My latest doll haul: two male dolls by Petworks, Eight and Nine from their Boys & Male Album series.
This purchase would be impossible without one of my girlfriends, who fell in love with this series last autumn, bought a few of them (while overcoming numerous problems due to sanctions), and timely informed me that one of my eventual favourites (Nine, Hakama style) became available second-hand on Mandarake website... Since she already had this one (sans outfit) and I was not interested in his kimono and hakama, we've decided to split this set on arrival - I would get my doll to dress in something more to my liking, and she got to complete her set with full outfit.
But buying Nine without Eight to do some slash photosets keep him company felt strange, so I picked one of my Eight favourites still available through Petworks store along with some shoes and basic outfit for would-be-left-nude-Nine. I got:
- Nine, Hakama style (sans outfit)
- Eight, Sixties (full set)
- Clothes set: sweater and sweatpants
- Formal shoes (black)
- Work boots (black)
Shipping
Oh god... Gone are the days you got your parcel from Japan to St. Petersburg in less than a week!
Sanctions mean we can't buy directly anymore, so boys were bought via InJapan service, which I previously used to get my Takara dolls from Yahoo Japan auctions.
It took 2 weeks to ship them to USA (no direct postage to Russia anymore), they for to US in about a week, mail forwarding company then shipped them to Russia and... they got there just in time for some customs rules changes, so this batch was halted and it took them 10 more days to reach St.Petersburg.
All and all - 2 months of time and a almost a whole trip around the globe.
This is nuts and that's why I don't bother even looking at doll and action figures releases now!
Unboxing
Bodies comparison
Dolls have 1 cm height difference, 29cm and 28cm, hence the names Nine and Eight. Bodies are different too: Nine has more bulk and musch more defined musculature.
Booklet
Both came with this fold-out booklet with some promo shots, info on Petworks doll division product lines and some basic patterns for sewing.
Nine had an extra sheet with instructions on how to put on his kimono and hakama outfit.
Links:
More photos can be found in their respective albums: