It’s common to find Monster High/ EAH dolls without hands. This is only going to get worse as the line is discontinued.
Now I’m trying to find a way to deal with that when I don’t live in a country with much in the way of replacement parts.
I think I’ll eventually have to learn how to cast resin but until then:
Try 1 for a hand-less EAH doll:
Obitsu four hand set for 21/23 (about 800¥)
Right off the bat the peg that needs to be inserted into the arm is way too long and thick.
Left: EAH Hands Right: Obitsu
The Obitsu hands don’t have the lovely long fingers of a fashion doll, the wrist is thick, and the colors are limited.
This color is actually close to the body I’m using so I probably won’t blush them right away.
I set about cutting and sanding/dremelling away the excess peg.
And testing the fit.
Until it fit!
It’s not the most elegant solution. The rubbery hands aren’t easy to sand or shape. It works though. They can always serve as placeholders until spare hands are found, if ever.
Up Soon:
I’ll be trying the Pure Nemo hands, which come in a wider selection of hand poses and might be easier to sand and shape. These will also require whittling down.
I’m also drying to airdry polymer clay and apoxie Sculpt to see if I can make my own forearms in the future.
While cleaning up my craft room (as part of a Mom/Craftmas is coming I’m also tackling “to do” unfinished work.
This might be my inability to avoid distraction or it might legit be reducing my clutter/ getting things prepared so that craft work can begin whenever I’m ready.
Dal surgery:
A baggie Dal I picked up recently experienced a broken knee joint when I tried to put her in her bunny outfit.
The knee joint broke off inside the thigh….wedging itself there and in the shin.
Upon further inspection i realized that this rescue Dal has forearms and shins a pinker color than her body…so she’s not new to surgery.
I had an extra knee joint from rebodying the footless Monomono/Bedhead Dal, but first I needed to remove the joint.
I took my dremel tool and carefully drilled a hole into the broken off joint. Then I screwed a smallish screw partway into that hole. I used my leather man tool to then pull the screw and joint out.
I repeated the action to the other half of the broken joint.
Then I used my extra joint to thread everything back into place.
Surgery finished, broken parts disposed of, doll ready for future modifications!
Ebony and I visited Dollyterria again during one of our Ikebukuro meet ups in July. Again, I came home with a new friend.
Dal Lipoca is a 2008 Groove doll release. She retails new/mint condition for about 100USD/10,000¥. My Lipoca was around 3,000. Dolly in a baggie deals! She was FILTHY. She obviously lived with a smoker. Her white jumpsuit was brown. Her hands were stained. She smelled. She was missing her pitchfork.
New VS. Baggie Deal
Who amongst us hasn’t seen some rough times in the last ten years? Some of us just hide it better than others. MINE!
I hand washed everything. The jumpsuit will never be 100% white again. I’ve tried. Her wings molted a bit but they’re good enough for now or until I feel like replicating them. When I eventually copy them, expect that half my doll crew will be sporting wings.
The original wig suited her so I pried it off and washed it (shampoo) and conditioned it (fabric softener) and let it dry on my makeshift wig head (styrofoam ball from 100¥ shop of a plastic bottle. I liked her face and eyes as is, no repainting.
Then it was time to scrub the body. I had some leftover arms from when I replaced Monomono/Bedhead’s body that I swapped in because her hands were permanently tabacco stained.
Here’s a photo of the face with just a quick localized soapy wipe on one cheek.
I disassembled her and washed everything. EVERYTHING.
I’m not against doll nudity but I feel better if the dolls in my room have some sort of clothing prior to their final outfits. You can just tell she has no love for the extra Barbie Gear in my stash. Dal dolls are petulant 24/7.
I found some black fabric with a. red and white lipstick motif…left overs from making to Moana Wrap Dresses. I stitched her a quick skirt to replace the jumpsuit she’d word. I then returned her original outfit to her, minus jumper, and plus a skull hair ribbon. I do love her devil hat…but the others are taking turns with it…and I was drafting some new headwear based on it.
