My:Carnival

Hello, hello, hello!
Welcome, welcome, welcome!
Come one, come all, to my little carnival!

 

Haha, alright! 

I’ve meant to do this for a while, but being a chronic procrastinator it took me until now to actually sit down and write this up.
Now, ‘this’, of course, is my ramblings about my Nu:Carnival doll(s)! 
There’s only one for now, but others are in various stages of production lol.

As a little disclaimer: If you come here in the hopes of lots of pretty pictures, I’ll unfortunately have to disappoint you. I included the pictures the artist made of the face-up, because they show it off really well and there’s no way for me to replicate that visual fidelity, but other than that there won’t be much to see.

However, if you’re looking for a few minutes of distraction, please feel free to read on.

In any case, let’s begin! 

 

First, a bit of background: 
Skip if you want to just get to the dolls

Spoiler

 

A little less than a year ago one of my friends introduced me to a newly released game called ‘Nu:Carnival’. It’s a 18+ NSFW BL gacha game developed for mobile devices and if you’re anything like me, that is enough information to lower your expectations into the ground.

I’m not a stranger to gacha games. In fact, I occasionally enjoy browsing the playstore for them, allowing them to dazzle me for a bit before ultimately uninstalling. The only exception to that rule is Genshin Impact, which has had me in its clutches almost since it was released, but Genshin is sort of an exception in its genre in general.

If you have no clue what a gacha game is, honestly, good for you. To give you a rudimentary explanation; gacha games use luck-based systems where you input some form of currency and in return you receive a random item out of a specified pool of possible prizes. There’s some nuance here and there, but basically it’s a gambling mechanic. 

So, I went into Nu:Carnival curious, but not necessarily hopeful. I expected to drop the game after a few weeks max, but..

 

Well, let’s just say that’s not how it went. 

 

Now, before you go downloading the game for yourself; I want to say that I don’t recommend it.

Nu:Carnival is pretty much the only game in its niche - at least the only one available on the western/global market, as far as I am aware - and it definitely does a lot of things right. 

The character designs are great, the art in general looks very nice (to me. This is going to be subjective of course. I’d also like to note that the art can be a tad inconsistent at times and anatomy can be a little.. wonky. It doesn’t matter much to me personally, but for others this might be more of an issue.), the voice acting is great, the translation is actually serviceable (there is the occasional typo, but it’s not so full of errors that it would distract from the story. Speaking of which-), the story, while not groundbreaking, has some intrigue to it. 

The best part about the game is hands down the character writing. Coupled with their great designs, each member of the cast has a distinct personality that really shines through in all their interactions. You might find them a little trope-y and again, there’s not really anything groundbreaking, but each of the boys is loveable in their own way and I’d say there’s something here for everyone.

Unfortunately, the game is permeated with shady monetization tactics. Prices are expensive and the use of multiple different currencies purposefully makes things confusing and intransparent. I can’t even definitely tell you what you would have to pay to guarantee a character on an event banner (limited prize pools with special items/characters/cards that are only available for a certain period of time) because different packs and systems make things even more confusing. Let’s say you join at the tail end of a banner, you get a couple for free stuff here and there, but you’re incredibly unlucky; if you want to get a character guaranteed that can be easily more than $400.

 

Ouch. 

 

Obviously, if you play the game you are drip fed some premium currency over time. As a f2p your best bet would be to stick to one or maybe 2 boys (There’s 8 currently, soon 9) and only pulling for their cards. Oh, and better hope you get what you want the first time around. We recently had our first rerun banner and it was made extremely f2p unfriendly.

As I’ve mentioned before, I tried other gachas and I have never felt compelled to spend money on a single one of them. I was ready to spend money on Genshin, but that would have been a skin that was purchasable up front, not a gacha-system related purchase. Same thing goes for Overwatch, back when it still had loot boxes.

Nu:Carnival was the first game that almost made me cave.

Towards the end of last year, one of my faves was featured on a banner and I really, really loved the look of his card. I grinded out as many free pulls as I could, but in the end I was short by.. 40? Or so? I believe? I checked how much that would cost me, trying to make sense of all the bonuses and packs and whatnot and I think in the end it would have been around $30 bucks.

I thought about this long and hard..

 

..then I went to steam and bought a full game for the money instead. 

