Adventurers Club: April

The month of April is a month for fools!
It doesn't have to be a bad thing!
Maybe fools have more fun!

What Fool's Errand of an adventure have you been sent on this month?
A snipe hunt?
Looking for unicorns?
Some other impossible task??

Please share your foolish adventure with us!

Crazy body swaps?

We're always looking for that better doll body...

It seems like no matter what doll we have, we always wonder...

Is there a better body out there?

I'm curious,

What are some of your most crazy body swaps?

What was a success?

What was an absolute failure?

Recently, I decided to try out an Azone head on my Unoa Light body...

because I LOVE the Unoa Light body and was just wondering if it would work.

Well... if you use a White Skin Azone head, it does!

Now I have a tall, willowy Bambi Raili XD

Here she is next to my Rabbit Miu on a S body and a Lil' Fairy.

The Unoa Light body actually fits great into Pure Neemo shoes,

shorts and shirts... quite a few of the dresses too... and well... 

most of the Pure Neemo clothes!

The jeans she's wearing though, are from Clear-Lan for Poppy Parker.

That's the cool thing about the Unoa Light body, she'll fit into other stuff as well, thanks to her more shapely, taller form. :)

Making a dress!

It's not finished yet,

but I'm working on making a little Pure Neemo dress,

and so far it's turning out pretty nicely!

Azone Update

New Neemo stuff from Azone!

Huzzah!

First up, the next and final Lil' Fairy in the current trio,

Vel... who I think looks pretty cute in this form XD

She'll be up for Preorder around 3/10/15

©Azone

Then there will be a release of Aoto and Yuuta!

These two are always cute.

They'll be up for Preorder around3/17/15

©Azone

©Azone

Then... the clothing lines!

(when they'll *actually* be released is anybody's guess... at the moment, the clothes seem to be a month or so late when compared to their release date)

©Azone

©Azone

©Azone

So... is anyone going to order anything??  :)

Adventurers Club: March

March Adventure:

SECRET MISSION!

What would your secret mission be? 

Does the fate of the world depend on you?

Or maybe you're just on a mission to raid the cookie jar?

What is your secret mission adventure this month?

Azone Clothing Review: Knit Cap & Off-Shoulder Knit One-Piece Sets

Time for an Azone clothing review!

This time around, we'll review these cute little sweater/hat sets!

They are called the

Knit Cap & Off-Shoulder Knit One-Piece Sets

It's not easy to tell, but the middle one is actually cream with a white pompom.

Ok, so, let's start off with the good!

These are INCREDIBLY cute little knit pieces.

I always love when Azone does delicate knits!

These particular sweaters are lined on the inside with a more sturdy fabric as well,

so they are not as delicate as they look!

The colors are lovely, and the fit is cute!

They do fit some bodies better than others though, let's take a look:

First let's take a look at Mio, the gal with the Large Bust!

(I have put my Mio torso on an L body)

I really like the fit of this sweater on her...

it works with the curves XD

Next up is Mia, on an M body!

Still a cute fit!

 Now for Miu on the S body!

Even on the S body, where it starts to bunch up a little,

it's still awfully cute looking... although none of them really were able to pull off the "Off the Shoulder" claim... the sweater would just pop back up again.

Now for the bad.

If you look at the pics above, you'll notice that the hats sit high on the head, and the hems on them are unrolled a bit... that's because of this:

The inside gathering of the hat fabric is not the most well done. It's lumpy and bulky, and pushes the hats up higher on their heads. If I didn't unfurl the hat hems a little, the hats would pop off all the time... which is a little disappointing.

I have other winter pompom hats that were made in earlier years from Azone, and they do not have this problem, so I'm wondering if it was just too rushed of a production schedule? Or maybe just the difference in fabric types? I don't know.

All-in-all though, not a huge deal, and the outfits still look super cute in pictures!

 

 

What doll do you regret passing up?

Not too long ago,

I asked "What doll do you regret selling?"

And a few of the responses have prompted me to wonder:

What doll do you regret passing up?

You know, that doll that you *could* have gotten...

it was available, right there in front of you,

be it for preorder, or from another collector, etc...

but for whatever reason you passed on it.

For me, it's Volks' Jun Tachibana.

I had *JUST* discovered BJDs when Haute Doll magazine had their exclusive Jun and Isao release, and I looked at the prices on those dolls and almost fainted dead-away.

I *could* have ordered her.

I didn't, because of sticker shock.

I have kicked myself for forever and a day since.

I would call her my "Grail Doll" if I were to name a doll that...

and she'd have to be fully default too (except maybe the faceup, I might forgive a changed faceup if her new one was awesome).

I even sought out and bought little YoSD Jun Tachibana as a consolation...

but every time I see that Haute Doll Exclusive Jun,

I really, really, really wish I'd bitten the bullet and ordered her!

