1.Best of Both Worlds
Your first few weeks and months in the doll hobby can be overwhelming, and you might be compiling a wishlist as long as your arm. You know you want one of these beautiful dollies, but there's Blythe, BJDs, Pullips...you've never owned one before so you don't know what's right for you. Enter Tangkou! With the colour-changing eye mechanism and shiny face of Blythe and the teenaged body and elfin features of Pullip, she's a wonderful doll line in her own right, but she's also a great gateway doll. My first ever 1/6 articulated collectible dolly was Tangkou Grace, and she enchanted me so much that I found myself with a Pullip 1 week later.
Langley & Gracie - my first 2 girls!
Before spending the kind of money that some would use as a down payment on a car, you probably want to know if a collectible doll is for you. Tangkou, with her average price tag of £30/$50, is a great way to test the waters of the hobby without breaking the bank - another reason she's fabulous for beginners. You can buy 3 Tangkous for what 1 Pullip will set you back; she sure is value for money!
Tangkou has also made it to the UK market; something Pullip and Blythe have yet to really crack. Check out her official UK distributor here and keep your eyes peeled as they sometimes offer discount codes:
World of Tangkou.co.uk
3. Pretty as a Picture
One thing I've felt Pullips had originally but lost over the years is making the packaging as beautiful as the contents. Tangkous positively excel in this area - every girl comes with an artistic slipcase over her box which is so gorgeously designed you'll want to flatpack it and keep it. Check out Grace's:
Yes, it's holographic.
Tangkou's hair is like a shampoo advertisement. Sweetly scented, soft and shiny, it beats the average Pullip's stock wig hands down and won't leave you gagging if you accidentally catch a whiff of it. The later Tangkou models have removable wigs, just like Pullip, but unlike Pullip you won't be inserting a butterknife under Tangkou's wig cap and wrenching it off - her wig is a handy elastic cap for easy removal and application. Also, no icky glue residue around her scalp!
Although I can only speak for Vampire and Grace, I've found that what Tangkous lack in quality of detailed faceup and daintiness of the body shape, they make up for in quality of wigs and clothes. Both their outfits are beautiful and very well-made, and Lucy's black dress and red socks haven't stained her body even a little. I find it baffling that these £30 dolls have lovely wigs and non-staining clothes that the £80+ Pullips lack. Sixth Sense's quality control kicks Groove's butt.
5. Share and Share Alike
With a much more mature body than Blythe and newer Pullip, Tangkou can share clothes with Barbie, Liv, and Takara Jenny, and Pullip types 1-2 (and sometimes 3, though it's a tight fit!). Her head is the size of Pullip's boyfriend Taeyang, meaning she can squeeze into their 8-9" sized wigs and hats but will do better with a 9-10".
6. Her Stock Shoes Probably Won't Fit.
Unfortunately, there are some cons to owning a Tangkou it would be remiss of me not to note. This is one of them, and a common problem with the Pullip family, too. On the one hand when Tangkou's foot pops off her ankle it's not a permanent break like Pullip & Co., because you can just pop it back on again. On the other, if it pops off inside her boot good luck getting it outta there. Oops.
7. Her Stand Doesn't Help her Stand
You might want to invest in a good doll stand, because Tangkou's isn't holding anyone or anything up. This is partly due to a crappy cheap stand, but also due to her...
8. Floppy Body Syndrome!
Unlike Pullip, Tangkou doesn't like to stand up straight. I display my Pullips either on their stands, or sitting up on a shelf (assisted by their hands), legs dangling off the edge. My Tangkous I have to keep propped up against the wall because they like to pretend they have no spines :(
This can be fixed with a rebody. I stuck my Vampire Lucy on a Pullip Type 4 one night and it worked OK - it totally cured her floppiness and her head, being almost the same size as a Pullip, did not look too out of place. However Tangkou neck pegs are a little different to Pullip, and although you can rebody in seconds without any sanding etc be warned the Tangkou's neck will spin around 360 degrees like something out of The Exorcist! This might be fixed with some Teflon; I'll try it sometime with a picture tutorial.
9. Vampires and Fairies and College Students, oh my!
Although Tangkou is newer than her friends, just like Pullip and Blythe, there are growing number of her incarnations to choose from. Whether you're into Gothic Lolita, Rococo, or Audrey Hepburn, there is a Tangkou to suit you.
10. She's so darn adorable. What more do you need?
Ahh <3
Is there anything else we should know about Tangkou? Let me hear about it in the comments!
This was very informative, thank you so much for directing me here (I'm mari3000 from dollchemy), I'm very much in love with Loli Girl, I was considering purchasing a Dal Classical Alice, a Pullip Classical White Rabbit or a Luna Tokidoki for my first doll, but I like the idea of getting a stepping stone kind of doll. It would certainly go over well with my parents, even though I'm the one that's going to buy them, and I'm 24, they still worry about it, this would help them get used to the idea that I want to start a doll collection that's more expensive than usual dolls... XD
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