The Missing piece arrives
Today’s arrival is one that I’m veeery excited about! Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ I have a grail of each type of the collectibles that I’m into: from BJDs it’s Dollshe SA Husky, from Pureneemos Komorebimori no Doubutsutachi Usagi-san Miu and from figures it’s Alter’s Momohime. All of those three I’ve been able to bring home, thankfully, but I was still missing my grail Dollfie Dream – until now.╰(✧∇✧)╯
I didn’t follow Dollfie Dreams very closely for many years, like Azone’s dolls, because I already had my hands full with BJDs and didn’t want to venture into other types of dolls. So, I never saw the actual release of Mariko-sensei, only after when the owner photos started popping up, I was like “Heeey, that’s a super cute face, what DD is this???” but I wasn’t too keen on the large bust body… then later they released the School girl version and I fell in love – but so did a lot of other people, ahah~ But yeah, I wasn’t collecting DDs then so I missed out on her… and then the second hand market prices have been rather high for both versions of Mariko, so I wondered if I’d ever be able to get this girl at all.
Only in the beginning of this year when one of my flickr friends got Mariko, I started thinking that hmm… maybe it wouldn’t be impossible for me to find her someday, too. I started stalking DoA’s marketplace, Mandarake etc so that I’d get a better idea of Mariko’s pricing on the aftermarket. On Japanese sites her price was a bit more reasonable than on international doll forums and such, so I thought that I’d have to keep my eyes open for when a good deal comes up. Then I heard rumours about a possible re-release of one of the Akihabara girls for DD Fes this summer, and thought that well, maybe they’ll re-release Mariko… although, would they make a third release of her? I didn’t dare to hope for a re-release because I was afraid I might end up disappointed… but lo and behold – the Akihabara girl that they ended up releasing WAS Mariko! And she was semi-white and had M-bust like my favourite School girl version of her. Even the same wig – and with a super cute yukata to boot! This was just too good to be true! ヾ(｡^ω^｡)ノ
But of course, there were plenty of other people who were after Mariko as well. ヽ(*´∀`)ﾉﾞ I thought that I’d take part in the lottery, but I wasn’t at all confident that I’d win. Especially when the news of a renewed lottery system was announced – there was a much longer period for applying so I thought that there are gonna be tooooonnssss of entries for sure. There’s no way I’d win. I didn’t even say anywhere in public that I took part in the lottery because I was so sure that I’d loose (I only told Yenna and Aatos). The whole, what, month of waiting for the results I was being a huge pessimist about the whole thing, thinking that because I want Mariko so much, there’s no way I’d be able to win her. Yenna should receive an award for the most patient and best friend ever because she put up with my whining through all that time, ahah! Sorry… (･∀･；)
Finally the day of the results dawned and there was maybe 1% of hope thinking that maybe I’ll get an email… but the rest of the 99% were all pessimistic thoughts. Then Yenna got an email saying she won Kirika and I was all yaaaaay at least one of us won – because I really liked Kirika, too, but wasn’t able to enter for her – and since I didn’t get an email then, I thought that yeap, okay, I didn’t win anything. Well, time to move on…
But a couple of hours later, I have a new email. I go check my mailbox and… Volks… what… WHAAAAT??? щ(゜ロ゜щ) I ACTUALLY WON MARIKO?! MY GRAIL DOLLFIE DREAM MARIKO?! ME???? What in the world???? (」゜ロ゜)」I stared at that email with my mouth open for several minutes before I managed to tell Yenna that I won, too.
I was in disbelief for several days, but once Volks confirmed the payment for Mariko, I got super excited… but then she took several days to ship and I lost hope again, ahah… (-∀-`; ) But when she finally did ship, I got all super excited again!!! ヾ(*’Ｏ’*)ｲ And thankfully the customs & postal service people were quick once she arrived in Finland, so I got her home today – and already at 7:30am! (ﾉ^∇^)ﾉﾟ Which was a good thing because I woke up at already 5:50am since I was too excited about Mariko’s arrival and couldn’t sleep, lol~ I waited for the mailman outside, it was a little chilly but luckily I didn’t have to wait more than 20 minutes – and I spotted a little squirrel friend that entertained me during most of that time, haha~
Once I got back indoors with the package, I was super excited to open it and see Mariko’s cute face in person – but I decided to take box opening photos, since she’s the first fullset doll that I’ve gotten from Volks… my other DD girls have been bought as parts, so neither had a proper arrival. There are quite a bit of photos since I wanted to document as many details as I had the patience for, ahah… so, beware!
