My medication–which is definitely helping my problem (even if only slightly), given the fit I had last night when it started wearing off–is practically leaving me housebound, which is making me even more antsy to buy something decadent. (I’m not sure that makes sense, but this stuff is, among other side effects, leaving me a bit light-headed, so not everything I do, say or think does make sense.)
I’m trying to make sure that I don’t do anything stupid. So I’m trying to make sure that if I buy an expensive doll, it’s at least the right one. If there is such a thing as “the right one” when one’s heart kind of says “I want all the dolls” as if I had all the room and all the money in which to store and with which to buy.
Anyway, so I’ve got about five choices right now. Four dolly candidates, and–of course, the choice to stay strong and not buy any of them. The first candidate is the purple-haired Blythe I posted about earlier, who’s a little over $150 at the moment.
Then there’s the Kagamine Rin Pullip I want to make out of a Make It Own kit from PullipStyle. When you add in the wig (the one with the twin curls, not quite right for the Meltdown hairstyle, but…close enough) and the eye chips, she’d be about $70, plus however much it would cost to buy supplies to make her costume. Surprisingly expensive for a kit doll.
Then there’s the not-actually-Blythes. There’s two of them on Amazon that have my attention.
This one is $50, and is actually just described as a Blythe clone. The hair’s a pretty color, but there could be more of it. And the gap between the scalp and the face is awfully huge. The price is good, though.
The seller’s description on this one is even more vague, not even mentioning the name “Blythe,” even though she’s clearly a Blythe clone. Seems a higher quality than the other, which is probably why she’s $75 instead of $50. There’s lots of very pretty hair:
Part of me is horrified at the idea of giving money to someone knowingly selling something fake, and part of me is like “who cares, it’s pretty!”
A more logical part of me is pointing out that I don’t have a good workspace right now to do any work on these dolls, whether the factory girls or the MIO Rin. The same logical part is counter-arguing (with itself!) that I could get two of the cheaper dolls for the cost of the one real Blythe. Then the counter-counter-argument comes back that the real Blythe will only get more expensive, while the MIO kit and counterfeits will likely stay the same price. (Well, okay, the MIO kit will be in and out of stock, but when it’s in stock it’s not likely to jump in price the way a Blythe doll will.)
I don’t know what to do. I don’t know which one I should buy. I don’t know if I should buy at all. Maybe the answer is that I need to force myself not to buy anything at all. I have been overspending lately, after all.
It’s just…argh. My life is argh.
That’s kind of the short version, I guess.
I suppose I’m leaning towards slapping myself in the face until I wise up and don’t buy anything…
Crazy Doll Lady 
I think a new purchase could make you feel better, but it has to be a doll you don’t have to work on, one you can enjoy straight out of the box with minimal adjustments.
LikeLike
Yeah, that’s likely the case. It’s one of the reasons I’m trying to force myself not to buy one, actually; it’s a “false positive,” you know? I need to distract myself with things that don’t cost money, so I’ll have the money when I need it for emergencies–whether actual ones or “omg, I *must* buy that amazing doll or I’ll die” type emergencies”–plus if I then spend the money and find it hasn’t helped, and I’m still like this, then I’ll feel even worse…
LikeLike
I haven’t bought a blythe from Amazon, only eBay. I think, you should get a factory girl! You won’t break bank, and If you enjoy the MIO kits from pullip, maybe you will like customizing a Blythe girl? I don’t think you should get the pink haired girl just because her scalp/dome doesn’t match up with her face plate… Also, the frizzy hair might be tough to fix. The factory girl I recently got from eBay was very cute as is, and I think I would have been happy even if I didn’t customize her. The seller is “branshop11”, and my doll (minus stand and plastic case) was $75 and $10 shipping. I just checked eBay right now and there are a few girls labeled as “factory Blythe doll” that start at $70 (including shipping). I think they might be cheaper on Ali express, but the one seller I have been recommended sells factory dolls for about $50, but the shipping is $20. Overall, I would make sure the seller’s rating is positive, and the there aren’t obvious flaws to the dolly.
LikeLike
I’ve never gotten a MIO kit before, I just thought they’d be a more economical way of customizing a Pullip than buying a full doll and changing her out of the clothing she came in. (Actually, they sound like a lot of work, but I do enjoy working on dolls, even if I’m no good at it.)
I had some bad experiences on eBay back when it was first starting up, and I swore I’d never go back, so my online shopping options are a bit more limited than most people’s. So far I’ve had pretty good experiences with Amazon Marketplace. There’s usually enough customer feedback to tell when someone is trustworthy or not, and usually you’re dealing with companies (even if only small ones) rather than individuals, which tends to help.
What’s Ali express? I’ve never heard of it. Apart from PullipStyle and JunkySpot, I still don’t really know many places online to buy dolls, other than Amazon. (Well, and the obvious online extension of physical stores, like Toys R Us and Target and whatnot. But those hardly count.)
LikeLike
I think Ali express is kind of like Amazon. Here’s the seller that was recommended on the fb group. http://www.aliexpress.com/store/812147.
I think the MIO sets require that you give the doll a face up too, though I’ve never bought one before (going by YouTube reviews of the MIO kit). I don’t think customizing Blythe dolls would be that different except you would need to sand the doll’s face makeup off first. Do you have Tuesday Morning stores near you? I heard that some people find mini pullips and dals there.
I haven’t had any issues with eBay yet (knock on wood), but I usually only ever purchase from sellers who have 100% feedback and a ton of it. Plus I feel better knowing that I can file a paypal dispute if I don’t get my item.
LikeLike
Ooh, looks like there’s a lot of cool stuff on that link! I’m going to have to devote a lot of time to checking that out in detail… (I probably shouldn’t have asked; the last thing I need is another place to spend my money…)
Yes, there are several Tuesday Mornings around here; I have a slightly crazy number of little Pullips I’ve gotten there, and sometimes I’ve even found J-Dolls, and once I even found a Hestia, and one super-lucky day (like two years ago) I found the Peter Pan Pullip, the Dal Tinkerbell and the Taeyang Captain Hook. Until I started buying them online, Tuesday Mornings was my only source of Groove dolls. Lately they don’t seem to get in very many Groove dolls, though. 😦 And due to road construction, now I can’t even get to one of the Tuesday Mornings stores again until the fall, because they decided they needed to tear down and re-build a bridge! ARGH! (Wouldn’t be so annoying if there weren’t also two used toy stores and a Toys R Us also on the other side of that bridge.) I can technically still get to the other side, but it takes an extra twenty to thirty minutes of driving, and I’m still light-headed from my medication, so I don’t dare try it.
My problems with eBay, more accurately, were problems with my own interaction with the system. Sometimes caused by my misunderstandings of situations–I was very young at the time–and usually caused by utter lack of restraint, also caused by my youth. I don’t trust myself to return that kind of system. That’s not to say that I never encountered any problems with others. of course. There was at least one case of someone not sending something I’d bought from them–I remember that quite clearly all this time later–but most of the problems arose on my end, and just led to a bunch of crap filling up boxes in my basement.
Anyway, at the moment, I’m *trying* to keep myself from buying anything big, because my finances aren’t great, but it’s still fun thinking/talking about the options, and looking at that new site should be fun, too. 🙂
If the sun ever comes out again (if) maybe I can start taking some photos of all those little Pullips and Dals. I’ve been thinking of doing that for a while now.
LikeLiked by 1 person