A few unboxing pics of Alna for twitter comrade Daimaou X.  She is only stopping by for a short visit before making her trek towards her final destination, Singapore!  She is even more lovely up close, a mature beauty.  I’ll have to adopt an Alna one day.

Sakura pics coming tomorrow!

Just an update regarding the Dollfe Dream Sakura lotto draw.  I put order in Tuesday May 4th with the last day to enter the drawing being May 7th.  Winners were scheduled to be notified on Friday May 14th, so needless to say it was going to be a long wait.

Image Source:  ameblo.jp/10be/entry-10528912363.html

On May 16th (a little past projected contact time) finally received the good news from VOLKS USA.  I had won my DD Sakura Matou as well as her Black Transformation set.  I had entered for all of her outfits, which also included the swimsuit and casual wear.  Unfortunately I did not win those, but pretty happy that I did get Sakura and the transformation set was the one I really wanted anyway.

I remained positive that I would secure Sakura mainly because I have always had good luck when ordering on the VOLKS USA site.  Plus I have a secret technique that seems to work when it comes to lotto draws ^^;;

More importantly, thank you again for all of you who helped make it possible by purchasing items I was selling and through kind donations!

I say that because Sakura wasn’t the only Dollfie Dream I won from the Dolpa 23 lotto.  I also entered for DDdy Alna, the latest of VOLKS Afterschool Akihabara Girls.  She isn’t for me though, I actually made this entery for my comrade Daimaru X.  He has big plans for her too, can’t wait to see him bring out her potential.

She is absolutely gorgeous.  She will make many people happy!

Another great angle!

Both Alna and Sakura are scheduled for August delivery according to email.  But considering I got Rin and Yoko ahead of projected schedule last year, have a strong feeling I may see these girls before then.  Alna won’t be with me long though, as soon as she arrives she will be heading across the world!  But don’t worry, Sakura will be around to see her at Ultima-i and already have some great Sakura x Rin ideas.

Alna Images from her official page:  http://www.volks.co.jp/jp/hag/item_ddalna.html

VOLKS has put up an After Event page for those  that still haven’t had an opportunity to try and secure one of those great girls.  And though I haven’t talked about her, you can also go there to adopt MDD Maria Ushiromiya – she is a cutie pie!!

English site can be found at : http://www.volks.co.jp/en/dollfiedream/index_dollfiedream.aspx

Japanese site here : http://www.volks.co.jp/jp/event/dolpa23/after.html

Info about the web order portion isn’t available yet (still finalizing I suppose) but you can check those pages out to see some of the other great items that were available at Doll Party 23.  Many nice outfits, accessories, and of course lovely Super Dollfies for those that prefer resin dolls.  As always, I personally will be waiting for the clothes and accessories to appear on VOLKS USA.

I may see if I can try to get the two Sakura outfits I missed depending on how high the traffic volume is on the site during the after event.

Just a little sneak peek of Yoko’s “Sexy Dynamite” outfit.  Have quite a few plans for shoots utilizing this outfit.  Still working out details, but figured I could at least show off the outfit.  Enjoy – only 5 pictures include the one above.

New wig too.  Need to fix it up a bit, a little messy.

Merry Christmas everyone.  I hope that everyone is having a fantastic Christmas day, hopefully spending it with your loved ones.

Lucky for me, I get to celebrate the day with a day off from my job.  Also got to leave work early, at 2 pm instead of the normal 5 pm end time.  Certainly a great perk of my current job over when I worked in retail.  During those times, the store wouldn’t close until 11 pm Christmas Eve and we wouldn’t get out of there until 1 or 2 am because we had to ‘zone’ (clean up) the store before we were allowed to leave.

This Christmas is my first as a dollfie owner, having entered into the world of dollfies this year.  Many owners refer to their dollfies as children, so its not uncommon to hear owners calling themselves “parents” or referring to their “sons” or “daughters” when referring to their dollfies.  I personally call them my “girls” ^^

My two girls are Rin Tohsaka and Yoko.  I decided to get them both special outfits for the holidays, so I went with the holiday sets Volks offer.  Rin is wearing the White Christmas set and Yoko the Christmas Carol set.  I will say that if have a dollfie with a DDdy body that Christmas Carol would be a better choice.  Explain in a bit.  Which outfit do you prefer?

Rin is my white queen and Yoko is my red queen.  Cookie for those that get the reference ^^

Care to guess what’s inside the boxes.  Maybe I’ll make that a contest ^^;

Hint:  They are specially crafted items.  Made by a local artisan, even the box was handmade.

Lovely Yoko.  She looks great in red, almost didn’t put it on her because her hair is red.  Originally I was going to have her wear the White Christmas set, but the way that dress was made is hard to fit on Yoko’s Dynamite (DDdy) body.  Both dresses were made before the DDdy body was out, so they are suggested for regular dollfies with L busts.  I found that the Christmas Carol dress can fit, though not zip up all the way in the back.

