Time for the first doll arrival of the year. I don’t have anything for her, except the eyes that arrived two days ago, though she was preordered a year ago already. I was avoiding thinking about it to make the wait easier, so I have yet to even give her a name, or decide whose little sister she is. Haha, but my DDs don’t have very specific storylines or anything, so there’s time to figure things out.

I did a bit of a quick review of her, but no proper photos yet, because I’ll of course be re-painting her right away (though it’s really dark right now). These are just some quick shots of the face, the wig and a few different eyes and wigs on her.

(Don’t mind my lazy attempt to copy the pose, it was cold outside)
Of course she arrived with all her default gear, as Volks dolls do, but I am planning on unloading the outfit on someone else -if there’s anyone that would actually want it. I just pretty much want to be rid of it (outfit+jewellery+shoes -but not the hair thingies). I’ll also probably sell the eyes, though as Volks acrylics go, they’re not that bad.

I was hoping she wouldn’t be super bobble-headed in person, but she is a bit. Hopefully I’ll grow used to it and clothes+wig help. The main reason I sold my MNF was because of that giant noggin’ and teenytiny shoulders (as well as the mile long legs and otherwise weird anatomy) but with her being so animu, it doesn’t bother me quite as much. I just wish her face at least was a little bit smaller -though it already is smaller than my other DDs. And the head too, I don’t think her wig would fit on anyone else. I do love the size of her. I’ll do a comparison at some point, but there are already several floating around, so those will do for now.

The pretty box is covered in this cheap looking hologram that takes me right back to some elementary school birthday with the presents having been wrapped with something similar. x_x Just why?

The outfit isn’t made nearly as neatly as other outfits I have from Volks. Then again, I wouldn’t be very into sewing hundreds of outfits out of this fabric either. The panties and socks were the only things that are made of something normal. I thought at least the under top would be cotton but no, that’s some plasticky pleather too. The bracelets are at least some kind of metal, but everything else is plastic.
I really love the design of this outfit (so I’m shamelessly gonna steal it for her) but not the fabrics.

I was banking on the wig being nice so that I can use it for her until I get her something else, and it’s definitely an improvement from the atrocity that was the Kirika wig, but it’s not great. Mostly because it’s so goddamn tight that there’s absolutely no hope of putting a wig cap under it. Luckily the insides are pretty lightly coloured, so I don’t think it’ll stain -much at least.

Next, I tried different types of eyes on her from what I had. I also have a pair of WDS eyes in 22mm but they’re in Saya and I think they’d be much too big anyway. I don’t have many different eyes because I’m just so damn picky with the look and quality of animetic eyes. If I could help it, I wouldn’t own a single pair of acrylics, but urethanes are so hard to find. I have one urethane pair coming from yahoo Japan though, and I was planning on doing a review of the types I have when they get here.

Lizanna stardust 22mm, Yayoi default 24mm, Freyacchis stary sky 22mm, Lizanna moonlight 22mm
(As you can see, I pretty much only go for black pupils, though I am on the lookout for some gorgeous cat eyes, but those have all been on Yahoo Japan and like hundreds of $$$ -insane!)

Her defaults. I find them to be entirely too big and starey due to the lack of a defined pupil. However, they reflect light nicely and aren’t nearly as “harsh” as most Volks eyes.

Freyachis acrylics. Saw this new design with a nicely defined pupil and ordered these for her (and for Saya in brown). They were much smaller than I expected, but luckily it works well for her because her eyes are small -Saya just needs a bigger pair. They’re really nice on her, so she can wear them until I get her urethanes from somewhere. For acrylics, they also reflect light decently and don’t go all dark in bad light.

Lizanna moonlights. This 22mm is a bit big on her, but they’re kinda… moe.

Lizanna stardusts. The size and shape are really nice on her and I could consider these for her in the right colour, but we’ll see. They actually leave some white visible to the sides.

I also stole the wigs from my other DDs to quickly try them on her. And damn, she looks cute in everything:

Aaaand, since I’m me, I pretty much took her apart right away to see the new frame and mechanics. Didn’t really go into it and definitely didn’t pull apart the arms or legs, but the torso got inspected:

Yeah, since it was a new frame and looked cool with a lot of rotation, I was expecting quite a bit. But it feels so flimsy. I’ve broken a sturdier frame, so I’m really afraid of this breaking, and Volks isn’t currently offering any replacements either. Most of the pegs are really thin etc. Really, not all that impressed. The current DD3 frame is much sturdier all around, and the mobility improvements in this don’t really make up for it because the vinyl shell prevents her from making use of the new frame. =__=;;

I do like that the wrist pegs kind of lock/snap into place, and the neck seems to work a little better than the DDIII one, though it’s different to move.

I tried some clothes for her and was surprised to see that she actually fits some of my things. Mostly my MSD boys shirts (my girls are too slim and volumptuous), some Lily’s stuff (DIM GSE) and some Miy’s stuff (DIM Happy). Bottoms are quite hard, especially because I’d prefer in something other than frilly skirts, so I need to get to making her stuff. I’m also planning on making her an outfit like the default she came with but from actually nice fabrics. But before that I need to figure out a Halloween costume for her, because she’s coming to a meet-up with me next weekend.

Okay, that’s it.

“Bye”

The next time you see her, she’ll have a new face, and hopefully something of her own to wear.

Head references: