Happy Birthday, Monty!

Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorite stories and for years one of my favorite characters was the Cheshire Cat. I am not alone in my love of the quirky little kitty and when I started getting into ball jointed dolls (BJDs) I wondered if there was a sculpt based off of the critters in Alice in Wonderland. Pipos came to the rescue and one year ago they offered a special choose your own resin color of their cheshire cat. All of their basic sets were also out of stock and I didn't know if they would be coming back or not since anthro sculpts aren't as popular as human doll sculpts.

Introducing Monty: Little Cat, Big Personality

I always imagined getting a big human doll for my introduction into the world of BJDs. I have only seen a couple in real life thanks to one of my college buddies, but she owned a teeny tiny that was just about as big as your thumb. I knew I didn't want one that small, but before Monty got to me, I didn't realize how small he actually was.

Monty is a yo-sd sized doll which means that while he is bigger than the tinies, he is still pretty small and compact. He is about half the size of my old 18 inch American Girl sized doll (which just happens to be about half a standard size coffee mug). At first, I was expecting him to be a little bigger, but since I have been actively fiddling with him more, I am getting more used to the tiny size.

I haven't changed anything about him for the past year. He came naked and with no face-up. Pipos sent him out with 16 mm purple glass eyes that don't really show up well, but I have come to love him just the same. The reason why I haven't done much with him was because of guilt with buying a BJD without telling my parents (whose house I live in) and being busy with trying to make a living.

It turns out that while I am still busy with real life issues, my parents didn't really care about me getting a BJD as long as I was financially stable. They think it is a little strange, but then the cheshire cats have that effect on people even in the BJD community.

While Monty's first year with me was pretty uneventful, I have high hopes for the second year. I have been saving up to get some face up supplies and a new set of eyes a size smaller so I can change the way he looks. I am also hoping to teach myself how to sew clothing and make Monty some clothes as well as put my knitting to the test and knit tiny little sweaters and things of that nature. But most of all, I am hoping to just have him out more because I love the way he looks. Happy Birthday, Monty!