… this is one super long entry, whoa… I’m really tired so I’ll try to wrap this up quickly. But yeah, I named Mariko Megumi, because I’m fond of that name (one of the reasons are some of my fave seiyuus, Ogata Megumi and Hayashibara Megumi ahah) and its meaning is pretty appropriate: a blessing. Because she’s my grail Dollfie Dream and it feels like it was a huge blessing that I was finally able to bring her home against all odds!! （●´∀｀）ノ♡ The kanji I chose for her is: 恵弥, which could be loosely translated as “a great blessing”. Her nickname is Megu, or Megu-tan, because… she’s just so cute! So she needs a sickeningly cute nickname, ahah~
Geez, though, I wnt through a real HELL trying to remove her eyes so that I could paint her… Volks uses hot glue to attach the eyes and that stuff is no joke! ( ͒˃⌂˂ ͒) At first I tried heating it with the hairdryer, but it started burning my fingers (despite gloves) and wasn’t very effective anyway… it stiffens right up ’cause it gets cool again super quickly. So I boiled water and Megu’s head went for a swim in the sink… then the glue peeled off nicer, BUT it still managed to cool & stiffen up really quickly, so I had to submerge her head several times… AND boil another batch of water so that I could get most of the glue out. And there’s still some of the glue inside her head, but I. just. could. not. deal with it anymore. (；￣Д￣）I’ve got no clue how to effectively get the glue off her eyes, I don’t know if submerging those in water might ruin the eyes…
Now I understand that why when most people arrange splits for these fullset DDs, group the head and eyes together. I mean, no sane person would want to mess with that glue unless they absolutely had to. It’s like, hey here’s your new Volks doll, welcome to the glue hell! （；¬＿¬)
… but yaaay, I’m super excited to have Megu home! ヾ(≧∪≦*)ノ〃She’s everything and even more than what I expected her to be! So cuuuute! I could just sit and stare at her for days, lol~ Her wig is on the way and I’m waiting for Lizanna’s custom colour event to order her some pink eyes – in that last photo I altered the colour of the default Mariko eyes because the olive green doesn’t really suit my Megu. Her wig is going to be this natural ash blonde… I only have platinum blonde wigs for now, so she’s a little too blonde… but I’m trying to keep away from all the brown wigs so that even this girl won’t end up as a brunette – not right away at least, lol! (*≧▽≦)
11 Comments
Fantasywoods
Congrats!! I’m glad many people I follow in this hobby got their grails DDs, it makes me excited!
For a moment there I thought your grail was actually the rose :o!!! haha jk XD! that rose is cute, it makes for a nice ornament and a good memory at the same time.
I love your face up, it’s soft and cute and all your DDs look awesome so I’ll be waiting for the process pics :D! I’m impressed how you and Yenna can paint a face the day you get your dolls while my lazy ass takes 5 months minimum Dx……. I’ll try to learn from you and be more pro active damn, I need to step up my game because having blank dolls for months is no fun at all, and then I have nothing to show Dx…..
Thanks for sharing your box opening, made me want to be a graphic designer at Volks xD the box and papers are so cute ~
mizya
Thank you! :D Mariko seems to be the grail of many people. Luckily this time Volks seemed to have more dolls prepared, at least I don’t remember seeing a lottery where as many international participants were able to win a doll, as this one. Although, there were people who didn’t win, too… but at least with Mariko, there are many of them on Y!J and not much above the retail price either. Kirikas and Alisas go for insane prices already, though. :’3
Lol, I was pretty excited about it! XD You’re right, it makes a great memory! It’s all the more special to get one with such a special doll~ ^^ ♥ The packaging is so cute, too, it’s not decorating one of my shelves. x3
Aww, thank you! ;u; I still have a lot to learn about face ups, but it gives me confidence to hear such positive comments! I’ll definitely keep practising~ ♥ Haha, I’m sure that if I didn’t do the face up right away, I couldn’t get it done for weeks. XD It’s good to channel that new doll excitement into customising and sewing. Although, I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day, haha!