How about you?

Who is your "missed opportunity"?

(On a side note, I'd love the SD Graffiti Jun as well... I think it would be so cute to have the SD, SD Graffiti and YoSD Jun collection XD)

Regrets?

There are no really amazing Azone updates for this week,

so instead, let's talk about...

REGRETS

Have you ever sold a doll and then deeply regretted it?

I've sold a lot of dolls in my day,

and 99.9% of them, I'm ok with...

but there was one doll I sold that I regretted,

I regretted selling her before I did it, 

as I did it,

and after I did it.

That would be my Dollfie Dream Alna

I sold her to get what I thought was a "Grail" resin doll,

and I was very wrong.

Turns out Alna was my "Grail" doll all along,

and it took selling her, and constantly lamenting it,

to figure that out.

I lucked out *BIG* time,

and had a friend who was selling her Alna,

and sold it to me at retail... no crazy markup.

So the Alna you see now when I take pictures is actually

my second Alna.

What became of my first, I'll never truly know...

but I was incredibly fortunate to find another.

So how about you guys?

Have you ever sold a doll and deeply regretted it?

Were you able to get that doll back?

What happened?

Foreign Doll Magazines?

Do any of you ever buy foreign doll magazines?

You know... the kind you can't read because they're in another language.

Every now and then I buy one of the Japanese ones,

because they always have great pictures,

and they'll always have some great patterns in them too.

This time I bought this issue of Dolly*Dolly:

It's got such cute stuff inside,

and one of the things is a Pure Neemo outfit!

How cute is this?!

The patterns are all in the back,

I just have to figure out how to make them XD

There are lots of other cute patterns in there too.

 

Azone Update!

 Strike now while the iron is hot!

Most of these clothing items are up for preorder!

©Azone

©Azone

www.hlj.com

(and of course on amiami and hobbysearch too... lol, I just always buy from hlj, for the most part,

I've never ordered from hobbysearch, but I have ordered a few times from amiami (when the items were unavailable on HLJ, and I've had an awesome experience with amiami, so I recommend them too!)

_________________________________________________________________

 

The next Lil' Fairy will be coming out soon for preorder,

(the blond in the blue)

 

February 19th, to be exact (Japanese time)

She'll be 8,300 yen, which at the current exchange rate is about $70 USD.

Product Review: QMagic Doll

Not too long ago I decided to take a chance and order some
super cute shoes and tights from QMagic Doll on etsy.

Click the QMagic banner to go to their etsy shop!

All of their clothing says it's Blythe size...

but a lot of Blythe stuff will fit Azone Pure Neemos,

so I thought I'd give it a try.

I could not have been happier with the result!

I know a lot of you had seen these shoes in one of my past posts,

and asked about them...

so I figured I'd do a full review, with links to the store!

I had actually ordered two pairs of tights and the shoes...

but in the move, the tights have gone MIA!

So you'll just have to take my word for it when I say the tights fit Azone Pure Neemos

wonderfully, and are SUPER cute!

Now, on to the shoes!

A good pair of red shoes can go a long way,

and QMagic Doll shoes are no exception.

They are exceptionally well crafted.

The tiny design work is adorable!

The stitching is clean, the laces are easy to use and they fit nicely over socks

(even two layers of socks!)

The soles are also lovely... something that is often overlooked, or lackluster when it comes to

such tiny shoes (even Azone will have very plain, foam bottomed shoes)

They are adorable from all angles,

and the dolls can stand in them easily enough!

Seriously, how cute are these???

Shipping was also pretty fast, considering they came from China and weren't shipped EMS.

I will definitely be buying more shoes from them!

If you're interested in picking up a pair of your own,

this particular pair comes in a few different colors:

Buy them here!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/208703326/qmagic-blythe-retro-style-carved-hollow?ref=shop_home_active_4

These are the tights I bought, as well as some bear tights,

and I love them!

Buy them here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/176339349/qmagic-blythe-6-color-nebula-skinny?ref=shop_home_active_9

And... here, just for the heck of it,

is the tip of the iceburg on other products I'd love to buy from them!!!

Buy them here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/221449599/blythe-cute-kitty-cat-shoes-silver?ref=shop_home_active_7

Buy them here:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/208706208/qmagic-blythe-retro-style-childrens?ref=shop_home_active_10

They have quite a lot more when it comes to cute stuff,

though... so go check them out!!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/QMagicDoll

 

KIKIPOP! Preorder open to International Customers!

Ok, so I'm a little late to the party on this one,

(again, thank you, snow storm!)

Azone has opened up the preorder for their latest collaboration with Kinoko Juice,

KIKIPOP!

