This is truly an unexpected pleasure to be able to write about Taeyang Valko here today. I say unexpected because he was not really a doll that I had given a lot of thought to ever actually getting before now but having the opportunity to have him here for a brief visit has proved that I definitely need this boy in my life! Taeyang Valko was purchased via JPGroove‘s recent Sample Sale ( speaking of which there are still some sample sale dolls available, you can check out the remaining selection here), I was getting ready to place an order for some dolls when a dear friend of mine who lives in Australia asked if I could add him to my order for her and ship him along with some other items I had here for her, of course I could add him! I asked for and was  granted permission to photograph Valko before sending him on to his home in Australia. I’m not sure if I should be grateful for this opportunity to play with Valko or not because he wasn’t even on my radar before and now I know with certainty that he will be the next Taeyang I buy. I admittedly always kind of struggle with bonding with the boys a bit, not so much the Isuls but Taeyangs tend to be hit or miss for me so for me to be so enthralled with a Taeyang is rare.

Taeyang Valko is a part of the Mansion of the Immortal series that was released in 2013-2014. All of the dolls in the series had a monstrous theme; Pullip Wilhelmena had a witch theme, Taeyang Valko had a werewolf theme, Isul Vermelho had a vampire theme and Dal Lyla had a ghost theme. There was also a prototype of a Byul named Bormi that had a devil theme that was originally supposed to be included as a part of this series but it was  unfortunately never released. Taeyang Valko was released in August of 2013, his MSRP was 16000 yen.I’m going to be strong under the white moon in the night…. See, here I am.

Because Valko was purchased via JPGroove’s Sample Sale I unfortunately do not have box photos of him to share. I do believe that this Valko is complete with his all his stock clothing he just seemed to be lacking his stand, card, and box.
I absolutely love Valko’s face up. He has really intense eye make up, with really dark and dramatic eyelashes. I especially like the winged tips of his eyeliner and the little bit of smokey eye shadow. I love how full and bushy his eyebrows are they suit him wonderfully. His blue eye chips stand out really nicely against the dark brown tones of his face up, they provide a really nice contrast of color that keeps him from becoming too monotone. His lips are nicely done, the color complements the rest of his face up really well. His most notable feature is of course the two scars on the bridge of his nose, they are something not really seen on a Groove doll face up before. They are an interesting element but they don’t strike me as random they were not something just added to look cool, it feels like a lot of time and care was spent on developing his look and I feel the scars really enhance that look. He looks reckless and wild and that is perfect for a werewolf.

One other thing of note is Valko’s skin color is quite unusual, it’s pale with a bit of grey tone to it. His skin tone is somewhat similar to fellow monster Taeyang Nosferatu and/or Taeyang Pluto who is also pale with a bit of a grey undertone.
Taeyang Valko’s stock outfit consists of a dark red shirt, black pants, a tie with two safety pins, boots, a wolf headband and a spectacular coat. The coat comes him with two attached belts as well as fur (faux?) detailing and an attached tail. Overall I was impressed with the quality of his stock clothing, I was particularly impressed with the coat which is one of the nicest Taeyang stock clothing that I have seen. I love the mix of textures used on his coat, the mix of like the faux leather coupled with what I’m assuming is faux fur on the coat enhances his wild look especially with the sequin pattern on his sleeves almost resembles snakeskin. Even without the more costume-y pieces of his stock ie. the wolf headband and coat, his stock outfit is still looks great.
I’m unsure if his coat is meant to represent him being in mid-transformation to werewolf form or perhaps he has chose to clothe himself in the fur of his fallen enemies (perhaps he has beat other werewolves to become the alpha werewolf?). While I may not be sure what exactly the coat is meant to represent it is fabulous!
Watch out Taeyang Valko is on the prowl!
I cannot get over how detailed his coat is, it even has grommets on the lapels. It’s such a nice little bit of detail that gets somewhat lost in the wide shots/covered up by the fur of his jacket. The wolf ears are simply attached on a headband similar to Pullip Nana-chan’s cat ears, I quite prefer this system over trying to incorporate the ears into a hood or via barrette. The inner ears are made of the same sequined type of material as the arms of his coat and the backing is same fur like material as on his coat.
There have only been a handful of Taeyangs released over the years that come with fur wigs (it’s faux fur), the only other two Taeyangs I can think of offhand that came with them are MJ and Timulus both of which were very early releases. EDIT: One of my readers pointed out that Edward Scissorhands has a fur wig as well and then I remembered Taeyang Horizon has one as well. I think both the style of the wig and the color suit Valko wonderfully, there is a certain inherent wildness with fur wigs that is absolutely perfect for him and it is quite fun to style.  
His gaze is quite intense isn’t it? Those blue eyes of his are really something! Even without the werewolf bits he looks pretty stylish, more importantly he looks like he may be a bit versatile outside of his stock. He looks like he could be a member of rock band, he’s still got just a little bit of an edge to him.I quite like the black and white checkerboard tie, it provides a little bit of a needed pop of color and keeps his outfit from being too dark. I also love the little safety pins in it, it’s a stylish little extra but I love it. I could not resist the temptation to take a picture of Taeyang Valko with his “mate” Pullip Wilhelmena who is also from the Mansion of the Immortal series, while I had the chance to do so.

More photos of Taeyang Valko can be seen on my flickr. I never expected to be so taken with Taeyang Valko, it still feels strange for me to be taken with a doll I had overlooked before and now after seeing him in person and getting a chance a place to play with him, I know that I definitely need to buy a Taeyang Valko of my own soon as he definitely a very strong contender for my being my favorite Taeyang now! A very special thank you to Miss Edith for allowing me a chance to play with and photograph Valko before sending him to go live in the wilds of Australia.  If you too find yourself in love with Taeyang Valko, he is available for purchase via JPGroove and/or Pullipstyle.