Groove recently announced via their blog that they would be a doing two new collaboration dolls with Sheryl’s Designs. Sheryl’s Designs is a very talented Spanish Pullip customizer who previously collaborated with Groove to make the absolutely amazing Pullip Akemi (a review of her can be seen here) as a part of Groove’s Creator Label line. The Creator’s Label line is nice because it shines the spotlight on customizers who are a part of the doll community and let’s their voice be heard, it also gives more people a chance to own a doll designed by them.

Pullip Naoko and Taeyang Koichi are both set for a November release in Japan, though we probably will not be seeing them here in the US until mid to late December. Both dolls have a MSRP of 20,000 yen as of this writing that’s equal to about $166 each.

These dolls are kind of like a breath of fresh air, this year has seen many collaboration dolls and very few original releases. The collaboration dolls while lovely don’t always seem to have the same personality as the more original releases and if it’s one thing this pair has it’s an abundance of personality! They are both very unique dolls, even if they might not be everyone’s style it’s great to see a release that stands out and is different!

Pullip Naoko
Feel Like So: Would you meet a cheerful and outgoing skater Pullip who loves dancing and being kawaii??…..Feel Like So.
 Naoko’s style kind of reminds me of the style of some of the very first Pullips Moon and Wind, she looks like an updated more cute version of them! I am really impressed with how detailed her outfit is.
Back view of the Pullip. I find myself wondering if the polka dot part of her shirt is removable, I think I would have preferred it if were pink instead of red so it matched the rest of her outfit better honestly.
I love her messenger bag and it’s teddy bear design!
 Groove is using the same type of special eye chips for her and Joichi that we have seen used before in Laura and Alura, these to be the new standard style of chip for Creator’s Label. I’ve yet to see this style of eye chip in person so I’m really kind of curious about how they look in person, I guess I will find out later this month when Alura arrives.
 Custom dolls can be really subjective, while I recognize that artistically her face up was done really well by a very talented artist it is not my personal style. I will say that this realistic style especially with the like emphasized tear ducts seems to be extremely popular in the bjd community at the moment, I’m just not a fan of the style. I do like the smokey-ness of her eye make up and her pale eyebrows and the special eyechips. I like the color of her lip make up but I’m not as big of fan of the lip liner, I know it’s a popular make up style it’s just not something I personally care for ^^; .

Taeyang Koichi
Feel Like So:  I hope you don’t mind if I’m a shut-in kind of guy, I express myself through the music I write. Are you the girl I’m looking for??

I’m absolutely head over heels for this trendy and cool guy! I absolutely love everything about him. His style is rather eclectic but the colors all seem to work together, I honestly used to have a similar pair of pants in black and red though so maybe I’m not the best judge in taste. His clothing does seem to be well-made.
 The back view of the Taeyang.
 Koichi is the first Taeyang to come with sunglasses, the design of the sunglasses is really nice and they definitely seem like a pretty cool accessory.
 I absolutely love his smile and those freckles which I didn’t even notice until the close up shot!
I will post when the dolls become available for preorder via Pullipstyle/JPGroove. I definitely look forward to seeing owner photos of both dolls upon their release, I think I will definitely need to add Taeyang Koichi to my collection! I hope to see more unexpected dolls like these from Groove in the future!