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Saturday 12 January 2013

>^..^< HUJOO " FREYA" JunkySpot Designed Anthropomorphic Doll >^..^<

So there I was innocently looking for another Hujoo Doll, who could become a big sister for my Suve baby and little sister for Akimoto my wings boy, as I had decided I would finally buy one of these girls after, well it's kind of a long story, but my love of Hujoo Dolls began several years ago when I got talking got a lovely woman on flickr named Ciel, she had the one of the oddest and yet strangely appealing dolls I had ever seen and when I asked her the type, she let me know that I'd been looking at a Hujoo doll, her girl is called Miri and she kind of had a thing for Akimoto for a while, but that's a different story, in fact I blogged about it a while back.

Anyhoo, Ciel told me she bought Miri already customised and pre-loved, and told me I would be much better off  (if I decide to buy one), I really should get one brand new, which oddly would be cheaper and wouldn't have been painted and therefore wouldn't contain mistakes etc. as her one did.

Standard Female Hujoo called "Miri" belonging to Ciel
 So I started searching for them online, and discovered the very awesome Mimiwoo, she had male ones (Wings) in two skin tones and female ones in three skin tones both sexes also had a "sleep eye" version, but I much preferred the open eyed version myself, and after seeing the "chocolate skin" "Wings" Open Eyed version, which sadly Mimiwoo didn't have as a female version, I really had no choice but to buy my little man, wait 2 weeks on tenterhooks until he arrived from China and then fall helplessly in love with him after that!

So much so in fact that when I discovered (through Mimiwoo again!) that Hujoo had released "baby" and "Berry" versions of their dolls, I knew it wouldn't be long before I added a little Chocolate Skinned baby girl to my Hujoo family, and happily Akimoto took to his baby sister immediately, and never lets her out of his sight for very long.

 Recently I decided the time had come to add the little girl I'd been yearning for, also chocolate skinned, and almost did yesterday, until I discovered a listing from Junky Spot for a completely different type of Hujoo Doll....


As the listing says " This listing is for 1x FREYA doll manufactured in Asia by Hujoo. This doll is ABS vinyl/plastic, and STRUNG like a traditional ball jointed doll ( bjd ). Freya was designed by Emory Sung of The Junky Spot in early 2012."

"Hujoo " Freya " 24cm Doll
Regular Version
Light Grey Skintone
Open Eye
Blank, Nude Doll - Eyes Not Included
Brand New, Fully Assembled, Ready For Custimization! "


"Concept Design by Emory Sung of The Junky Spot
Production Design by Sunghyun Yoon of Hujoo and Emory Sung of The Junky Spot
Production and Manufacturing by Hujoo Korea."




As if the photo wasn't enough, I was already thinking "Wow" before I read that, but now my mind started imagining how Akimoto and his little "Sis'"  would most likely love to have a Cousin who' also a cat!


Obviously I had no way of resisting this gorgeous toy, especially as I have long been in love with Pipos Dolls but sadly could never afford one... my favourite is the one with the maniacal grin, but still beggars and all that!
Here's a couple of samples of Pipos Dolls, in case you have no idea what I mean:


The images above and below taken from Pipos Shop  and if interested you can buy them or look at these and other types (rabbits & frogs!) there, just click the link above.

The Pipos below is one of the "Cheshire" series, hence the inane grin!


But getting back to the Freya Hujoo - this gorgeous creation / collaboration, is a perfect substitute for me as she's not all that different to the "basic" model Pipos - shown in the first Pipos picture - she is also around the same height that Pipos stand at, which make them both close to standard ( Original Female / Wings) Hujoo size, but cheap enough to customise with carving, if I do decide she needs to be more like the "Cheshire Pipos" at a later date.


The other great thing about her is, she can wear the same size clothing as a standard female Hujoo, and therefore easy enough to find or make clothing for.


I love the attention to detail, from her paw like hands with tiny claws, to the pads on the bottom of her paw like feet!


The other great thing about her is, like Pipos, she comes with an optional tail, which can be attached to her with the use of a magnet (placed inside her body) - this means her tail can sit on top of her clothing, and you don't have to worry about making sure you have a "tail hole" in the right place when sewing for her, or worry about adapting standard doll clothes to accommodate it.


There's those cute little paw hands again!


The listing also contains this information, I have to say, that;s another thing I love about Junky Spot, the wealth of information they supply on their listings  it really helps you to make up your mind and know exactly what you are buying, plus if you later decide to blog about the doll, you have pretty much all the information you could require right there in the listing! But again, I digress, back to what Junky Spot have to say: "EYES:The head features a removable head cap, eye sockets, and an eye holder for 16mm eyes. These eye holders are specifically meant for 16mm ROUND eyes with positioning stems, they will not work with half round / flatbacks. 
You can fit half round / flatback and other size eyes into Freya's head, however you will want to use eye putty or some other type of medium to hold the eyes in."


Junky spot provide this additional information in relation to the doll's poseability: "Specifications: Freya features 14 points are articulation for a wide range of motion. She is strung with elastic and features ball joints for smooth posing."


Under the heading: TAIL AND MAGNETS: Junky spot provide the following information: 
Comes with optional tail and magnets for the tail. (7mm x 1.5mm and 7mm x 5mm) 
The magnet that goes inside the tail will need to be glued into place. We recommend the ZAP CA Glue.
There are several ways to attach the tail to the body with the loose magnet:
1) Tape or Glue the loose magnet to the body. Please make sure the correct side is facing out to attract to the tail magnet.
2) Drill a hole into the body and then glue the loose magnet into the hole.
3) Slip the magnet into the lower torso cavity. The tail magnet will "pick up" the magnet through the body and stay on.
4) If you are dressing your Freya, you can also choose to simply slip the magnet inside the pants/skirt. The tail magnet will "pick up" the magnet through the clothing and should stay on. 


N.B: ZAP CA Super Glue is available for cheaps here: ZAP CA Super Glue


There is a note on the listing, that I feel it's only fair to add that seeing as my illustrations are photograph taken from the listing, ( as I currently am waiting for my Freya to arrive I do not have any photos of my own little girl to upload, I've used the "Sale Photos") and therefore feel I should mention it here: "Some images below show Freya with eyes installed. This doll does NOT come with eyes, images with eyes installed is to give you an idea of what Freya might look like with eyes."


As I haven''t mentioned it yet, here are her dimensions which are always handy to know prior to purchasing / receiving a doll, as it gives you an idea of what clothing if any to buy  make and ensures that your new addition will not stay nakie for long after he / she moves in...
"Dimensions:
Height : 23cm
Eyes : 16mm
Girth of neck : 4cm
Girth of Chest : 10.5cm
width of shoulders : 4cm
Girth of Waist : 8cm
Girth of hips : 11cm" 



Another interesting thing I found in the listing is a note about "Version" differences, I hadn't been aware of this type of Hujoo Doll, before I found this listing so finding out there was another version that had been made available several months before was really intriguing to me, anyhoo, in case you do already know there was a previous version of "Freya" then this may also be of interest to you: "VERSION NOTES:
This is the REGULAR non-limited edition version of Freya. Compared to the original first production run, Freya's headcap has been modified to fit better than the original version. As a quick note, the headcap does fit VERY tightly on, and requires some force to snap into place or to remove. (This has been modified from the first production run which required slight sanding or shaving of the pegs in the head to get the headcap to fit)."


The other interesting thing about this listing is that it includes images of other "Freya" Hujoos, both customised and left as is. Also included are links to a Flickr Group which the images were found in, I didn't know about this group either so for me this is a great boon, as I know know there is a place were I can gain tips, information and inspiration for when my little girl arrives, also I like nothing  better than being able to connect with other people who share my interests and who may be able to answer any questions that come up once I start customising her...


