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TBA

Kuku Doll Little Wolf

To complement Kiki, I ordered this cute little sculpt and a Sprouting Dragon Doll 1/4 boy body. Kiki, or rather, Butter, has a dad and this little wolf will be shelled as her dad Pepper.

Lots of different combos. I got the full set so he can have both floppy ears and upright ears. He came with two mouth parts with one with the tongue sticking out and one with the tongue in the mouth. The color I ordered was matched to 2ddoll tan, and this tan is darker than the typical light tan that most companies offer, which is matched to SOOM light tan. The body I used is matched to SOOM light tan, and there is not a significant difference. Kukudoll offered white, pink, tan, and grey for the head and I think one other color but I do not recall what it was.

When the head is put onto the body, the doll is on the taller side for a 1/4 doll, with him standing at roughly 44-45 cm due to his wolf feet and legs making him taller and his head being 22cm in circumference, which make a 1/4 doll taller by default. He poses decently. Next to Butter, he's very tall since Butter is roughly 27cm. The Sprouting Dragon body is double jointed so articulation is decent, althought I haven't messed around with his posing that much just yet. Perhaps when I give him a faceup. I'm not a big fan of the optional hands since they look smaller and more skeletal than the normal default hands.

And that is it for our little wolf. I'm happy that more artists are releasing anime anthro sculpts as they are quite niche, but are quite lovely to look at. Kukudoll also made another sculpt previously but that one is more fantasical and looks similar to a rabbit with horns. I'm looking foward to any future releases they will have.

YY Doll Kiki

I received two of my anthro BJDs recently and I've been quite obsessed with this little one. This one is a 1/6 doll but uses a 1/3 head, which is a fairly recent style popping up in the Chinese BJD scene. Two other dolls comparable to this one is Gymnopedie No. 1 Okie and Mii and TinyFox's Tinyhux line. I think Gymnopedie will be opening their orders again in 2025 and I hope to snatch their new sculpt, Chee, which is a rabbit. YY Doll is fairly obscure, but I think they are related to the Dividing Line BJDs, or at least share the same sculptor. I think this was how I found them actually, but dont' trust me of whether they are the actual sculptor or whether there is any relation.

She arrived in a duffel bag with the YY doll name, and the second picture is the artist's sigil/icon/logo inside the headcap. I ordered Kiki in yellow, and she's yellower than the normal yellow resin used for standard BJDs, but I do wish she was a tad more yellow. She is the color of butter, her character namesake at least, so it works out. There were options for a human body, a human head (Kaka), dog head (Kiki), and a beast body. I chose Kiki and the beast body since she's an anthropmorphic dog and the pudginess of it fits better for a younger character. It also has paws for feet, which makes her match with her dad, who uses a Sprouting doll wolf body. Kiki has very small eyes for a doll head of this size as she has very narrow eyes that make her look sleepy or smug. It gives her quite a personality among sculpts of this type since I haven't seen one that looks like this. I think the upcoming Gymnopedie Chee might be the only competitor in smugness, but it's still very different.

Kiki comes with two ears and they don't stick well if there is a wig. One of my magnets fell out during transport so I slipped it under the wig and it works just fine that way and I am using another magnet to keep the other ear in place. Kiki's body came pre wired and this is becoming more common among Chinese BJDs as of late, especially among the 1/12 bodies. Her arms are double jointed and they will likely hold a pose well even without the wire. The knee joints are single jointed, which shocked me since it's been a while where I've seen a Chinese BJD sculptor use a single jointed body. Thought I was maybe missing something, but no, it's really single jointed. The wiring in the body goes through the legs, so little mods are required out of the box, but that was very unexpected. At least she'll be able to stand well even if I mess up her stringing. Her snout is in the shape of an upside down heart, and it's very cute.

She's got a very large head, and it actually causes her to fall over during pictures. The first picture is her with several other 1/6 dolls. Left to right: Fdoll which is a thin standard 1/6, Dividing line, our little puppy, and Tinyfox. The second picture is her compared to a 1/4 doll with around the same head circumference.

Overall, I say that Kiki is a cute little doll, although the magnet placement being in the inside of the head creates an issue for the ears, which are an important feature of the doll. The single jointed knees are an unusual choice and aren't the best engineered as she is very awkward when trying to set her into a non standing pose. She doesn't sit well even though she's fully wired and she is also very top heavy due to her massive head and two ears, so posing her will be a challenge. That said, I do like the overall sculpt and body, and I am happy to have her in my collection.

Parabox Otohime Cat updates

Here they are, presentable. Still need proper clothes and eyes, but that's okay. They're really cute and cuddly. I need to find a more permanent solution to their ears since they're just pinned into the wig at the moment. I took more pictures of Blackie since he was completed first due to his short hair being much easier to work with. Ailbe looks so peaceful and sleepy. Their ears and tails have a skeleton or wire inside of them and they are fully posable! Their tails aren't visible in these pictures, but they really add to their characters.

