Fairyland PukiPuki Discussion Part 24

Sorry for dropping off the map- lots came up offline. @NineOneThree , your Maki is perfection. My gosh. What an ideal wig / outfit combo. The tiny buttons. The little hat and tie. Best. Sailor. Ever.

@cleverLC Try patterns for Barbie's Kelly, or Obitsu11. Both of those usually fit PukiPuki. That said, the outfit you have them in now looks great! Love the colours, love the fit itself. The rolled cuffs on everything are a nice touch.

@Kirahfaye Any luck with your Ante? Fingers crossed s/he comes soon.

@Dollquest Gee, I can't imagine. What a great trio! Cheerful, ecstatic, and fed up. (At least from this angle) Congratulations! They look ready to embark on adventures already... I hope they believe in pants.

I think the 'they're doing them in batches' theory is all but confirmed at this point. Both of my Pukis were ordered during the extension period, but Flora arrived this week. I have... thoughts.

• Her head is smaller than OG Pukis. Only by a few millimeters- she should fit 3 /4 wigs fine- but enough to be noticeable. Smaller headback, smaller faceplate... totally incompatible with the OG, but designwise seems to be the same.
• No more metal bases with the holographic design. That was a given- if I recall correctly they had already started phasing those out before PukiPuki was discontinued.
• No more magnets. This one was a surprise to me. Granted, the faceplates fit so securely that you never really needed them, especially with eye putty inside. But most of my Pukis, even my secondhand ones, always came with them. It felt weird for the brand-new one to not.

As a possible bonus, Flora came with a sleeping faceplate I did not order. I'd like to think it was Fairyland being kind, but... I emailed DDE just in case.

Edit: DDE says they are gifts. An unexpected bonus!

To everyone looking for more wig resources:

• It's a small selection, but I've had good luck on DollyTerria, and they update regularly, so it pays to check. Just type 3.5, and you should get a list, or try in 'other doll accessories'. (If this is your first time using the site, there is a small dropdown bar on the top that allows you to read most things in Chinese, Korean, or English. I found it helpful to use Firefox with the 'Simple Translate' extension for the ordering pages themselves, which do not translate to English. xe.com is a website that will allow you to translate Yen to your own currency, so you can always know roughly what you're spending before shipping.) I recommend using EMS for overseas shipping, as DHL has started tacking on huge fees before even adding insurance. DollyTerria themselves took time to make me aware of this.
• It's unpredictable when and what will be available, but if you're into DiY, Frappzilla sometimes releases wig kits to go with their tiny ones, which are comparable to PukiPuki in size at the 'Bloom' scale. You might want to order a couple of kits just to be sure your doll's head is well-covered, but they are not expensive.
• Didn't see her mentioned elsewhere, but TashkasBears on Etsy still makes wigs for this size if you're in the market for more natural colours and curly / wavy textures. RaeWhiteWolf and Natrume also offer 3.5 options. Rae for sure has or had Pukis.
• OobieDoll is still making Puki-scale wigs as well on her site.

 

Thank you for the helpful information about wigs @Loptr. I have my own thoughts about the size difference of Flora, I don’t have Flora, but do you think all the PukiPuki heads are smaller than before?

 

@NineOneThree Yes! Let's hear them, please.

I won't know for sure until I have Cupid in hand too, but I'm guessing that was the big change, yes. But there is something else. On the back of Flora's faceplate, they have a small 'plaque' shape with the sculpt's name neatly printed, but barely etched in. An update from the initial or name that used to be carved into many of CP's older faces. It's clever, because it's the kind of detail a recast would not pick up easily.

 

@Loptr, I’m just wondering if there was an issue with the company’s master sculpts/molds that caused them to require recasting of their own dolls.

 

@NineOneThree That did cross my mind as well. Since Fairyland isn't overly communicative outside of, "Here's an event! Buy stuff!" "Watch us discontinue the things you love!", it is still unclear; did the person who used to be in charge of tiny dolls ever heal from their accident? Or were new folks trained in to get to this level?

