Preorders Open Pullip Optical Alice, Dal Dana & Isul Caros via Pullipstyle

Posted on February 4, 2017 by Klein

I just wanted to drop a quick note here that Pullipstyle has opened up preorders for the following dolls on their website: Pullip Optical Alice, Dal Dana & Isul Caros. The dolls are due in stock at Pullipstyle in late February.
P195_06_mailOptical Alice is the first doll in a new series of Alice dolls, the Optical series will feature a red, white and black color theme. Optical Alice is currently priced at $135 and can be preordered here at Pullipstyle.
danacarosIsul Caros & Dal Dana are inspired by Grimm’s fairytale The Prince and the Frog, Isul Caros is the frog/prince and and Dal plays princess Dana. Dal Dana and Isul Caros are available at Pullipstyle at their respective links.

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Touken Ranbu – online – Isul Yagen Toshiro Announced!

Posted on February 3, 2017 by Klein

Groove has officially announced the release of the first doll in a new collaboration series with popular online collectible card game Touken Ranbu, Isul Yagen Toshiro via their blog last night. Touken Ranbu is so popular it has already been adapted into an anime series Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru and will be receiving a second anime adaption Katsugeki! Touken Ranbu later this year.

Groove’s announcement highlighted that preorders for Isul Yagen Toshiro would be opening at Bandai Online Shop first here. Previously Bandai offered exclusive versions of the very popular Sailor Moon Pullip collaboration series via their website, the exclusive version of the dolls came with items such as school uniforms or character specific accessories such as Sailor Moon came with a plush of her cat companion Luna while the standard release omitted these “bonus” items. Groove has not shared a lot of details about Isul Yagen Toshiro’s release just yet so it is not clear if this version will be exclusive to Bandai’s shop or not just yet, if it is exclusive I’m not sure what his exclusive items consist of ^^;. I’m hoping that the Touken Ranbu dolls will receive a standard release as well as a Bandai Online version as otherwise these dolls might be a bit difficult to obtain. I will be sure to update here as more details become available.

Bandai has listed Isul Yagen Toshiro’s release date as late March of 2017, Groove has listed a slightly more nebulous “spring” release  date. Bandai lists his MSRP as 28,080 yen which is approximately $248 (wow) as of this writing.
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~Mansion of the Immortal~ Taeyang Valko

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Klein

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.ValkoI’m going to be strong under the white moon in the night…. See, here I am.

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New Photos of Pullip Optical Alice, Dal Dana & Isul Caros

Posted on February 1, 2017 by Klein

It’s funny because I was just thinking about these three dolls….Groove just posted some pictures of Pullip Optical Alice, Dal Dana and Isul Caros on display at various different stores on their blog. The trio of dolls was supposed to be released in late January but all three dolls had their releases delayed until mid-February so it was an unexpected treat to see some out of box pictures of the trio on display.
20170201100124db2The above photo was taken at the Azone store in Akihabara. I really love this photo in particular as it showcases Optical Alice’s special pale skin tone, this is the best photo I have seen illustrating her pale skin in close proximity to dolls with more normal/natural skin tones.

Groove also shared some photos of the dolls alongside some other recent releases at Kiddyland store’s location in Harajuku.
20170201095558ad6Pullip Katrina, Taeyang ReonHARDT, Dal Dana, Isul Caros, Pullip Gretel and Isul Hansel in a display case together.
20170201095600286Close up of Dal Dana and Isul Caros, the pair is based on the fairy tale of the Princess and the Frog. Dal Dana is way too adorable and Isul Caros manages to look quite regal even with his absurd froggy hood and gloves.
201702010956007a5Pullip Gretel and Isul Hansel were released in spring of last year, like Dana and Caros they were also inspired by a fairy tale. This pair tends to be a bit underappreciated so I’m glad to see them being showcased a bit. I hope Groove continues to release dolls based on other fairy tales, I’d love to see a Snow Queen Pullip someday!

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Pullip Katrina & Taeyang ReonHARDT Preorders Open!

Posted on February 1, 2017 by Klein

Just wanted to drop a quick note here that Pullipstyle has opened up preorders for Pullip Katrina and Taeyang ReonHARDT. Both dolls were released in December in Japan but their US release was slightly delayed, they are expected in stock in late February.

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Pullip Katrina link
Taeyang ReonHARDT link

I’m very tempted by Pullip Katrina not only does she have gorgeous tan skin tone but she has an absolutely stunning face up as well and I absolutely love those dramatic red lips <3.
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Alternatively both dolls are also available for preorder via JPGroove, you can see their respective listings at the following links Pullip Katrina and Taeyang ReonHARDT.

Hopefully there will be preorder news for Pullip Optical Alice, Dal Princess Dana and Isul Caros soon as well.

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Pullip Release Date Delay- Update!

