Fallindoll Rabi and Force Ball Jointed Doll Review

Emory over at Junkyspot.com recently got Fallindoll's new Rabi and Force (27cm) in stock and I nearly broke my neck ordering these two.  I missed out on Hujoo's fennec fox, Penny, a long time ago and I wasn't about to let another slip through my fingers!  I couldn't resist Rabi, either, I seem to be amassing a collection of bunny themed dolls.

Adorable little boxes!

Honestly, I don't keep up with the BJD community as much as I used to.  I only get snippets and photos from those few I follow on Tumblr who also collect and customize.  I'd never even heard of Fallindoll until I got the newsletter from Junkyspot saying they'd come in stock.  If you get a second, definitely check out their site.  They have quite a few ridiculously cute offerings.  I've also got my eye on their vinyl Panda, which is akin to dolls like Wonder Frog and Tokissi.

Anyway!  On to the review!

I ordered Rabi in Light Grey.  The information for Rabi is conflicting on the page, the first notice says they take 16mm eyes, which is likely just a typo.  They actually take something more like 12 or 10mm depending on the dome.  High domed eyes would look awkward in Rabi, her eye wells are not very deep or rounded.  I have plenty of other girls who can use the pink eyes I ordered so I just gave her a pair of brown glass eyes I had on hand.

Holy crap, that's cute.

I -instantly- fell in love.  I mean, jeez, look at that face *_*.  Feel free to use either of these headshot photos for your own mock faceups, if you'd like!  I haven't decided exactly how I'll paint her yet, but it'll have to wait until we get over the flu epidemic going on in our house right now T_T.

Force is equally adorable.  I love how mischievous she looks!  The 16mm eyes fit Force perfectly and I'm glad, I really wanted a golden color for her :3.

Ready for all kinds of shenanigans.

So yeah, they're friggin' adorable, but what about their function?  Both of these dolls are constructed from super durable ABS plastic.  I prefer it in my BJD's because I'm not exactly the most graceful creature on the planet.  The one thing you might be astounded to know is that these cuties pose like pros.  I've owned a ridiculous amount of BJD's over the years from pretty much every brand you can think of and I've never, ever seen dolls pose like these two before.

The roombox their standing on isn't even remotely level.  It's propped up on my quilting arm for my sewing machine lopsidedly.  It took about five seconds to get the one legged poses level and sturdy.  There are notches on the inside of their ball joints which 'click' into place for different poses.  You pose them and they... just -stay- that way.  It's crazy and I wasn't expecting it at all.

I mean, holy smokes, that's ridiculous.  Their legs are able to fold up flat against their thighs or out to the side suwarikko style.  Their torso can be moved forward, backward, side to side, and it just holds in place like it doesn't even care.  Their joints don't jerk or slip out of place and that just boggles my mind.  I have several other ABS dolls so I was expecting them to perform in a similar fashion, but no, these are hands down the sturdiest BJD's I've ever owned.

My complaints are few and won't matter after I'm finished customizing them.  The headcap was a complete pain to remove.  I had to insert a butterknife between the gap and gently wiggle it out.  I don't expect to be removing it very much once I finish painting them, but it's something to be aware of if you like to reposition your eyes more than I do.  It's also virtually impossible to position the eyes inside the head with wax or tack while the strings are around the pegs which connect the head to the body.  If you have a full stem eye that extends too far, you also might run into issues with the strings knocking your eyes out of place, so stick to half round or acrylic stems that can be popped off.

I'm incredibly happy with these guys, they're so completely adorable.  I'm really looking forward to finishing them and taking photos, especially now that I know they pose so incredibly well.  Thanks for reading!

Toy Fiend Friday! Monster High Jane Boolittle Overview

Jane Boolittle and Needles

This week I'm taking a look at one of the newest Monster High releases, Jane Boolittle.  As a fan of all things dark, creepy, and a little spooky, I was really excited about a voodoo themed doll.  The fact that she comes with her own little voodoo doll sloth is just icing on the cake.

Her outfit is really cool, without being too flashy.  I really love the animal print, skulls, and bones.

The one thing that annoys me, though, is that her feathered epaulettes keep falling off.  They're basically propped up and don't really grab on to anything.  Her color scheme incorporates all of my favorite colors.  I really love the blend of teal, pink, purple and red.  Her skintone is also very pretty, and will be fun to repaint.  It's a soft lavender with blue undertones.

Jumping right on the sloth bandwagon!

Her hair is also very nice, though I'm sure that ponytail isn't staying :).  It's made of soft fiber as opposed to the rough nylon most of the Monster High girls are rooted with.  It's very easy to style and combs out well.  I haven't decided how I'd like to repaint her yet, but I definitely want to stick with her jungle theme.  What do you guys think about Jane?  Have you picked her up yet?  Still looking?  Passing?

Thanks for reading!

