Top 10 toys of 2009 …. #10

 1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Reviews, Top 10 Lists  6 Responses »
Dec 252009
 

Ah! At last! After spending the entire day sorting out my husband’s computer I finally get a chance to say good night to my own! (Ok and post this real quick-like!)

Here is the beginning of my top 10 toys of 2009! (as followed up from the original invite via Shaun Wong)

#10


Description of Toy/Toyline: Momoko. This is a Japanese fashion doll produced by Sekiguchi. Momoko has a strong & devoted following in the doll world. Pricey is the keyword to remember about Momoko. Everything about her is expensive from her clothes onward.

So why did they make my list?

Hmm…Well I have to admit that I got my first Momoko partly to get a real sense of her size & scale (so I could make furniture & clothes & stuff), and partly out of a strong sense of curiosity.  I ended up getting 2 Momokos this year Everyday B-girl & Day off Delight (Day off Delight is shown above in her original appearance, and below with her customized appearance).

So many people extol the virtues of this little doll that I really wondered if I was missing something. (I’m often slow to come into the game where new dolls or figures are concerned).

Momoko dolls do have nice headsculpts that IMO have a lot of potential. It is unfortunate that they are so expensive as I’d like the chance to experiment more with them (but the $$$ they cost makes that unlikely).

Day off delight momoko customized

I think the strongest things that Momoko has going for her is her facial sculpt & the detail of her clothing & accessories. Do I think they’re enough to justify her price? No. Definitely not. That said, her headsculpts are the reason Momoko is on the top 10 for 2009.

Downsides to Momoko -AKA why she’s only 10th on the list

(yes you can tell I’m not a die-hard fan, right?) are the fact that her body articulation is severely lacking. Yes, she has some but it is very limited.  I’m not comparing her to a volks or a Takara CG.  I am in this instance, comparing her to a Fashionista Barbie.  Her wrists only flip up or down, if you want to rotate her hand you need to do the whole arm at the elbow joint. Things like that won’t matter to many collectors–but to me–someone who primarily plays with my figures by setting them up in dioramas, that’s a major point.

My favorite Momoko head (Everyday B-girl which I got in trade from E’mila –see photo below) was quickly popped onto a Volks Beauty B body.  I find that the skintones are a good match and the improved articulation well worth it to me. (I know a lot of Momoko fans would be disappointed about the body swap)

Momoko on a volks dollfie body

Will I be buying more Momokos in the future?
It’s unlikely unless one comes out who for one reason or another really speaks to me. But even then– $50–100+ dollars for a head to pop onto another body sounds a bit crazy to me.

I’ll update tomorrow with #9 on the Top 10 List  :D

 Posted by corset_kitten at 8:08 pm

Fashionista barbie + So in Style = Useable?

 1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, Reviews, Something to share  1 Response »
Nov 022009
 

At last! A doll related post! :woot:

I promised to show what I picked up while I was home re: 1:6/doll hobby. Obviously it wasn’t much (or else I’d have been raving about it from the get go).  What I did find keys in nicely with my desire to have a more diverse population being represented by my collection.

Things I was on the look out for: the Fashionistas barbies (supposedly more articulated than usual and possibly fodder for Frankenstein-ing some body variations)

barbie-fash

I did find them but wasn’t overwhelmed by them. However I did want to pick up their “aa” version since I was hopeful that the body would be a good match for a couple of heads I have.

In my search for them in the capital district (I was riding all around)  I stumbled across the (Barbie) So in Style dolls. They were pricey, and came with mostly junk that I’d never use.

so-instyle-boxed

BUT…I have to admit that I did like the face-molds quite a bit. However–although I was pleased to see that they had the jointed arms & wrists–i was really disappointed to see that they had the bend-and-click legs. Bleh! I thought. xD

So I went back to my plan on buying a couple of Fashionista Barbies.  I wasn’t thrilled with their oversize heads (not quite as huge as the old my scene heads but a damned sight bigger than regular ‘old school’ FF barbies).  Of course, it occurred to me that one of the SIS heads might be a decent match for the “aa” Fashionista body.