The resin versions of these dolls are highly coveted little creatures,

selling for between $900 and $1200...

so the chance to snap one up for considerably less 

has a lot of people really excited!

Now, I keep seeing folks saying that this preorder is running from Feb 2nd - Feb 27th...

but the date I saw on Azone's site was Feb 22nd... 

so I have no idea which one is right.

If I was on the fence and pondering things, I'd make sure to have my preorder in

by the 22nd (Japan time) just to be safe!

They have a cute little honey-pink haired gal, and a cute little marmalade-red haired gal available!

Here are their links on HLJ,

but they have them on AmiAmi and HobbySearch too!

 Marmalade:

 http://www.hlj.com/product/aznakp901mmb

Honey Pink:

http://www.hlj.com/product/aznakp901hpk

©Azone

©Azone

©Azone

The above detail shows the eye is inset!

February Adventurers Club!

Sorry for the delay, guys!

A huge weekend blizzard knocked out my internet!

Yay?

 Anyways... here is February's Theme!

True... Love?

Have you ever had an adventure in love?

Perhaps it was a perfect, true love...

or perhaps it was not!

Show us what kind of adventures you've been having!

(erm... if you're going to show something intimate,
keep it no more than PG-13 in rating though, LOL)

Azone Update: Osaka Store's 6th Anniversary Doll

The Osaka store is having it's 6th Anniversary,

and in the tradition of Azone store Anniversaries, 

they will be releasing a special doll to commemorate the event!

She will be a limited release on February 7th, 2015

She is the Normal Version Winter Vacation Mia head

with a new outfit!

©Azone

It looks like they took the beloved kitty hat and made it into a bunny one for the occasion :)

Plus she has the adorable little bunny purse!

I have this purse,

I love this purse!

She also appears to have another dress...

but thanks to online translations,

I'm not sure if this is just something that comes with her,

or if this is for dolls being sold at places other than Osaka:

©Azone

 Her price will be 11,000 Yen.

:)

Do you ever take your dolls to work?

Do you ever take your dolls to work?

If you do, do you have somewhere special on your desk where they sit?

New Azone Gals up for Preorder

In the 1/6 category... another LoveLive! girl:

Nozomi Tojo

 

HLJ: http://www.hlj.com/product/AZNPND089TNM/Dol

AmiAmi: http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIG-DOL-7851&page=top%2Fsearch%2Flist%3Fs_keywords%3Dazone%24pagemax%3D40%24getcnt%3D0%24pagecnt%3D1

And in the 1/3 category:

Iona I-401

HLJ: http://www.hlj.com/product/AZNHAC643ION/Dol 

 AmiAmi: http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=FIGURE-009996&page=top%2Fsearch%2Flist%3Fs_keywords%3Dazone%24pagemax%3D40%24getcnt%3D0%24pagecnt%3D1

Enchanted Doll Ebay Auction, you've gotta check this out!

I just have to share this link with you guys...

Enchanted Doll is having an ebay auction for her Cinderella...

©Enchanted Dolls/Marina Bychkova

Now, Enchanted Dolls by Marina Bychkova are beautiful.

True works of art,

especially when she makes them one of the full clothing ensembles like this Cinderella gal has...

but man oh man...

there are still 5 and a half days to go,

and she's already been bid up to $40,000!!!

Granted, she started at $10,000...

but still...

this is going to be one of those insane, awesome auctions to watch.

My life would be so much easier if I had $40,000 to spend on ONE doll.

I can only imagine what kind of folks are bidding on this gal.

Hopefully more reliable ones than bid on my $50 dolls on ebay and then say

"Oh wait, no, someone was using my account without my permission."

(I've heard that excuse enough times for me to write it off as total BS now)

My husband and I could each get a new car for $40,000 0_0 

I'm not going to lie, I'm curious to see if this doll sells for more than the price of our house.

 

Anyways,

I think it's seriously worth it to watch this auction,

for the sheer insanity of it all!

 

Plus, if you'd never heard of Marina Bychkova's dolls,

you should really check them out.

They really are works of art!

 

Not quite what you intended?

Have any of you out there ever found yourself

owning a doll you never intended to own...

or maybe two or three of them?

Who did you buy that you weren't planning on buying?

How did you feel about them after you got them?

Do you have a favorite local miniature artist?

Do you have a favorite local miniature artist?

Is there someone you see at local craft fairs, or who is nearby

that makes amazing miniatures in 1/6th, 1/4th or 1/3rd scale?

For me, for years,

at our local craft fair there is the most adorable little lady who sells miniature flowers.

Her website doesn't list any merchandise,

so I have to wait for the Summer and Christmas craft fair to buy from her...

but every year now she recognizes me.

My little garden has grown immensely XD

I love it too, because every year she adds something new... 

a new plant to the garden!