Attack on Titan GSC Colossus Titan Nendoroid Review and Video Demo

It should come as no surprise that I'm hopelessly addicted to all things Attack on Titan.  I'm not a terribly huge fan of Nendoroids, but I do own a couple.  They're very cute, but I like a larger range of poseability in my figures (like Revoltech and Figma).  However, I've had the Colossus Titan preordered since it first became available, there was absolutely NO way I was passing on this playset.  It's simultaneously one of the cutest and most disturbing figures I own!

Even the packaging was pretty cool, I love the alternate faceplate peeking over the top!

Tons of pieces with smaller Titans, buildings, Survey Corps, and civilians.

The playset comes with everything you need to recreate your own little Shiganshina District, complete with teensy buildings and a removable broken Wall Maria.  The playset also features three of the showcased smaller class titans from the earlier episodes of the anime.

There are two different faceplates for the Colossus Titan.  The 'realistic' version and a super deformed version.  I prefer the super deformed look with the articulated jaws :3.

Unfortunately, as with most Nendoroids, this figure is practically incapable of standing on its own.  I got my hopes up after seeing the beefier feet and legs, but the head is still just too hefty for them to support it.  Although this figure is heavily articulated, the range of motion is still limited by the body, meaning he can't sit properly =_=.  Normally, problems like this would drive me absolutely bonkers, but it's something I knew to be aware of before purchasing.  Honestly, this set is just so cool, it makes up for the shortcomings in poseability.  If you're a huge fan of the show, I definitely recommend giving this set a look :).  You can check out the video demo below to get a better idea of the working parts.  Thanks for reading!

Toy Fiend Friday! Color Me Creepy Monster High Sea Monster

This week's Toy Fiend post features a review of one of the new Color Me Creepy Monster High sets, the Sea Monster doll.  I had some extra cute help trying out this set.  I visited DollsAhoy! (Andrea) yesterday for a dolly play date; she and her son were more than happy to help me out with my new toy, hehe.

The Child tries out the color changing legs.

In all honesty, the color changing aspect had no bearing on my purchase of this set.  I HAD to have that tentacle dress :3.  I also really love the new color of the Sea Monster girl, she's one of my favorite Monster High dolls to repaint.  Andrea's son was really getting into this set, though I think he had more fun splashing in the water than the actual color changing :).

Lots of colorful accessories!

This set includes a lot of accessories: shoes, a dress, a squishy wig, ears that pop into holes on the wig, two sets of leg and arm cuffs, and a neat new clear base stand which doubles as the water dish.  My set only came with one ear, however, but that doesn't matter much to me and was likely a fluke.  The blue cuffs have fins and a shark skin texture, the yellow cuffs are tentacle patterns.  The Sea Monster's shoes look as though they're made from kelp.

The Color Me Creepy set includes a recolored version of the original Create A Monster dolls whose limbs, lipstick, and eyeshadow change colors with icy water.  The dolls also have one little spot on their clavicle which changes color, the Sea Monster girl, here, has a tiny tentacle which shows up.  You're supposed to fill the blue pen with water and place it in the fridge, but Andrea just tossed a few ice cubes in a dish to save time.  The blue water pen also split in two and I was unable to click it back together.  Again, this doesn't matter to me, but it might be a pain for someone whose children are excited about playing with this set.  Of course, you can still use the pen, it just won't have the cool outer casing.

Using the 'friction tool' to draw designs on the doll's legs.

Icy water changes the skin color from light blue to an inky looking black.  This is facilitated by a coating on the doll, however, which I suspect might be prone to rubbing off and flaking with vigorous play.  The red 'friction' tool is moved along the skin to generate heat and turn the black color back to the original blue.  You can also just hold it in your hand for a bit to warm the piece back up.  As with all of the CAM dolls, the limbs easily pop in and out of their joints and the head attaches easily, with no anchor.

I know a lot of people were disappointed with the plastic wigs, but I love the way they look!  I really like not having to spend ten minutes making sure every hair is in place for photos, too >_>.  It's not for everyone, but it's a nice change of pace for me.  This version of the Sea Monster girl also lacks the molded tentacles on her arms and legs, which I actually prefer for re-dressing.  I'm pretty sure this is just a Create a Monster Vampire body with a Sea Monster head.

Overall, the quality of this set is a bit lacking.  The makeup is pretty awful and sparse, but I think this was the exchange in order to incorporate the color changing materials.  For kids, I think they'd have a bit of initial fun with it and probably end up tossing this into the pile of 'things which are never played with again.'  I definitely wouldn't consider it a need-to-purchase unless you're really keen on having all of the releases.

For me, I just wanted to repaint a different color Sea Monster girl and steal her accessories, haha.   If it's the accessories you're after, though, I'm positive they can be found separately second hand.  I'm also happy to see a whole doll instead of an add-on with missing or mismatched pieces (I'm looking at YOU Design Lab =_=).  Even though it's not particularly mind blowing, I also like the clear stand.  It reminds me of the stands for some of the higher end figures I own.

So what do you guys think?  Will you be picking up any of these sets?  Have you got them already?

