Suddenly Gabi appeared out of nowhere with a big package that the postman just delivered! Angry Bunny was suspicious so he came out to investigate too.

Gabi whipped open the box and peeled back the protective layer of bubble wrap to check out what was inside. I recognize that distinctive yellow box!

Gabi: “Let’s get this big yellow box upright so that we can have a proper look!”

Peering out from the little window of the big yellow box is Dollfie Dream Aoko Aozaki! She was a limited release at the Volks Doll Party 28 in Tokyo last December.

Rin and Gabi helped ease Aoko out of her box. Angy Bunny is on guard to make sure there’s no doll nudity!

Here’s the first peek at Aoko’s lovely face. She has a very mature looking sculpt, very beautiful blue eyes and a hint of a neko-mouth! How cute!

Aoko: “Stop staring and help me out of here! It’s stifling inside here!”

Here she is out of the box now. I had a quick look over to make sure that everything was in order: arms, legs, feet, and I checked her for any cracks in the elbows. I also installed some aluminum reinforcement pieces from CoolCat as a preventative measure against cracking.

Let’s have a look at the other items that were also inside her box. Aoko doesn’t come with a lot of “stuff” like some other DD girls. She comes with her booklet, her wig, white down coat, brown turtleneck, red dress, brown stockings, panties and her boots.

None of the clothing items are lined, and I have heard from other owners that her stockings can stain so I used a bodystocking underneath her outfit to protect her. The inside and inner soles on the boots are in white, however the zipper is brown so if any of you want to use them alone, put some socks on to protect her heels and back of her legs.

It’s a bit too warm for Aoko to wear her big down coat, so here she is without it – she looks very vibrant and beautiful.

Her wig has a bit of a golden glint to it, and her face is gorgeous!

From the moment the preview photos of her were posted online, people commented how similar her face was to the HDD-07 sculpt – so of course I had to put them side by side. What do you think? There are definite similarities but aside from the obvious difference in the mouth shape, the bridge of Aoko’s nose is taller and the tear duct area is more defined.

Thank you for joining me in welcoming this lovely new girl to my doll family! I’ve been patiently awaiting her arrival for several months now, but I’m very happy to be able to share her with all of you!

- ♥ Archangeli

Omake (Extra):

Bubba trying to help unpack Aoko -

Any Dollfie Dream owning comrades out there coming to Anime North 2013?

If so, bring the girls out for a meetup at the Dollfie Dream panels at Doll North on Friday, May 24, 2013.

PlasticFantastic and I will be presenting 2 panels on Dollfie Dreams and we’d love to have you and your dolls attend. Our panels will be starting at 7:00pm and 8:00pm in the Crowne Plaza Toronto Airport Hotel (33 Carlson Court, Toronto, Ontario, M9W 6H5)

Each panel will have a slightly different focus – so we’ve nicknamed them Dollfie Dream 101 and Dollfie Dream 201! ^__~”

We will be discussing things such as:
- A brief history of Volks and Dollfie Dreams
- Basic care and maintenance
- Evolution and differences between body types
- How to get a DD
- Modifications
- Customization

If there are other topics you’d like us to discuss, please leave a comment!

Here’s a picture from the Dollfie Dream panel last year

For more information about 6th annual Doll North, visit the Anime North website! There is lots of exciting doll programming and it’s not only about resin BJDS’s – Blythe dolls, Monster High, all are welcome!

I hope to meet some of you there!

♥ Archangeli

This is one of my favourite photos of the day – Rin, Serena, nkei’s Summer and MrCool’s Sawako relaxing in a beautiful sakura tree.

Summer is a DD Rise Kujikawa, but nkei has styled her so beautifully in soft pastel greens that she is like a beautiful faerie!

Summer’s little sister, Aiko, came out to say hello too. Her sweet face and endearing eyes are so adorable.

Just look at that little face!

MrCool brought his new girl with him. She’s going to be customized into Sawako Kuronuma eventually, but for now she’s nameless >_<”

CenturyStory brought Primula in this flowing green gown. It made me think of seductive character “The Lady in the Green Kirtle” in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair, by C.S. Lewis.

