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.

I’ve been pondering whether to get a Blythe, but decided I don’t like any of the default ones enough to shell out the money for one (after all, you can get BJDs for that kind of money.. ;) ). Then recently, I found a “cheap” merchant on eBay ($70 a doll, Ashton Drake), and played with the thought of getting a doll to customize. However, before I got around to that, cutsiedotnet made me aware of the Blythe replicas called Color Changing Eyes dolls. I just won an auction this evening, and will have this girl coming my way soon:

- or a similar one, as they state that the outfit might not be the same as on the pic… I actually rather hope it will be either the one to the far right or the one to the left on this pic. (Edited a few hours later: the seller has promised to send me the red-and-black haired one..!) Now to look for eyes, rerooting tutorials (I don’t see myself doing that anytime soon, though), and prepare for some heavy faceup modifications! My can of Mr Super Clear flat is ready!

In other doll related news, the Moxies have made it to Norway! I am not getting any, they are way too expensive (US$35 and up for the basic ones). That’s Norwegian toy prices for you, yay for eBay..! I did score a Bratz doll today, though – I got a Cloe rock star for $17 (which is below 50% of her normal selling price here). Poor girl will have her clothes harvested and instruments taken from her, and be handed to a 5 year old tomorrow. ;)

Groove has put up pictures and information about the third girl in the special “fan appreciation” series of Pullips; Sola – limited to the Japanese audience. I am not particularly enthusiastic, I think the first one (Lala, the pink haired one) is the nicest of the three. Except, perhaps, for the eye chips – Sola’s seem nicer and not so “Aquel-ish”. But, as Groove mentions in their blog, if the translator is to be trusted, these are meant to be customized – I guess that’s why they are so simplistic in every aspect, and why their price can be held as low. Sola is being released to the Japanese market from several official dealers, the price is 7.350 yen.

I have to say, though, that I am actually more intrigued by the upcoming Blythe release; “Punkaholic People”..!

.. but this one looks really, really promising!!

The face type is Radiance, and skin tone is fair.
She has gray eye shadow (the best part!! I don’t like the yellowish eye shadow which is so commonly used on Blythe) with pink blush and lips match her fair skin.
Her hair style is a black bob cut with bangs.

Hmm…

(via pullip_junk)

I’ve never really understood the craze about Blythe dolls. With their nearly completely round eyes, placed wide apart and with no eyebrows, they’ve always struck me as kind of scary. However, I guess after having looked at Pullips for hours every day for over a month now, I’ve warmed up to the big heads, big foreheads, big eyes, tiny bodies look (I realized yesterday that I no longer consider my Pullips to have large heads, lol..!). There are some really, _really_, gorgeously done custom Blythes that I wanted to show you, check these three girls owned by flickr user susworld: