TOMY/TAKARA "Liccarize" Cardcaptor Sakura Sakura Kinomoto

CardCaptor Sakura goes way back with me, all the way to the original BANDAI/TRENDMASTERS bendy-body dolls of almost twenty years ago, the TRENDMASTERS Sakura pink costume "Deluxe Set" being among my very first Anime dolls, indeed, one of the fundamental dolls that steered me towards Anime doll collection/customization to begin with;

alas, she did not age well at all, and was quickly superseded by much better dolls.

all the same,i had always been attached to her, long wishing for an updated doll of her
to finally take a rightful place among the more modern girls in my collection,
and in 2017, it finally came true when TAKARA re-released the "Liccarize" Sakura
that i had missed out on several years back. they also re-issued her "pink costume" as a separate accessory, and i had to have both to make the modern Sakura Kinomoto doll i long pined for. Not Cheap, but Well Worth It;

being used to the 1/6 OBITSU BODY, i couldn't help but take exception to the rudimentary (to me) Barbie-like "Licca" doll body she came with. fortunately, OBITSU was about to release a brand new redesigned 24cm. body, which appeared to be JUST EXACTLY what i wanted for Sakura, and, indeed, after ordering a pair of them, the new body did in fact fit her exactly as if it was intended to all along;

Original BANDAI/TRENDMASTERS "Bendy Body" TAKARA "Licca" body, modeled by "Tomoyo Daidouji"

New OBITSU BODY 24cm.

Liccarize Sakura with new OBITSU;

so far, so good, no, better than that, PERFECT.

indeed, perfect, except for problems with fit and finish with her costume, -especially after a complete doll body transplant- that called for the best of my sewing and customizing skills.

brand new sets of gloves and stockings were immediately in order, and a new elastic gathering for the bonnet, so it would properly fit her head. a new combined Petticoat/slip was made from the rudimentary Petticoat originally included with the costume, and some lace-edged crinoline was permanently fixed to waist of the dress itself. a high-quality mini zipper, taken from a vintage 1960's Barbie accessory set, was added in place of the dresses' original Velcro closure,
and, finally, since her original red shoes would no longer proper fit her new body, -with it's much larger, realistically-proportioned feet and all- a new pair of shoes was sourced from a late-1990's Barbie "Little Extras" shoe set. with the ribbons from the original pair in place, the new shoes look and fit just about perfectly.

Finally, i gave her a new Faceup, really just a little alteration of her eyes, and some lip highlighting.

here is the finished doll. she is as perfect as i ever expect to have in a Sakura Kinomoto doll.
a perfectly-scaled "Keroberos" sidekick pet, taken from BANDAI's "S.H. Figuarts" Sakura action figure nicely completes the set;

 

Sakura, as a Schoolgirl in the "To Heart" universe;