She’s has such a mysterious, dangerous expression here.

Hubby and I couldn’t agree on who to bring with us, so to be fair we each picked one girl.

Rin is totally his princess, and it’s easy to see why. She looks absolutely adorable with her little cat ears.

I had a sentimental reason for bringing Serena out with me. A year ago, I was in Tokyo at Dolpa and it was the last time that I saw my dear friend D.ark. I can’t believe it’s been a year that she’s been gone. I wanted to bring Serena because I know that D.ark would have loved to see her girl out on such a lovely day.

For a bit of fun – how many Dollfie Dreams can we fit into the tree?
Five?

Six!

Amazing!

Afterwards a few of us went out to Joon’s Korean Restaurant for dinner. It was a fun-filled day, which is part of the spirit of what going out for hanami is about!

Kevin was a bit bummed that we didn’t get some photos of the dolls in wa-loli dresses (which is a mash-up of Lolita and traditional kimono/ yukata) so hopefully the weather will hold out and we can come back to the park later in the week for more pictures!

- ♥ Archangeli

Omake (Extra):

Serena and Rin hanging out under a parasol while the other girls are busy posing.

Here are Madeleine, Rin, Sakura and Melty wearing lovely spring yukata in homage to this lovely Japanese tradition.

The morning light is very soft and the girls look so pretty.

Melty is PlasticFantastic’s newest girl, and she looks so pretty in this pink bunny-print yukata.

Here are a few more beautiful photos from the early morning outing:

It looks so calm and serene, but Kevin told me that by 9am the park was filled with people! I was pretty bummed that I couldn’t join them, since I was working, but hopefully the flowers and weather would hold out for a few days so that I could head to the park too!

- ♥ Archangeli

Our theme for this meetup was “Spring Cleaning” so aprons and cute maids were abundant! Mmmm so much doll meat!

I’m glad that it was a beautiful day, I’ve really missed having outdoor meetups!

I brought Sidonie, wearing the adorable Royal Highness set by puppy52. This little apron and maid hat work very nicely with the outfit and Sid looks ready to lend a helping hand!

Rin is casually ready to help out too in her pink springtime sakura-print apron.

Little Médée was not about to be left out too, she threw on an apron and is ready to tackle some cleaning!

PlasticFantastic brought her beautiful Asuka and Rei both in co-ordinating maid outfits! So much cuteness!

While Asuka wasn’t paying attention, CenturyStory’s Primula snuck in and took Rei’s place. These 2 maids in red look so cool!

Little Maya wandered off to picked some wildflowers.

Di-chan123′s Sia is ready to get to work!

And she quickly went at scrubbing up some iron bars -

We had an adorable collection of tiny resins at this meet too!

From the left we have Nurlindae’s Ellie (Soom Sammi), Nyx (Soom Bygg), Rini (Soom Ai) Mirwyn (Soom Keny) and Tallenvyaere’s Acheron. Nurlindae took the Spring Cleaning theme very seriously, and she cleaned out some old fabric at home to make new outfits for her dolls! Wow!

I was quite taken with little Acheron. He is a Luts Zuzu Mir and so cute!

Di-chan123 also brought Shana (MDD Louise) who is hanging around with Médée and Maya.

Tanu-chan brought her little Kari.

And MrCool brought pretty Yukino out.

Here’s Kai-Suteki’s Tai being the bad-ass of the group, with her cigarette and shades.

Kai also brought Selene, who is a VMF50 Yumi doll. This was my first time seeing a VMF50 up close and I was a bit surprised since she’s so slender and dainty.

Juu-Yuki brought her newest addition with her, her cute Sora Kasugano custom. She’s so shy and sweet!

Photo by: Meo

Meo brought Lucy, and she was wearing a beautiful white dress. It was a bit difficult for me to get decent photos of Lucy in the direct sunlight, but here in the shade you can see her adorable face.

Nkei brought her newest doll, a beautiful DD Rise Kujikawa who she has named Summer. She looks like a lovely fairy with her soft green hair and striking green eyes.

