I KNOW.
But, like I said in the Cecile post, I am easily snared by a good bargain. So when Beastsbelle of the adorable Never Grow Up blog posted a picture of the beautiful Pullip Peter Pan she found – for $40 – at Tuesday Morning, I couldn’t let that pass without at least investigating.
I went to two Tuesday Morning stores in two days (ah, the advantages of living in a metropolitan area), and found not only the Peter Pan Pullip, but the Taeyang Captain Hook! They both came home to join my customization to-do list.
First, Peter Pan. I found her at my local store, where she was the last one on the shelf. It looks like something heavy fell on top of her box – the top is crushed and the plastic window broken through. Peter herself looks to have escaped mostly intact…
I said “mostly”. Look at her poor wee nose! Her eye mechanism was also damaged. I spent a fair amount of time Friday night bent over my worktable with screwdrivers and tweezers and one dismembered doll. (My Pandora station, with perfect timing, decided to play Jonathan Coulton’s “Creepy Doll” right as I was unscrewing the eye mechanism. THANKS, Pandora.)
There were a few moments I had to remember to breathe (and remind myself that, if everything went wrong, I’d only spent $40) – I’ve opened up Pullip heads before, but never worked with the eye mech. In the end, I was able to fix everything up – there was only one small break in the middle knob, and her right eyelid had been knocked out of alignment – and felt like I’d leveled up in Doll Repair! (That’s 500 XP, and a +5 bonus to my Dex stat. Can you tell I married a Dungeons & Dragons player? :D)
She has the sweetest face. Look at those big brown eyes!
Her wig is surprisingly cute. It’s a plain pageboy in stock photos, but mine came a bit tousled. I like the tousled.
Oh, Pullip, you never fail to impress me with your clothing. Tiny, FUNCTIONAL belt.
Her body is a Type 4, which is great after dealing with Type 3 bodies on Eternia and Youtsuzu. Also, stands = flying!
I was unsure of my plans for her – I knew she’d be part of my Princess line, but wasn’t sure which one. But my brain kept going back to the picture Beastsbelle had posted, with Peter in a Rapunzel dress…
As soon as I saw the two together, it was decided. Peter would become my new Rapunzel – her faceup is so sweet, and a little naïve, and it just fits the character so much better than Eternia’s. I slowly started the change over the weekend – first Peter put on Rapunzel’s blond wig…then they switched dresses…and by Sunday evening my mind was made up. As for Current Rapunzel, I think I will make her my Merida. Her lower eyebrows give her a fierce little expression, and I don’t have to worry about trying to erase her freckles! She borrowed the dress and accessories from my daughter’s Disney Store Merida, and she looked very much at home.
Now, to the Taeyang Captain Hook! I bought him for the sole purpose of customizing him, and I had just the character in mind…
I’ve wanted to do a custom of Wizard Howl, of “Howl’s Moving Castle”, since before I actually got into collecting dolls. I actually remember looking at the Volks website and wanting to make a Howl BJD, back in 2005 or 2006! BJDs are…just a little outside my price range (just a little, lol), and…I know this will sound weird, but I actually prefer my dolls to be vinyl instead of resin. I have cats, and a kid, and I’m not always the most coordinated person, and sometimes an American Girl will lose her balance and fall, and bring down 2-3 other dolls…you get the point. I want my dolls to be resilient.
Anyway, back to Taeyang. I figured he’d be a good substitute for a BJD – easily customized, and not nearly as expensive. Also, easily sewn for – I just need to hunt down Ken patterns!
His clothing is pretty awesome – his coat is a small work of art. Check out this lining!
His shirt is less impressive – it’s very thin, and the seams aren’t finished and are starting to fray.
His breeches are quite nice – sturdy, well-fitting, and I love the little bows on the side. It’s those little details that make me love Pullip clothes. His stockings are good, though I wish they went up a little higher – his knees poke through in a sitting position.
I haven’t even taken his accessories out of the packaging. He came with SPARE MUSTACHES. I about fell over laughing when I saw those.
His hat is enormous – half as big as he is!
His wig is crazypants – the front is loose curls framing his face, the back is a great big poof of crimped waves. I pulled it into a ponytail right away!
Poking around at his wig revealed an interesting bit: His faceplate and scalp are different shades of vinyl. One friend who has more experience in Pullips told me that the Hook model is supposed to have a unique skintone. If that’s the case, the “unique skintone” only goes as far as his ears! Luckily, Wizard Howl has “elaborate” hair (which I’m interpreting as long and curly), so his new wig will hide that easily.
The biggest difference between Pullip and Taeyang, the one I noticed right away, is the weight of each. Pullips are surprisingly light – their heads are by far the biggest part (and those are mostly hollow), and their bodies are tiny. Taeyangs are quite heavy, by comparison. They still aren’t proportional, like a Ken doll, but their head-to-body ratio isn’t quite as crazy as Pullip’s. (They also aren’t nearly as top-heavy!) His joints are a bit stiff – his wrists, especially. By contrast, his shoulder joints are very loose – they were stiff at first, now there are times when his arms will swing freely. He doesn’t seem to have quite the same range of motion in his waist and hips.
