(Pardon for the really messy pictures, you can see all my dolls photobombing in the back and all the Monster Highs I’m looking through to sell, sitting on my bed.)
Alrighty, I’ve been keeping this one a secret until he actually arrived, but....
I received my first ever ball jointed doll today!!
He’s an Unoa Alchemy / Alchemic Labo (my apologies guys, I don’t know which name I’m supposed to use ; u ; ) Monster Skin L-bi / B-el. He’s one of only... 40, worldwide, if I remember correctly?
As some of you might be able to tell from my art blog, I really love Frankenstein monsters.... and most monsters and legendary creatures in general, but Frankenstein monsters have come to hold a special place in my heart! I’m hoping to slowly amass a small BJD monster hoard, and for a bit I’ve been mulling over what I’d want a Frankenstein-y doll to look like for me... and then the news popped up about about this special boy.
My curiosity was peaked, I inquired a bit about his skin color. Despite my Mom offering to loan me money for him, I decided against it (mostly because I just felt too bad having her loan me like 90% of the money).... until a couple days later when I was about to go to bed and it suddenly dawned on me that I really wanted him and that it would be okay to take the loan. Unfortunately the next day I found out that all the Monster Skin boys were sold out. And despite trying to embrace the idea that it just wasn’t meant to be, I did something that I wouldn’t usually.... and contacted @unoalchemy and asked if I could be kept in the waiting wings if someone didn’t pay later on. They were incredibly sweet and kind about it, and so I was on the waitlist.. until I found out shortly afterwards that I had somehow managed to snag a doll at the last minute! I was in shock, and pft, I more or less still am, it’s so weird to have a ball jointed resin doll finally!
And not only was his purchase surprising, but his delivery was as well! I had been constantly refreshing and stalking his tracking number and then the mailman suddenly came while I was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch! There was this chaos of my Mom trying to hold bad our dog, me trying to wash peanut butter off my hand, and shakily trying to sign for this resin kiddo. I wasn’t expecting here so fast, I was honestly in shock about what was going on, haha!
So, now about the doll: his name is Franklin, and he’s more or less my little Halloween baby! I’m trying to mull over what to do with him conceptually, because he’s surprisingly flesh toned looked (to me).... but then he changes color so much depending on the lighting! I know I’m just echoing what other people have said, but he has so much potential for how he could be face-upped or dressed! This doll is ambitious, he can be anything you want him to be! I’m thinking that he’s still going to primarily be my little Frankenstein baby, and that maybe I’ll paint each of his heads to look like a different mythical creatures. u v u His little witch hat and broom are just the cutest things ever oh my goodnessss. I started screeching when taking them out of the box.
My apologies that the photos aren’t better/of the actual box and other things he came with! I’m still having so much fun playing with him, and getting the hang of his joints. I don’t have his eyes in yet, although I did try to pop them in for a bit after opening him up! I did something I probably shouldn’t had done and poked the flashing out of his eye sockets with my fingers (I’m still terrified of removing his flashing, I don’t trust myself to not mess up while using an xacto knife).... and was then super worried that I just poisoned myself with the resin because of the flakes. ; u ; ;;; It certainly didn’t help that my eyes seemed to be particularly sensitive to the smell of new resin, and got a bit irritated.... I guess I’m okay??? *sweats nervously* He’s amazing with posing because no matter how he’s posed he looks aesthetically nice. I’ve been able to stand him up, but it’s a bit of a challenge to get him balanced. I feel like I might want to string his legs tighter at some point, but I worry I might break him, and I’m probably not posing him right, somehow, so that can wait.
I’m probably forgetting something, but the whole process of ordering and receiving this boy has been amazing. @unoalchemy was just... incredibly kind and sweet throughout the whole process. They’re like a dream for a newbie like me! I can’t thank you guys enough! Not to mention I didn’t know about all the work you guys did until your most recent post, oh man. Once again, thank you for all the work that you’ve done to get these boys out to their new homes! And also, if anybody has any advice for a brand new BJD/Unoa owner, feel free to yell it at me! I’m sure I need the help.
Useless side note: What I assume to be his ‘new resin smell’ totally smells like car paint to me. Just more proof that my my sense of smell is messed up???