Which of course led to me fence-sitting about whether or not it was worth the money to get 1 workable doll by buying two, one of which I only wanted the head of?! I actually spent the entire time I was there having an internal argument with myself about this (I’m very frugal y’know?) I eventually caved, and bought the so in style Kara, figuring her to be the closest match skin-tone wise for the AA body.  However, when I got her (and the fashionistas in the rental car and was maniacally ripping them out of boxes –I earned quite a few looks from the suburban moms in the cars around me)  :D

SISbody-swap

Can you say surprised? The SIS Kara was a better match for the Fashionista Sassy rather than the AA!  Heh.(it’s not the best pic, I know) I’m overall pleased (plus I’d found the SIS on sale at target for a few bucks less than it was at TRU)

Ok, that’s about it on the doll front for now!

 Posted by corset_kitten at 3:56 pm

Otaku revisited

 1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Reviews  2 Responses »
Jul 222008
 

A follow up to my previous post regarding the Otaku figure I received. If you’re a Triad Fan-Boy skip this and read something else…

I went to pick the Otaku up last night from the shelf she was on.
It’s a fairly simple action. Non-invasive. Not rough. Not stressful.
However, somehow–don’t ask me how–in the process– HER LEG FELL OFF!!! :(

WTF?
Ok I can understand Triad saying the hands & feet needed heat and careful handling to remove–but their Quality control REALLLLLLLY must SUCK. I’m sorry, I can’t name another action figure OR doll that I picked it up and a permanently attached body part came off! (with no assistance!)

Looking at the broken joint it is difficult to tell if it was caused by a glue/adhesive failure or if the small bit of resin/plastic just gave up the ghost. It doesn’t look like the plastic has stress-fractures but due to the small size (and I’m not willing to waste my time studying it with a jewelers loupe).

I think I can safely say I am NOT going to be getting any of them in the future unless they are in trade for services or other goods. I AM NOT willing to spend money on something that seems to be lacking.

And yea, I can fix it if I want to put the effort into it. I might. But right now I think I might well be playing frankenstein a lot sooner than I planned. I mean, the figure’s essentially bust (a pisser when I consider the amount of time I spent trying to mod it).

Also another point:as I mentioned previously I am very sensitive to some chemicals and to a lot of agents used in fragrances, cleaners, plastics (yes even some mega house & re-ment product plastics). I commented that the Otaku was very smelly when she arrived.

It’s been a couple weeks now and she’s still stinky enough that I have to keep her on the other side of the room from me. I dunno. I had held out some hope of being able to use these figures as replacements for the FR Ayumi body but the more I deal with it the less likely that seems. I may have to bite the bullet and try to paint a body to match her skintone to get the look I want.

So for me…I just have to say

OTAKU–JUST SAY NO!!!!

Please note that as with everything else posted in this blog & website–these are my opinions only and all readers are welcome to their own opinions. This is my flame-free zone where I am allowed to post my thoughts and reviews on products I’ve obtained.

 Posted by corset_kitten at 11:01 am  Tagged with:

Otaku: are they worth it? *action figure /action doll review*

 1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, Eh, what?, Reviews  7 Responses »
Jun 252008
 

Meet the Otaku 1.0 : Triad Toys newest entry on the market.

(please read this post: Triad’s Otaku Revisited)

the otaku 1.0

So, these figures are supposed to be the next best thing since sliced bread…

Triad Toys has put them out as the most recent offering in the 1:6 scale fem figure market. Anyone involved with the market knows that it’s been slim pickings for a while, and there hasn’t really been the promise of anything new on the horizon (to make the price point drop anyway).

Triad took pre-orders and decided to to a limited run of 1000 figures per skin tone (slated to have 3 skin tones in total) . IMO The preliminary pictures looked ok. Nothing that I personally would rush out to buy, nor, did I feel, it was something that I’d really kick myself in the ass for later if I didn’t get one. Right now a messa folks are going totally ga-ga over them. But I had my reservations… so much so that I didn’t buy one.