 

I appreciate the people who finance these types of games for me and other f2p/low-spending players, but I know that the few coins I might be willing to throw at the devs would likely go entirely unappreciated, unnoticed even. Perhaps if I added a few more zeros to that number, but alas.

The way I see it, my money is better spent elsewhere. For example: on dolls!

 

TLDR: Gacha Game = bad, handsome fictional men = good

 

My initial plan + a stroke of luck:

So, unable to nab one of my favs in-game. I began to think about turning him into a Dollfie. Having no artistic talent whatsoever, I knew that I’d be needing to commission someone for a face-up and preferably for custom eyes + a wig as well. 

Because of this, I’ve been eyeing LottieSugar (formerly Watashi Doll). However, I wasn’t quite ready to pull the trigger just yet. I tried making a mock-up for a possible face-up and I decided to wait and see whether or not I’d still like the look of it a couple weeks later.

Then, getting a sudden burst of inspiration, I made another mock-up for another one of the boys and got myself into the predicament of which one to commission (first). Again, this one would kind of require custom eyes + wig.

 

Another issue I faced was the question of getting bodies for their heads, namely DDBs. I don’t mind body sharing (although now that I own a custom head, I realized that it would be a damn shame if said head wouldn’t be out on display 24/7) and I’ve already pre-ordered Kaito, so I knew I’d have at least one body to go around.

Going through Dream Choice would be an option to get a DDB, but it would cost a lot of money. Then, just a week or so before Christmas, I saw a DDB III in Flesh pop up on my country’s equivalent of Mercari. I saw the post ~30 minutes after it went up and I was already worried someone else might have contacted the seller. I shot them a message, basically begging them to take my money, no questions asked.

About an hour later they replied and we struck the deal.

I couldn’t believe my luck.

 

I like to think that I made a good deal. DDBs on YJA tend to go for less, but add on shipping and customs and it would be roughly the same/ slightly more than what I paid. 

I highly assume the body came from a Kirito, as that’s actually the only time the DDB III was available through a limited release, if I understand correctly. It came with more stains than expected (The seller had mentioned some stains, but they didn’t show in the sales pictures and I didn’t ask for better ones because I was very much afraid someone else would snatch him up before me if I did.), but none of them are all that bad and his joints were also pretty loose. He still holds poses fairly well, but it doesn’t really take more than a nudge to get his joints to move. (One of these days I plan on disassembling him to try and fix that, but for now it’s just how it is.)

So, with a guaranteed 2 DDB bodies at my disposal, I felt fairly confident in proceeding with the commission.

 

What actually ended up happening: 

I’ve been interested in vinyl dolls for a little over a year now, although I only got my first doll in June ‘22. Since then, I felt like I experienced many fortunate strokes of serendipity when it comes to my hobby endeavors. Me getting my hands on that secondhand DDB is definitely one of them, another is the fact that I stumbled across the commission notice of a fairly small face-up artist on Instagram in January. Magic Owl Forest to be precise!

She had just reopened her commissions the previous November after a hiatus and after looking at her portfolio and realizing that she is located within the EU (just like me, which is great for shipping and means I don’t have to pay customs) I made the extremely spontaneous decision to message her and ask whether she still had a spot open for the month.

In fact, this was so spontaneous that I didn’t even have a head to be customized. Luckily, dolls.moe had the right one in store, so I ordered it and got it shipped to her asap.

Now, the question is, which of the two boys did I decide to commission? 

 

Neither! 

 

I actually went ahead with boy number three. Remember how I mentioned that both boys would require custom eyes + wig? I’m actually not sure how far you can go with the custom wigs over at LottieSugar, if they only do certain styles or colors, but I wanted to keep that door open regardless. So, I picked a boy from the cast that would have worked with a more generic wig as well.

My choice fell on the protagonist of the game himself, Eiden!

 

The making off:

Before I ordered the head, I showed the artist some pictures for reference.

Such a handsome boy.

MOF was happy to accept my commission and the rest is history. 

 

One of her rules states that she does not do in-progress pics. I made the commission knowing this, but naturally I was still pretty nervous about it, especially since this was the first time I ever commissioned anything.

About a week after the head arrived at her place MOF reached out with a few progress pictures anyway to ask for my opinion on some things.

 

(As mentioned, all credit for these pictures goes to Magic Owl Forest!)

