Merl. Kiyomi. Ally. These girls are constantly listed as perfect “beginner” dolls to introduce you into the Pullip world. With Merl – it’s not hard to see why. Re-chippable, flexible, and gorgeous, she constantly tops favourite lists. When she came back on sale after a period being of being difficult to find, I had to add her to my dolly family.
Merl has always been one of the more popular girls. In fact, when Pullip added a “My Select” range for girls that you could easily make your own (they also only came with a towel for stock), Merl was one of the dolls they selected.
Here she is sitting happily in her box with Chibi Risa and Steampunk Alice. You can see already that her faceup is a peachy pink compared to the others.
Merl comes with a lot of bows and ribbons. In fact, her stock also involves one giant bow for her head, and another for her dress. She comes with a dark blue sailor-themed smock over a cute creamy petticoat trimmed with lace.
Her lemon-gold sash is finished with a taupe coloured bow, and a brass key. Her little choker also has a tiny perl and key attached. Her little trimmings come in sailor-themed striped ribbons, as well as a bit of lace and satin.
When you release her hair from her two plastic ponytails, you are greeted by a cascade of auburn brown hair. It’s gorgeous. She could be a shampoo commercial doll. It’s soft and easy to manage, and she looks like she could stare at you over her shoulder as her hair tumbles down her back.
She has sea-green eyechips, painted in the flat-like style that Pullip seems to be proud of. Her eyes are lined with a lilac and blue liner, with a pink and brown smokey eye to match. She has low, peachy-pink blush, and a darker peachy pink lip. Her lips are painted to look slightly apart, as if she had just blown a kiss off the shore.
Her shoes are a bit intense, and remind me a bit of Pullip Eos – made with soft supple brown leather and a crazy amount of red ribbon, her shoes are slightly big for her but do help her to lean upright. They fit over a pair of olive-green striped socks.
She always looks like she’s smiling at you, doesn’t she? Because of how easy-going her faceup is, Merl takes well to re-wigging as well as re-chipping. She goes well in a lot of outfits, but she does run warm and pink, despite her seaside origins. Her lips make her look like she is always smiling at you.
She really likes to rock her ribbons doesn’t she? Here she is enjoying the last of the autumn sunlight. I think the golden glow suits her, don’t you think?
Merl is a great beginner doll if you are looking to get into Pullips. Her stock is good enough quality and easy to manage, and her wig is lovely. She still does not surpass my favourite beginner doll – Dahlia Cinderella (one day I will get my hands on a Kiyomi. ONE DAY).
Merl was released in July of 2012, but as of writing is available again for $103.95 from Pullipstyle.
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