And she brought Kotone (DD Lucy) and Kohane (DD Nia) who are hanging out with PF’s Rei on this nice little bench.

Photo by: Di-chan123

Sid really liked being outdoors. It was one of the first sunny and warm days of the year – we’ve had a very unseasonably cold spring so far.

Rin brought her nekomimi ears with her, and she looks absolutely adorable with them on!

Photo by: AkaTG

Shana pointing out the CN Tower in the distance.

Photo by: Di-chan123

Here are a few photos of lunch at Manpuku: takoyaki, curry don, unagi-don and other tasty dishes!

Afterwards a few of us went to Kenzo Ramen for dinner, and in lieu of dessert we hit up a Sugar Mountain candy store and all bought bags of candy! ^__^”
If you’re like to check out the rest of my photos, they are in this Flickr set but I highly recommend checking out AkaTG’s blog post on the day, his photos are beautiful!

Can’t wait until our next meetup!
– ♥ Archangeli

Omake (Extra):

Apparently the boys were happy to be outside too! Here are Batman and Sam up in a tree!

Photo by Di-chan123

Some colourful chicks made a nest in Acheron’s hair! 0__0″

Photo by: Meo

And a bit of behind-the-scenes action! Here’s Batman holding Shana so that di-chan123 can take a photo!

The cardigan is a nice quality knit and I was surprised to see that the 2 buttons are functional! I was expecting them to be decorative only, with a hidden snap behind them. There is a reinforced edge and white lining on the inside of where the buttons and button-holes are. If you really don’t like dealing with buttons, it is possible to put the cardigan on without unbuttoning the front, but you’ll need to remove the hands from your DD in order to fit through the sleeves. The way that the cardigan is shaped lays very nicely over the back of the skirt without any bunching.

The skirt is made of a dusty pink micro-suede. If any of you own the Volks Cherised Rose Set, it’s actually the same fabric! For this skirt there appears to be a very thin layer of interfacing fused to the back to help it hold the pleats more crisply. The skirt does up in the back with just a light pink zipper and the inside of the waistband is lined in white. I wish that Volks would put curved waistbands into some of their skirts to make them sit on the hips better. This skirt just kind of hangs on the hips and doesn’t fit very nicely but this is a common problem and one they aren’t likely to remedy any time soon.

The blouse is made of a very pretty textured white cotton. Again, if you own the Cherished Rose set, and are curious, the blouse is made of the same fabric that is used in the middle panel of the dress. The blouse does up the front with a row of metal snaps. There is a tiny bit of brown ribbon on the inside of the blouse I don’t think it should be a staining worry because the spot is in the doll’s cleavage and wouldn’t have contact with the vinyl! ^__~” Here’s Aerie wearing just the top and skirt so you can see how they look on their own. So pretty!

This is nice set, but honestly, with a retail price is ¥6615  it wasn’t a very good value since it only came with 3 pieces, but they are very pretty and versatile, and I can see myself using them to make other outfits. I really wish it had come with a pair of socks or maybe a hairband – just something else because this was the same price as the Lace-Up Top set and that set had so many more bits and pieces.

This set has sold out on the Volks international web store, but a limited stock should arrive at Volks USA for North American customers in a few months.

I hope you this set of outfit reviews was helpful. I know personally I like to know what the inside of outfits look like, if they will stain, etc. before I leave them on a doll for long periods. If there’s an outfit set that I own that you would like me to review, don’t be shy to leave me a comment! ^__^”

- ♥ Archangeli

[Disclaimer: I bought this set with my own money. I don't work for Volks, am not affiliated with them in any way, nor do I get any form of compensation from them. I'm writing these reviews just to share my observations.]

It arrived in a beautiful box and Hinata was very excited to receive this present! What can be inside?

Alright, I’ll be honest, we were both super excited to open up the package so I forgot to take a photo of all the items inside, but here’s Puppy52′s photo from her blog -

Puppy52 knew that this would be a gift for Hinata (since she’s my only DDdy! Hehehe!) and drew this beautiful picture of her! It’s so gorgeous!! *___* Thank you!

