May 15, 2018, Hobby Japan released Dollybird vol. 27.
It featured 2 exclusive dolls as the cover models.
They’re Azurite & Fluorite Unoa Quluts Light HANON version.
Pre-orders begin: May 15, 2018 – August 1, 2018.
Arriving: Spring 2019.
About Unoa Quluts Light Azurite & Fluorite
Unoa Quluts Light Azurite (boy) & Fluorite (girl) are dolls designed by Araki Gentaro of the BJD company Unoa Quluts.
Sekiguchi (the company that brings you momokoDOLL), produce, market and sell the Unoa Quluts Light dolls.
About HANON
The person behind the HANON brand, is customizer & artist Satomi Fujii.
Satomi designed the hair style, outfits, fabric and makeup for each doll.
You may have seen some of Satomi’s designs & custom dolls.
Satomi also creates her own sewing patterns and fabrics which are available on her Etsy shop – HANONSatomi.
And in 2016 she released a doll sewing book.
It’s one of the few Japanese tutorial books translated in many languages.
Falling for Unoa Quluts Light
It was April 2017 that I fell for the Unoa Quluts Light dolls.
That was the month I received my 1st copy of Dollybird, it was volume #20.
Within the first few minutes of flipping the pages there they were . . . Unoa Quluts Light Fluorite & Azurite.
Fluorite looked amazing.
Something about her facial expression drew me in and it hasn’t let me go since.
After doing some research on the dolls . . . I knew I had a problem.
I discovered that the dolls were extremely rare & limited.
How I was going to bring 1 home?
There was the secondhand market but their prices soared too high for me to grab one.
So, Fluorite was placed on my ‘grail doll’ list. With hopes that someday, she would be a part of my collection.
Fast-forward a year later – Dollybird is offering Unoa Quluts Light as made to order dolls.
I’m so excited!
I get a chance to own a Unoa Quluts Light Fluorite doll . . . And it’s an opportunity, I plan to snatch & grab up!
Fluorite will mark my third Dollybird exclusive doll (the 1st doll is with me now while the 2nd doll will arrive this summer).
These special made to order dolls, push me out of my dolly comfort zone (not sure if that’s a good thing).
I’m always greeted by sticker shock.
But end up following my passion and adding them to my collection.
It’s one of the heart pounding joys of this hobby.
Azurite Unoa Quluts Light HANON ver.
Information:
- Hair: Short, Blonde Bob with Loose Curls
- Eye Color: Pink
- Coat
- Shirt with Original Flower Print Designed by HANON
- Bow Tie
- Pants with Suspenders
- Button-up Boots (gray & black)
- Size: 1/6 scale (27 cm)
- Eyeglasses
- Replacement Wrist Parts
- Replacement Ankle Parts
- Manufacturer: Sekiguchi
- Publisher: Hobby Japan
Fluorite Unoa Quluts Light HANON ver.
Information:
- Hair: Short, Platinum White Bob, with Loose Curls
- Eye Color: Pink
- One Piece Dress with Original Flower Print Designed by HANON
- Around the Waist Purse (opens & closes)
- Button-up Boots (pink & black)
- Size: 1/6 scale (25 cm)
- Replacement Wrist Parts
- Replacement Ankle Parts
- Manufacturer: Sekiguchi
- Publisher: Hobby Japan
Where to Buy:
- Hobby Japan Online store (You’ll need a proxy shopping service. I use FROM JAPAN)
Release Date: Spring 2019
Price: ¥27, 000 (including tax) about $244
Over to You:
Dollybird has offered doll collectors several cute & exclusive dolls.
Is there any doll you’ll like to see as a Dollybird Exclusive?
Do you have a list of grail dolls? If so, which dolls are on it?
Leave a comment in the box below.
I look forward to chatting with you.
Is anybody else who bought this doll(s) (I only have the girl) having a problem with the head coming off? I can’t decide if the neck hole is too big,& if the neck peg isn’t high enough off of the neck, but the head on my doll comes right off with just a small tug, like when you’re posing her. I waited a year for this doll, & Sekiguchi still couldn’t manage to make a doll that doesn’t break.