I’ve been seeing a lot of pictures of them in the different action figure forums.

Some good. Some bad.

So, how did I end up with one? I, who thought from the get-go the otaku wouldn’t be my cuppa tea? Serendipity. A kind friend and fellow collector let me have one and I have now gotten it in my hot little hands. What do I think?

Ok, I’m spoiled. I’ll admit it. Between the takara cool girls/ cy girls and the volks dollfies I have I’m expecting a high stardard and level of posability.

Let me start with the plus side as I see it:

  • The obvious plus side to it is that it’s 1:6, and its busty.
  • It has a pretty sturdy build which makes for some diversity in the figure pool.
  • The more 1:6 figures out there the better off we, the collectors are. :)
  • The hands are nicely sculpted (for the most part-they still aren’t really feminine enough for my tastes but what the hell. At least it is another pair to add to the supply bin. (I’m going to see if I can change out the pins so i can stick them on the cy girl hands.)
  • whatever resin or plastic the figure is made out of is fairly soft. This is good because it means subtractive modding (such as I have done) is more easily done than with the harder resins and plastics out there.

Now the down sides–as I see them:

  • The posability seemed to be an issue from the start. I mean, Triad marketed these figures as the type to primarily display clothes (lingerie) or nothing at all. They lack the waist and bust joints of the takara cy girl 2.0 and I think that’s a major draw back. These aren’t going to be major players when it comes to using them in photostories and displays (at least not without some serious Frankenstein-ing) I like functional toys-if I wanted pretty-but-useless I’d be collecting porcelain dolls or something along those lines.

I’d like to make a point here that right now the torso of the Otaku is similar to that of the original super dollfies made by volks back around 2000. It’s one piece, no joints and limits how the figure can sit and pose. I’m sure volks wasn’t the first company to use the design, and Triad won’t be the last, but I wanted to comment on it anyway.

  • They have giraffe necks if you want to put any head on it other than the default head. To fix this requires more patience, and a willingness to sand down the neck, and adjust the pegs a bit. Angryboot has shown some pictures of successful headswap & mods and I can see that being something I’ll try on it eventually)
  • They’re smelly. (I know this probably won’t be an issue for anyone else, but I’m very sensitive to smells, especially those of specific plastics & resins (ok and perfumes, and hairsprays & paints …just about everything – LOL) I’ve aired it out for a bit and it isn’t as smelly 3 days later, but it remains to be seen.
  • The figure has a problem keeping her legs closed. :o Seriously. (the plus side to this is that again, the figure is made of carve-able material. See below for the modification outcome).
  • The paint ops the body have been given baffle me a bit. I’m not entirely sure if they’re meant to cover the overall tone of color of the resin/plastic body? Or what. IMO I think the color of the resin without the “body paint” is nicer. Certainly without it and using some chalk pastels you could get some nice effects.
  • The legs are a bit dumpy and short compared to the body. Proportionally the figure is a bit off. Also, the shoulders are really not the kind that will look good in sweaters!

Ok, some pictures now:

Before leg/crotch area modification: Note: this is the maximum her legs can close while seated!!!!

I know, some folks think that’s fine… But you know me… give me a scalpel and off I go! Yea, I could have screwed it up. But…if the figure doesn’t meet all my needs anyway, what is the harm in trying to improve it?

So here are some shots of her after her “surgery”.

They still don’t close enough for my complete satisfaction so I will probably continue to work on them. However I do think that the current mod is an improvement!

So at the end of the day will I be buying any of the next ones to be released?

Yes. Why? HELL NO!!! Read here: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/447

Because I have found out how soft/easy to carve they are and I think I might end up doing a really sever mod so that my Ayumi can have a decent body. Maybe. It depends…I think the new bodies are coming out at the same time as the new Hot Toys figures. And I know I want those.

 Posted by corset_kitten at 5:07 pm  Tagged with: , , ,
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