Sewing and Wefting with Real Wool

I went to a fiber arts convention some time ago and some booths were also selling some mohair, alpaca, or locks from other animals. I picked up some since they were dyed in the exact color I want for a character. It doesn't seem like you'll be receiving a lot of fiber, but you actually don't need that much to make a wig for a BJD. I tried making one earlier but it turned out terribly, so this is my attempt to fix it. Don't make the weft too thick or it's going to be a mess. I used a mesh fabric as the base for the weft and sewed the weft x4 with a fine stitch.


After thinning them out and sewing the wefts, I was able to start sewing them onto the wig cap. The ends are uneven at some points due to how I cut them, but I'll trim and brush them to make them look more natural. It overall turned out a lot better than I expected.

Parabox Otohime Dolls

I got myself two Otohime dolls from Parabox. They are on the boy bodies and the head sculpt are Fuuka on the left and Miu on the right. Quite the large doll, although it feels much smaller in person. I guess this may depend on your own size compared to the doll. The vinyl was more akin to vinyl toys as stated by others, and this made painting and sanding so much easier as a result. For those curious about their clothing size, they're in a strange spot as they have very narrow shoulders but are also quite long. As a result, they can put on American Girl clothes but they are faaar too short. They can wear Build a Bear clothes but they are loose at the shoulders. I have not tried on infant clothing but I heard that some baby shoes and clothes were able to fit Otohimes.


There was a lot of work that needed to be done since I ordered them blank. Most of the work was put into their mouths since they needed to be sanded off since the expressions I want for them requires no mouth part.


And they are now sanded and their faceups are done. I used acrylic paint and I should probably do a brown base layer first but it's fine for now. I'll likely scrub the faceups some time later.


And now onto eyes. I don't have any eyes in this size other than one that didn't quite fit their characters, so I made some using a 30mm glass cachabon and glued on the paper eyes I made with a thin layer of mod podge. I decided to draw some eyes instead and color them with colored pencils since it's been a while since I used art software and I need to brush up a bit before making eyes. I'll make better ones in the future.

So that's it for now. I do have some Monique wigs in their size, but I don't like the texture or the style nor are the right kind of hair for their characters. They're being used as temporary wigs, but I am waiting on Parabox to restock their store at the moment. I need to make some clothes for Blackie since I didn't buy anything that would fit him and Ailbe needs some shorts, but is otherwise complete sans wig. I do hope to work on them agian soon, but I need to do some other things before I sew their clothes. I also need to get their measurements. Once they get the rest of their clothes and hopefully their wigs, I'll update again on the dolls, but this is it for now of our Otohime catboys.

Megami Device Buster Doll Tank

I've been looking forward to building her since she was the only one I liked out of the Buster doll series, although I do like every recolor except for Tank's. This was my first experience with the Block 2 body and Kotobukiya sure came a long way from their original WISM and SOL series. The first Megami Device kit I built was Runner and I have to say, I didn't like it. Lots of parts on her wouldn't stay on and all the small parts would fall off and probably need gluing but that's something I don't want to do to model kits as their modularity are what makes them fun. Tank does not have this problem, although one thing that keeps popping out is her left shoulder. While she was much easier to build compared to older kits, I didn't like building her as much. It may be that it's the first time I'm building a Block 2 body, which does have a different jointing system than the Block 1 bodies, which almost every other Megami Device kit uses other than some of the newer ASRA and the AUV series which uses 1.5. I think I'll need to make my final judgement when I get Mao and Tu built. It may be just because I don't like how the Buster Dolls look, but it does make me not regret canceling my pre order for Paladin Darkness Claw.

The overall design for tank is more appealing than the other Buster Doll girls since she has the least of the 'swiss cheese' appearance with her gear, and the holes that her gear does have looks far more organic since the parts are much larger and look like actual machine parts. The green makes her pop and it's not common to see a girlpla kit that uses green, with Tamamonomae and the upcoming MS General Envy being the only two I can list off of my head that uses this kind of green. I think Frame Arms Girl has some greens, but are much duller or darker.

I usually would complain about how many extra parts are in a Megami Device kit, but in this case, I don't find it as overwhelming. Tank's modularity is very simple compared to the older lines, and you can easy take off or add parts to make something else in ways you can't really do with let's say....Lancer. I have seen several different Tank owners make actual tanks from Tank's armor.

Overall, if you like Tank's design and are able to get her, you should! Her body is far more posable than the older ones and the posing is also much smoother. It's better than some of my dolls, and it just looks really good as well. If you're new to girlpla, she's beginner friendly and the Buster Doll and PUNI Mofu lineup are made with beginners in mind. It's probably better to start from her over the older models. I wonder if I got her first, would I be more into girlpla since Runner made me so frustrated that I had a negative view of Megami Device kits for a bit until I sucked it up and built the Bullet Knights, which are still my favorite Megami Device kits to this day, even if Lancer and Launcher are decal hell kits. If you're an experienced girlpla builder, the Block 2 body is a significant improvement over Block 1 joint wise, but this really depends down to aesthetics. If you don't like any of the Buster Doll series, don't get them. PUNI MOFU is also a Block 2 body and Kotobukiya also has plans for more Block 2 kits, so don't rush in just for the new body if that's the only thing you're curious about.

