Finally got my grail doll! Lina Inverse is here!

  This doll, you guys! This doll has been on my "I need it!" list since she was first announced. Slayers has such a special place in my heart, it being the first anime that my big sis and I ever rented at the video rental store when we were both in our teens, and I have never been able to get her. If she was ever released as an "after party" sale online I never saw her. And I just missed her at AX '22, as she'd sold out by the time I got to the Volks booth.

   So, long story short. Been looking for her ever since. But she's so hard to find on the secondary market, and the listings I'd been seeing all showed the same stock photos, which is a big red flag.

But last week I happened to see one on eBay that looked legit, and though it cost waaay more than I've ever spent on a doll, I thought, "it's now or never!" and took the plunge.

She arrived today, new in packaging, and I love her! I keep looking at her, and I can't believe she's mine.

It took almost two hours to get her into her outfit. It was the biggest PITA, but worth it! 

There is, however, one glaring issue that I ran across. Her belt comes with little pieces that you clip on. As I was clipping on the 2nd piece, the top layer of vinyl just started disintegrating. I don't blame the seller for this, as the item clearly hadn't been opened before. I put it on, but the coating still flakes off, leaving little flecks on Lina's outfit. I'll probably make a sturdier one for her eventually, but it's disappointing on a doll that retailed for so much, and makes me nervous about the rest of her vinyl items, such as her gloves and boots .

(Whomp, whomp)

But so far, everything else is lovely! You can tell there was a lot of care taken with Lina's outfit and accessories. Everything, even the bandana, is fully-lined to mitigate color transfer. Her cape is wonderfully dramatic! 

I didn't take a pic of the shoulder guards on their own, but I Iove that  they are on a hinged mechanism so they can be repositioned, allowing Lina's arms to move freely.

I will note that the fabric on her clothing seems a bit prone to snagging. Indeed, the yellow top has a pull in it just from me dressing her. So lesson learned: handle with care.

There is one piece of her outfit that I have not put on her yet , which would be her iconic earrings. I noticed that Lina has no earlobe holes, so I assumed that they would clip on somehow. I had an internal freakout when I pulled the earrings out and they were posts. Sure enough, according to the directions I was supposed to put holes in the ears myself. Whaaa?!

Now I've pierced dolls' ears before. I worked for a time at the American Girl store and have had do my share of drilling earring holes into vinyl earlobes. But something about stabbing holes into a brand-new doll that cost more than a whole paycheck and would be hard to replace...I just couldn't do it. I really wish she'd come with the ears pierced for me. Maybe someday I'll take the plunge and do it. (Or have someone else do it, so I don't have to), but it is not this day.

Frustrations aside, I am so happy she's finally here!

 

 

(more pics forthcoming when I get around to throwing them on Flickr or Insta)

Edited Sunday at 07:45 PM by Bad_Luck

Yeah, that issue with her belt is an inevitability unfortunately. That's just how old pleather works - it always disintegrates eventually. Volks's pleather seems especially prone to crumbling quickly, but it ALL goes bad eventually.

If you're careful, though, pleather is just a plastic coating on a fabric backing, so you can peel it right off and often still have a usable piece. I've even heard of people replacing the peeled coating with Angelus leather paint to keep that faux-leather look. But if you don't want to go that route, there are some seamstresses out there that you could commission for replacement pieces instead!

Your new girl is gorgeous, I'm glad you were finally able to grab her! Hope you can find a solution you're happy with for her pleather bits.

She is beautiful! As a fellow Slayers fan, I've thought that Lina is one of the best looking characters made into a DD so far! I also would not have expected her ears to be unpunched lol.

Can't wait to see more pictures! Lina is so iconic, badass, and expressive that she would look good in a variety of scenarios. You can do so much with her! I also hope you can find a solution for the belt