Doll Review - Yamato's vmf50 Lynn Minmei

02.11.2008 by Eva

Commemorating the 25th anniversary of the original Macross series, Yamato produced a limited edition Lynn Minmay doll, utilizing the new Obitsu 50cm body. Make no mistake, with brush-able hair and changeable clothes this is not a figure, but rather a complex and highly poseable doll. With the boom in Asian Ball Joint dolls over the past few years, manufacturers are turning more and more to Obitsu and Dollfie Dream to model female characters.

Yamato's Minmay was made to order, with the application period ending in early May and distribution in late September. All of her costuming and accessories were modeled after Minmay's performance of "Do You Remember Love." Those lucky enough to get their hands on her, if even for a moment, are in for a real treat.

Packaging:

A beautiful pink box encased the angel waiting to emerge. Carefully unhinging the lid, and bracing for the shock of a naked doll, it was pleasant to find her modestly wrapped in a towel underneath all of the protective plastic sheeting. She lay cradled in the upper portion of the packaging, which covered the remaining contents underneath. Likewise, all of her clothes and accessories were securely cushioned.




Contents:

The Obitsu 50cm body is still something of a rarity despite what would seem to be abundant popularity. In particular, the smoothness of elbow and knee joints is quite impressive. Instead of a single hinged spherical socket joint, the joints are rounded to fit into limbs and bent to reflect natural posture. The single contiguous hinge has been replaced with two smaller hinges, one on either side of the joint, which meet in the middle near the natural bend. The reverse side is covered with a plastic plating that conceals the joint, again making it look all the more natural.

Her face make-up was beautiful, with a slight touch of pearlescent pink at the lips. The shading between the lips was neither too dark nor light, providing just enough shadow to to spark the imagination, and without falling into the convention of using pure black lines. The blushing and shading was well balanced, extending around her face even to the back of her ears and small of her neck. Though it's yet to be announced, this may indicate that a shorter wig is being considered for future production.




Accessories:

Minmay comes with a two-piece dress, gloved hands, booted feet, wig, earrings, microphone, and, er, unmentionables - everything you need to recreate one of her signature scenes. It seems worth mentioning that the recreation of her other signature scene happened as you opened the box.

The skirt part of the dress is sewn with the pannier inside, and all of the silk garland decorations attached. Though delicate, it was put together well and is easy to use. A pink silk ribbon hides the closures at the side. The top was a little bit more difficult to navigate, especially the hook-eye closures along the back. Instead of metal eyes, the latches hook directly into a nylon cord sewn into the top. However, once the top is on, it fits perfectly, and a metal snap in the front connects with the skirt to hold it place. The garlands attached to the top drape elegantly over her arms no matter their position.


The costume is indeed well made, and looks absolutely gorgeous. However, the silk gauze is not finished at the edges and will probably fray over time. Playing with her often might accelerate the process, though using a very small bit of clear acrylic to seal the seams should be sufficient to add years to the garment.

Instead of boots and gloves, you instead change out the doll's hands and feet. These accessories contain parts specific for their use, and should not be removed no matter how tempting. Changing out the hands was a little tricky, and the feet will require a screwdriver. The length of both accessories made it difficult to secure the parts into place; the process could be described as fishing in the dark. Overall, the gloved hands were probably the least impressive part of the whole doll. The boots didn't seem too bad, but the way in which the gloves sag off her fingers isn't exactly attractive. The material seems a bit thick or too wide, creating the idol equivalent of household dish gloves.


Her wig is delicately styled, with a short, tight curl at either temple and two small portions near the ears drawn back to frame her face. It was, in fact, too delicate to equip in the regular fashion, which involves turning the wig inside out and then molding it onto the head. I instead opted to gingerly press it into place, but even then some of the hair under the tie threatened to emerge. In time the head cap should stretch a bit, and it seems like it could accommodate frequent changes, as long as one is careful. Once in place, her hair is simply gorgeous, and it comes with Velcro to secure it if you like.


The earrings were nice, but a bit scary as you have to pierce her yourself. Be sure to mark and / or use a straight pin for the initial punch. The metal wire seems a little dull to make a clean incision.

Perhaps my personal favorite accessory was the microphone, along with ample cord. Of course, it's not plugged into anything (yet) but could be used in any number of creative poses. A little tape can secure the mic in her non-gloved hands, to pair with other outfits.

Playability:

Despite the price and obscurity, Minmay was definitely made to play. Both Yamato and Obitsu did not disappoint in this regard, and Minmay really came alive as soon she stepped out of the box. Not only is she super-poseable, with added natural looking flexibility in the elbows and knees, she is well balanced and can generally stand on her own without the aid of magnets or stands.

We experimented with a few different outfits, but it was difficult finding a good fit. As SD (60cm) and MSD (43cm) are the most popular sizes right now, it may be a while before options become readily available. The 47cm Obitsu clothing looks promising, but wasn't tested. Rumor has it that a Chinese qipao dress is also scheduled for production, but until then chose carefully or have garments custom made.






Verdict:

Wow. I, ahh... Wow.

This doll was so well made that I think even non-fans could easily develop an infatuation. The price alone sets it out of most people's league, especially given the collectors' inflation, but the initial 60,000 doesn't seem that unreasonable. On the other hand, if you intend only to leave her in the box, I can't think of a worse fate for such a doll.

As suggested by the "made to order" policy set by Yamato, this is certainly a niche item. It does, however, show the potential for future Obitsu 50cm models as well as future Yamato/Obitsu collaborations. So, if you missed your chance this time and can't afford the souring 100,000 yen price, I'd be willing to bet that the next piece, if it ever sees the light of day, will be just as impressive.

Yamato Lynn Minmei Doll