Hi Marna,
So sorry to hear about the issue you’re having with Fluorite 🙁
I moved my Fluorite’s head left to right and gave it a slight tug. It stayed in place.
Hopefully, your Fluorite’s head issue can be fixed.
I ended up heating the head in a heating pad, & pushing it far down on the neck. Hopefully that will keep it on the doll.
Hi Marna,
I hope that solution works for you.
Thanks for updating us on how you handled the head issue. It will certainly come in handy for those will similar issues now and in the future.
I’ve always wondered why these dolls were so hard to get and why the prices were so high for them. Are they actually on the Momoko bodies? Because for the price, I would have expected a resin body rather than a vinyl body. Whilst I love Momoko dolls, they aren’t the best designed vinyl bodies I have ever handled. And I do think they feel very fragile. I’m hesitant to try out too much posing with them as I have read stories about their bodies cracking or breaking easily.
The Unoa ball joint dolls are really lovely. I’ve never owned one but I have seen a lot of owner photos of them and they look quite nice. I’ve always wanted to get one myself but the prices are beyond my budget at the moment. Sometimes they have sales though so if the stars align for me one day …
I hope you will post photos if you get one of these dolls. They are lovely.
Hi AlasseCarnesir,
I couldn’t find the official information about the dolls body.
But I did come across this body comparison image.
What I gathered from other collectors is that the Unoa Quluts Light bodies are like Sekiguchi momokoDOLL. The bodies have slight differences.
Sadly, they do share 1 common feature: they suffer the same fragile body design (fragile body syndrome).
Ugh, I really hope that isn’t the case but . . . I’m preparing myself for a potential breakage in the future.
Though I don’t think you can truly prepare yourself for when a doll body break 🙁
Sure, I’ll post photos of Fluorite when she arrives in 2019 (it’s so strange to type 2019). :O
Thank you for taking the time to chat with us about Azurite & Fluorite Unoa Quluts Light HANON ver.
It’s always a pleasure,
Tatyana
Oh my gosh! It’s amazing to see a mashup between two of some of my favorite creators from other hobbies! I’m unfortunately going to have to pass on getting either one of these dolls, but hopefully they will spread awareness of both of these wonderful artists!
On that note, if anyone is interested, obtaining a legitimate Unoa ball jointed doll is not as difficult as it seems. Unoa Alchemy Lab at unoalchemy.com is an international official distributor based in the USA of legitimate B-grade Unoa dolls. (B-grade just means they might have minor casting errors such as marbling or bubbles). While they’re still expensive dolls, they’re certainly not the price they used to only be available for on the second hand market!
Hi Moultingrook,
You make a great point about the release spreading awareness of two “wonderful artists.” 🙂
And thank you for sharing the information about Unoa Alchemy Lab.
It’s good to hear that there’s an official distributor for B-grade Unoa dolls.
I remember coming across an interview of the shop owners while researching about Unoa Quluts.
I’ll have to go back and check it out thoroughly.
Thank you for taking the time to chat with us about Azurite & Fluorite Unoa Quluts Light HANON ver.
Tatyana
I don’t know whether to be happy or sad you posted this LOL. I had no idea about these dolls & I love the U-Noa Lights (but I am very mad at Sekiguchi about them), & I do LOVE the Fluorite (I only collect girls), but the price, YIKES!!! Why are these so much more expensive than previous ones?
Hi Marna Levin,
Your comment made me chuckle. Hopefully, the post made you happy if only for a little while 😉
I remember you mentioned how Sekiguchi’s Momoko doll are “fragile.”
I hesitated a bit on ordering Fluorite.
Having the fragile body, isn’t cool at these prices. But we’ll see how things go.
I took a quick look at Unoa Quluts Light history and the prices had quite a range from 14000yen -15000yen. Except for the exclusive ones which were in the 25000+ range.
I guess like most things, prices go up & rarely come down 🙁
Thank you Marna Levin for taking the time to chat with us about Azurite & Fluorite Unoa Quluts Light HANON ver.
Tatyana
FYU, I found this site http://forum-dollplanet.ru/viewtopic.php?t=56229 which seems to be a bit more updated.
Awesome! ＼ （ ＠＾◇ ＾＠）／
Thank you for the info Marna Levin.