I love how the jeans hug the DDdy3′s curves! Puppy52 omitted the belt loops on these capri jeans so there is less bulk at the waistband when tops are worn loosely over top of them.

There are so many pieces that Hinata would look a bit silly wearing them all at once, so Serena is here to help model too!

(Note: Fur stole on Serena by Volks)

This skirt is designed to fit on all Dollfie Dream body types and it’s so pretty! Hinata couldn’t let Serena walk away with it, so here she is modelling it with some cute coordinating stockings. Hinata is showing off a beautiful ‘Red Wine’ coloured wig to coordinate with this outfit set – do you like it on her?

I’m thrilled to own this beautiful set! Puppy52 has just listed a new one-off set for sale as well – details are on her blog. If you like it, please support her wonderful work!

- ♥ Archangeli

>

The adorable hoodie is sized for MSD, all bust ranges of MDD and I have a sneaking thought that I might be able to fit Gabi (DDS with S-bust) into it too ^__~” It features a functional zipper, and cute little bows as fake pockets.

The tank top is made of stretchy ribbed cotton jersey and has a nice wide strip of velcro in the back. The fabric itself is stretchy however the top and bottom edges of the top are not.

The skirt is actually 2 separate pieces! The top layer is a delicate white tulle with a lace trim and elasticized waistband. The main piece of the skirt is very pretty pink chiffon with fuzzy dots and red polka dots and flowers printed on it. The chiffon is layered over white cotton to make the print stand out more. The skirt closes in the back using 2 metal snaps.

There are pair of grey knee-high socks included, and after wearing them for several hours there are no signs of staining.

If you’ve become smitten with it, this super cute set is still available on Volk’s webstore, retail price is 5460 yen.

- ♥ Archangeli

[Disclaimer: I bought this set with my own money. I don't work for Volks, am not affiliated with them in any way, nor do I get any form of compensation from them. I'm writing these reviews just to share my observations.]

In my personal option this set was one of the best values of the sets released at the Osaka 7 DP (retail price is 6615 yen) since it came with so many components!

The long-sleeved over-shirt is made of a very light-weight ribbed jersey. The grey trim on the collar is lined with white on the inside. An interesting feature is that there’s a useless piece of elastic sewn into the inside seam the sleeve at the bottom. It creates a casual gather of the sleeve but does nothing to improve the fit. The cord that laces up the front of the shirt is black leather cord (or fake leather? I’m not sure), not ribbon.

The tube top is made of black patterned cotton (if you purchased the Argyle Cardigan set, or own the Cherished Rose set, you’ll recognized the fabric! ^__~”) and is fully lined in white cotton on the inside. Care was taken to finish all the edges that would touch a doll using white thread and this is particularly obvious in the back. The tube top fastens in the back with 3 metal snaps and one hook & thread-loop. None of the white threads are visible once the tube top is worn. I checked Lily after wearing the top for 5 hrs, and again 24 hrs later and there was no sign of any staining.

The skirt is a brown tone-on-tone plaid with black lace trim. It closes in the back with only a zipper and has a white lining halfway down the inside (up to where the frills begin).

When I first took the brown stockings out of the package, my first thought was “Good grief these are thick!” and compared to most Volks cotton socks they are quite thick! It’s almost the weight of a thin sweat-pant type fabric. The inside of socks are woven with white thread, however the brown folds over at the top with a bit of the black elastic trim. I checked Lily’s legs after wearing the stockings for about 5 hours and there were no signs of staining, which was a good sign. At the 12 hour point, I noticed a very faint black stain at the back of only one leg from the exposed black elastic. I removed the stockings after a total of 30 hours on the doll. The tiny stain I noticed earlier didn’t get any worse, and there were no other stains on the other leg. I checked the feet carefully for stains (since they were jammed into the boots) and there was no marks at all. Since these stockings are already very thick, adding a bodystocking layer would add more bulk and could make wearing some shoes very tight, so I’d suggest putting a small piece of tape at the back of the stocking where the elastic is, or a tiny piece of cling film nor even white tissue paper. I’m going to give these stockings a wash before I use them again and hopefully that will help prevent further stains.