But for example, I didn’t make clothes for my Souldoll Vito Berial the day that he arrived or the next couple of days, and now I’ve had him for months and he STILL doesn’t have clothes. >.>;;; Male dolls are problematic because I hate sewing pants… XD Well, perhaps he’ll get clothes… some day…
The Japanese are experts at everything cute! xD Azone’s leaflets are always super cute, too~ ♥
Irene
Yaaay, you got Mariko too~ :D the more Marikos, the merrier? And it’s nice to see her with a different face-up and eye color too :D I can’t wait to see her final look!
mizya
Marikos all around!! XD ♥ I was so sad to see when you considered selling your Mariko for a while, she’s one of the Marikos that I kept stalking while hoping I could someday have one of my own~ ♥
I can’t wait to see her final look either! I really fell in love with Emiko and Umeko when they got their Lizanna eyes, so I’m sure Megumi will look super cute once she has the perfect eyes, too~ The Volks eyes are a bit dull and the irises are quite big… they work nicely for the default face up, but with my super-thick-lashes style it’s a bit too much somehow. ;.;
Hopefully Lizanna will open the custom colour orders soon so that I can get Megu a new pair of eyes! I’ve been planning pink eyes for her for such a long time that I’m reluctant to change my plans, lol! :’3
Alasse Carnesir
Oh congrats! You’re the second blogger I follow who entered for this beautiful doll and won her.
She has a really adorable profile and I love the pose of those hands, although, shame about that dent. It’s kind of strange that would have passed quality control. The plushie is super cute. Would a silicone wig cap help her wig stay on at all? It is such a lovely wig, it’d be a shame if you liked the wig but had to replace it.
Okay, I had heard about Volks gluing in eyes but wow, that sounds like a bit of a nightmare to get the eyes out.
I love your repaint of her. She has a really cute face. Very sweet and sincere.
mizya
Thank you! :D
Yeah, I guess Volks had a lot of dolls to ship out so they were kinda sloppy… that dent wasn’t the only issue with my Mariko, she also has really loose legs and ankles so it’s a bit difficult to get her to stand. Her wrist pegs were also stuck and I could only move them up and down at first, I had to go through a lot of trouble to get them out and shave them a bit slimmer, so that they wouldn’t get stuck again. I read that others also got Marikos with their wrist pegs stuck and loose legs… and my friend’s Kirika from the same lottery event also has loose legs. A bit disappointing, but unfortunately doesn’t seem to be anything new with Volks, from what I’ve read. :S
Silicone caps actually aren’t recommended for DDs. Firstly because they let the dye through, so even if you have a silicone cap, the wigs will still stain because the dye gets absorbed into the silicone and then into the doll. My Soom Vesuvia wears wigs with dark wig caps and her silicone cap has turned purple over the years, ahah… so I definitely won’t be using silicone wig caps for my vinyl dolls, fabric wig caps are better for stain prevention.
I also read that the silicone caps can cause the vinyl to cave in and get wrinkled, because it’s a tight fit. So that’s another concern… and a risk that I wouldn’t take. xD;; Well, the vinyl could eventually bounce back if you removed the silicone cap, but… better not risk that at all! I’m a little more paranoid with my vinyl dolls, compared to resin ones. :’D
And thank you for your kind words about her face up~ ^^ The Mariko sculpt is such a sweetheart and she was very fun to paint! ♥
Alasse Carnesir
Ah, that’s good to know about the wig caps with vinyl. I hadn’t thought of that. I know even with resin, one of my boys head still has a stain from a wig cap. I use the cap because he has dark hair and I was concerned about the dark staining but the wig cap stained anyway. I have noticed it’s only certain types of wig caps though and others are fine at least for resin (the silicone ones).
Chuiga
Tosi suloiseksi olet Marikosi stailannut. Tosi suloinen meikki. Sellainen söpö alkuperäisen pehmeä ilme, mutta vielä pehmeämmin. Onneksi olkoon!
mizya
Aww, kiitos~ ;u; ♥ Limited nukkeja on aina vähän pelottava maalata uusiksi, kun joillekin se default on se täydellinen look. xD Mutta kun tykkää pehmeistä meikeistä ja räpsyripsistä, niin… :’D
Tiinyan
Samat sanat kuin Chuigalla: ilme on nyt vielä pehmeämpi ja siten vielä söpöisempi :3 Dear god, tota silmien irrottelua! XD
Mutta siis onnittelut! Mahtavaa, että onnetar suosi ja sait Marikon kotiin :)
mizya
Kiitoksia kovasti! >u< ♥ Ihana kuulla niin paljon positiivista palautetta meikeistä, itse kun on aina niin kamalan kriittinen tavoitellessaan täydellisyyttä. :’D No, ainahan sitä kaikessa keksii parantamisen varaa…
Silmien irrotus oli kyllä kokemus, jota en mielelläni kovin pian ottaisi uusiksi. XD Onneksi nämä aiemmat tytöt tuli ostettua osissa, niin ei tarvinnut liiman kanssa taistella.