"Example of customized Freyas:" Images from Flickr found on Junky Spot listing:

                                                           Above by SydneyGrey



Above by Izabeth Suelli


From the following sentence, also found on the listing, I'm guessing that the previous Freya was a darker skinned model, as shown in the above photographs. Note: the below images show the Dark Grey Freya, which is no longer available.
If you wish to have a look around or even join the  Flickr group, you can do so here: ://www.flickr.com/groups/2127741@N22/

Junky Spot are currently selling two versions of this doll, the "White Skin" version, which can be viewed by clicking this link: White Skin Freya

Or the Grey Skin version, skin in the photos I uploaded above, and my own personal favourite, which you can find here: Grey Skin Freya

I've ordered orange eyes for my girl, but I'd really like some Cat Style ones for her. I haven't been able to find those in the right size though, so I have bought some half rounds with removable irises so I can make my own ones for her, the only thing with this is I will not be able to use the "eye holders" and will have to get some putty to hold them in place. I'm also trying to decide exactly how Id like her to look on the outside, I love the above "Tabby Freya" by Izabeth Suelli and I'd love to make my girl look similar to that one, but without access to an airbrush at present, I doubt ery much that I'll be able to make her look that good!

Having said that I also love the "Cat Walk Kitties by Lanard Toys which were available for a short time circa 2005, sadly I only discovered these dolls relatively recently too, and they are so rare and very hard to find for sale for less than £70, now!  They seemed to me to have so much potential for customs, but sadly due to the price they are now, they're ot really viable for that purpose, and since seeing Pipos and Freya they just cannot compete, that said though they come with some very interesting "extras" which would have provided great value for money while they were still readily available on the market, now though... I'm not so sure!















Apparently this item needs batteries for her stage area, so I'm guessing it has some kind of lights or sound, which is a cool feature, I'd love to know exactly what and what the effect produced is.



There is just one I could find for sale on Evil Ebay, and that one costs £74.39 with £39.04 postage from the U.S.A - Yikes! (I could get two more Freyas for that!), still here's the listing is you'd like to take a look:Lanard Catwalk Kitties Paris Runway Callie

Just in case that listing disappears in future, I've also uploaded a couple of images (above) from there, so you'll still be able to see what I'm talking about even if the above link turns out to be dead!


 I think what appeals to me about these dolls apart from the cat faces and unusual subject matter for a
Fashion Doll, is that to some degree they remind me of Petra, the dog faced fashion Doll from the 1960's, who I'd also love to own, and who is also ridiculously rare and seems to be impossible to find to buy *sigh*

But that's a different subject for a different post!

Getting back to Freya, Id love to know what your views on her is or if you have one, to see what you did with her.

Anyhoo, that's all from me for now, enjoy!

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆   FREYA UPDATE   ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Amazingly, my Freya arrived this morning! and of course I LOVE HER!!!

What's crazy about that is; I wrote this post just after I purchased her and 3 days later she's here, all the way from America!

I can definitely vouch for how great Junky Spot is in terms of  quality of products and speed of delivery.

The other cool things that arrived today, where her eyeballs - from a different seller, so I could straight away see how well they suited her.

One thing I will say about fitting her eyes is, even with the "stem" type eyeball, I found they were not as easy to place or hold in place with the "holder" and I'm interested in seeing just how much easier - if it is - to give her "half round" eyes, as the pair of blank (Do it yourself) eyes  ordered also arrived in the same post, so there will definitely be more on "Freya" at a later date!

But enough of all that, here's my girl so far!


I'm still not sure exactly how much customising I'll do on her yet, or whether or not I'll be giving her some hair or even if she's going to be dressed, or stay dressed very often; but I will be making her some clothes soon, just so she has one or two things of her own if she starts to feel a bit nakie!



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i loved reading your blog.

i too am thinking of buying a Freya, i already have hujoo girl and i like the size and fact they are inexpensive. i adore animals, so, Freya is so tempting.

Have you tried dressing her yet? i am tempted to buy one.

Herbie Hopkins said...

Hi Anon,

Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Do it Freya is gorgeous!

One thing though, make sure you buy a stronger magnet for her tail otherwise it will swing all over the place!

Yes I have, she's the same size body as the first Hujoo girls - like Miri in this post (or my gorgeous Mirami')so you'll find that clothes that fit hujoo, will fit freya really well and also some blythe clothes, when I have time I'll be experimenting more with clothes for her and making my own too...

I hope you do buy one, she's such a lovely addition and I'm so pleased with my girl!

Thanks again,
herbs x