 

 When I saw those pictures, I knew I had made the right decision to commission her. I was absolutely ecstatic. I’m pretty sure I didn’t sleep that night, haha!

Literally a few days later, the face up was already done.

 

(Again, those pictures were kindly provided by Magic Owl Forest.)

 

I think he came out perfectly!

Less than two weeks after that, I had him in my hands and - I know I sound like I’m smoking or something - he somehow looked even more stunning in real life. REALLY. Trust me. I have no clue how that’s even possible, because he looks stunning in those pictures already, but it’s true! You can barely see it in the photos, but there's actually a gradient in his lashes. It's subtle, but it really adds to the look, in my opinion!

Now, while MOF was doing her magic, I had gone scouring the web for some clothes and a wig for Eiden. His default outfit is fairly generic, so I had hopes that I’d be able to cobble something together and indeed, I found pretty much everything I needed.

This is what he wears in-game, at least when he’s not in an event specific fit:

 

Bland isekai protagonist #6999 (Don't let the look fool you though, he's actually such a fun character!)

This is what I used to replicate the look:

Volks Pullover and choker set that I found on Mandarake (Btw, this thing is like.. ridiculously oversized. It "fits" DD, but it also fits SD17..)
Blue Hoodie Jacket from PABAdoll on Etsy
Volks DD Denim Pants (Skinny/Black) from the Volks store
A pair of generic white canvas shoes from MewsBJD on Etsy

You might be able to find the Etsy stuff for cheaper elsewhere, but personally Etsy is just the most convenient option for me so that’s what I settled with.

I even got some cord and a little glass gem to replicate his necklace. The gem itself isn’t quite the right size/shape, but that’s alright.

I also got him a wig from Etsy, but it isn’t quite the right color and shape. I still think it looks really cute on him though, so I’m tempted to just leave him like this. I just ordered another wig for him that might be closer to his original design, but we’ll see how that pans out.

 

There’s also a poorly lit picture of him in a placeholder wig and with a khaki coat that I used on him before his other stuff arrived. I think it makes a nice alternative look for him!

 

 

I still can’t quite believe that I am the owner of such a beautiful doll. 

All my dolls mean something to me, but there’s definitely something very special about Eiden. He has been bringing me a lot of joy ever since I first commissioned him and I really hope that he’ll be with me for years and years to come.

 

Naturally, I immediately commissioned MOF again, this time asking her to do one of the two boys I initially had in mind. I found someone on Instagram who makes custom doll wigs and I’ve already reached out to them as well, so if everything goes according to plan he’ll end up looking as close to his original design as possible. 

Once there’s some progress on that front, I’ll be updating this thread~ 

If you made it all the way down here, treat yourself (or your dolls) to something nice! Also, please, please, please check out MOF on instagram? Please? Pretty Please? Or Facebook? Do it for Eiden? 

 

In any case, have a wonderful day! 
 

I love that you wrote at such length about your entire journey! I feel like social media has conditioned everyone to be extremely brief, but I LOVE hearing about the hows and whys of people's dolls, so I read it all happily. Your boy came out great and I can't wait to see your future dolls!

Yeah, I was debating with myself on whether or not I should try and keep it brief or not, but you only live once. 

I always love hearing other's thoughts when it comes to their dolls, so I figured there might be others who'd also like to read a wall of text about it. It's kind of like you say, we do a lot of 'self-censoring' nowadays, 'no, I shouldn't ramble in my post, no one cares about that', 'no, I shouldn't post that pic of my doll, it didn't turn out well'. I'm certainly like that as well, but once you dip your toes, it's actually not so bad!

I encourage everyone to share more about their dolls. If no one else, I'd love to hear all about it 

It's been a while since I made my initial post, and it's time for a little update!

As I mentioned before, I commissioned Magic Owl Forest again right after she finished her work on Eiden, and this time I asked her to do one of the boys that's been on my mind ever since I first seriously considered the idea of getting custom Nu:Carnival dolls. The character in question is probably my favorite in-game (Although it's really, really hard to pick). Funnily enough, I actually really disliked him when I initially started playing the game but he grew on me in time.

I am, of course, talking about our resident kitsune, Kuya!

These are the reference images that I sent to MOF.

