Aficionada.org

Annoyed with HLJ

Like probably a few on my flist, I took advantage of the recent Paypal/EMS deal at HobbyLink Japan, and on Friday I snagged the last Dal Angry in stock. I got a notice saying that the order was registered but because of the weekend it wouldn’t be typed into the HLJ system properly until Monday. I was fine with that, noting that Angry had been marked as sold on the site and with the order confirmation sitting in my inbox. Then, today (Tuesday) I get a no-sense email saying “Bad News from HLJ: Discontinued Item Notice. Despite many months of attempting to locate stock on item(s) shown below, we have been unsuccessful. We have contacted the manufacturer and understand that, at this time, they have no plans to produce this again the foreseeable future. As such, we have removed this item from your outstanding order.” WTF? Many months of searching?? The item was in stock at the time I ordered it, three days ago, for crying out loud. Needless to say, I am quite miffed and not at all happy with the service. I am currently waiting for a reply from HLJ and will update if they take the time to explain what happened here.

Way more happy then, with Scot’s out of the blue “Blue Light Specials” over at the VOTD. I managed to get my hands on my first real Blythe, Heather Sky, and a first generation Pullip – Street! I got the shipping confirmation yesterday and expect them here within the next couple of days. Looking forward to comparing the Blythe with my CCE clone. :) And matching Street with a couple of the “rougher” Pullips (Nahh, Haute NY, RIDa, custom Nero, possibly custom Nomado), Taes (custom Cavalie, HasH, Horizon) and Dal (Tezca)! Which reminds me that I still haven’t gotten around to finish the customizing of Nahh; she is getting a couple of piercings and tattoos, and most probably Cornice will join that group (trying to sell her, with no luck – might as well have fun with her, she already has enough piercings from her previous owner). All of those girls will need different clothing than what I currently have at hand; I’ve mostly been looking for casual chic and cute, and not so much punk/rocker outfits.

On the subject of outfits; I’ve finally taken more pics of the awesome collection my sis cutsiedotnet sent me earlier this fall, here’s a taste:

I love Jen’s xoxo Collection; very thoroughly made and even though made to fit obitsus, the clothes are a nice fit for all Pullip body types and the mix’n'match possibilities are awesome. <3 I hope you'll get yourself a MSD bjd soon, girl, because my Unoas are looking for some of those tops and slim fit pants! ;) YES, I did say UnoaS, plural. *dances* I finally have my Lusis that kochan so gracefully helped me purchase, and I have a Sist on layaway on DoA..! Simon, my L-bi, will finally have his friends/sisters/whathaveyou, and I will have my Unoa dream fulfilled. Fun thing is, Simon arrived Nov 22 last year, while my Lusis, River (thank you for the name, Jen!), arrived Nov 23 – almost precisely a year after. Good thing they (and I!) don’t have to wait that long for the last one of their group. ;)

My tinies have been living in a plastic house for a little while now, a cheap Sylvanian Families ripoff. My father was supposed to make me a dollhouse based on pics from flickr streams, then he and my mom decided to purchase me a premade dollhouse in stead. See, he’s really really good at building miniatures (anything, for that matter!), but he’s also quite meticulous and we’ve all come to realize that building such a house for his grown-up daughter would probably take him at least a year and cost more money (and frustration) than it would be worth. ;) So, I ended up considering the “Contemporary Ranch” kit at Real Good Toys (way too steep shipping), a 50% off bargain on the Ocean Drive dollhouse (again, killer shipping cost), and ended up wishing for a Lundby Stockholm house for Christmas. It’s a bit on the small side, scale wise, but I hope I can make it work.

Whew, quite a lengthy update this time; my oldest kid has been in and out of hospital lately and I haven’t really had much energy to update this blog. He’s been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, but it seems as they’ve found a cure that works for now (nutritonal drinks, no steroids, yay), so we’re slowly getting our life rhythm back to normal. Well, not quite normal practical wise; I am working half time for a while so that the kiddo (whose primary symptom is fatigue) won’t have to be in after school care, but at least normal emotional wise. It’s actually quite nice – we’re otherwise not at home until 5pm, and with dinner preparations and helping two kids with their homework, the evening just flies by. Now we’re home at 1.30-2.30pm, and I have time to talk to the kids and not only nag about their homework. ;) I also have more time for the dolls, of course – well, at least now that I’m not as worried about the kiddo anymore.