Komonogatari’s 2017 Review!

I always feel weird, when there is no proper review before or right after a new year begins. This blog will turn one year old at the end of February, which marks 2017 as its most important year, since starting new things is always the biggest step to take. Many wonderful things happened this year and I am happy to share them with you!

Pullip Customizing

One year ago I did not have any clue about customizing my Pullips. Changing eyechips was a terrifying thought and I did not get the appeal of re-wigging, even though I detected some quality issues with certain stock wigs. I did however start to change them out of their stock clothes, mainly because I wanted my Pullip Sailor Neptune not to be battle ready all of the time and to be able to relax with the other girls. (Imagine all of your dolls wearing long lolita-type dresses and then there is Sailor Neptune right next to them in a mini skirt and bare legs.) As soon as I had discovered Etsy, a new world opened up with that many creators of doll clothes and accessories around the world, there are truly limitless possibilities to get creative!

Months passed, I started to get more involved in social media (more on that later) and finally got the last push to change Pullip Lupinus‘ eyechips. It was a nightmare at first, since I later found out that I might have picked exactly the kind of dolls to re-chip with the hardest to remove eyechips, but it was a learning experience and turned out okay. You can read my post about changing plastic eyechips here. You can also read my follow up post about removing rubber eyechips here!

Once you start changing eyechips, re-wigging your dolls looks and feels like a walk on a warm, sandy beach. It is really hard not to get too sucked into the world of wigs and eyechips to not rent a container unit for all of your dolly stuff in the end. So far I am pretty good. Luckily eyechips do not demand a lot of space and so far I only own one random wig that looks terrible on all of my girls so far, which is exactly how I want to continue in 2018! Finally, I have to thank my friend María for helping me out so much and encouraging me! My girls are super thankful to her too!

Finding My Mitsubachi@BabyBee Grail Dolls

Whenever you get into a new hobby, chances are that there were some releases in the past which ended up being sold out before you started. For me it was getting to love Groove’s Creator’s Label Pullips, especially the releases related to Japanese doll artist mitsubachi@BabyBee, whose dolls are stunning! They are works of art, often with a darker theme or at least a touch of it (except Pullip Galene, she is a pure flower child). When I discovered these dolls’ awesomeness, they were almost all gone. With some effort I was able to find them on the secondhand market and am super happy with my little collection. So far I have reviewed Pullip Seila, Pullip Galene, Pullip Laura and Pullip My Melody HEN-Nako Ver. with the reviews of Pullip Kühn and Pullip Alura coming up! I still have my grail wishlist, but I am happy to have found my biggest grail dolls in 2017!

Japan

After getting married at the beginning of September, we went to Tokyo for our honeymoon. It was my fourth time visiting Japan and it was so much fun to write articles about where you can shop for Pullips and about the Junie Moon stores in Shinjuku and Daikanyama. With so many new experiences and so much shopping, there are still some articles left to be written. The whole holiday was a dream, fulfilling a lot of pop cultural dreams with visits to the Disney parks and watching the Sailor Moon musical live as the cherry on top. I don’t know for sure yet, when we will be back, but you can count on me that it will be as soon as possible! 😉

Instagram

Social media made me more nervous than actually starting my blog. I was not sure, if I would like the environement and was self conscious, if anybody would even like my photography. That is why I started Instagram relatively late, one month after I published my first article. And, as it is so often in life, the thing I was actually afraid of the most, was the best thing that could have happened to me! I am so thankful for every like, comment or subscription. It makes all of my effort so worth it because sharing something that makes you happy, is the most fulfilling feeling in the world for me! At first, I thought that I could be lucky to someday reach 500 followers and seeing it grow beyond that number feels like a dream: Thank you so, so much!

New Territories

What do I mean with new territories? One year ago, older Pullip models with type 3-bodies (or older) were so scary to me that I did not even consider them, since I was also scared of re-bodying a Pullip on an obitsu. Pullip Blanche and her perfect face changed my way of thinking and broadened my horizon. Furthermore I also took a chance to add Neo-Blythe Ufo A Go-Go to my collection because I loved her hair, who soon got a companion in Neo-Blythe Lorshek Molseh. There is still so much more to learn about Blythes in general, which also taught me the lesson that there are so many dolls out there and so little time. I bet my single Azone girl Aquamarine Alisa would gladly confirm that. I promise to better myself, dollies!

Custom Pullips

Just like customization, custom dolls seemed like an unreachable dream because I simply knew too little and was afraid to ask for details. If you are just starting out and don’t know where to start, let me assure you that research is the most valuable thing you can do before adding your first doll. For me, there was one name connected to my dream doll: Poison Girl’s Dolls! Whenever I did a Google search, the dolls I liked the most were made by María and I started following her on Instagram. The rest is history with my little PG Ruri basically becoming my blog mascot in lieu with her sisters Mayu and Rise (also by María), Minnie (Iris Mint by Charon Dolls) and Suzy (who has a face-up by Mikiyochii). Every and each one of them is a dream come true and you are going to see a lot of them in the future!

My Outlook on 2018 (even though it’s already 2018..)

In 2018 I want to write more, get behind of all those missing reviews and learn more about dolls in general. Pullips will stay my main priority, even though I am flirting with the idea of getting a Smart Doll and MiniFee. I will update my wishlist pretty soon and talk more about my wishes, but something I’d like to talk about is that I would truly love some diversity in Pullip releases. My collection is seriously lacking Mocha girls and that needs to change!

Whether 2017 was a good year for you or not, let’s make 2018 a great one and have lots more dolly fun! What are your dolly plans for this year?

Thank you so much for reading!

Theri