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Toy Fiend Friday: World of Warcraft Arthas, Sindragosa, and Goblin Trike from Megabloks and Blizzard

Had Heather not posted her adorable little Ragerock and Murlocs, I might have never even known about the World of Warcraft Megabloks.  Late to the game again, gosh, what kind of nerd do I even think I am?

Whilst searching ye olde eBay for two more tiny Murlocs to add to my collection (two is a collection, right?  right.), I came across this monster of a set:

Arthas, the Lich King and Sindragosa, via http://warcraft.megabloks.com

Having not been aware of the existence of a Warcraft Megabloks line, imagine my surprise when I came across this epic set.  I'm in love with Death Knight lore, Arthas is my favorite character.  I play a Death Knight:

Lol, hi, I'm Axelspark.  The Purple Death Knight.

I have a giant, fluffy grey Maine Coon named Arthas (though we call him Artie, for short):

*fwomp*

How in the world (of Warcraft, hurr) did I miss this?  Blindspots aside, I was elated when I was able to grab this set on eBay for about fifteen bucks.  About an hour later (I'll make no excuses for my inability to follow instructions, I just plain suck at assembly) I ended up with this!

The teeniest little Lich King!

 LOOK AT THAT TINY FROSTMOURNE!  His little helm!  This is the most adorable rendition of Arthas I've ever seen > 3 <!  He's just so tiny T___T~  He looked a little lonely, though, so I tossed in a couple of my Playmobil skeletons to keep him company on his frozen throne.

"Who do you want to maim today?"  "I dunno, who do you want to maim?"  Arthas: "DON'T START THAT AGAIN!"

As if a teeny Arthas wasn't frickin' sweet enough, there's this giant ass Sindragosa:

MYSTIC BUFFET!

I still hate fighting her =_=.  Putting her together was a pain, too.  This will have to do until I sort my priorities and finally get my Frostbrood mount (it's only been... how many years? .__.;).

Before I snagged this set, though, I found the Goblin Trike on clearance at Target for about six bucks.  There was no way in the world I could pass it up.

Time is money, friend.

Admittedly, I prefer the look of the Turbo Trike, but I'll take what I can get.  The details on these sets are pretty sweet given that they're comprised of blocks, they even included that kitschy raccoon tail.

It's not a bug, it's a feature!

The smaller kits don't come with secret loot, but I did get one with the Lich King set!

Soul Releaser Secret Loot

I was hoping for a Judgement Helm or Shard of Azzinoth, but I guess I'll just have to keep trying!

Ever After High Madeline Hatter and Raven Queen Review

It should come as absolutely no surprise that I'm a gigantic fan of all things frilly, floofy, and sparkly.  I fell hard for the Ever After High concept and watched their news like a hawk; anticipation doesn't even begin to describe how I felt.  I needed these dolls!  Briar Rose and Apple White, which have already been repainted and rehomed, were my first taste of this line and I was dying for more.

Maddie and Raven

I may be a little late to the game as far as reviewing goes, these girls have been out for a few weeks now.  However, I wanted to expand on the idea from the point of view of a repaint artist, and point out specifically the advantages and disadvantages of customization later on in this post.

The bottom line is that these playline girls rival the quality and costuming of limited collector dolls that fetch many times their price point.  Other than Monster High, I can't think of a single line that even comes close to approaching the detail and design of these girls.

Madeline Hatter has been the girl I was frothing at the mouth over.  Her pastel hair and brightly colored dress were absolutely irresistable!

She's also very tiny compared to the other girls in this series, which is just ridiculously adorable.  I'm a short gal myself, so consider me biased.  The tiny gold flourishes and little painted gloves with cuffs absolutely make me squee.

Raven Queen, on the other hand, is not having any of your shenanigans.  The feathery details of her collar are even antiqued and shaded.   The iridescent sheen to her bodice is very pretty in the light, I love how it changes colors against the black undertones.

Each doll comes with incredibly detailed accessories.  Their rings, however, are loose and very easy to lose (say, if you snip the elastic off when it's not completely unwrapped and it sends the miniscule bauble rocketing across your studio; not that I have personal experience of crawling around for twenty minutes on my hands and knees or anything...).  Their shoes, clothing, and jewelry are just flawless.  They're incredibly well made for playline dolls.  In regards to their predecessor, Monster High, the bodies are much thicker.  Esthetically, I prefer this look, it's more realistic to me, while still maintaining a 'super deformed' cuteness.

As for customization, I absolutely love their face molds.  While these dolls do use the same mold for each girl, their faces are wide, with large set eye areas and pretty, defined lips underneath that pre-shaped eye and lip color.

 Apple White and Briar Rose, makeup removed.

As you can see from the above photos, their eye and lip areas are much larger than the painted shapes suggest.  Also, their eye shapes are not defined as harshly as most Monster High girls, leaving much more room for artistic liberties.  This means that underneath those decals, there's a wonderful canvas for customization!

 Apple and Briar, repainted!

I enjoyed customizing these girls very, very much.  They are extremely versatile, regardless of having the same mold.  With that being said, I'm off to start work on Maddie and Raven and I can't wait to show you the results ❤!