havraniko

[havraniko]

Dobermann's trip part 2.

Landed in Nantes (from Venice), heading to the train station to go to Rennes. Passing by some random castle. It has a moat with ducks. And a moan with sheep. Sheep. By the castle.

That's Rennes. A nice quiet city with no tourists. We stayed here for two days, because it's easier to go to Mont-Saint-Michel from here than from Paris. Didn't take the doll out here.

Dobermann at Mont-Saint-Michel. This is likely the most boring photo I could have taken there, but I was too shy to take her out in crowded places.

In front of Notre Dame. The cathedral is beautiful, but can't say what makes it better than any other gothic church. Is it all because of Hugo? (beaten that book from the third attempt). Anyway, I like gothic architecture a lot.

The lessons that I learnt:

1. Take the doll you have a bond with. Not the one that arrived two days ago and just can stand better than others.

2. Pick the outfit that would fit the trip. Or take a few.

3. Don't be shy. No one cares anyway.

4. I should learn about posing.

5. I would love to take a BJD with me, but they're big, heavy and fragile.

[havraniko]

An interlude before part two of Dobermann's Ctrl C Ctrl V shots in France.

So here's the selected top 10.

1. Pantheon, Rome. I like this temple a lot. Visited it twice. Both times were almost 'skip the line'. Both times there were so many people and such chaos. For the first visit, I didn't understand that I stood in the wrong line and nobody enlightened me. Realized just after entering. The second time was a free Sunday. The number of people was terrific. I thought that I'd have to spend all day just in line, but then I spotted a short line between two long ones. It didn't take us more than half an hour to enter.

2. Florence. One of the statues on piazza della Signoria.

3. Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence. A very beautiful and amazing cathedral. Last trip, we went up the dome, and the next day - up the bell tower. A lot of stairs for two days in a row. I'm used to stairs, but that was a little bit too much (though, wouldn't mind repeating).

4. Venice. One of my favorite photos from this year's trip. It was raining, we were crossing one of many canals, and there was a little flower slowly floating on the water. It was peaceful, melancholic and some kind of zen. Whatever. I'm bad at describing my thoughts and feelings.

5. Venice. In front of piazza San Marco. Or more correct, it's behind me.

6. Mont-Saint-Michel abbey, Normandy. Visiting it was my dream since I learnt about it in my art history class. Coming closer and closer. The photo is rather documental than artistic, but this place is important to me, so let it be.

7. Tour Eiffel, Paris. Not as breathtaking (or how to call it) as it always pictured, but an interesting experience anyway. The wall that surrounds it is surely disappointing. Never knew about it.

8. Just an oak leaf on a mosaic floor in Pompeii. Previous trip.

9. Ospedale delle Bambole (doll hospital), Naples. It exists for over 100 years and is still managed by the same family. Now it's mostly a museum, I suppose. But they still repair toys, mostly antique dolls. I desperately wanted to see this place, but it's possible only as a guided tour (15 minutes or so). The guy, who works there, was too busy showing the place to local kids, so he told us to come in the evening. It was our last day in Italy, so we didn't have much choice. When we returned, which he obviously wasn't expecting, he grumbled a little but sold us tickets anyway and made a quick tour.

10. Barcelona on film 2 years ago. Not a phone photo, but i like this one. Looks like it's a couple decades old already.

Sometimes Europe feels stuck in time, like it hasn't changed in 200 years. There's a certain comfort in that, a feeling I desperately need in my own city, which lost its face ages ago. Old buildings are ripped down, even if they have a 'historical monument' label, glass and concrete monstrosities are erected instead. Solely for money. Most of the population can't even afford a shoebox. So these soulless monuments to greed stay empty, useless, ugly scars.

Can't tell if I'm more depressed before vacations or after dragging myself back to this. All I know is, I want out. I want back.

