Do you sometimes get the overwhelming urge for a new doll and you simply can't shake it off?  

That's just how I felt the other day so I dangerously got to browsing THAT famous auction site, you know, the one doll collectors should avoid at all costs unless they want to be permanently broke.

I entered a search to see what Pullips were on offer and instead found these...Tangkou dolls.

Much cheaper than her more established sisters Tangkou is a strange Blythe/Pullip type doll with strange Hujoo overtones yet maintaining a distinct personality all of her own. I was intrigued... I developed an itchy BIN finger...  I purchased.

Tangkou arrived very quickly, this morning, as this doll is actually for sale in the UK via Tangkou UK.

First impressions, her box is very pretty, I really like the colours and design as well as the box art.

Secondly, I was actually able to get her out of the box without the need for a flame thrower, crowbar or wire cutters, which made a refreshing change!

Proportionally Tangkou is fairly similar to Pullip, though her figure is a little curvier. According to the manufacturer her hair is meant to be 'lightly scented' but just smelled of unpleasant plastic to me.  Creepy though it sounds, the ritual of sniffing a new doll's noggin' is a moment treasured by many doll collectors, but it's not something I'll be indulging in much with this girl until after she's had chance to air a little!

Some Tangkou dolls (my 'Italia' model included) have a rooted scalp, like Blythe, but I have heard that the ones with the 'fluffy' hair-dos like, 'Australia', are wigged.

I was very happy with the colour and quality of my girl's hair, but on close inspection, noticed there is a marked gap between her scalp and faceplate on one side.  This is not a major problem, though, as it is covered by her fringe, and may make the process easier if I decide to reroot her in the future.

Like Blythe Tangkou is also eyebrowless which doesn't bother me in the slightest but is worth being aware of.  One thing I  quickly noticed is that this doll has very cute, slightly pointy, ears.  I love the way they poke through her hair when you smooth it down.  Her ears are also pierced, and although she does not come with earrings it is a touch I like.

I had heard that Tangkou's eyemech can easily become jammed, but it is interesting in that not only does Tangkou have colour change eyes, like Blythe, she also has a sleep-eyes button to display her beautifully decorated eyelids.  Unlike Blythe though, Tangkou's eye change is initiated by a large button on the back of her head rather than a pullstring.

Tangkou has lovely, long eyelashes and Italia's chips come in front facing purple, left glancing green, front facing dark grey, and right glancing silver-grey.  All pretty colours, the green is very reminiscent of Blythe's stock green chips.

I really like Tangkou's face mold despite, or perhaps because of its quirkiness.  She has rather a pointy nose as well as the aforementioned quirky ears, her cupids bow lips are rather full but her expression is soft.  One thing that is very important to me when bonding with a doll is whether she looks you in the eye.  Tangkou almost insists on looking you in the eye, and when she does she has a soft smile that's very endearing.

I had been warned that her body is cheap and that the joints (especially in the feet and ankles) were prone to breaking.  Yes, she is cheap, that's reflected in the price tag, but her body is much better quality than I had feared (remembering the terribly fragile Little Big Eyes dolls).  It is pretty poseable, and could quite easily be replaced should any mishap occur anyway

Italia's outfit seems an odd combination of garments, but I love the coat and all of her garments are actually of rather nice quality.  Each dolls is named after a different nations though the theme seems to end there as none of the dolls seem to particularly tipify the country they are named for.

Accessories include a stand, brush, comb, passport and hairband.  Her undies and feet are also packaged seperately.  One minor problem is that once I fitted her feet her boots wouldn't go back on easily, and I was a fraid to force the issue in case i couldn't get them off again (I had a bad experience with a Taeyang whose feet snapped off when I struggled to remove his boots!).  But I wasn't that enamoured with the boots anyway.

The passport is very sweet with nice graphics and full instructions inside as well as a place to add your dolls photo, birthday and personal info.  It also contains one of the most charming bits of Chinlish I have ever heard as it reads 'Maybe the doll is only a toy to you, but you are dependence in her all life'.

In conclusion then, I'm pretty smitten with my Tangkou and it turns out that she is rather photogenic.  i would certainly recommend Tanngkou to others, particularly considering her humble £35 price tag.

Incidentally my new girl immediately decided on the name Zinnia, and I have a feeling you'll be seeing much more of her in the future

Holly & Zinnia