For my sister's birthday week off, we took a few days to make the BanDai America 12" Sailor Team doll set for our collection! We had wanted these dolls in 1995 and I remember only ever finding Venus in the stores (our Dad brought us to every mall for Kay-bee toys and Toys R' Us all up and down the east coast of the USA to check for them but never anyone but Venus! Seriously, I do NOT know how we missed them since we were watching for them when they came out! I guess they all sold out instantly except for Venus back then!) Anyway, when the Irwin Canada dolls came out and were 'similar' and had the Outers, too, we kind of put the BanDai America set 'dream' on the back burner. But now, just a few weeks ago, I really had the desire to finish our collections of all the doll sets (BanDai Japan, Irwin America, Irwin Canada, BanDai Namco and Volks Japan Customs) by adding finally the BanDai America set! We had most of the base bodies/heads in our 'inventory closet' so it was just going about turning them into the missing senshi! (We used Rainbow High bodies for Mini Moon and the Asteroid Quartet since they were just about right in terms of size and look/shape).
We worked fast and furious to get them all done within 3-5 days! I rooted 9 heads and my sister sewed 11 fuku! (We got lucky with Chibi Chibi, Saturn and Pluto---they just needed a little adjustment! The BanDai America 12" Moon fuku had faded into royal purple (perfect for Pluto!) and the 12" Mercury fuku had faded into indigo-violet (perfect for Saturn!) and we gave Chibi Chibi a too dark pink BanDai Japan Mini Moon fuku (okay it's not *quite* fuchsia, but it's close enough! :laughs:). We then gave Mercury a BanDai America 12" fuku because it was her proper blue colors anyway, and Tuxedo Mask was all set!
So we just needed to make the Super Moon, Mini Moon, Uranus, Neptune, Starlights and Asteroid Quartet outfits!
We were like 'WE CAN DO THIS in 5 days!' so I was rooting like mad and styling hair, plus making the accessories/boots and painting them, while she was sewing! We made it! And then to make space on her wall for the shelving for them! She had to totally rearrange her 'Rapunzel/Tangled' section to accommodate new shelves there but it looks a lot better now and more organized, too!! We made space somehow by adding more dolls and shelves to her room! :laughs: Amazing what a little organizing can do, right? (Our cat wanted to get involved, too!) So now, on her one wall are the 3 11" sets of BanDai America, BanDai Japan and Irwin Canada dolls!--whoo hoo!!! (My room houses the Volks Japan, BanDai Namco and Irwin America sets.)
Anyway, hope you like them! I know they're not the most accurate of faces but they are actually super cute in person (we call them the 'Paws' Sailor dolls since their hands resemble chubby paws) and bright, colorful and happy. :laughs:
Almost 30 years late, we finally completed the first set of 'big' (1/6) dolls of SM we ever saw!!!
