So I ordered one of the Lord of the Rings Miniverse balls.
Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/46PpgQA
You might remember the whole Miniverse line was recalled recently, and these have a different resin that's supposed to comply with regulations the older resin did not comply with. So they already knew before the recall.
I've been warned this new resin does NOT cure.
It's supposed to come with a tip for the resin bottle and a micro funnel because the mold is itty bitty and nearly impossible to fill otherwise...
Finger for comparison... My nozzle was missing, so I didn't even try to work with the resin it came with and used my own. The tiny crucible resin bottle looks like a coffee pot or edgy tumbler.
The mold is EXTREMELY difficult to fill because it's so small and narrow and I struggled with my thicker UV resin.
I got "Elven Dagger" which is rather generic, but it did come with two hilts so I could try twice and this little box of tiny tools which are, IMO, the best part of the whole thing. The "file" has sandpaper glued to it so it actually works, and the vial is metallic powder.
I'm starting to think no one at MGA actually knows how UV resin works because the instructions say to coat the inside of the mold with the silver powder, fill it, plop the hilt on the top, and cure.
With the already too-opaque mold coated in powder and a cap over the only area that ISN'T coated in powder, there's no way for UV light to get to the resin.
So I didn't do that.
What I did do was mix up some glow-powder and mica into clear resin and cast that.
The piece is so thin and narrow that even after curing it was bendable. There were two large air bubbles; one right at the tip of the dagger and one near the hilt. I tried to patch them in but had some trouble...
The hilt popped right out of the resin while I was attempting to demold which was a pain, but it did cure.
Anyway, here's my messed up elven dagger, which is even more messed up because I ended up coating it with some UV builder gel to keep the tip on and THAT didn't feel like curing all the way, either, so I rubbed mica on one side to get rid of the persistent stickiness that was JUST on that side.
The hilt popped out again even though I tried reattaching it with more resin. That would be irritating if it didn't mean I can try again as many times as I want.
The end result is underwhelming and took an hour longer than the whole project needed to, but the little crate of tools is really fun.
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Lady Doolli
I’ve mentioned before that I like blind box toys and ball jointed dolls and now I’m in trouble because there are blind box ball jointed dolls out there.
Lady Doolli is blind boxed but is NOT a BJD though she’s in a similar style. I’d seen these on Amazon for a while and was curious but only recently decided to give one a try.
There is 1 skintone, 6 different hair styles/colors, and it looks like maybe 2 eye colors.
There are also 6 possible outfits.
The dolls and clothing are separate, but are each $26 and both are in the same listing here: https://amzn.to/3OrhHsk
The box is small and cute with a lot of pictures and writing on it, especially making a point to let you know there’s no second outfit in here and they must be bought separately.
The outfits are packed in a little paperboard box shaped like a garment bag. It says 2022 Spring, so I wonder if there are many other outfit sets that have been released.
To be honest, I don’t care for any of these outfits, really. Figured I should get one to review, at least.
Both the doll and outfit are packed in these silver foil bags inside the boxes. There’s no plastic shell or anything to hold their position in the packaging. They’re just loose in there.
I got dark, long hair with a side part with blue and purple eyes, and almost missed the tiny little bag of extra hands inside the silver bag. She does come already dressed in the pajamas.
I tried to get a good photo of the face screening but my phone is a potato. There’s a good amount of detail with a simple layout. She has eyeshadow, blush on the cheeks, chin, nose, and brows, a little lip line to separate her lips... It’s a cute face, but I do prefer my dolls to not look sad or startled.
She does have rooted hair which is silky and smooth. It’s a little stiffer than Kiwi nylon (Rainbow High) while still being soft.
She also has a couple paint spots on her face that look to be from the eyebrow paint.
The rooting isn’t super dense in some areas.
Her head is harder than a Barbie’s head but is squishable to a degree so her eyes could be removed and replaced with some heat and her hair could be rerooted if you wanted.
Hair drop on a new doll head is normal. This looks like a plug or two which didn’t get anchored.
I’m impressed with the posing. The joints are stiff enough to hold a pose but easy to move other than her hips which take a little bit more pressure, and have a high range of motion.
The torso joints aren’t as mobile as the arms and legs, though.
Her head can look up and down or tilt left and right depending on how you turn the neck joint which is a simple hinged ball.
The backs of the knees...
All of the jointing reminds me of Figmas.
Honestly I feel like the body alone is worth the $26 price tag, AND you get a rooted head with quality hair and inset eyes, a pair of pajamas, and an extra pair of hands.
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Neither outfit that I have has any sort of closures or openings so you do need to remove the head and hands to dress her.
Getting the hands on and off is difficult
Turns out there’s a LOT of flash on her wrist pegs. I did go in and clean that off. There was a good sized bit on her neck ball, too.
Heat up the hands, though, and they go on and off pretty easily.
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As for the outfit.
Silver bag again.
I couldn’t get this headband to stay on her hair because it’s satin and her hair is satiny smooth, but it does have a wire in the “ears” so you can pose it as you wish.
......
LOOK AT THESE TINY LITTLE SHOES!
They have stitches, laces, tongues, glued on rubbery soles with IN SCALE texture on the bottom...
They went on a lot more easily than I expected them to OVER her socks. I did need to get a little stick to pull the back of the heel out and over the doll’s heels. Other than that, easy-easy.
I also didn’t even try to extract and tie the laces. They looked really short and I have poor motor control, so I opted to just shove her feet in there with the laces tucked inside.
The outfit came with shorts, a one-piece sweater and shirt combo, and some long socks. The socks aren’t hemmed but everything else is. Again, no closures, not even an elastic waistband on the shorts. The shorts were a little difficult to put on.
All of the fabrics are soft and despite the sweater having a feelable texture, it’s not rough or scratchy so it’s not kicking off my texture-BAD senses.
Action pose! FWIP!
She can’t quite pull of Sailor Moon’s signature pose.
Here she is next to some other blind box BJD (the others really are BJD). They all could certainly share clothes despite Doolli’s longer, thinner body.
From left to right:
Penny’s Box Antu Natural Wonderland - https://amzn.to/3IqKfOz
SimonToy Teenar Campus Series - https://amzn.to/3IlnGLl
Lady Doolli and outfit pack - https://amzn.to/3MiOflA
Come4Free Bonnie Journey of Streets - https://amzn.to/42QlMKG
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While I do feel that the quality of Lady Doolli is in line with the price (all together she costs $52), and am impressed with, basically, everything about her, I don’t feel a need to buy another. Out of all of the blind box BJD I’ve tried (not pictured here is the Penny’s Box centaurs), the only one I’ve wanted more than one of was Bonnie. I have three.
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[ #WeRate ] Vet's Best Flea and Tick Yard and Kennel Spray: A Natural Solution for Pest-Free Spaces
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