I had actually made a mock-up for a face-up for him all the way back in November (I first started discussing commissioning him in February), and because I thought it didn't look too bad I decided to send it along as well.

Now, this mock-up was done on a DDH-07 (Same sculpt as Eiden!), and the initial idea was for the mouth to be sanded flat entirely.

When I told her about my plans, MOF suggested that she could instead mod the mouth in a way that would keep some of the sculpting, while still allowing for this open mouthed smile, and she also suggested to mod the eyes to make them more narrow to match the original design.

It's been a long time but I believe the reason why I didn't originally approach her asking for an eye mod right out off the gate, was because I wasn't sure whether she felt comfortable doing them. I've never done it myself, but I know that modding takes a lot of skill and effort, especially additive mods like what would be needed here. I hadn't really seen any of those in her portfolio before either, but when she suggested them herself I was more than happy to take her up on the offer.

The March batch of slots was a bit busier for MOF but eventually she showed me the head post-mods!

(Picture by Magic Owl Forest)

What a massive difference! Again, this used to be DDH-07! Those eyes are probably around half the size as they used to be? I was really excited. I absolutely loved the eye shape, and while I wasn't quite as convinced about the mouth yet (I have a lot of difficulty visualizing things in my mind, for example, I can't really imagine what the finished face-up might have looked like just based on this picture.) but I decided to trust in the process - and, boy howdy, I wasn't disappointed!

This time there were no other updates until the commission was done (This is part of MOFs rules, which I agreed with upon placing my commission), and to not 'spoil' the surprise, I put the pictures of the finished head in a spoiler:

Spoiler

 

(Pictures by Magic Owl Forest)

I was absolutely blown away by this! So awesome!

MOF even included an extra pairs of eyes because she wasn't quite sure which size would look better, and as you can see in the pictures they have this really nice holo effect that really give Kuya a magical kind of look!

A short while later, I was able to welcome him home!

I feel like his head looks a lot more rounded in MOFs photos than what he actually looks like, so I included some pictures that I took as well:

Spoiler

I absolutely adore him! There was only one problem: When his head arrived, Kuya had no body, no wig, and no clothes. 

Well, at least the former two points were already something I've had taken care of! Thanks to split I joined on the forum, I was able to get my hands on a DDB f3 in Flesh! I felt so lucky! It all happened just at the right time! Thank you @chef_mai and @ragnamuffin! If you were wondering, this is where the body from the split ended up, haha!

The body arrived maybe a week or so after the head? I'm not quite sure, but of course, I immediately took Kuya's head out of hibernation, plopped a placeholder wig onto his head and displayed him on my desk!

Spoiler

Slaying all day, even in pajamas. 

The wig looks almost white in the pictures, but irl it is a really lovely shade of light lilac. I didn't really like it on him at first, but got used to it after a while..

However! He would not have to be without a proper wig for long! 

- Or so I thought

 

All the way back in February, when I already told MOF to reserve me a spot for her March batch for Kuya, I reached out to Ran Chii on Instagram to commission a custom wig for Kuya as well. So, while MOF was working on the head, Ran Chii was simultaneously working on the wig.

Now, initially, Ran Chii told me that I needed to send the head to her. This wasn't exactly unexpected but it still made me a bit queasy, especially because it would have to travel all the way from Europe to the Philippines. The thought of losing a doll head in the mail would be just - too much! But, you gotta do what you gotta do, right? Now, obviously I couldn't send Kuya's head, because MOF was still working on it. Since his head is a DDH-07 that wasn't too much of a problem, especially because I own two others - Eiden and Faker! There was, of course, no way I would send away Eiden, so Faker was chosen as tribute. She took it well but I was still very worried for her.

However, when it was time to send the head, Ran Chii told me that it wouldn't be necessary after all, and that just giving her the measurements would suffice. 

This would have been cheaper and more convenient for me, and it would mean not having to risk one of my heads.

So, I agreed. In hindsight, this was a mistake.

 

By the time Kuya's head had arrived, the wig was already finished as well. It wasn't actually until that moment that Ran Chii told me what the wig would cost me. I had asked her multiple times - before and while  she was working on my commission but somehow she always avoided answering the question? I was a bit concerned, but I figured it'd be alright, and it was! Sort of?

