Finished Black Chocobo
Now Fenny is all done. Much better than the face-up no. 1. So much better than what he looked like when I first got him! Oh when I got him and dressed him up in his first clothes and tried on his wig, I was almost crestfallen. He didn't look anything like I had hoped, and looked so plain and dull...
How he first looked
Well, of course he had plenty of things going against him. The dead stare of the acrylic Volks eyes for one. It's only that they are hotglued in, and I didn't want to mess around with them abroad. Once I got his eyes repositioned and some lashes in there, he looked like a new doll already:
After minor adjustments
He was still a bit plain next to my other dolls though. His face just melted to the background and gave me no true inspiration. Even my guys have a more vivid face-up :D Nigel has more shadow under his eyes than Fenny had on his upper lids. So in came a new face-up, which I now call Phoenix's girly phase:
Girly look
Wasn't happy with it, so now we have the doll at the very top. And I love to see this transformation all gathered here. It's the same damn doll in every picture! :D
Wow, what a transformation! Great job!
VastaaPoistaI'm surprised that Volks' default face-ups are so blah. Somehow you'd expect more from a doll company that started it all... But the sculpts are top-notch so that makes up for it.
I understand you got Fenny straight from one of Volks' own stores in Japan? Can I ask you of the process more in detail? Did you have to make a reservation for him or did they have him available at the store?
I'm planning to get a Volks doll if and when I visit Japan but I'm still a bit unsure with how to deal with it all...
Thank you! :)
VastaaPoistaYeah Kun's default was very blah. But I think this only applies for standards. The face-ups on their newer limiteds are more more vivid. Lorina was gorgeous right out of the box, I just wanted a specific artist to redo it.
I got Fenny from the Volks Akihabara showroom. You don't need a reservation per se, but when I went to ask about this doll from the Shinjuku store, they were sold out there. I then asked if they had Kun in any of the other stores, so they rung them up and reserved Kun for me from Akihabara so that I could go purchase it the next day. The whole thing was a bit of a hassle, since they didn't speak any English, but other than that everything went smoothly. You just need to remember to bring your passport with you to get the tax reduction. Oh, and don't try to photograph anything, it's forbidden!