Review: Prince Bong-Gu Ddung Doll

You may recall my recent post in which I reviewed the School Girl Ddung doll? Well this week I had a new arrival in the form of a Bong-Gu doll, who is in fact Ddung's little boyfriend :) The edition I received is Prince Bong-Gu, whom I got in the Luts sale with the School Girl Ddung.

The box he came in is much nicer than School Girl Ddung's. I think perhaps he was a more special edition or something. There is no window to see him inside the box but it is a much sturdier box and will be useful for storing things in. It has graphics of Ddung on the outside and a label at the top with Prince Bong-Gu on to identify him.

 

 

The inner part of the box slides out the top to reveal Prince Bong-Gu inside on a bed of shredded paper. Prince Bong-Gu himself and his crown and mask are in cellophane bags to protect them.

 

 

He comes with a fancy mask (for wearing to costume balls hehe!) and a crown, both of which have elastic on them to keep them on his head and face. They are nice and glittery but it doesn't seem to come off too much which is a good thing. The crown has a few plastic jewels on it too.

 

 

 

Here are some pictures of Bong-Gu with the crown and mask on. I don't think I will use them both at the same time very often as its a bit much, but they look super cute on him individually :)

 

 

He wears a cape which fastens at the front with ribbon tied in a bow, a little jacket, and a one piece suit made to look like a top and pants. He has the same posing abilities as School Girl Ddung so I won't go into detail about that here.

 

 

 

Prince Bong-Gu doesn't have plastic shoes, they are made of fabric; which is a shame, especially as they have stained his little feet :( He does come with a stand however, which is nice as School Girl Ddung did not. He is a real cutie though and is a welcome addition to my little Ddung/Bong-Gu family. Hopefully I will be able to take some more creative shots of them soon.

 









Review: Lottie Picnic Set Accessories

Remember my review of the Pirate Queen Lottie Doll by Arklu? Well in it I had mentioned that my Lottie doll came with a little tear on her leg and so Arklu, the lovely company that make Lottie, wrote to me and said they would send me a replacement doll body! I was already thrilled about that, and was literally just expecting to get a new body to replace my doll's body with; but not only did they send me a whole nude doll (head included lol), they also very kindly sent me one of the Lottie accessory sets. Thank you so much Arklu!

 

The set they sent me was the Picnic Set which I am very pleased about as its one of the sets I had been eyeing up to try at some point. It comes packaged on a blister pack and as usual, the graphics on the packaging are lovely. Unlike many companies, they haven't heavily advertised what other sets are available on the back of the packet. In fact, they haven't mentioned any of the other accessory sets available; however they have mentioned the English Country Garden Lottie doll whom yes, would probably suit this accessory pack nicely ;) However, I don't have her (technically I did buy her but she was a gift for a friend) so Pirate Queen Lottie will have to model instead hehe :)

 

 

The set comes with a picnic blanket, a picnic basket, two plates, two cups/beakers and two cupcakes. The blanket is fabric (cotton or something) and the other accessories are all made of plastic. For those of you familiar with Re-Ment, its quite similar to that.

 

 

 

The sets normally retail at around £7.99 and whilst I do think this particular set is lovely, I do think the price is a little high when you consider some similar Re-Ment sets are available at around the same price but are probably a little more detailed etc. However, its swings and roundabouts really as Lottie products are readily available in the UK whereas Re-Ment is not and so while you may be able to get it fairly cheaply on ebay, you usually have postage costs to pay on top. That is the adult collector in me talking too. For a play accessory set for little girls for which it is originally intended, it probably fits the bill rather well ;)

 

 

Speaking as an adult collector of dolls however, it was nice for me to discover that this set also fits Blythe pretty well :) Therefore, I expect it would also suit smaller BJD dolls such as Pukifee/Lati Yellow size dolls rather well too.