The thing is, the name plaque looks like something that was digitally sculpted, and considering that FL does most if not all of their sculpting digitally now, that would fit the bill. Although maybe they digitally scanned the old Pukis to get as close as possible?

Definitely multiple possibilities.

 

My Ante shipped yesterday, so I'm hoping she'll be home soon. I ordered her in the elf grey.
One of my Realpukis arrived weeks ago, the other one is still in production.
I ordered all of them within a few days of eachother, so I'm not really sure what FL is basing their production schedule on...

 

Opie (choco Pipi) keeps asking when his friends are going to show up...............he's tired of being the only Pukipuki among all the other sizes
Waiting for Friends by wizgerg3, on Flickr

 

Opie looks great in his cute shirt. I hope his friends show up soon.

 

I think I recall it being due to old molds? That's part of why they shut the lines down, isn't it - to redo worn out molds that are losing detail. Recasts tended to have it bc they sometimes were stolen discarded molds.

 

I thought I read that too, that’s why I wondered if they had to recast their own dolls, but with new technology, who knows what was done to re-release the sculpts.

 

@Fairy Milliner Congratulations! Hoping that your RealPukis arrive soon too. It is definitely a unique casting system, however they determine it.

@JinCIncy Opie is so good. Hang in there, Sir. They are coming.

@ohbumblebee I had totally forgotten / missed that. Looking back over old threads, it seems you were right ; I can't find a definitive announcement, but DoAers were clearly talking about it. So @NineOneThree, you might be closer to the answer.

Here's a picture of the 'plaque'. (That apparently refuses to load)

That's 3D sculpted, right? On oldschool Pukis it was etched into the clay on the master, and left a 'handmade'-looking imprint on the finished dolls. But maybe they sculpted it, printed it, then glued it inside a pre-existing Flora? I can't pretend to have the answers, but it's fun to imagine the possibilities.

Also, quick heads up: DDE got in a shipment of FL stuff recently, including a few PukiPukis and RealPukis.

 

I think it's a combo of the two--there was an announcement about the person who was in charge of the smaller lines, but I don't know if he ever recovered. (I certainly hope so!) I wouldn't doubt mold degradation is part of it, but that's a natural part of the mold's lifecycle, so I wouldn't think it would be the only reason. They're only good for so many pulls before you have to make new ones. When I emailed them a couple of years ago now, too, they said part of it was also sourcing packaging materials. So seems like a kind of perfect storm of little things that led to them deciding to not-quite-discontinue the line(s).

 

IMG_6006 by Stephanie, on Flickr

Macchiato (Chocopuki Cupid) is now 15 human years. My how time flies by.

 

How old is your Chocopuki and how have you stored him? His skin tone is pristine. Macchi has yellowed and lightened over the years

 

I'm not sure how old he is. I got him when he first came out, but I'd have to pull the certificate and look at it to see for sure. I keep him in a room box my husband made for me, but he is out of all direct light.

 

Sounds like he is 15 too! I’m impressed with how well kept he’s been. As you can see, Macchiato has spent all her time out, not so much in direct sunlight but I didn’t really shelter her either.

 

I don't have a Chocopuki, but I remember when they were first released... I've been in this hobby longer than I thought.

@ReineDeLaSeine14 - Macchiato is a real cutie! Love the name, too!!

 

Thank you!

 

My elf grey Ante is home!!! She hasn't told me her name yet, but she's picked out a dress (the showiest one in the box) and a wig.



So then there were four... I've told myself that I can't have more. (Yeah, keep telling myself that, and one day I may even believe myself. LOL!!)

 

@ReineDeLaSeine14 Macchiato is super cute! My tan Cupid is nearly 10 now, wow.

@Fairy Milliner Your Ante is so sweet, and your whole group is so cute too! I thought I was good with my two, but now I'm waiting on a third. Hope she arrives soon!

Trying to find a purple wig for her- there's a couple of Leeke ones on DDE's website that might work.