The wig itself was staggeringly cheap, the shipping cost.. not so much. I was only offered DHL express as an option so I didn't really have a choice in the matter. For transparency (And if you're ever interested in commissioning Ran Chii yourself (she doesn't list price/estimates publicly either)), this is what I paid, give or take conversion rates etc:

Wig - 1590 php - 26.0 €
Shipping fee - 4000 php -66 €

Total = 5590 php - 91.48 €

Oh well. 

(Picture by Ran Chii)

The wig looked great, and I paid. Unfortunately, there were some issues with PayPal that were entirely out of both mine and Ran Chii's control, so the shipping got delayed for a bit - and it also took DHL longer than they estimated, so much for 'express' .. 

Anyway, I finally receive my wig, it looks great and.. it doesn't fit 

I was so bummed out about this.

As you can see, the wig is a yarn weft wig, and the wig cap was basically a piece of fabric that had been put over the doll head, doused in glue, and therefore had basically turned rock hard because of it. Now, initially, when I gave Ran Chii the measurements for my head, she showed me two heads of hers that came fairly close but weren't a perfect match. I specifically asked her whether the wig would have enough stretch to accommodate some slight variations in size. She confirmed this, but reality begged to differ.

I suppose this is just the nature of glued yarn weft wigs. It's practically molded onto the specific head, so if you want it to fit you really have to work on the specific sculpt. I really was more sad than anything over all of this but it's a lesson learned!

Ran Chii included some cookies in my package as a little 'thank you' for me patiently waiting as the PayPal issues got resolved, so I had something to snack on while considering my next move.

 

The fact of the matter was, that the wig (in it's too small state) was essentially useless to me. While there was a chance that I might destroy it in the process, the only option I saw was to try and widen it myself. I consulted with Ran Chii, and with the people on the Dollfie Discord and came to the conclusion that a cut would have to be made in the back/nape of the wig, so that's what I did.

I know that the 'tip' of the cut looks like it's ripping, but that's just me not cutting straight. I was trying very hard not to damage the wefts so my cuts were very tentative, you can see that it's not actually one big cut, but a few smaller ones as I tried to slowly inch my way to a point at which the wig would fit and eventually it did! Hurray!

Again, the wig cap was really hard, and it didn't seem to fray by itself. Still, I needed to somehow secure the cut to ensure it wouldn't split more - or to at least try and keep the wig together for as long as possible. I ended up placing a piece of fabric over the area, then I covered it in a generous amount of fabri-tac. I even added a bit of masking tape for good measure, and with a lot of optimism, the wig seems to be in a stable state!  

And this is what it looks like on Kuya:

Spoiler

By the way, this is what the back of the wig looks like:

You can see that it's thin in the spot where it splits but its not too bad. I asked Ran Chii which yarn she used to maybe see if I could make a few wefts of my own and patch it up but the brand she uses isn't available in my country. I could have asked if she could send me a weft or two but I decided that it's probably not worth the hassle. Knowing myself I might just make things worse, so for now I'm content as is.

I really like how it turned out actually. The color is more vibrant and saturated than the in-game art but I think it actually looks really great! That's a good thing, because I'm not sure if it would survive me trying to get it off again. That's a joke - it probably would be fine, but I don't want to put any unnecessary strain on it, so the wig is staying on unless it's really necessary to be removed.

After all this time.. finally! Kuya is put together!

Eventually, he also got some proper clothes, haha

Spoiler

This is how I currently have him displayed on my desk! Fun fact: I got his pipe a long time ago. It had been waiting in storage for months - I actually had some trouble finding it back.

Obviously, someone as distinguished as Kuya needs a proper place to rest:

I mentioned - and even showed off! - this lounge once or twice around the forum. I got it all the way back in October. It obviously needs some love but now that the weather is consistently nice, I think I can actually try my hands a refurbishing it! Another fun fact: I bought this thing off of Ebay for a whopping 9€ - 8€ of those were for shipping. 

And that's it for today!

Again, a little shout out to Magic Owl Forest and Ran Chii for making this possible. I think Kuya really turned out amazing. He's super close to his original design, and every time I look at him I'm just completely mind-blown!

That is to say, of course, I am looking to commission MOF yet again to bring the character to life that has started this mayhem in the first place! 

Wow, he looks amaaazinggg!!! Glad to see everything worked out in the end. I am so happy for you! 🥰

Your boys look absolutely awesome!!! So down to detail and stylish!

