It would seem that not long after receiving Rin I would soon be blessed again with the arrival of yet another daughter. No, its not Saber; but it is a girl that has a pretty large fan-base in her own right – Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann’s Yoko!
Team Dai-Gurren’s sharpshooting hottie makes her debut!!
I was greeted with this box awaiting me when I arrived home Friday. I received the email informing me she was on the way Tuesday. It was certainly good news considering what I had going on Tuesday ^^;
Nice packaging. Different from Dollfie Rin’s packaging. Sadly this was all that was contained in the box. Apparently those that pre-ordered from the international Volks site received a swimsuit for Yoko.
Sadly those that ordered through the US site didn’t receive the same bonus T-T. So even though I had to wait an extra month and missed out on a bonus outfit, still looking forward to opening ^o^
Peek-a-boo! Looks like my new daughter is a cutie. Yoko did pummel me for taking a picture of her looking like Evey Hammond ^^;;
These papers were under the doll, but Yoko does have some modesty. No peep-shows ^^; I forgot that Yoko had sunglasses. But these don’t look that impressive lol. Its okay though, don’t plan on using them anyway.
Also some additional docs in the box. Like the guide that Volks USA put together about disassembling the doll. Rin came with similar instructions, but it was in Japanese and I couldn’t understand them ^^; Also instructions about how to put on belt and strap on the rifle. One sheet was in Japanese and one in English.
Invoice with membership card attached. I don’t know what all it entails but I’ll be looking into it. Card has a number wrote on it and says “Tenshi No Sumika in Los Angeles.”
Rin didn’t come with a membership card. Anyone know more about it, please let me know.
Clothes, accessories, and rifle parts for dressing up Yoko.
Yoko’s wig. I took a few shots of it for comparison for another Yoko owner who seems to have received a defective wig. I feel the for the owner, considering the cost of a Dollfie. Hoping the person receives a resolution on it. You can see more of the wig here.
After I got Rin and did my submission for Miss Dollfie Summer 2009 at figure.fm; I decided to get a couple of saddle type doll stands. I knew Yoko would be coming shortly after Rin, so I ordered two.
Since I was going to have to dress Yoko, I decided to follow a tutorial posted by Avan on figure.fm to remove the hot-glue Volks uses to keep the Dollfie’s eyes in place.
Instead of using lighter fluid, I decided to use Enamel Remover like the Volks USA blog suggested in a tutorial for removing the eyes. Mainly because I already had some from my Gundam painting days.
I have to say that this method was a lot better than the hair dryer technique others suggested. The enamel remover had the glue peeling right off with just a few well placed drops.
This was how it looked afterwards. Very pleased with it. I decided to go ahead to do the same to Rin while I was at it. These shots are actually of Rin’s head ^^;
Glue removed and eyes now in place thanks to putty. Basically did this to enable me to change the eyes if I ever decide I want my girls to have a different look.
With the eyes now fixed with putty, the dressing began. I wanted Yoko for two reasons. The first being she is such a cutie! I also love her big eyes.
Regular members of Danny Choo’s site will probably catch the double meaning there =D
Yoko is a fiery red-head indeed!
I think Volks added the zipper to Yoko’s signature scarf (neck warmer) to that owners didn’t have to remove the head to put it on. I considered turning it around, so zipper was in back but changed my mind because I didn’t want her hair to catch in it.
Of course Yoko’s whole attire is pretty much signature for her. Yoko is a pretty popular girl, having a lot of figures and other merchandise made of her every year. Saber is still my number 1 on my list though. Speaking of lists – I will start doing my Anime Hottie posts soon. More on that later.
I have to say though, I don’t usually buy character goods just because the character dresses a certain way. I mean, it takes more wearing a pair of hot pants and a bikini top to entice me to get behind a character.
The thing that really appealed to me about Yoko is that even though she had the appeal, she was also the most rational member of Team Dai-Gurren. The voice of reason as it were, mature beyond her years. Plus she is a strong character that could take care of herself as well as those she cared for.
Yoko has a round face. I think that was another thing I liked about her. Gave her a innocent girl look.
Sure diehard Yoko fans noticed what’s been wrong with these images so far. Can you guess?
The answer is she is missing her hair accessories ^^;
I was in such a hurry to dress her I forgot her chopsticks and skull hair clip.