 

 

 

I hadn't really looked at Blythe and Lottie side by side before and their sizes are cute together, although they don't suit each other as companions in my eyes as their faces don't go well together. However, what's currently in my mind is whether a little hybridisation would go down well... I'm wondering if a Middie or a Petite head would work on a Lottie body... Ah well! Luckily for my spare Lottie, I don't have any of those heads to try, haha! So if you'll excuse them, the girls are heading off for their picnic now the modelling is over :-D

 





Review: School Girl Ddung

I got a new dolly in the post this week :) I ordered her a while ago when Luts had a sale on, along with another one but that one hasn't arrived yet which is actually quite nice as it means I get to enjoy two new dolly days instead of one!

This little cutie is a Ddung (pronounced Doong) doll and actually, they were the first dolls to start of my official doll hobby :) I had the smaller key chain size ones when I originally collected them, and one full size doll of Ddung's little boyfriend Bong-gu who I still have as he was too adorable to part with; but I sold the small ones when I got into BJDs. However, I picked up full size Ddung secondhand a little while ago and felt the time was right to start introducing them back into my collection again.

Ddung's are vinyl dolls produced in Korea that are meant to depict a cute little 4 year old girl. They come in varying sizes and many different outfits and themes etc. You can read more about her at Cute in Korea. You used to be able to pick them up fairly cheaply but they seem to have increased in price since I originally collected them and the keychain size dolls seem scarce to find now which is a shame. However, you can find a decent variety on Ebay and its worth keeping an eye on places like Luts when they have a sale on as this girl and her boyfriend who will be arriving soon, were a brilliant price :)

 

This is School Girl Ddung and she is 18cm tall. Most the standard sort of dolls come in these cute red boxes adorned with sweet little cartoon pictures of Ddung on the outside but some of the special edition or themed dolls come in different themed boxes.

 

 

She is held in the box by plastic tabs affixed to a cardboard inner which is done to look like a little dressing room type thing with "mirrors" (mirrored card) on the walls. She was nice and easy to open and release from the packaging; however I was a little disappointed that she didn't come with a stand because my Bong-gu I kept from before has one so I assumed she would too.

 

School Girl Ddung has long brown hair which is nice to touch and not oily or greasy. She is dressed in a red beret, a white top with red spots, a denim pinafore dress, a cardigan/jacket, a brown satchel bag, white socks, white panties and white mary-jane shoes. The shoes are not totally flat however so it took a while for me to get her to stand in them which was a little frustrating and in fact, she is propped against a tube of glue in these photos!

 

She can sit without any bother though as her legs and arms move at the hip/shoulder. Her head also turns from left to right but that's as advanced as her movements get.

 

 

It is much easier to get Ddung to stand without her shoes on which also revealed that her socks are fakes :) They are more like leg warmers which I guess makes it easier to get her shoes on and off. All in all I am very happy to add another Ddung to my dolly family and she looks very sweet with her pink haired sister who was waiting here for her. I will take a picture of them all together when my Prince Bong-gu arrives. I added a quick photo of Ddung with a Blythe below also to give an idea of size. I think they look really sweet together. almost like sisters!



 

Review: Lottie Doll - Pirate Queen

I have been eyeing up Lottie dolls for a while now and was ordering one to send to a friend so deciding I might as well get one for myself at the same time :-D

For those that don't know, Lottie dolls are British made (by Arklu) and have been specially designed to be more child-like and age-appropriate than other "fashion" dolls on the market. They were just starting out when I first discovered them but they have since gone on to win a lot of prestigious toy awards and are stocked across the globe.

The Lottie I ordered for myself is one from the first release of dolls; Pirate Queen Lottie. All the dolls come in really bright, eye-catching boxes which all have a handle on top to encourage them to be used long after opening to carry them around etc. They are all adorned with a little ribbon and medal on the front which use colours inspired from the British and American suffragette colours which I think is a nice touch. The graphics on the boxes are really nice and bold and there is a little passage of writing on the backs telling you more about the inspiration behind the doll's character. Pirate Queen Lottie is inspired by real life pirate Grace O'Malley.

