Sylvanian Families Canal Boat and Seabreeze Rabbit Family

I like sailor suit and dress in general, either for my kids or for my dolls.  So you know I couldn't pass up a Sylvanian Families all dressed in sailor outfits!!!  I waited for a potential sale but this family is not the kind of item that would go on sale because it's a special edition released to celebrate  the 25th anniversary of Sylvanian Families in the United Kingdom!  So after months of waiting, I decided to go ahead and splurge on this. 

Please meet the Sylvanian Families Celebration Sea Breeze Rabbit Family :)

I took them out of the box right away because I already had a home for them!  The Sylvanian Families Riverside Canal Boat!!!

I found it for sale in the classified ads.  A sweet lady was selling away her children's toys and all I had to do was go pick it up.  I couldn't believe my luck.  The boat actually cost me less than the Rabbit family!  The boat was in perfect condition and it was near complete.  Only one tiny piece was missing: a pole to hang the flower pot, so it wasn't a big deal.

At first I was going to let my Norwood Mouse Family live in the boat because I still remember fondly the Sea Story from Brambly Hedge.   I adore the art and stories by Jill Berklem!  I blogged about her Brambly Hedge stories last year in this post.

But I changed my decision when I saw the Sea Breeze Rabbit family.  Here they are on top of the Rose of Sylvania II.  

The boat reminds me so much of book about Angelina Ballerina's grand-parent's canal boat in Angelina Star of the Show (please do read that book, it's lovely!).

Everybody in my household love the Sylvanian Families canal boat!  My husband, who isn't a huge fans of my toys, even decided to place the boat on a shelf in the living room.  My dolls take turn occupying the boat.  Each day when I come home, I see somebody has changed position ^_^  Every visitor that come into my house can't help but play with them and the boat.

But now it's the turn of the Sea Breeze Rabbits to occupy the boat!  Here are some pictures of the interior.

Daddy stirs the boat while the family eats in the galley.

Mommy cooks in the galley.

Mopping the deck while mommy puts baby to bed.

There is also a bathroom with a toilet and shower.  All the doors and windows open and there are storage space underneath the seats and in the front and back of the deck.  It's really an awesome home for my new Rabbit family!

Unboxing Pullip Merl

Today I was able to have some time to unbox Pullip Merl.  Here she is waiting for me to take her out of her box.  Apart from her outfit, the doll also came with a card and a doll stand.

There are three metal ties (one around her neck and one around each hair loop on the side of the head) and many many tapes.  I had to be extra careful when removing the metal ties because her neck could have easily snapped and I did not want to damage her hair either. The ties are very difficult to remove so I was so worried!

There are even tape around her legs and hands/arms!  I guess they need to do this to prevent her joints from breaking apart but it was a pain to remove!!!

But after an hour, she was finally free from her cardboard house.

OUTFIT

One of the reason why Merl and Lir are my favorite dolls is because they both have a beautiful outfit and under garments!  Some dolls only come with one single outfit and no under garments at all.  But Pullip Merl and Isul Lir both have beautiful clothes plus boots and hat or ribbons!

The Pullip Merl outfit includes:

• Navy blue sailor dress
• White under dress
• White bloomers
• Grey and black striped socks
• Brown boots with red lace
• Gigantic white hair ribbon with little blue/white/red bows
• Smaller white hair ribbon with another little bow
• White sash with a big key and decorated with ribbons  and a heart charm 
• A choker necklace with a small key

Pullip Merl's under dress is truly beautiful and it can be worn alone without the sailor dress and still look totally great!  The ribbons add a nice touch to the outfit and make everything look so proper and pretty.  Her boots look awesome and tie the outfit together.  I did not know she had a choker so that was a surprise!  And the tiny key in front of the choker was good addition.   

HAIR

Now let's talk about her hair. I dreaded having a doll with super long hair because it's difficult to maintain.  But Pullip Merl's long brown/auburn locks are BEAUTIFUL!!!  Her hair did not smell bad and was wonderfully soft.  No waxy feeling or clumps.  They are slightly wavy as you can see in the photo.

What I don't like is that her hair was slightly damaged.  The tape and metal ties made some marks and you can see them quite clearly on either side of her face.  And her bangs are straight across her forehead; not wispy bangs like in the promo pictures.  That was a big difference and changes her hairstyle quite a lot.  But I think I could use a little bit of conditioner to fix her hair kinks.  And her bangs can by cut and styled so I will work on that later.

FACE

Her makeup was a lot darker than I thought it would be.  The blush on her cheeks are very pink, almost red, and her eyes are navy blue, with very dark eyelid makeup. The lips are a dark hue of pink.  I am not sure I like her face been so done.  It makes her look a lot older than in the promo photos.

