20–39cm Dolls Dream Vallley Griffin Young Dragon 1/6 unboxing

I loved these guys design/sculpt/aesthetic the moment I saw them. But I told myself they were too big. Well, I got lots of dream valley dragons (Umi, Rubin, Bor, Bora) but I still loved Griffin (though not the name, it makes me think of the mythical animal gryffons).
Eventually, with only one of the smaller ones left in stock at denver doll emporium, I decided to just go ahead and get it- if they didn't get released, I'd probably always regret it. Of course, now that I have committed to this purchase and have him at home with me, I expect dream valley will release them. Probably soon. Enjoy! (also I if I was choosing a more expensive resin I think I would have gone for the red).

Very well wrapped body. There were two boxes, one for the body and one for the wings.

Found the head!


Attached the horns! Backwards! I was so excited I didn't immediately realize what was wrong. And yes, the horns have "L" and "R" on them for right and left, I kind of ignored that initially.


I think the horns look cool this way!


The eyes are in, horns are little loose in mine.


Horns are in the right way now.


Very photogenic too, even blank without blushing:


I've long wanted a poseable, customizable dragon that has a similar design to all my old drawings! (the things on the arms and extra face spikes are not needed, but pretty much everything else just feels and seems really close to me).


I think he came with the red fullset eyes. I like it.
Love the poseable jaw and tongue too!


Wings:


The photos showing the wings out of the box and just put in aren't loading in the thread preview, unfortunately. I just wanted to mention:
It's surprisingly tricky to get the wings in the holes correctly. I proceeded gently and cautiously and there were no incidents. There are magnets to help keep them there once there. There is a long shoulder "scale" that can be used instead of the wings for the wingless dragon look (drake). I currently have him displayed without wings, as I am trying to figure out the best way to display his whole gorgeousness!

He's sitting like my dog did sometimes right now, but it's fairly easy to get him into a proper two-legged pose, I was working with an unstable surface and didn't want to risk any damage. The back leg joints have ratchets to help pose.


It's a little hard to see in the photos but obvious in real life- if you look through his wings into the light, they are blue. I was wondering why they chose that accent color for the body blushed fullsets.


Beginning to wonder if put the horns in wrong again:


Overall, he's amazing. Blank or not, he's pretty much just as advertised. The head is a little tiny bit looser than I would like, even with a strong magnet, and everytime I took it off to re-arrange the eyes, etc. I have to flip the whole dragon upside down to slide the head in correctly, and it took me a while to learn that. I tried adding eye putty to the larger horn holes to help them stick better; I am not sure it was successful. I originally had dreams of making a saddle and wearing him to the renaissance festival, but I don't think I'd be ready to do that until I solved the looseness problems, if they are solveable without glue. In the meantime, he looks magnificent on my shelf and would probably have no problem being in photoshoots, etc. Just not comfortable with the thought of him being jostled by large crowds. And to be fair, he's meant/built to pose and look good in person and on camera (which he does great!), not be part of someone's costume in a large and crowded place.

The black resin has a strong presence and kind of patterns or swirls already? It's much more interesting to look at then plain white, and I was not expecting that. Anyway, now I am trying to decide if I want to make him a unique character that can stand in for many, or if I should go ahead and turn him into a character from one of my favorite stories. I'm kind of leaning towards the first one, but I know the second one would be easier to blush/paint, because the old character is a dragon with dark red on top going to black on the bottom, with some yellow accents.

 

Thank you! I agree with you!

It's so cool that you were able to take yours out and wear him! The belly is spike-less, I didn't think of that before but it makes sense. I was thinking texrenfest, which is awesome, but also outdoors, can be extremely crowded, and definitely not a place where everyone is familar with bjd's. They have a lovely place for photos though so one day maybe I'll bring him in a carry bag.
I'm curious to see the other set of wings! What did you make them out of? Sounds like a good idea to give them more flexibility.

He feels massive to me! I like the size though, nice presence. Wow yours is even bigger! I wish the smaller one had the ball jointed hands, but I'll live. I am thinking a different character that can cosplay my others, because as much as I want to own like seven of them, I don't think I'll have the space... or ever want to have the space for that many. Ignoring the cost of that many too of course. But a group photo could be cool! Like the size differences and everything for dream valley dragons. I'll try that some day.

Right? I usually spell it griffin for the bird-eagle hybrid too. So I found it very confusing. It's hard for me to think of him as little, but I guess if I ever saw a big one in person it would help! I also love their faces too, clearly dragon but also not mean/evil.

Sometimes the photos show up just fine in later posts, here is a slightly better view of the blue visible in the wings. It makes me think the resin is not actually black, just a very, very dark blue. Which is cool, I like dark blue!

 

I haven't heard of thermoplastic, it sounds interesting, and a better match to resin than my thought of just doing some jewelry wire and fabric. I like it! I'm impressed you created actual ball jointed moveable wings and strung them too! I'd have to read up a bit more about thermoplastic before I tried anything like that, but it sounds very impressive and a good match!

 

Thank you so do I!

Yes the mini one. I was intimidated by the size and the price of the larger one in stock at dde, but i would like the ball jointed hands.

Thank you! The red resin is beautiful in photos and I think I may like it better than the black resin? Not sure if I do want a big one now though, I feel like I have fun posing this one, but still cautious, wouldn't want to deal with anything more.

Thank you! so far I have only got his head prepped for face up. The liquitex matte turned it a paler color for a while, but I hear that happens with darker resin.

Yes paint and/or pastels will be used! Just need to find the inspiration and the time.

Aw thanks, it's fun to have stuff other people appreciate too. As a dragon-lover myself, that's why I bought this guy. Very satisfied with the results. Personally I am hoping dream valley does a re-release some day so I can get him a friend! Then your friend can order one too! If you did a preorder for a non-fancy color they were fairly affordable (very affordable for bjd) but of course I didn't actually consider buying one until over a year after the preorder had ended... Didn't even know they existed until well after the pre order ended, in fact.