He will probably be the biggest challenge to customize – he needs a new wig, new eyechips (he’ll probably get Current Rapunzel’s chips), and a new wardrobe. And one of Howl’s defining features is his extravagant taste in clothing, which means I’ll likely be making his clothes. Time to track down patterns for tiny waistcoats!
Right now, he's getting in character by being properly vain and melodramatic. Oh, joy.
The Pullip Customizing Lineup. Eternia -> Rapunzel v.1 -> Merida; Peter Pan -> Rapunzel v.2; Hook -> Howl; Youtsuzu -> Mulan.
I now need eyechips for Merida and Rapunzel (as Howl is getting Rapunzel's current chips), Obitsu bodies for Rapunzel and Mulan, my own Disney Store Merida (so the Pie's doll can have her dress back), wigs for Merida and Howl, and clothing for Howl.
*falls over*
6 comments:
What a fun post!! Thanks for all of the detailed pics. I can't wait to see all of your finished projects. :D
I actually went back to my Tuesday Morning a few days ago, and they had ONE Captain Hook Taeyang left. I bought him. I know I shouldn't have. My original thought was to just take some pics of him in his box without opening him...while I decided what I was going to do. I've done some eBay sales (including my Peter Pan Pullip's outfit), and I was thinking if I sold Hook's outfit it would help finance him. If I play my cards right, I could end up with a Taeyang that only cost me between $10 and $20 (I'm counting the money from the sale of my Peter Pan outfit, since I bought my Pullip with Christmas money and was able to fund the full $40, so the $10 back was like a bonus that I could use towards Taeyang...yeah, I'm the queen of rationalization). ;)
Then again, "no extras" should really mean "no extras". I've found I always have a hard time coming back to reality after Christmas, especially if I get gift cards or money as a gift. I get used to spending again, and it takes a while to remind myself that I'm supposed to be budgeting. :{
The only snag in my plan is that one of his feet is loose and keeps falling off. I know they're made to have removable hands and feet, but I think they're supposed to stay in when you want them to. ;) I may just go ahead and return him, since I shouldn't have bought him in the first place. At least I got some awesome pics out of the bargain, whatever I decide! :)
We've actually had a much better month this month, so it's easy to rationalize. Sigh. I hate being good. ;} But I suppose it's more important to pay off the credit card then add another doll to my collection.
Okay, thanks for letting me wrestle with myself in your comments. Sorry for the mini novel. :}
Is it bad that I'm here at 2:55 in the morning reading this??
I need to type quietly...
Yikes, sorry for unloading on you in your comments yesterday! Your post just happened to catch me when I was in the middle of thinking things through and I ended up typing most of it out. I shouldn't post comments when I'm tired. ;}
So just thought I'd update you so I didn't look like a flake. I've done pretty well with eBay sales, so I decided I'm going to try listing Hook's outfit at a high enough starting bid that it's beneficial. If it sells, Hubby thinks he might be able to fix Taeyang's foot, so I'll go ahead and keep him. If his clothes don't sell, I'll go ahead and return him, because even though the foot is fixable, I don't want to spend $40 on a doll with a broken foot, even if he was originally $100. I guess I'm just kind of funny that way. :}
I also forgot to mention in my earlier comment that YOUR Pullip Rapunzel is what influenced me to try the Rapunzel dress on my Pullip, so I guess we both influenced each other. ;) I just thought that was kind of funny. :)
Talk to you later!
I love your DIY approach to dolls; it's really refreshing.
Peter is cute, but Howl scares me a little! He reminds me of Kemal Pamuk from Downton Abbey.
Wow, comments!
Belle - feel free to unload! We've spent this long yammering at each other over the internets, you have earned Unloading Rights. :D
I totally hear you on rationalizing and trying to come back to reality after Christmas! I feel rather guilty because I got so much doll stuff for Christmas, and then I turned around and bought 2 dolls. Sure, they were pretty much 2-for-the-price-of-1, but that's how I rationalized Cecile and Marie-Grace. (At least M-G is headed for the sale board. I've had her in a box since she arrived, and half the time I forget she's here.)
And best of luck with Hook, however that ends up shaking out! While I'm glad you found him, I understand the frustration of the broken foot. I hear the ankles are the weakest point on a Taeyang body. To be honest, I probably would not have bought mine if I didn't have a definite character in mind.
As for Rapunzel, I have to say this circular inspiration thing is working out. New!Rapunzel is adorable, I get this big stupid smile on my face just from looking at her! And Old!Rapunzel is enjoying the prospect of becoming Merida! She had to return the dress, but keeps the bow and quiver by her side. :D
See, now I've written a novel!
Heather - that just means I'm long-winded, lol. :D
N - I was forced to have a DIY approach when I started collecting, as I had a miniscule budget. I'm trying to keep the DIY thing going - being able to buy things is nice, but there's nothing like the feeling of doing something myself! As for Howl, he does have a bit of a "fierce" face (nice comparison with Pamuk, spot on!). I'm waiting to see how he looks with a new wig and eyes before deciding on any faceup changes.
Thanks for all the comments, everyone!
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