I also liked these bracelets Yoko has on. When I saw the pictures, I thought there were part of the hands. When you change her hands form the normal hands to the gloved ones, you slide the bracelets on first. Then after hands are attached, you slide them down over the wrist joints.
Let me take a moment to apologize for the lighting in these photos. Most of these were done at night and unfortunately I don’t have much light available in my room then except for a couple of lamps.
So a lot of these were using flash and / or high ISO settings. Probably could have waited until next day, but I couldn’t wait (or I didn’t want to wait I should say ^^).
I took part of these photos on my Canon EOS 40D and part were taken on my Sony DSC-W290 Cybershot camera. I still need to write about my experience using the Cyber-shot. Coming soon, I promise ^^
I make the EXIF data available on my pictures when I can. You are welcome to look at it and comment on stuff I do on my photostream. Critiques are welcome…as long as its constructive ^^; I don’t make any claims to be a pro at this ^^
I have read some opinions on various websites where people felt Yoko had a big forehead. And I guess I can see why they say that considering a lot of the artwork has her with bangs covering 3/4th of her forehead. But I think considering the styling of the wig, they did the best they could to try and recreate her hairstyle. Personally, I don’t think its that big at all.
The second reason I wanted Yoko was I wanted a Dollfie Dream Dynamite (DDDy). Which is basically the dollfie with the wider hips and bigger busts (larger eyes ^^).
I think Volks did a fantastic job recreating Yoko’s body in Dollfie form.
Full body shot of Yoko, minus skull hair clip, chopsticks, and her rifle.
Yoko certainly has curves in all the right places.
“Yoko Pai” ^^;;
While on the subject of Yoko’s oppai, Yoko was given a new type of Dollfie Dream Dynamite body. Many people (including myself) were surprised that this new “eyes” didn’t have “pupils” like other DDDy bodies. I think this may have been a request given to Volks from Gainax when they licensed them to create her.
Considering Dollfies are “cast off” by nature, Gainax probably wanted to preserve their image of Yoko to the fans.
Yoko came with two sets of hands. The normal Dollfie hands and these gloved hands. From the looks of them, they are painted DDII-H-06 hands.
Did I mention that Yoko has nice curves?? Because she does…
Yoko’s Shita Pai.
Rifle fully assembled. Didn’t take any pictures of it though, as mainly focusing on Yoko. Rifle comes in three pieces to be assembled. Also has two sets of legs, one for when in sniping position, the other when legs should be in folded position on rifle. Also included a pin to attach to rifle.
May take more detailed shots of rifle in future photo shoot.
Yoko in her full gear. I like Yoko’s “character image” clothing, but looking for some more casual clothing for her. I will say this though, the construction of Yoko’s top makes me think that it would be the first thing to come apart with repeated changing. So if you plan on changing your Yoko into and out of her default clothing you may want to take care of the clasps and hooks in her top.
Overall, Yoko is a great addition to my Dollfie family. She is quite charming and I have a lot of interesting ideas for her and Rin for the future.
More photos soon!!
I am ordering Yoko myself, (It would be my first dollfie)and I would also like to buy some diffferent clothes for her. But I don’t know what size clothes to buy or what to look for. I dont want to buy a $50 outfit and realize it doesent fit her. What size is she?
If you are getting clothes from the Volks site, then you have to make sure that it says its for a Dollfie Dream Dynamite body (DDdy).
I have got clothes for her from other sellers and it has been hit or miss for me. A lot of times a normal Dollfie Dream can wear Super Dollfie (SD) clothes, but those usually don’t fit on DDdy bodies. Sometimes it just depends on the maker too, but from my experience DDdy bodies hips and bust are too big for normal SD clothes. Sometimes just have to take a chance though, unfortunately.
Alright, Thank you.
You can see I don’t know much about Dollfies, all these different sizes confuse me.
I will probably try like a fashion doll size outfit next to see if that fits alright. I’ll post something on it regardless, but hoping it does =D
How was your Yoko’s wig? When I put her wig on, the pony tail piece slid off. I was so shocked that it was two pieces. Now I don’t know what to do. T_T Did it behave for you better? I’m just curious to see if it was something I did or if it was a normal thing.
Yes, Yoko’s default wig has been mixed bag for a lot of people. I was fortunate enough that mine was in pretty good condition, but it is so hard to manage. Plus it does have some bald spots on it, like a few other people experienced. Actually in the process of getting her another red wig. I love the ponytail that the default has, but I’m worried that continued use may mess it up.