He turned out awesome!!! I gasped at his properly clothed pic. ❤️

I'm so glad to hear you all like my boys! 

I know boys aren't all that popular within the community as a whole, and Eiden and Kuya both have fairly 'simplistic' face-ups as well. They are expertly crafted but the style itself is not overly ornate or anything like that - they don't look all that 'out of place' next to a factory face-up, I feel like. Some might find that too boring, but to me they are just perfect. I would not want to trade them for the world! And in the end, that's all they need to do: make me happy. Well, they are doing a great job at that!

I think one of the most fun parts about this whole journey is seeing everything slowly come together. It all starts with little more than a plan, and then watching it getting realized just feels incredibly satisfying!

As a bonus here's a little picture of bunny Eiden, trying out a longer wig. He makes a surprisingly cute girl as well!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

9 hours ago, RetroKanojo said:

I know boys aren't all that popular within the community as a whole

Man, if I had a dollar for every time I've seen someone asking about getting a DDB or DDSB I could probably get one myself!  I think they'd be more popular if they were more available. 

Regardless, your hard work has paid off wonderfully, your boys look fantastic, thanks for sharing your process! 

 

16 hours ago, DesertPhantom51 said:

Man, if I had a dollar for every time I've seen someone asking about getting a DDB or DDSB I could probably get one myself!  I think they'd be more popular if they were more available. 

Yes! I've also thought that it's sort of a 'vicious cycle':

Volks thinks male dolls aren't popular -> Volks makes male dolls fairly difficult to get -> Fewer people buy them because of it -> Volks thinks male dolls aren't popular 

Rinse, repeat.

Now, obviously they have the sales numbers. They know how many people pre-ordered the limited boys compared to the girls, and like I said, I have no doubt that proportionally boys really are a lot less popular, but gosh darn it Volks, please just make them available in your online store..  

 

Well, at least Imomo Doll seems to be interested in bringing out more vinyl boys in different sizes. While their bodies are a lower quality they are also a lot cheaper. Perhaps we'll see an influx in male dolls because of it! I'd certainly be excited to see that - maybe I'll even end up picking one up myself. I've wanted a 1/4 boy ever since I first joined the hobby, and I know for a fact that the Nu:Carnival boys would all look great in a more chibi sort of style as well! 

It's too bad about Kuya's wig, but he looks incredible, especially in his costume. And Eiran is a super cute bunny.

I’m so sorry you had to go through that with the wig, but I really love how your boys came out, they look fantastic! I especially love how Kuya came out. 
 

On 5/23/2023 at 8:34 AM, RetroKanojo said:

Yes! I've also thought that it's sort of a 'vicious cycle':

Volks thinks male dolls aren't popular -> Volks makes male dolls fairly difficult to get -> Fewer people buy them because of it -> Volks thinks male dolls aren't popular 

Rinse, repeat.

Now, obviously they have the sales numbers. They know how many people pre-ordered the limited boys compared to the girls, and like I said, I have no doubt that proportionally boys really are a lot less popular, but gosh darn it Volks, please just make them available in your online store..  

 

I second this 😭 I remember for a limited time they offered boy bodies with a purchase of a DWC head, but oh how I wish they were a constant. 
 

And I personally think the simplistic face-ups work out well, since they not only match the art work but in addition to the really beautiful blushing, I think it looks great!

do you plan on making more characters from the game?

Kuya is gorgeous! His and Eiden's face-ups are really beautiful, props to the artist!

Really love your choice of clothes for Kuya also and Eiden is a cutie in bunny outfit 🥰

 

Now I'm here praying for Olivine, he's my favorite!

On 6/13/2023 at 11:33 PM, NatsukiP said:

And I personally think the simplistic face-ups work out well, since they not only match the art work but in addition to the really beautiful blushing, I think it looks great!

do you plan on making more characters from the game?

I think you really hit the nail on the head there! The lines are so clean and crisp and then the subtle blushing brings out the life in their faces! I also do plan on making at least one more Nu:Cani boy!  In fact, his head is with Magic Owl Forest at this very moment! I am a bit anxious because his mods will likely make or break him for me but I'm hopeful and optimistic that MOF will once again hit it out of the park with him. I'm extremely excited and I can't wait to share him with everyone once he's done!

