PROFILE: Castle Shion #1

Type of Doll: Takara Jenny friend Shion Licca Castle doll Year of production: April 2003 Hair: light pink Eyes: blue Eyeshadow: none Lips: hot pink

Official Shion info
Birthday: January 5
Age: 17
Star Sign: Capricorn
Blood type: unknown?
Home: Japan

Note: Takara Jenny doll, much like Takara Licca, has more friends than you can shake a stick at. Collecting Jennies and Jenny Friend dolls could keep you occupied forever and ever. Shion, an attractive 17 year-old girl, is one of such dolls.

The first Shion was released in 2000 as one of Jenny's friends. She's one of the most popular Friend dolls and is the main type of doll in some fans' collections. She has quite a following!

Like other Jenny's pals, Shion, too, boasts with tons of different hair styles and hair colors she comes in. The styles are endless. Licca Castle immediately comes to mind and offers a great pallette of limited Shions. What I like about the Castle is how often we get new, fresh dolls and indeed Shion is high on the fans' lists and therefore receiving lots of attention by the Castle. Next to Castle dolls there's the regular Takara line of dolls and Shion is but one you can get out of many. It's been quite a while since new playline Shions have been released, though! The Castle really seems to be the Shion goldmine at the moment.

This Castle Shion here has been another fave doll for a long time. Since she's been released years ago, she's no longer available at the Castle and so my plan was to wait for one to appear on Yahoo!Japan auctions. Yes, I do shop there a lot, the nice deals and wide selection are too hard to resist. ^^ eBay's prices are usually too high for me.
She did appear on Y!J a few times in 2006, mostly by the same seller who offered her at 3500 Yen ($30) but no one bid and she kept being relisted. The seller wouldn't lower the price either and every month when she disappeared for a while, I kicked myself for not bidding on her when she was available. "What if the seller won't put her up again?" I was asking myself. I let her go like this a couple of times, always regretting it later.

In late October 2006 another seller put up the same Shion for a starting price of 2000 Yen ($17). That is a low price for a years-old, long since sold-out Shion, not to mention how pretty she looks! Because of the price difference I bid on her and almost lost to a fellow Y!J user who kept outbidding in me in the last minute or two. Sellers on Y!J can set the auction in such a way that if people are putting bids in the last 10 minutes, the auction automatically gets extended for another 10 mins! Great for the seller who can get more money out of buyers, bad for the buyers for obvious reasons.
The other bidder and I fought for Shion for the next 20 minutes. Luckily the auction did not extend for the 3rd time and my rival let the doll go. Auction ended at 3050 Yen ($25.70), which means I still saved a few dollars by not bidding on the old 3500 Yen Shion. ^_^ Hey, better than nothing! It's not a big difference, I know, but I'm always glad to save a buck or two. I saved enough $$ for a nice doujinshi (Japanese comics I collect), which is mood-lifter for me every time.

Of course you have to add Y!J shopping deputy fees, bank transfer fee and shipping to the auction price and in the end she's no more expensive than Castle Shions available at the Castle right now. The total is then about $40. On eBay she'd most certainly have a higher price than that by the Castle, plus there's shipping, as well.

She has looong, straight pink hair and the sweetest face. A lot of Shions look very grown-up and mature but this pink, tender lady has a sweet air about her. I'd love to dress her all in white. A white frilly dress, white socks and white Mary-Jane shoes, with a cute white bow in her hair. Neat!
For her first shoot I let her borrow a blue Licca skirt and pink boots but the real eye-catcher is the vintage Sindy raincoat! Its delightfully retro pattern brings dear Shion to life. A rather huge and wide coat but still with that cool touch of the fashions from the past.

I was lucky to find her release date on a Japanese fan site. Her original price was 4000 Yen ($33.70) and she was released at 'Doll Show 10' event in Japan (Licca Castle has a booth there).

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