Parabox Otohime Doll

I have been staring at Parabox Otohime dolls for a while because:

  • Cute
  • Big
  • Lightweight

I finally got two of them about a month ago since I was feeling 'specially unwell and decided that it would be okay to get not one, but two of them. I was deciding to shell two of my characters, and these two were the best option and among the cheapest for anything that wasn't 1/6 or below sized. I don't know what's wrong with me sometimes. To be fair, it's hard getting child like uber cutesy dolls in sizes above 1/4 so this doll was the perfect option. They arrived in around two weeks and it took Parabox a bit longer to ship out the items likely due to their massive size. Shipping was expensive, but it would have been even more expensive to ship them in separate batches so I bit the bullet. I wanted to just order one since they're a doll where there isn't that much information available on in the English speaking side of the BJD fandom, and they're big. 80cm in height, and they are at a complete different scale from the other dolls, appearing far more child like than the 75 uncle dolls that you may think of at this size. Check out my doll blog page for more of my progress on these two.

I ordered a Fuuka head on a male body and a Miu head on a male body. I also ordered some clothes, hands, and a stainsuit. Their wigs came in a later order since I was waiting for a restock and I also ordered a pair of bloomers. The vinyl of Otohimes is quite rough and other reviews noted this, and the roughness shows up as plastic specks across their body. It's not a big deal and the overall body is relatively smooth, although it is noticeable. The vinyl feels like vinyl baby dolls, something very 'toy' like unlike the Dollfie Dreams and vinyl dolls we associate vinyl with. If you have a vinyl or PVC doll from China, such as Imomodoll, it feels more like that, but much harder. Their joints are hinge like and they can be popped out with heat. If you want to remove their heads, you need to use a hairdryer or you'll just make things hard for yourself. I was worried about damaging the doll due to how much force I was putting in just removing the headcap before I grabbed a hairdryer. These dolls can be dyed as I remembered a user on tumblr dying their Otohime doll, but you need a large dye pot and very carefully measured water/dye ratios.

Otohimes can wear 16-17 inch doll wigs, although this size can be difficult to find outside of Parabox. Monique used to sell this size and I do have some, but they're defunct. Baby wigs might work but I haven't found any that I actually like enough to order. Sizing is all over the place for this doll, and some newborn clothes might work. I heard 0-3 month baby clothes fit, but their narrow shoulders might cause issues. They do fit in baby hats and bonnets, and they can wear mines. I wish I had the rest of my baby clothes so I can test whether they actuall fit or not. You might find some doll clothes in the wild that fit, but you need to head to a vintage doll shop. I went to visit Nice Twice Doll Shop in San Jose, CA when I was there for some business, and Bonnie, the owner, actually helped me find some clothes that fit even though I just brought in an upper torso in. Make sure you bring a tape measurer and pull up the official Parabox reference sheet first. The clothes may need a wash due to their age and being second hand items so prepare for that. Otherwise, I recommend heading there if you like older doll clothes and they have clothes that fit other sizes too! They also have an online website where you can order from.

For shoes, they can wear 115 cm shoes and Monique shoes of that size fits them. In fact, Parabox themselves used Monique shoes as I saw an owner post a pair of Monqiue shoes among the clothes they bought from the Parabox website. I found stockings for 24-32" dolls that fit, and they use stands that are meant for 33-42" dolls and they use the shortest setting available. For eyes, they fit 30-35mm eyes, although you will have to make them if you want eyes other than the Parabox ones. I recommend glass cachabons and an art program to make eyes with, although you can also draw them on paper and stick them on the back. I have a pair of eyes for an 85cm Mozudoll, which is a sex doll, but since they have heads similar to BJDs, I got a head, wig, and eyes second hand to see if they fit. Their wigs and eyes fit, but their heads do not without modifications since their neck is flat underneath while the Otohime is rounded.

Overall, I recommend this doll if you want a large doll, but are worried about weight. Parabox stated that they made their dolls to be light enough to be carried by women and children, and the dolls are roughly 4-5 pounds, or 2 kg. They're not unwieldy either and fold up easily due to their hinge joints. The vinyl can be rough, but they're so big and they'll be wearing clothes so this doesn't matter unless you are a perfectionist. The vinyl can be sanded down as I did with my heads since I needed to sand off their mouths. They're great if you're a person that loves putting together a doll, a modder, or someone who likes working extensively on their dolls. If you're a person that prefers a fullset doll and buying items for them, Parabox does offer fullsets with pre-painted faces, a wig, eyes, and clothes. They offer a selection of clothes and items on their site as well, and you can even request a custom Otohime doll provided that you have the references. It's not cheap from what I can see and I'm not sure if they offer the services in English. However, outside of Parabox itself, it's going to be difficult to find things for them. I think you'll get more enjoyment from this doll if you're a person that likes working on them.