On 6/14/2023 at 8:11 PM, digiv1ce said:

Kuya is gorgeous! His and Eiden's face-ups are really beautiful, props to the artist!

Really love your choice of clothes for Kuya also and Eiden is a cutie in bunny outfit 🥰

 

Now I'm here praying for Olivine, he's my favorite!

Hehe.. praying for Olivine 

I have to be honest. Olivine has been growing on me quite a lot recently as well. He's not in the works right now but I have been playing with the idea of turning him into a doll as well - either as a full sized DDB or in 1/4 scale.

I actually ordered Imomodoll's Canis A head because I thought it would make a good fit for Olivine. However, I'm not 100% sure whether or not I'll go through with those tentative plans. 

I think the eye shape would work really well but I want to see the head in person first, see how it looks like next to the other boys, etc.! 


It's already been a while but I actually took Kuya out into the garden for pictures! I think this was my favorite shot of the bunch:

I've made an account of Instagram a long time ago so that I could follow doll artists but I've started to use it to upload some of my own doll pictures as well now. It's still fairly empty but if anyone is interested in occasionally getting an additional glimpse at 'The Boys™' you can find them there! 

https://www.instagram.com/retrokanojo/

Omg I love that garden photo! I can't wait to see how the next boy looks! I hope he comes out the way you prefer. I think the canis head looks really close to the art, but I definitely agree with seeing a head in person. I've personally notice how much bigger eyes looks in real life for anime sculpts versus photos. 

Wow!! I love these guys

I tried getting into NU: Carnival bc it was pretty novel to feel like I was being directly marketed to with a gacha game... unfortunately not only was it a gacha game, playing it made my phone heat up so bad I couldn't play it LOL. (This is definitely inspiring me to try to make an Aster... or at least have someone cosplay him lol...)I didn't even know there was a kitsune boy!!  I love the holographic effect on his eyes, he turned out absolutely gorgeous.

It is finally time for another update! 

Please forgive me if this one ends up being a bit jumbled! My memory is unfortunately not the best but I’ll try to make this as coherent as possible! 

Let’s do it!

 

Previously on..

So, all the way back in my initial post I mentioned that my quest for custom Nu:Carnival dolls was inspired by the fact that I wasn’t able to pull one of my favorite boys in-game. The character in question was Blade. More specifically: Lovable Enforcer Blade.

This was the catalyst for everything. My villain origin story, as you might say. 

He was available in-game during a limited event that lasted from Nov 24 - Dec 22 '22 and I ended up about 30 bucks worth of pulls short of reaching the hard pity. In terms of gacha games that’s not terrible but I am personally always a bit reluctant when it comes to digital purchases like this. Sure, I really like this live2D animated png - but the moment the game shuts its servers it will be lost forever. I’m much more willing to spend my money on actual tangible goods, so the brainworms of getting a Blade doll set in..

 

The head:

However, there was one major concern: Blade’s signature toothy smile!

Look at him! So cute and happy! 

 

Obviously, the concept of open mouth mods isn’t exactly anything new but I was worried about the execution. I like to think that I’m able to roll with the punches fairly well but I can be pretty picky at times and with a lot of mouth mods it's either hit or miss for me. Then there’s the fact that it would need to be fairly large to properly capture the essence of Blade’s design, something I wasn’t sure could properly be translated into doll form.

This was the reason why Blade was the last out of my three boys I commissioned - because I wasn’t sure whether he could even be done; in a way I would find pleasing.

I sort of mentioned my concerns to Magic Owl Forest and she immediately assured me that it would be no issue. After having seen the mods she did on Kuya, I felt fairly confident in taking her word for it. Although some concerns remained.

I actually wrote up a whole manifesto detailing how I would like the mods to be done - going over the size, shape, and color of the mouth as well as the alignment and spacing of the teeth themself. MOF, the saint that she is, took it all in stride and work on the head began mid June! 

I’ve already mentioned it in another thread but June 23rd is my birthday! And it just so happened that MOF sent me an update the very same day!

Picture provided by MOF

I absolutely love how the mods turned out! It’s exactly what I had imagined! With that set, I had no worries left about the head. I knew that the eyes and face-up would turn out lovely, and I was not disappointed.