The pair of hair-ties are made of the same fabric as the skirt, and attach using a hook and thread-loop. There is quite a bit of stretch to them so it should fit most dolls with twin-tails.

This outfit also comes with a very nice belt that measures just over 1cm wide. It is a brown leatherette with an oxidized brass coloured buckle. I found it a bit finicky since my belt was a tiny bit too wide to slide easily into the buckle.

Here’s what the black top looks like on it’s own. I tried to photograph the texture of the fabric, but you can see that it’s not just flat black cotton. I hooked the 2 hair-ties together and made a choker out of them for a different look too!

I’m really glad that I was able to get this outfit! It will be available from VolksUSA in a few months, so if you missed out you’ll have another chance there! I’m pretty impressed that the top didn’t stain, and I expected the socks to stain much more than they actually did.

Stay tuned for more outfit reviews!

- ♥ Archangeli

[Disclaimer: I bought this set with my own money. I don't work for Volks, am not affiliated with them in any way, nor do I get any form of compensation from them. I'm writing these reviews just to share my observations.]

This is the Sailor Tulle Skirt set (DDTK-178) (which at the moment is still in stock on the Volks International web store!) and it features a zip-front blazer, a tank top, skirt and thigh-high socks.

This outfit is designed to fit Dollfie Dreams with either small or medium bust, and here is Sakura modelling it.

Here’s what the inside of the outfit components look like: (oops I left the stockings out! >__<”)


The blue blazer is made of a medium-weight sweatshirt kind of fabric and the back of it has a white webbing. The webbing looks almost like iron-on interfacing but the blazer doesn’t feel stiff and the white fibres look like they are woven into the fabric. The inside of the cuffs is lined in white where it would come in contact with a doll’s arms, wrists or hands. It appears that this should not stain, and I will verify in a few days. I had originally thought that this top was a hoodie, but it’s actually a sailor-top neckline. The red bow is a pin and can be re-positioned or removed completely. There are false pockets on the front of the blazer, which are visible in the photo below.

The tank-top is a stretchy cotton jersey, with a generous strip if velcro in the back. It’s long enough to layer over the waistband of the skirt, which is nice since it means I could pair this with some jeans or shorts for a different look. If any of you own any of the cute Volks lolita sets from Kyoto 9 (Sugar Milk Cookie, Strawberry Milk Heart), the fabric from this tank top is slightly different from the fabric used in the stockings in those sets. The stripes on this tank top are a little bit darker, and spaced closer together than on the stockings.

I checked Sakura after 8 hours and again after 24 hours and there were no stains on the shoulder from the grey straps, and no stains on the arms or back of the neck area from the blazer! ^__^b

The skirt is actually an ivory/ off-white colour featuring a light dotted mesh (similar to what I’ve seen some stockings made of) layered over a layer of stiff broadcloth-like cotton. I know the name of the outfit says “Tulle Skirt” but when I think of tulle I think of soft netting like in the Adagio and Allegro outfit sets from last June. The skirt has an elastic waistband so it should fit on all DD bodies (though you might have to take a DDdy apart at the waist to slip the skirt on). I noticed that the edge of the mesh over-layer has a raw edge so be careful not to snag it on any velcro as this could damage it. Since the skirt is made of a sturdy cotton, it poofs out quite nicely and doesn’t need a petticoat – in fact I might even use this as a petticoat if I’m ever in a pinch!

The stockings have the same jersey as the tank top trimming the top, with cute little black bows sewn onto the top. I inspected the inside of the stockings and the bows are sewn on with white thread, so these stockings should not cause any staining.

This is a really cute casual set, and all of the individual components are versatile and can be mixed and matched with other items to create different outfits. The retail price of this set was ¥7140, and if you like it I suggest grabbing it from Volks quickly before it sells out completely because aftermarket prices are never kind >__<”

Stay tuned for more outfit reviews in the next couple of days!

- ♥ Archangeli

P.S. -
What to expect

[Disclaimer: I bought this set with my own money. I don't work for Volks, am not affiliated with them in any way, nor do I get any form of compensation from them. I'm writing these reviews just to share my observations.]