The dolls and the accessories are secured into the boxes using cable ties and the odd bit of tape (and the accessories are in individual plastic baggies) but its pretty minimal and it was easy to get her out. The quality of the box is really nice which is good for its intended re-usability that Arklu promote.

Here's the girl herself, straight from the box without any of the extra accessories yet. Her face reminds me very much of Licca dolls which are Japan's version of Barbie. She is a nice size and feels nice to hold. I loved small dolls and figures when I was a child as they were so easy to take around with you so I am sure this aspect of the Lottie dolls will appeal to today's generation of little girls too. Her hair feels nice and soft and there is plenty of it, no missing plugs or bits on the verge of falling out. It wasn't greasy either which I have often found to be the case with other play dolls. This Lottie has fair skin and red hair but they do a diverse range of skin and hair colours across their dolls.

Pirate Queen Lottie also comes with a little felt pirate hat and a plastic cutlass which she is modelling below. The hat fits very nicely and the cutlass does stay on her hand but its not a firm fit so it would knock off very easily. Fine for me, but I wonder if small children may find it frustrating.

The outfit is fairly well made, pretty standard really for stock outfits for play dolls. It consists of a stripy t-shirt which has a detachable skull and crossbones patch (its held on by Velcro, I think because the other dolls also have them on their outfits so you can mix and match if you have more than one), a little blue cord waistcoat, a pair of shorts, a pair of tights, a green bow belt/sash, a pair of pirate boots, the pirate hat and the cutlass. The boots are plastic and have a large slit up the back so they are easy to get on and off. All the clothes are easy to get on and off in fact, which is ideal for the market they are aimed at. The boots also help Lottie to stand unaided really easily.

Speaking of standing unaided, one of the things that is promoted as being a plus for Lottie dolls is that they can stand on their own. Its true, they can, and its a really fantastic touch because the majority of other "fashion" type dolls usually have pointed feet and can't do so. It did take a little balancing to get her to do it (you certainly wouldn't be able to plonk her down quickly and have her stand perfectly) but it was easy enough and something I think kids will find a real plus point (I know it used to drive me nuts when I was younger that my Barbie's couldn't stand on their own!). Their bodies are said to be based on the average proportions of a 9 year old girl, so as you can see, its a very plain and child-like body. No tiny waists and massive boobs to be seen which is very refreshing. 

Her range of movement is pretty good; she has ball socket hips and arms and her knees bend (2 clicks). Her head can move from side to side but not up and down, which might have been nice. I'd also perhaps liked to have seen her arms able to bend at the elbow but its not a big deal and kids probably won't be bothered by it and they are who the dolls are aimed at after all ;) 

She can sit very easily and doesn't fall backwards which is a huge plus point in my eyes! That was a real pet hate of mine when I was a kid, and it still is even now, so I was very pleased that Lottie has no problems with it. Another pet hate of mine is when dolls legs stick out to the sides when they sit down, which again, Lottie does not do so its top marks all round for her sitting abilities :)

All in all, I think Lottie is a sweet little doll. She feels fairly well made and has many aspects about her which I think little girls will adore. Unfortunately mine does have a little tear/split in the vinyl on one of her legs but its not a huge issue. I'm pretty sure I will be adding more Lottie's to my own collection (Branksea Festival Lottie and School Days Lottie are next on my list!) as they have endearing little faces and are a great size for taking out and about for photographing; and I will definitely be buying them for my niece when she is old enough. Lottie dolls are targeted at children aged between 3 and 9 according to the Lottie website and whilst my niece is nearly 3, I would be worried about some of the small accessories for her at the moment. Lottie dolls retail at around £16.99 which I think is an acceptable price. You can buy extra accessory packs which seem to retail at around £7.99 and can include an outfit, or pets for Lottie amongst other things. I haven't got any of them yet but from looking at images of them, I am not as convinced that they will be as worth their price as the dolls themselves are. Hopefully I will get a set in the future to try though and let you know. I've been eyeing up the Superhero Lottie outfit set so maybe I'll try it next month ;)