison: Soom ID51 vs. Souldoll Vito

Soom ID51 London, Souldoll Vito Rouse

One of the most common photo requests I've gotten on doll boards is regarding the in-between (at 52cm, bigger than MSD, smaller than SD) sized Vito from Souldoll and Idealian 51 from Soom.  I have one of each  - Soom ID51 London and Souldoll Vito Rouse, so let's take a look at them side-by-side.

A note to the sensitive, unclothed dolls below the cut (although they're posed for modesty, since I originally took these to share on a board where that's a requirement for anatomically correct dolls).

Not on scale, but at least it's in-theme.

A few years ago my sister passed along a miniature copy of Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong, both because she figured it would make a good doll prop and because I'm a First World War buff, and would appreciate the theme.

The book is actually just a touch too big, even for the big dolls like my Dollmore Mettaa from their Glamour Model line, which they list as 75cm (although he's really only 73cm).  Still, since I did have a uniform in his size (although not quite of the right vintage), I thought it was worth using in an anachronistic and not quite in-scale photo shoot.

I was going to try to make him a miniature poppy as well, but my attempts were even more off-scale than the book, so that will have to be a project for another year.  And in a way, that works for where we're living. Although it's not Remembrance Day here in the US, Americans do mark a military-themed holiday today (Veteran's Day), but they don't wear poppies. I suppose because their involvement in the First World War was so short (when I was living in DC, during one of my mother's visits we walked through Arlington National Cemetery - she pointed to a First World War grave with a birth date of 1899 and wondered if he'd lied about his age to enlist. I had to remind her that by the time the US joined the war he'd have been 18.), so it seems to be less of a cultural touchstone that it is in so many other countries.

In any case, on with the photos!

Preorders and Thinning the Herd

The Volks USA online full choice system was only live for 10 days this month, and while I managed to hold out until the final day, I did surrender and place an order for the new sculpt (Amethyst) in  ebony, with the "vibrant" faceup.  They're not expected to be ready until early January, so plenty of time to decide what I'm going to do with her.

The FCS (Photo credit).

Then and Now

I'm about to head out of town for a week, I just realized that my oldest BJD (Volks SD13 Heath) turned ten earlier this year, so I thought it would be fun to celebrate by sharing some photos before I go offline.

His current look.

Climbing the Escarpment, 2010

The Texas heat has been putting me off of taking new outdoor photos, so in a moment of weather-nostalgia I starting sorting through some old photos and came across one particular set that I thought I'd share.

These were taken in Kerncliff Park in Burlington, Ontario.  Kerncliff is a trail-head on The Bruce Trail. The Bruce trail is an 800+km trail that runs along the Niagara Escarpment from Niagara Falls in the south to Tobermory in the north, and this particular trail head was less than a kilometre from my house during the 3.5 years that I lived in the area.

Back in the later summer of 2010, I packed up my Iplehouse YID Aaron and took him for a hike  (it's all photos from here):