Licca Castle Juliana #1496

Here's another Jenny friend I sold off a while ago.  She's a Juliana, very different from the usual tan discoteque Julianas of the 1990s.  It was another purchase I botched because of the color accuracy of my old monitor.  I thought her eyes were a green-tinged brown, close to olive.  It turned out they were just brown.  She really is charming, just not exactly what I wanted.  She was model #1496, and was discontinued long ago.  There were trademark problems with her name, so she's marked only as "Jenny Friend" on the box.

Sayonara, Licca Castle Tamaki #6120

This week is for blogging about dolls I've sold off in the past year or two.  Here's a Licca Castle Tamaki I purged a while back.  I had ordered her based on her hair color in the promo photos, which looked grape popsicle purple on my old monitor.  In person, it was a deep wine red.  My old monitor was a dirty liar.

I did still like her, but I felt let down every time I looked at her, .  Considering how much Licca Castle dolls cost, it's ridiculous to keep one if it doesn't make you happy.  She was long ago deleted from the Castle website catalog, she was model #6120.

Modern Angels Garden line from Licca Castle

In the past few years, Licca Castle has rolled out new Angels Garden Jenny dolls, using the old eye prints, in more modern hair and eye color selections.  Angels Garden International School was a playline series from 1999-2001, designed to be more attractive to then-kids, with 1990's anime styled eye prints.  The friend Lillian even got her own head mold that barely has a nose.

I don't like to steal pics from other sites, but maybe it will seem a bit less egregious if I combine them all into one.  Here are the AG dolls currently advertised on the Licca Castle online shop, there have been other event/store exclusives.

You can see how different the same exact dolls can look, just from a change in paint colors and hairstyles.  These are also made in Japan in small batches, unlike the original AGIS dolls, which were mass produced in China.  I don't own any of the original AGIS dolls, but I would like some of these, some day.  Licca Castle catalog dolls are usually available for a few years, but they do eventually purge them.

Here are a several Japanese blogs that posted pictures from recent Licca Castle displays.

• White Rolita
• Rie Zone
• Cat's Book

Places where you can easily get new Angel's Garden dolls online:

• Licca Castle shop's Angels Garden section.  They don't ship outside of Japan, so anyone who is will need either a shopping service or reshipping service.
• Mandarake.  Here's a search for "Little Factory Jenny," which is apparently how they are marked on the box.
• Found in Japan.  I've never purchased from this site, but they've been around a while, and most of the prices seem fairly reasonable for a small English-speaking shop.

Limited Edition Friend Erika F4

F4 Julia will hopefully be sold off soon.  I bought her in a large lot of Jenny dolls, and kept her for a few years, but eventually decided to weed her out of my collection.  One of the first Jenny friend dolls I bought was the similar F48 Julia, who is still one of my favorites.  What's the difference between the two?

F49 has slightly darker eye and lip colors, and her pink eyeshadow is much more pronounced.  I actually prefer the brighter green eyes on F4, but I don't love the light pink lips.  I also feel I have way too many blonde dolls.

Treating a certain kind of leg yellowing on Jenny dolls.

A few years ago, I packed up many of my Jenny dolls.  I gently rinsed them with Palmolive, to remove any oils and dirt.  I let them thoroughly dry for several weeks.  I carefully wrapped each in a white washcloth and boxed them up.  They went on a bottom shelf in my bedroom, cool and shady.

I opened the boxes today, to take out a few to sell, and discovered the legs of several had yellowed disgustingly.  Most are still in great condition, so it's not something I did.  You can see the seam lines of the swimsuit, where it soaked into the fabric instead of settling on the skin.  Eew.

My first thought was simply to toss the bodies.  After the shock wore off, I wondered if acetone would remove it.  It completely removes it, though it will be hard to do the hips without damaging the torsos.  I suppose the yellow grime is plasticizer.  This won't work on dolls like 15 Age Jenny, where the plastic itself has discolored.

Jenny's legs seem to be the weak point of the dolls.  If you browse modern sales, you frequently see legs that have yellowed, faded, crackled on the surface, or strangely sloughed off strips of plastic.  Takara-Tomy recently introduced a hollow leg body with one leg permanently bent.  I hope they continue to improve on it.  I would like to see an updated Super Action body.

Aya is in my collection to stay, and will be happy to have her legs restored.  I find her very peaceful.

Limited Edition Friend Lina F51

This Lina will hopefully exit my collection soon.  She has eyes in gray-blue and olive drab with neon pink lips and eyeshadow.  It's a color combo I just can't handle.  I try to research my Jenny purchases and find good pictures beforehand, but sometimes it just doesn't work out.

Licca Castle old style Jenny with blue eyes

Just being HTF can't keep me from sending a doll to eBay.  Here is a regular Jenny made with blue eyes, not Excellina Jenny or Marine.  I didn't realize when I purchased it that the hair color is 1990's dirty blonde, which I loathe.  The eyebrows are a strange gray, so it's not really worth it to me to re-root or wig it.

She has a nice pair of loafers, though they don't go with the cheapo dress.