I really want to love Pullip Merl because I have been drooling over her for quite a while.  But I am disappointed.  I was so shocked when I opened the box and saw her dark makeup.  I definitely love her outfit but the doll herself is making me cringe because I didn't expect that from the pictures I saw.

Maybe I am just been harsh right now because in comparison, Pullip Paja is so pale and I got used to her.   What do you think?  Does she look pretty to you?  Do you think her makeup is too pronounced?

I dont' have time to unbox Isul Lir yet so that will have to wait for another day.

EDIT: I woke up this morning and looked at the doll again.  Past my initial shock, I can now say she is definitely not as bad as I thought yesterday.  You can see her difference with Pullip Paja here below.

 

Pullip Paja

Pullip Merl and Isul Lir have arrived yesterday! But it was so busy at home I couldn't unbox them yet (>.<) Somebody was already waiting impatiently to see them though.  Here she is looking at her new friends ;-)

Pullip Paja is my first Pullip Doll.  She was released many years ago but was so popular that after she became out of stock, the company re-released her (they did the same with a few other Pullip dolls high in demand).  The new models are called Regeneration.  

 

She comes with a dinosaur suit and a pretty pajama but I didn't really care for the dinosaur suit so I bought my doll without the clothes.  It was much cheaper that way and I could then buy the clothes that I would prefer.  I originally wanted the sailor outfit from Pullip Merl but she was so pretty I decided to buy the doll as well.

I didn't need help naming her because when my son saw her, he said she looked like a "Tiffany" and I loved it so much I decided it would be her name.

Tiffany didn't have any clothes and the outfits available at the time were really expensive so I browsed Ebay for many weeks until I found used but still beautiful outfits for her!  There were 5 dresses (with hats and stockings, etc.) in the lot so it was an incredible deal.

Tiffany is wearing her flower and ladybug dress and is now sitting pretty waiting for me to unbox her friends.   Doesn't she look adorable?

Little Pullip & Little Dal - Alice In Wonderland

 

Just like the full size Pullip Dolls, the Little are sometimes released with a theme.  One theme that I love is Alice in Wonderland.  The dolls below are the ones I know about!  If you know of any other in that collection, please let me know!

Their outfit is really amazing!!!  As you will see, I have not opened their box.  I don't have a proper display area for them yet so they will remain in their box for now.  They are incredibly cute once you see them in front of you.  I think the Little Dals in this collection are way cuter than the Little Pullips.  Their face is really cute and diverse for each character whereas the Pullips are more or less the same.  But that's just my own personal impression.

Little Pullip Queen of Hearts (that smile... you can almost hear her demonic laugh!)

Little Pullip Cheshire Cat

Little Pullip March Hare

Little Pullip Dormouse

Little Dal Pink Alice (she looks very upset to be in pink!)

Little Dal Mad Hatter (I ADORE her polka dot outfit and huge hat!!!)

Little Dal Humpty Dumpty (She has the prettiest face and I love her outfit too!)

Below are two dolls that are not really part of the Alice in Wonderland collection as advertised by the company but their card-inspired outfit was good enough for me to buy to complete my collection.

Little Dal Puki (who is actually the miniature of the full-size Dal Puki)

Little Pullip Luce (Because of her crown, I suppose she is the crowned Alice once she reached row 8 at the end of "Through the Looking Glass")

But there is one doll left to complete the collection and I can't get her because she is so RARE!  It's the Little Pullip Blue Alice!  She is impossible to find anywhere else but on Ebay where her price is around $100 and more ( >.< )

There were an earlier version of the Little Alice based on the first Pullip Alice (Fantastic Alice) : Blue and Pink Alice, which are just as equally rare and expensive now :(

But... it looks like a new Little Pullip was released!!! The Little Pullip Romantic Alice :)  I am waiting for her to be available in my country so I can finally own a Little Pullip Alice!

Little Pullip & Little Dal

I am still waiting for my beautiful Pullip Merl and Isul Lir to arrive.  Still have no name for them yet so feel free to write your suggestion HERE!  In the meantime, I have been busy with some other dolls: the Little Pullip and Dal collection :D  I found out about them when I was shopping for my Grail Pullip.

The full size Pullip Dolls are very expensive so I can't collect them.  But there is a line of miniature dolls that are much more affordable.  The minis have beautiful eyes and eyelashes but they can't move their eyes or joints like the big dolls.  Each doll is sold with a doll stand, an outfit, and a hat or hoodie.

I have recently bought many of them because they were on sale at PullipStyle and on Amazon too.  I didn't want to spend full price for them because it adds up quickly!  I found some at good prices on Ebay but it's rare because Ebay usually inflates prices, especially for the rare dolls that are no longer available in any store!   It's definitely better to check many stores/websites before buying them because price vary a lot between stores! Just keep in mind that each Mini Doll is usually priced initially around $30-$36!  You can find them for $20 on many sites.

