Mattel seemingly comes out with a new budget line of Barbie and friends in swimwear every year, even their relatively newer doll line Monster High has seen a couple of different swimwear lines. Even Blythe had a Simply line of dolls a few years back which featured dolls in simple swimsuits at a lesser price than normal. I always kind of wondered why Pullip never had a swimsuit release as it seems a staple in so many doll lines, especially when Pullip has had 100s of releases  now and the only doll to even come with a swimsuit in the entire line were Pullip Haute LA and Dal Tweety where the swimsuit was a secondary outfit. I had hoped that eventually Groove would release a budget friendly Pullip in a swimsuit especially with so many expensive collaboration releases this year, I felt like they could really use a reasonably priced release in the line up.
Groove announced a new Pullip named ha-ha and a new Dal named ho-ho via their blog last night, they are a couple of bathing beauties! Both ha-ha and ho-ho will be released in August in Japan (September here in the US) and have a MSRP of 17000 yen each which is approximately $166 as of this writing. I kind of got my wish for a swimsuit themed Pullip (and Dal) unfortunately they definitely are not the most budget friendly dolls. After the initial sticker shock kind of wears off though both dolls do come with an outfit in addition to their swimsuits as well as some very cute sunglasses.

Let’s take a closer look at each of the dolls!

Pullip ha-ha

I’m honestly not a huge fan of Pullip’s cover-up outfit, I think loose overalls can be quite cute on a kid but on a more adult character they are kind of an immature choice. The pattern of the fabric is very playful, I don’t think it really helped with that initial impression of being immature.  I think I would have preferred a simple sundress similar to Pullip Asuka’s in that print, it would have been really cute and playful. The sandals look cute from what I can see.

I do realize that part of the reason the overalls is so ill-fitting in the torso is to accommodate the swimwear hiding underneath unfortunately it looks a bit unflattering. I do like the contrast that the pink belt provides and appreciate it’s attempt to give Pullip a bit of shape underneath.

Pullip ha-ha reminds me a bit of the Pullip Cinderella releases, we have seen a lot of blue eyed blond Pullips I kind of wish they had given a little bit of a tan or maybe a darker shade of hair to help set her apart from the others a bit.

I absolutely adore the rainbow sunglasses and think they are a really awesome accessory. The sunglasses appear to be made from the same mold as Pullips Brand New Purezza’s and Celsiy’s. As much as I love the sunglasses, I must admit I am a bit bewildered by the cherry stem on Pullip’s head perhaps it is just some trend I am not aware of? It seems a bit bizarre to me, anyone with more fashion insight care to comment on the significance? The bathing suit looks pretty cute, I wish it was a bit more colorful though.

Ha-ha has a really great face up, the make up is not overpowering she is fresh faced for the beach. I especially like the lip paint and how it gradients from the center outwards, the choice of the light pink color is nice.  I love ha-ha’s eyechips with the heart detailing, the color is really fantastic too it’s like a nice ocean blue.  

Pullip comes with a floatie, I have no idea if it is actually functional or not but it appears to be a uni-bunny which is kind of fitting because the polka-dot hair accessory almost looks like bunny ears. I wish I knew how big the float was, there is no real size reference on this as none of the promotional photos feature it with the dolls.

Dal ho-ho

The looser fit of the swimsuit cover-up works well for Dal, she is supposed to be a younger girl so it suits her nicely. Even the fabric seems to suit Dal better than Pullip. I will admit that the boots are an incredibly impractical choice for the beach but they are absolutely adorable, the colors are nice and I love the lace detailing.  Even though they are an odd/impractical choice for the beach they do complement her outfit very nicely. The hair accessory/bandana provides a nice pop of color and a contrast to the more subdued colors of her cover-up.

She is just way too cute! I’m really glad that we are starting to see more non-collaboration Dal releases now.
I’m not positive but this picture almost seems to be implying that the belt from the cover-up doubles as an alternate headband.

I think there is a bikini hiding underneath all of those ruffles! The color is a really nice deep blue, I really like the choice of color and appreciate that it isn’t pink which somehow seems like it would be the expected choice. Ho-ho comes with a really great pair of sunglasses too, they are almost the same shade of blue as her swimsuit. The sunglasses reuse the same mold that originated with Dal Chibi Risa’s sunglasses.  Again I don’t understand the significance of the cherry head accessory on the bright side it seems to be a removable element.

This photo really highlights something kind of impractical about the Dal, while I absolutely love her hair color I’m not sure the style was the best choice for Dal to wear to the beach. Her hair is literally touching the ground maybe a nice short summer-y hairstyle would have been a better choice?

I really love her face up!  The blue eyelids on the Dal are a very unusual choice but they suit her really nicely and it really helps to elevate her and set apart from a lot of other Dal releases. The eyechips provide this really amazing contrast with her and again, I love the heart detailing on them.

Ho-ho comes with a uni-bunny float. It’s cute but again I have no idea if it is actually functional or not or how big it is in comparison to Dal.

Verdict: I will admittedly probably end up buying both of them but I will be prioritizing the purchase of Dal ho-ho.  I love all of the Dal’s elements and I just think she is a really well put together release and there is just something different and refreshing about her. I do like Pullip ha-ha but she hasn’t quite approached the level of perfection that ho-ho has. Ultimately, I think price will play a large part with how quickly I acquire either.

I will be sure to update here when both dolls become available for preorder via Pullipstyle and JPGroove.