Attack of the clones!

Today I collected Frankie from the post office. Wow...she certainly is not good quality. I was not expecting that much, but I really, everything that could be wrong with her pretty much is. She wasn't packed in a box (which I knew and was fine with),but when I pulled her out of the bubblewrap, her scalp came right off in my hand! I was a bit worried about her eyemech too as it didn't work (which is why her eyes were closed when I got her). Fortunately the spring had just come unhooked and it was easy to fix. Here's how she was straight out of the packaging. Not quite the same as deboxing a Blythe! The dresses are going straight into the bin. They don't seem to fit her well anyway.




She has sooo many unexpected faults.

1. She feels cheap. Too light and floppy. Her body is really really loose. She can't really stand or sit without flopping over and her arms are kind of wobbly. She's very pink too - looks like she just got out of a hot bath!
2. There are flaws all over the plastic of her arms and legs - swirls, seamlines etc and her back has some odd dimples on it.
3. There's a pressure mark/crack type of thing on the back of her faceplate.
4. Her eyelashes are very different lengths (looks wierd!.



5. Her hair is not great - very thin and stringy looking and her scalp is quite visible. I was expecting that. What I didn't realise is that the rim of the scalp is very prominent. A hairstyle with bangs is really the only way to cover it. Also, she has a dark mark on the scalp right where the thatching starts and it is quite noticable in person. I washed her hair straight away because it felt kind of greasy. I don't know if that was a smart move, but as I'm going to reroot anyway I guess it doesn't matter. I am also concerned that her scalp might not go back on nicely. The dome seems to be attached to it.



6. Her eyechips are a bit cloudy and the pupils aren't even. Sadly, she didn't have the brown chips either. The orange ones are horrible!



On the positive side...

1. I actually did receive a doll of some kind to practice customising on.
2. I quite like her pinky complexion.
3. The eye mech is a bit less stiff than the Takaras.
4. While she really is not very attractive in person, she photographs surprisingly well.
5. I quite like the colour of her hair..it's just a shame that there isn't more of it.
5. It would seem that taking her apart is going to be a snap!

Before I took her scalp back off to wash it, I brushed her hair, dressed her and took a few shots.





Her hair was drying super-frizzy looking so I put it in "rags" (which are actually freezer bags, but hey, you use what you have handy right?). She looks a bit odd! It will be interesting to see how they come out.



Miss B has requested that I try to make a Coraline doll. At this point I don't know if my non-existant customising skills are quite up to the challenge. I was wanting to give her more a natural look, but the Coraline idea does sound like fun. Now to order some tools and hair! I can't wait to get started!