Sure its not noticeable to casual viewer and probably couldn’t tell unless saw the back.  Think it still looks nice on her though, and if you have get one for your DDdy daughter, this would be a safer choice.

Rin is so gorgeous.  This is my favorite shot of her from this set.  I mentioned before I got Rin because I regretted missing my chance for Saber dollfie.  I will admit that for a while I was unappreciative of her, wishing she was Saber.  What I mean was that while I enjoyed having her, I was envious of those that had Saber and wished she was Saber.

But I was being unfair to Rin thinking that way T-T.  After seeing what some other Rin owners, I began to appreciate her more and more.  Rin is a versatile girl capable of executing a lot of great looks, so much so that she looks like an entirely new dollfie.  I would still love to one day be a proud Saber owner, but I learned its not fair to compare my girls like that.  They all each have their own unique qualities that make them lovely!!

If you asked me today, I wouldn’t trade my Rin for anything.  I am very happy that I can say she is my first dollfie!!

I love Yoko as much as Rin.  Yoko is special to me as well and I wouldn’t trade her for anything either.

There are some out there that don’t care for Yoko though.  Two main things I usually hear about is they don’t like her face, others don’t like that her ‘eyes’ lack ‘pupils’ and are more like ‘steamed buns’ – but I love Yoko’s steamed buns XD LOL

I was trying to go for a little different pose here.  But when I was processing these photos and writing up my post for figure.fm, I noticed that this pose looked a lot like the one Domon Kasshu and Rain Mikamura had towards the end of G Gundam.

Sekiha Santa Santa Tenkyoken

Feel the power of the holidays!

Back when I worked retail I really hated the holidays.  Mainly because a lot of people would just act stupid.  Black Friday was always the worst.  People would wait outside stores, in the cold, all night just to fight for sale items.  And when I say fight, I mean physically fight for the items.  Christmas Eve would be as bad because people would be doing last minute shopping.  I don’t do shopping on Black Friday or Christmas Eve because those are the days you can expect stores to be packed full.

I try to remember what the holidays are really about.  Even if you aren’t religious, one can still appreciate them.  Concepts like good will and peace are not exclusive to any one religion.  I recall as a kid, Christmas was more about presents than anything else.  My parents saved up so my sister and I wouldn’t do without, and my mom usually picked up stuff throughout the year when it was on sale.  As a teen, presents weren’t important and we really didn’t worry about the gift giving aspect of the holidays anymore.

Still have the holiday dinner.  Not as many people attend like when I was a kid, so its a lot smaller.  But the food is still delicious!!  And there is of course still leftovers for the days following Christmas LOL ^^

I was hoping to take my girls up to the state capitol to take photos of them with Christmas decor there.  I got the idea when I saw these photos on Flickr.  Main reason for not going was I was waiting on some stocking / shoes I ordered to arrive.  Still waiting on them ^^;;  Plus the weather has been against me the days leading up to Christmas.  Have to schedule it out better next year =D

I may still go up there tomorrow.  Of course, never been up to the capitol building so not sure about the security there.  Maybe I should scout it out first, else I may be posting pics from the back of a police car / inside a jail cell ^^;;

Point is next year I will have some more festive holiday dollfie pics!  Give myself enough time next year to maybe even do some holiday cards.  Would that be something you would like to see?

Did you enjoy your Christmas Day??  If you got presents, was it something you wanted?  Did you eat (too much) tasty food??  Were you able to spend it with the people you love??  I hope you answered ‘Yes’ to all those questions.

(I wouldn’t take a pic of Yoko’s steamed buns, would I? ^^  Hard to resist sometimes lol)

Got to ask, any photographers out there that wear glasses ever have difficulty when focusing through the viewfinder of your camera?  I notice that some of photos can be somewhat blurrier than I thought they were when I was taking it.  Still consider myself a novice photographer, so sure its something that I can correct with continued practice.  But I am open to any tips from seasoned photographers.

This is my favorite Yoko pic from the set.  A bit over exposed but that’s the way I wanted it.

Again I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday.  Christmas begins the final countdown for the year to me.  This time next week we will be getting ready to usher in a new year.  That means I have to once again think up some resolutions for 2010.  Also need to write up my look back at 2009.  And of course gear up for the new year!!

On the recommendation of my Xbox Live friend Motoko Yamamoto, I decided to check out the site Dollmore and picked up a few new threads for my girls.  There were quite a few things I wanted, but I had to pass on some of it for now ^^;

I will say that Yoko’s big hips and chest certainly makes it hard to shop for her.  Rin on the other hand…I didn’t think she would look as good as she did with those pants =D

You can see more pics on my photostream over at flickr.

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!!