Sailors Moon, Mars, and Mercury Arrive!

 

Sailor Moon, as a series, has meant quite a lot to me over the years, so when Volks announced their Sailor Moon Dollfie Dream in late 2017, I was pretty excited. I was lucky to have a successful lottery entry, but after the doll arrived... there was a lot of other stuff going on, and I didn't even open her. As time passed, I felt guilty when I saw the sealed box, and I started to think that I ought to sell her... and then Volks announced Mars and Mercury. I decided to try for them both, and I was lucky enough to be successful once again! Now that they're here, after the somewhat muddled Volks International invoicing and shipping delays, I took some time to do a box opening for all 3.

Three large boxes! I had quite a time hauling Mars & Mercury home... they arrived at my office on the same day, and the boxes barely fit in the IKEA bag I brought! Toting them home on the train was definitely an experience... XD

Who's in the first box? It's Sailor Moon! (It seemed only appropriate that she be opened first, since she arrived first.

Here's the box! It's the drawer-style.

Unfortunately, my box suffered some rough handling during its voyage, and one corner is pretty crumpled. (This was visible on the outside shipping carton as well.) Nothing inside the box was damaged.

And the first look inside! She's packed like a Dollfie Dream, ribbon belts holding the plastic-bagged doll to an insert, not cushioned or bubble-wrapped like other dolls.

I know that her face hasn't been the most popular, but I think she's very cute!

Underneath the doll are her papers, accessories, wig, and outfit pieces!

And this is everything she came with! Uniform, extra hands, boots, wig, papers, and a box with her plastic accessories!

Another view of the uniform, boots, and the accessories tray removed from the white box.

She came with a lot of gloves, several of them custom designed for the extra hands, so that she can do some poses fitting for the character.

And here are the hands! I love the variety of extra hands, but I must say I'm terrible at the process of actually replacing them on the wrist structures.

This is the accessories tray, with the top removed for a better look. The tiara is just set on top; it was in a plastic baggie and taped to the back. This tray would fit a much shallower tiara, but they went with a different design than they originally intended, it seems.

And here's her wig! The odango are rather odd-looking from any angle other than straight-on. I'm hoping I can eventually get her another wig for more general use... I don't want to risk damaging this one!

And here she is, removed from the plastic bag! She has the Dollfie Dream Sister standard body, not to the new f3 that Mars and Mercury have, as she was released before it was introduced. It's normal skin and medium bust, which does match Mars and Mercury.

Another picture of her face, this time without the plastic bag in the way! I like her eyes a lot more than I expected to...

Here she is, dressed in the uniform! (I got lazy and put the mitten glove on one hand...)

She doesn't have one of the crescent moon charms on her boot, because the hook snapped off when I tried to affix it! Thankfully it was an easy repair with a dab of nail glue, which I keep on hand precisely for this kind of thing. It was drying when I took this picture. Usagi is watching while the other box openings continue.

And now, on to Sailor Mars!

Another picture of the box; this one didn't suffer any major bumps on its journey.

On the inside it's basically identical to Sailor Moon's packaging.

I like the makeup and face of Sailor Mars a lot more than I expected to, given the promotional photos. Her eyes seemed much more angular; I'm happy with how they look on her.

All of her goodies are tucked below the insert that holds the doll!

Here's everything from inside the box—uniform, high heels, wig, white box of accessories, and booklet!

I really like the fabric and colour chosen for her uniform. It has such a lovely sheen! I had a hard time capturing it well for this picture.

Her wig is very dark, so I couldn't get too much detail when it's flat like this. It has a nice violet sheen, just like Rei's hair is usually illustrated.

Sailor Mars is on the Dollfie Dream Sister f3 body, normal skin and medium bust. I can't really tell much of a difference from this and the previous body on Sailor Moon, but maybe that's just because I'm not an expert.

I'm really happy with her face! She's darling!

Obviously she needed to be dressed into her uniform! (A warning, though... there are some stains on her forehead and above her ears from wearing her tiara for these box-opening pictures! This did not happen to Usagi or Ami... I think putting tape on the back of the tiara would be a good idea to avoid this fate for anyone else.)

Now Sailors Mars and Moon are ready to welcome their next teammate, Sailor Mercury! (Although canonically, Moon and Mercury would welcome Mars... ;D)

It's another box very similar to the others!

No damage here!

She's in her box exactly the same way that Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars were packed. Honestly, it's pretty efficient.

Underneath the insert with the doll is a sea of blue! She's somewhat monochromatic compared to Sailors Moon and Mars.

Sailor Mercury comes with her uniform, boots, wig, a box with accessories, and booklet.

Her uniform is the same style and fabric as Sailor Mars, but in Mercury's signature blues.

I wasn't sure about her wig, at first glance, but when it's worn by the doll it's a very nice representation of her character's hairstyle. I do wish it didn't have a black wig cap, however.

Sailor Mercury has the exact same body as Sailor Mars—Dollfie Dream Sister f3, normal skin, medium bust.

I think Ami is my favourite out of all three! I feel that she really looks like the character and she looks adorable to boot! She seems like she could be really versatile, even with the blue eyebrows.

Here's the third sailor soldier of today's box opening in her uniform and wig! I think she looks wonderful.

Here's a quick side-by-side of all three dolls. I can't really see much difference between Sailors Mars and Mercury vs Sailor Moon, even though they share one body type and she has the other. I know that the internal frame is slightly different, but it isn't outwardly visible.