After some weather related delays, MOF showed me the finished head: 

Picture provided by MOF

Ugh, I love him so much! I think he came out perfectly!

 

The body: 

This one was technically already taken care of well in advance! After all, I had pre-ordered KAITO! There were a couple delays here as well but he eventually made it home at the end of July - about a week before Blade’s head arrived!

I decided to take him out and put him on display before I would snatch his body.

I feel a little bad for him, haha! If I hadn’t gone so hard into custom dolls, he’d likely be a lot more cherished but now his head is in cryosleep with no end in sight.. I’m sorry, KAITO! Your sacrifice will never be forgotten! 

 

The clothes:

Now, Blade’s standard outfit is a bit more eccentric than Eiden’s hoodie and jeans combo and unlike Kuya, I can’t exactly put him into a kimono and call it a day either. Since it was Maid Blade who inspired this madness, however, the idea to simply get him a nice maid dress was fairly obvious.

I’ve looked at countless dresses, trying to find something I liked. I was honestly about to give up until I found a listing on Y!JA for this dress by Ginger Tea:

You can find more pictures on their official site here. 

Idolmaster Cinderella Girls Starlight Stage Fumika ‘Beautiful Cover, Lovely Word’ (Phew, try saying that really quick three times in a row! )

It’s obviously not the same dress but it fits into the same category of ‘overly ornate maid dress’, so I thought it would work well! 

Originally, this set was sold for 24900¥

I’m pretty sure it was only available during in-person events in Japan and because I didn’t know when or if it would be sold again, my only ‘safe’ option would have been to buy the scalped listing from Y!JA.

 

Since.. that’s a good chunk of money, I decided to try and see if I could perhaps commission someone to make Blade’s original dress. It would cost even more than this but at least it would be accurate to the design.

I reached out to someone and asked for a quote. They told me that the original design was extremely complicated and that many elements would have to be left out but they assured me they would try to make it as close to the original design as possible.

Initial quote was $580, including shipping - which, after giving it some thought, I was willing to pay. With every doll I acquired, my urge to get another one drastically dwindled to the point where I am very satisfied with my current collection. I don’t really feel the need to add another doll into the mix, so spending that money to get one of them the perfect outfit seemed reasonable to me.

Unfortunately, the artist ended up declining my commission after all. It would simply be too much work/ take too much time to make it.

 

I tried to edit the design and simplify it: 

 

And the artist approved of it this time, quoting me $480.

I thought about it long and hard but ultimately I decided to withdraw the commission and buy the Ginger Tea set instead - I just didn’t feel like the simplified version would have really satisfied me in the end.

 

The wig:

For the wig, I once again commissioned someone to make it for me. However, this time my choice fell on cricri84 - who is an artist from Spain (so there’s no hassle with customs) and she even owns a DDH-09! 

For completion sake, I’ll also list what I paid her:
The wig itself was 120€ + 12€ standard shipping to my country. (This was PayPal F&F with G&S there would be some additional fees but I felt confident enough to go F&F)

Payment this time was made in full up-front and it took about 2 months until it was my turn! Cristina was super friendly, communication was great and the wig ended up looking awesome and this time it fit without a fuss!

 

The result:

I managed to take some nice pictures this time, so enjoy! 

 

What’s next?

As I mentioned before, I’m very satisfied with the state of my collection as it currently is. As such, I don’t really feel the need to add any more dolls to it. 

After multiple delays, my Imomo heads made it to the superbuy warehouse recently but someone else already confirmed that they are too big for DDB. This would mean I’d have to buy their 65cm body once it releases - or try my hand at shrinking the heads with acetone. I’m sort of tempted to try, but again, there’s not much desire to add another doll to the mix right now.

The one thing that’s still vaguely interesting to me is the possibility of a 1/4 boy - possibly modeled after Garu (Although there’s a couple other contenders as well haha). I’m sort of waiting for Imomo to release theirs and see how I feel about it, although it could be the sort of situation where I buy a blank doll and keep it in storage until I eventually decide to actually do something with it. Right now, I’m much more eager to invest in my 1/3 wardrobe as opposed to new dolls.

To end here’s some updated pics of Eiden and Kuya as well:
 

As you can see, these guys are living their best lives!

 

Thank you to everyone who helped make my dreams come true! I will always cherish these dolls and I hope they will be with me for many, many years to come!