My first choice is Little Dal Princess Tulip.  Her hair is green and styled in two adorable braids.  Her pink dress and hat are shaped like a tulip adorned with green leaves.  Underneath her dress is a yellow under-skirt which I thought was really nice.  Yellow shoes are painted on her tiny feet.  She has yellow underwear painted on her.

My second choice is Little Dal Lady Vixy who wears an adorable dress and a fox hat.  Also included are fuzzy wrist and ankle warmers.  Her hair is blonde and curl up on each side of her head.  Her hair was a little messy with flyaways when I took her out so I used a toothbrush to make it pretty again.  She has yellow underwear painted on her but unlike Princess Tulip, shoes are not painted on her feet.

Here they are out of their box.  Un-boxing them was a tedious process.  Everything is held in place with tape and I was scared to break the dolls or their hats when I was pulling out the tape.  But all was fine and nothing broke!  I don't really like to put their hats on them because they don't stay on for very long and they make their hair messy!

What's nice with the Little dolls is that they fit in most of my dollhouses and furniture :D  They are more to scale with the Sylvanians Families/Calico Critters than to the Lalaloopsy Mini Dolls or Strawberry Shortcake Mini Dolls.  Here below is a picture of each of those mini Dolls so you can see their size difference!  Princess Tulip stands very tall among them! 

They fit nicely in the Sylvanian Families chairs.  As you can see, they are bendable enough to sit and their arms can swing back and forth.  Their head can also move a little bit but they can't do much else.  Big thanks to darling Laura from Formule Blonde for sending me from France the adorable Sylvanian Families kitchen cupboard in the background!!!  The teapot, cup and saucer, cookie box, and everything in the cupboard was included in that package!  It's my only French furniture from the Sylvanian Families collection so I am very thankful to her!

But even with the Sylvanian Families Dollhouse and furniture, the Little Dal are a little too big.  I took pictures of them in the Calico Critters Deluxe Village House and they seem like giants!  It's not too much of a problem but I am picky with my scale so it bothers me that they look so big for the dollhouse.  The furniture are usually too small as well except for the tables and chairs.  The tea service is spot on though.

If you notice the Living room in the picture below looks so much brighter because of the ceiling lights!  Big thanks to Ohana from Go Go Hawaii for providing me with the lights!!! She shipped four of them all the way from Japan so my dollhouse could be brighter :)

Princess Tulip is rather big for all the kitchen appliances!

Princess Tulip's feet are sticking out of the bed!  But Lady Vixy seems comfy in her chair!

The bathtub and vanity are fine but the Little Dal ladies are too tall for the third floor!

Well now that it's obvious they are much too big for the biggest SF house I have, I will have to prepare another dollhouse for my two Little Dal Ladies!  I might let them stay in my newest dollhouse: the Ivy Cottage!

Dal Dotori

The Pullip dolls are beautiful but I also love Dal, Taeyang's eternally pouting little sister! She is just so adorable!  Her official biography is not flattering.  She is apparently jealous of Pullip who is her older brother's girlfriend.

When I first saw her, I thought she looked grumpy but she grew on me and now I love her!  Many say she looks like a spoiled brat but I think she looks charming.  She seems to have a spunky attitude!  So although Pullip looks mild and sweet, I think Dal is more fun and bold.

Maybe I am also biased toward her because her name means  "Moon" in Korean and that's the meaning of my real name as well, plus she is an Aquarius and has a blog like me O_O  But the comparison stops there as I don't have a big brother and I am definitely not 13 and studying in an International School in Milan :P

Pullip dolls are about the same size as Barbie whereas Dal dolls are the size of Skipper or Licca.  Dal comes up to about Pullip's shoulder.  Dal's body articulation is similar to Pullip's. Her eyes move from side to side but unlike Pullip, they cannot close.

She fits clothes for Licca and Blythe dolls.  She can also share clothes with Pullip and Barbie dolls although they will end up looking a little bigger on her.   She also fits Re-ment clothes (yes they do sell clothes!!!).

I haven't decided on what Dal to buy.  I don't plan on buying more than one Dal (because my wallet just won't allow it) so it has to be a good doll versatile to many cosplaying (changing of clothes and background).

One model that I instantly liked is Dal Dotori (her name means "acorn" in Korean).  How cute is that??? I love her outfit and she doesn't look as angry as other Dals.  I am just afraid her braids will be too messy after a short time so I am still hesitating on buying her!  Don't you think she looks ADORABLE?  Do you think she would be a good choice?