[havraniko]

Received dobermann Marcello from Sicily's past this week. This series is by Jidong, the creators of 10.000 escape plans. He's MJD and his posing is amazing. He isn't falling apart, as half of my BJD-type blind box dolls. He's cool, but still. Something is off. Just the fact that he's MJD. BJDs are.. cozy? Don't know how to describe it. Just that I for sure like BJD more. For some reason.

And he's too tiny.

[havraniko]

Returned from my European holiday this week. Every vacation I wanted to take a doll with me because I like travel photos with dolls. But every time I didn't have a perfect candidate which would be small, lightweight and steady. Cute electronic pets arrived just in time, and I chose Doberman. Not really satisfied. I feel that her clothes are not quite appropriate. And I'm terrible at posing. All photos look kinda the same (I look the same way in pictures. Maybe that's the case).

Here's Castel Sant'Angelo, and I absolutely hate that phone camera blurs the background. I didn't want to use a normal camera because it would be too long and inconvenient.

Near Pantheon. Best Take feature of Google Pixel sometimes is funny.

Merch of Jubilee 2025 in front of Vatican.

Park near villa Medici. The clock is 19th century. It was restored not so long ago, but already shows the wrong time and looks abandoned.

Il Duomo! (Florence)

A lot of water around (Venice). I love water.

Glass things that Venice is famous for are everywhere (so called Murano glass). But not all of it is authentic.

That was part 1, Italy. I hit the 10 images limit, so there'll be part 2, France.

Maybe I'll post some photos that are not doll-related. I've been using this phone since last May and there's already almost 10.000 photos. I need to share at least my favorite ones.

[havraniko]

On Monday I received another parcel from China. At last, this time it contained Cute Electronic Pets. I was unpacking them for a couple of days. I like receiving parcels, it's exciting. Even better, when there's gifts. Participating in crowdfunding was a fun and interesting experience.

This is a pack of six (I was a little bit late for all-in, so no a hidden sheep for me, alas), an alternative dog, bunch of unpainted heads, two headbacks, a body, one outfit and a heap of bonus hands. Also decals that are a sorry-gift for delays. And coloring pages. Didn't take proper photos of all of these, since taking it out of the box created chaos. Phew.

Pics of some already unpacked pets.

A dog and an alternative dog. I think I like those two the most.

A leopard (not sure though who she is exactly) wearing doberman's hair and Penny's box outfit. I thought that she would be the first to go, but she was destined to stay. She's cozy.

I even took her for a walk today. It was unnerving, so the photo is just one.

Also thought that a snail would stay. But I sold her. As well as a cat and a seal (at least those two were intended to be sold from the start). I was surprised that 5 people contacted me within a minute to buy them. Wish my Minty and Penny's beasts sales were that successful

But I kept an alternative snail.

A shitty group shot.

Still didn't unpacked a battle rabbit. She's the last one.

Doberman wearing a leopard's shirt has a t.A.T.u. vibe.

I expected them to have flaws since it was the first batch. But they're perfect. They don't even have wires inside and still pose well.

[havraniko]

Oh come on Tumblr. Marking almost all of my posts as mature. You gotta be kidding.

[havraniko]

Finally painted akubi faceplate and made a mouth piece. Far from perfect, but better than nothing.

[havraniko]

Follow her and no one will ever see you again.

[havraniko]

Got a prism for photos. Never thought that it would be this hard to use. One moment the sun ray is there, the next it's gone, and you’re stuck chasing it, trying to direct it onto the doll for an hour (couldn't try any longer because it's quite painful for neck and hands).

One hand stretched as high as possible, the other gripping a phone. If I’d tried this with a camera instead, I’d probably lose my mind.

[havraniko]

[havraniko]

Little friend

[havraniko]

Waiting for the spring

[havraniko]

A small review this time, otherwise I'd end up spending another whole week writing a post again.

Got an Inedible doll (Lunar Leap: Rabbit Babes Collection) from aliexpress on Monday. I regret a lot that I missed the crowdfunding. Mostly because of the limited dolls and the hidden one. They're way too expensive now (but I ordered both limited rabbits anyway. Now I declare that I'm done with buying blind boxes as if).

The doll is cute. The quality is great. Posing is great. I've never managed to make a doll stand on one leg before.

The stopper mechanism in ankles and wrists is awesome. Every doll maker should do that.

The thing that I don't like is that the ears aren't attached with magnets. They're molded as part of the head. The only advantage to that is they can't be lost. And the face plastic is not like other dolls from blind boxes. It's hard and glossy. Feels fragile.

Plus, the clothes isn't perfect.

I'll give the rabbit second place in my blind box rating (first is penny's box).

[havraniko]

Stages of my relationship with blind boxes

1. Oh god, those clones are everywhere. And don't you even dare call them BJD!

2. Last spring: this Penny dragon is a copy of that cool, big Dollzone dragon that's too big for me to handle, so I should definitely grab a small one!

2. Few months later: 10,000 escape plans are cool, I'll take one, thank you. And maybe that cool red goat as well.

…

4. Now: got one pack from Xiaohongshu and one from Taobao, waiting for one to be sent from Modian (Electronic pets), and participating in one current crowdfunding (Nyssa). Not even mentioning two dolls from Ali who are on their way. And I just ordered one more doll. And three more. Just because they were good deals and I didn't want to regret again.

Please, send help.

Last week my first Chinese parcel arrived.

It all started because of the Electronic pet series. My desire to get the white dog of these series and unwillingness to pay scalpers was stronger than my confusion with Chinese platforms. So I went through all the trouble of making and filling up Alipay account, and signing up on Modian. Some people tried to scare me by saying that only Chinese citizens can order from Modian, but it's not like that at all. Although, I was a bit late for the all-in, so I ordered just a pack of six. Still waiting for them to be shipped. I could have already received a basic pack, but I didn't want to make two parcels for them (because they can't ship bonuses yet). They supposedly should ship in March.

It's not so scary as it seemed, after all. The worst part is that everything is in Chinese (circle to search is a saviour). I'm still worried about getting banned on Tao since my previous account was banned for no reason (though there weren't any purchases on it).

Got Minty fantasy forest pack and one outfit from COME4FREE shop on Xiaohongshu. It was unexpected for me that they put six cute headbands as a gift. That's sweet of them. Also got Penny's box magic beasts from Tao. It was right before Chinese New year, so I had nice coupons for all. Penny's small gift is a cute badge.

Ordered whole packs because I liked the series overall, but wasn't sure which doll in particular to get. And I also hoped for a chance at secret ones. Well, I've never even once won a lottery, so this time was no exception. Not that I'm surprised, but still, a little frustrated. I had hope till the very last box.

Keeping a cat and a squirrel. The rest will go. Never sold anything before, but I'll try.

Macrocat

Of all the blind box dolls I have, penny are the best. They pose well, nothing falls off or looks like it will break if squeezed slightly stronger. And I really like hip joints of magic beasts series.

Minty are cute and make cute poses. I took the wire out right after taking dolls out of the box because 1. it would break sooner or later, 2. it stains. Also I can't make the squirrel stand, her head is way too heavy.

Macrosquirrel with macroears

The tail is the size of the doll herself. Huge.

[havraniko]

Planned to post this photo earlier with a caption fitting the vibe, but my head is absolutely empty.

[havraniko]

He's cute after all

[havraniko]

The zombie outfit for escapee has arrived. I don’t have much experience buying ready-made clothes, so the plastic box impressed me. Even more impressive was the scented silica gel, which forced me to air out the outfit for a while because the smell made me nauseous.

The clothes themselves are nice but not perfect — some loose threads here and there, and the black piece doesn’t fit very well. But overall, I like it. And it's definitely way better than the maid outfit that my red goat is wearing on a photo above.

I guess that this piece of paper (a seal?) should be held by some kind of exorcist (a monk?), but the zombie demon got it.