She’s now joined the crew and can usually be found with a coffee mug and one of the many coffee tables I’ve set up.
A friend recently remarked on how she never expected to envy the clothing of dolls…she’d always thought them too…something….but that it did make sense that my dolls would reflect style.
They do, they reflect my style and my life. Which is why I now have a collection of coffee mugs, a few beer glasses, and chairs and tables for my growing collection.
From March 16th to march 27th I was in my hometown of Madison…so it was time to buy a few things not readily available in Japan: Hair texturizer product for my limp hair, cheap bras in my size, NYX make-up (But they are coming back to Japan SOOOOOON), Urban Decay make-up, fun clothing from Zip-Dang on Monroe street, and some Barbie Made-to-move bodies.
Sidebar: Special shout-out to the heart-printed 1654 Retrolicious Be Mine Bombshell Dress. It wears so easy…it’s nearly sold out in most sizes but they have this cut in other prints.
This is right before removing make-up after two dance sets. Sweaty GLOW!
Why did I buy Barbies?
There’s something now called the Made to Move body Barbies. HIGHLY articulated bodies. I needed one to use as a replacement body for a Pullip “Nah-tou” belly dancer I’m going to start fixing up. Most replacement bodies in Japan don’t have the right skin color, they come in WHITE and LESS WHITE. This MTM Barbie has a less curvy build than the iconic Barbie and is a close match. I’m going to have to hit her face with a little bronzer to make it work when I repaint…more on her in future posts.
But…when stalking the Walmarts/Targets/Toy-soon-to-be-not-R’s I saw the MTM CURVY body at TARGET. And I HAD TO BUY HER. Barbie Fashionista line has had a variety of bodies, including this curvy one, for a few years but this is the first release of it as a MTM.
I’d seen people on-line in a Pullip group talk about this body, excited at the idea of having more curvy options for their existing dolls. There was brief talk from a few commenters about how we should write to Mattel asking for LIGHTER skin colors (as Pullips are notorious PALE-AF) but a bunch of us were all OMG NO! NOT A GOOD LOOK! PLEASE DON’T.
I promptly took photos of her once back at my mom’s place.
She was a hit with friends back home and I subsequently brought her to a few meet-ups with female buddies. We’re adults, yo.
I didn’t know what I was going to do with her. She’s not a skin-color match for anything I had. I looked online and noticed that some other industrious Pullip customizer has been taking pictures to figure out possible skin matching. I wish I could find it now but it showed that the Curvy MTM matches well with the Tiger Lily Byul.
WHAT is BYUL?
Well, Byul is the Pullip doll I had theretofore found seriously creepy. She’s just too jowely.
And Byul Tigerlily? Um. So Pullip did a Peter Pan series….
Yeah. Um. Racist Stereotype Tigerlilly.
And at the Ikebukuro Dollyteria that Byul is in a plastic baggie, fully dressed up, no alterations. I always am terrified and upset when I see it. Nope. I can’t justify that used purchase, even for a Curvy body.
But DollyTerria ALSO had a Byul head on some other too-pale body that I’d remembered seeing online. When I returned to Japan I ordered it and it was delivered the next day.
Then I got an Inspiration. CATY! The MUA who did an inspiration look from one of my faceups.
Caty’s curvy and STYLISH BEYOND WORDS! So, I’m going to do a Caty inspired look.
But first I had to get the body ready:
Off with her awesome head, sorry.
Shave down the neck peg thingie
But the curvy neck turns out to be TOO wide at the top to attach the head. So I filed and sanded until it fit.
Here’s the head on the new body, the outfit, the makeup, those eyes and hair are temporary…just to show Caty why I think this doll is gonna kill one of her looks.
If you’ve got a favorite Catysuewho look you think I should be looking to…lemme know!
A friend recently remarked on how she never expected to envy the clothing of dolls…she’d always thought them too…something….but that it did make sense that my dolls would reflect style.
Do It Yourself: WFU 