Non-Pinky Doll Post, Part III

I'm trying out the new "beta" version of blogger as of this post. So far I'm finding it kinda weird... I guess I'll decide what I think of it once I get used to it more...

Anyway, that little aside out of the way, on to business!
In addition to my ever-expanding Pinky Army, I do have a couple of other dolls and assorted anime figures, altho the emphasis for those so far is "couple". It's only the Pinkys that have taken over my life! However, they shouldn't get to hog up all the glory, so I try to periodically feature some of the others. I guess I'm up to number 3 in this particular series... :)

Today's featured girl is my mame momoko. Momokos are 1/6 scale dolls, which is the size of Barbie. In fact, according to the histories I've read, Momokos were created to be a more Japanese-looking version of Barbie. They're actually much nicer than Barbie, however, because they are jointed. They're really well-made and their clothes are lovely. I assume they were always meant to be collector's dolls, rather than children's toys. I have one Momoko, but this isn't her turn! ;) Mame Momokos are very small dolls made by the same company. "Mame", my Japanese dictionary tells me, means "miniature" when used as a prefix. So these dolls are miniature momokos. They don't actually look all that much like the bigger Momokos, and they are not usually dressed in the same costumes (with exceptions), so I'm not sure what the connection is meant to be, but there you have it. I actually find them to be sort of weird looking, and yet there's something about them that appeals to me... They're a little shorter than a Pinky, and have removeable clothing. They come in lots of strange and interesting outfits, and they're relatively inexpensive - maybe running a little more than a Pinky. So I ended up buying one while I was browsing ebay for a full-size momoko. I've seen her referred to as "Northlands Girl" and "Yukin-ko". (Actually, I have seen her referred to by other names too, but I like these two, so that's why I remember them...)

Here she is in her package:



I'm not sure exactly what sort of costume she is wearing, but I assume it is traditional to some group... (Does anyone know? I've tried to look it up, but I don't think I ever found an answer) She's meant to be dressed for snowy weather, as you can see by her boots and the little snowman and coffee cup on her sticker sheet. (all mame momokos come with a little plastic thing shaped like a caption balloon in a comic, and a little sheet of stickers to stick on it... A strange gimmick, but sort of cute!) I assume this is how her name got translated as "Northlands Girl". "Yukin-ko" actually means something like "snow child", which I think is adorable, so I've kept it as her name! :)

Here's some more pictures of her removed from her box:



I'm looking forward to some snow to take a picture of her in her "native element". (Of course with the weather so warm so far, that may be a while in coming...)

Fun (aka pointless) Fact: Yukinko was my very first ebay purchase!

My name is Flower

Much like the little skunk from Bambi, Sacchin seems to think she is a flower.

Cake for Nazuna

After the photo shoot in the park with the lovely fall colors, we all headed down the street to check out a new cake shop. It was very cute (maybe someday I'll be brave enough to take photos inside...), and the gang got to pose with a lovely slice of cake. It was actually extremely tasty cake too - it wasn't just a pretty face! (I can't believe I haven't been back for more yet...)

Nazuna Arrives

Still trying to play catch-up with my photos. I think I can get everything uploaded in another couple of posts - assuming I don't take any more pictures. Which is, admittedly a big if. On the other hand, it's going to rain all week, maybe it's not such a big "if" after all...

Nazuna arrived a few weeks ago, when the trees were at their fall best. I'm somewhat amazed that all the leaves aren't completely gone yet, but they are definitely past peak. Probably by the end of the week's rain, they'll finally all have disappeared. So sad, winter lasts so long I always want fall to stay as long as possible!!





Pretty, isn't it? This is the background for most of the photos to follow...

I decided Nazuna looked great as a blonde - which ended up working great with the autumn leaves. Beatrix (Bitter) inherited her cute little bowl haircut. Somehow Nazuna managed to get in a lot more photos then Nazuna (who still needs a name) - I don't know how that happened!





Only two, and then Beatrix takes over?!





Beatrix wanted to try climbing the tree





...and then she needed a bit of a rest!



The mums looked a bit like her hair!

Pinky Picnic Pt. 3

And here's the last! (I'm at a coffee shop and the transfer speed is sooooo much faster! I should come here all the time to upload photos! It also makes me wonder why my connection is so bad - it's supposed to be broadband and everything... grumble)

These are all the close-ups...

Pinky Picnic Pt. 2

Part 2 of the picnic photos - one more part to come!

Pinky Picnic Pt I

As usual, I'm late posting these. *nervous laughter*

Anyway, when they yukata girls arrived, the Moes and Reinas decided to have a "family reunion". It was the end of summer, and although the leaves had started turning, the first frost had yet to arrive and the girls wanted to get out and enjoy what might turn out to be one of the last sunny days. So they packed up a picnic and set out. The GoFa girls came along too, since they were also new, as did the Arc sisters. Older sister Hime had just returned from graduate school overseas and the twins, Arc and Suki, were glad the mischief-trifecta was back in action. Alice brought along her boyfriend Hikaru, and her best pal Suu came along with Agito. They were just glad to have a chance to relax!

I have an absolute ton of photos from this photo shoot, so I'll post them in two sets. This set is mostly the group shots. The next set will be the close-ups.

I'm hoping to do another big photo shoot soon - I don't use my re-ment often enough, and I bought some kitchen furniture that I haven't even had a chance to take out of the box yet! Wai!

Happy Halloween!

I'm a little late, but these were my Halloween photos!

"I don't know if I want to go trick or treating at that house yoshiko!!"


Little bit clearer look at their costumes:


Here's Hana doing her best impression of an angst-ridden Victorian lady...





And lastly, the infamous "cookie" pictures:

Non-Pinky Doll Post, Part II

Prior to getting hooked on Pinkys, I really wasn't much of a doll person. Even as a kid, I wasn't into dolls - I had some, but I mostly played with them when other kids were over. I liked stuffed animals, model horses, star wars figures, lego and playmobile figures a whole lot more. I esp liked Playmobile. In fact, I feel a little like Pinkys are sort of like an anime version of Playmobile, esp. with all the re-ment accessories, so maybe it's no wonder they appealed to me!

Nonetheless, I did have 2 dolls residing in my room before the Pinky Army moved in. Here they are:

The little one I bought at a Pow-Wow several years ago - it's really quite adorable! The bigger one reminded me of dolls my grandma used to make. Strangely, I can't seem to remember where I got her. I feel like it was a craft fair, but I don't remember where... And yet I also feel like I might have bought her at a 10,000 Villages sort of store that sells stuff from sort of third world craftspeople... She looks a lot more like that, but then I really do feel like I bought her at a craft fair, not a store. Do they have craft fairs that sell stuff like that? sigh. At any rate, ignoring her mysterious origins, she's really quite cute. She has a lot of detail - all her clothes are removable, and very well-made. Her bracelets and shoes are woven, like baskets, and made of a similar material. She comes with a little embroidered bunny that she can keep in the pocket of her dress. I remember when I was picking her out (wherever that was...) that they all came with different little "pets".

She also has a little backpack:


Here's a group shot with one of my Pinkys so that you can see the scale:

You can see the little bunny in this shot too.

I actually get the feeling that most Pinky collectors are either not doll people overall, or that they don't favor the handmade looking dolls (being more about BJDs and Pullips, etc.), but I feel like my original dolls should get some appreciation, if only from me! :)