Here's all three! Now that this happened, I have to say that I'm happy that I didn't sell Sailor Moon... I hope I can find a place to keep them displayed together. It brings a smile to my face to see the trio. If Volks releases Jupiter and Venus I am definitely doomed! XD

What's this? Oh right, their school uniforms! I entered for these in the same lottery as Mars and Mercury, and they arrived on the same day as the dolls!

When they're not fighting crime as pretty soldiers, they're ready for the trials of teenage life as schoolgirls.

♥ Thanks so much for reading! ♥

Ahh it's so cool seeing them all together like this! Sailor Moon has touched so many people and it's really amazing I'm glad you didn't sell her and got to have the triple box opening experience. This really makes me want to get some of my own!

Congratulations on getting all three of them.

 

1 hour ago, milkytea said:

I know that her face hasn't been the most popular, but I think she's very cute!

I think the biggest issue people had is the size of her eyes. To be fair to Volks though, I think this was probably a necessary compromise to realize the faces as full as possible. Dollfie faces have a lot of depth, and really big eyes are going to limit the face in other ways.

I liked Usagi's face a lot more after mine arrived. When you see her in person she is a good match for the character.

1 hour ago, milkytea said:

Sailor Mars is on the Dollfie Dream Sister f3 body, normal skin and medium bust. I can't really tell much of a difference from this and the previous body on Sailor Moon, but maybe that's just because I'm not an expert.

The bigges differences are posing, adjustable tension on the frame, smoother movement, and more natural looking curves at the shoulders and hips. 

1 hour ago, milkytea said:

I think Ami is my favourite out of all three! I feel that she really looks like the character and she looks adorable to boot! She seems like she could be really versatile, even with the blue eyebrows.

Yeah her face is awesome, and she does a great job looking like Ami. In the Volks photos Mars looks like the most accurate to me, but I won't know for sure until I see mine in person in April.

Edited March 19, 2019 by Wolf

That was one mighty unboxing! That must have taken forever 😁. They look awesome all set up together though, totally worth it!

Congrats! They're so, so beautiful and Ami is adorable! 

It took me about two weeks to completely debox Mars and Mercury, it must have been hectic to do all three in one day! 

As for Usagi's wig, this one recently popped up on Ebay and so far, it's the best Odango wig I've seen (though still requires some tweaking imo) aside from Volks. The bangs don't look as nice as Volks' imo but it's a great backup, and comes in three shades!

Edited March 19, 2019 by Serena-Hime

Such a lovely trio.  Congrats on getting them.  Sadly I fell on hard times and had to pass on the last two.  But I'm happy others here were able to get all three and post photos here so I could see them.

On 3/19/2019 at 9:45 AM, RoseEtoile said:

Ahh it's so cool seeing them all together like this! Sailor Moon has touched so many people and it's really amazing I'm glad you didn't sell her and got to have the triple box opening experience. This really makes me want to get some of my own!

Aww, thank you!  I am really happy with them. ♥

On 3/19/2019 at 10:47 AM, BeyondTime said:

Congratulations on getting all three of them.

[...]

Yeah her face is awesome, and she does a great job looking like Ami. In the Volks photos Mars looks like the most accurate to me, but I won't know for sure until I see mine in person in April.

Thank you! ♥ I think Mars looks very accurate, but I have a bigger soft spot for Mercury, so I was slightly more impressed. I will say that in my opinion, Mars looks much nicer in person. I hope you agree when you receive yours in April! ♥

On 3/19/2019 at 5:34 PM, TheWhiteRabbit said:

That was one mighty unboxing! That must have taken forever 😁. They look awesome all set up together though, totally worth it!

Hahaha, thank you! It did take a long time. I kept trying to do it earlier, but we had so many super-gloomy days, and I really wanted at least a smidge of natural light!

On 3/19/2019 at 6:01 PM, Serena-Hime said:

Congrats! They're so, so beautiful and Ami is adorable! 

It took me about two weeks to completely debox Mars and Mercury, it must have been hectic to do all three in one day! 

As for Usagi's wig, this one recently popped up on Ebay and so far, it's the best Odango wig I've seen (though still requires some tweaking imo) aside from Volks. The bangs don't look as nice as Volks' imo but it's a great backup, and comes in three shades!

Thank you for the wig recommendation! I agree that it looks like it needs a bit of styling, but it's really nice as far as the bangs and the curls before the ears! ♥

On 3/19/2019 at 11:18 PM, sinclair said:

Such a lovely trio.  Congrats on getting them.  Sadly I fell on hard times and had to pass on the last two.  But I'm happy others here were able to get all three and post photos here so I could see them.

I'm sorry that the timing didn't work out for you for the other two, but I'm glad you're enjoying the pictures others have shared. Maybe they'll come your way at some future date!

Congrats milkytea! They look great together! Mercury and Mars have such cute faces, Volks really stepped it up and nailed it. Can’t wait to see them release Jupiter and Venus! 

Moon has such a cute sweet face .... I did not know she had or came with extra hands! That's really awesome that she can actually do her poses with the hands!!!  .............I love the makeup for Mars!! Her eyes are so pretty. 
......Oh em gee, Mercury is just the cutest of the three! That really makes me wanna add her to my wishlist. *giggle* 

So happy for you! Sailor Mercury is my favorite scout! I wanted her but decided on my Nier pair instead. Maybe someday if I ever decrease my collection. . . 

They all are really good representations of the characters! Besides the gloves the outfits are spot on and personally, I do not think they could have done a better job on the faces. They are instantly recognizable even without a wig on.

Such a fun box opening! You must have been very excited:> I love Sailor Moon and it would have been a dream to have one of these girls.

Ah, what a dream! Mercury is amongst my grail dolls.

This is truly a dream! I love Sailor Moon and congratulations for your new dolls, they are perfect!