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Klein

Groove has announced an update via their blog about their recent announcement that the releases of the following dolls Pullip Optical Alice, Dal Princess Dana and Isul Caros would be delayed. The dolls were all to be originally released in late January in Japan (late February here in the US) but their release has been pushed back a few weeks, the dolls will now be coming out in mid-February in Japan (presumably mid to late March in the US).
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Unfortunately it’s still kind of a long wait for us here in the US but that gives us time to save up for them and hopefully Pullip Katrina and Taeyang ReonHARDT will be released here soon to distract us a bit.

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Madame Alexander Harley Quinn Fashion Squad

Posted on January 26, 2017 by Klein

I hope you are ready for something a little bit different from me today! Normally I focus on collecting Asian fashion dolls such as Pullip or Blythe, while I do collect some playline dolls such as Monster High dolls but American fashion dolls rarely seem to interest me though I do own the Tonner Harley Quinn doll as well as a random Desperate Housewife Tonner doll  that I had found for dirt cheap at TJMaxx of all places. I recently discovered that Madame Alexander had launched a new line of dolls in fall of 2016 that are based on fashion forward versions of popular DC Comics heroes & villains though the first three dolls in the line are villains: the Penguin, Joker and of course my favorite DC villain Harley Quinn.

Admittedly, I had never really paid much attention to Madame Alexander before and my discovery of the dolls existence was a bit happenstance as I recently bought a few new statues of Harley Quinn and the Madame Alexander Fashion Squad Joker showed up as a suggested item which immediately caught my attention. When looking at the Joker’s listing I discovered that dolls of Harley Quinn and the Penguin also existed,  I put Harley Quinn and Joker on my Amazon wishlist hoping to someday acquire at least one if not both dolls eventually. I loved them both but their MSRP of $279.95 each was definitely a stumbling block then about a week after I discovered them, I received an email from Amazon advising me that Harley Quinn was to be a lightning deal exclusive to prime members later that day, haha what luck! I ended up paying about $115 for Harley Quinn after tax, which I thought was much more reasonable I can only hope to get this lucky with the equally lovely Joker doll!Madame Alexander Harley QuinnI looked for owner photos of the dolls from this series but my search was mostly fruitless, I did have several people on facebook request that I post a review of her here when I posted about ordering her so here goes….
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Posted in Comics, Doll, Love that Joker | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Pullip Releases Delayed :(

Posted on January 16, 2017 by Klein

Groove just announced via their blog that the release of this month’s Pullip releases have been delayed in Japan. The releases of Pullip Optical Alice, Isul Caros & Dal Dana have all been postponed Groove has said that they will update regarding the new release date.

Hopefully the delay is short, I was already anxiously counting the minutes until Pullip Optical Alice’s release! The US release date is not until one month after the Japanese release date so now hopefully we will see the releases some time in March.

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Doll Show 48 Upcoming Pullip Releases on Display

Posted on January 15, 2017 by Klein

Groove shared a photo of some of their upcoming doll releases that were on display at Doll Show 48 via their twitter account yesterday. I’m very happy that Groove decided to share the photo so that we could all get a glimpse at the new dolls.
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The top row features dolls from the Optical Alice series, Pullip Optical Alice (center) is the only doll that has been announced so far so it was very exciting to see prototypes of other dolls we didn’t know about yet from the series. It appears that Alice will be joined by a Pullip Queen of Hearts, an Isul (possibly a white rabbit?), a Dal Cheshire Cat and a Taeyang Mad Hatter.

The bottom row features Pullip Gretel & Isul Hansel who were released in 2016, alongside the upcoming releases Dal Princess Dana & Isul Caros all four of the dolls were inspired by fairy tales. Pullip Katrina & Taeyang ReonHARDT just came out in Japan and will be coming out in the US soon, they kind of stand out a bit on this display because they are the only dolls in normal clothing versus the more storybook inspired and fantastic outfits of their shelf-mates. I am absolutely loving Katrina’s almost bronze skin tone especially compared to the almost grey tone of the Optical Alice series dolls.
C2LRVckVQAAyp1VI cropped the picture that Groove posted so I could get a better look at the Optical Alice series, I was already counting the minutes until Optical Alice’s release now I can’t wait for news of the other dolls. It will be great to put names/release dates with releases, I’m especially excited about the Isul.

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Upcoming Groove Touken Ranbu Collaboration Series!

Posted on January 14, 2017 by Klein

Groove made an announcement via their blog this morning about a very exciting upcoming collaboration series with Touken Ranbu (Wild Dance of Swords) which is an insanely popular card based online game in Japan. Not only is it a popular online game, it has already received one anime adaption Touken Ranbu Hanamaru that aired in Japan this past fall ( it has  been licensed in the US by Funimation) and will be receiving anime adaptation called Katsugeki! Touken Ranbu  later this year. Various figures including nendoroids and other merchandise have been released over the years, in fact I own the Mikazuki Munechika nendoroid (I’m hoping his character gets made into a doll as a part of the series).
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The cast of Touken Ranbu is primarily male which means we will likely see Isuls and Taeyangs prominently featured in the collaboration series, I’m happy to see a series focusing on the boy dolls for once. The first doll in the series will be an Isul I will be on display at  Doll Show 48 in Ikebukuro on the 15th. I will be sure to update once more information and/or photos become available.

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