Patience is a virtue – that’s what I tell my kids whenever all three of them require my attention or assistance at the same time and urgently too. But patience is also like a muscle, it can be exercised. I should know, I had been a teacher for a good few years before I became a corporate worker. Now, I’m not a teacher anymore, and my patience isn’t so well practiced… to put it short, I don’t like to wait long for dolls. Yumekawa Unicorn Licca –chan LD-15 stretched my patience till it hurt as her delivery took so long. First it took the store a week to ship her and then five more weeks for her to be delivered. That’s criminal! She’s here though and she couldn’t be more lovely or adorable.
Licca’s history is interesting and she’s been around almost as long as Barbie. Licca’s face was sketched by a mangaka – Miyako Maki and then in 1967 the doll was produced. Various periods of Licca’s existence are referred to as generations. Gen 1 is from 1967 through 1972 and the Licca from that time period has reddish, auburn sort of hair, a pair of blue eyes with large pupils and a single white dot in them. That dot is crucial to her identification. Licca’s hair comes in four styles: Loose with side-swept bangs, two braids, an up-do, or pigtails. Her lips are closed and she’s 21 cm tall. Apparently she’s bendable, but I don’t know for sure. The below commercial (viewed in web version only) and some pictures online make me believe, you can bend her arms and legs, though the pictures may be of a repro and I also read somewhere that only later Gen 2 has bendable legs. As to the repros, the first one appeared in 1999 and then in 2001 the Club 67 series is launched and repros have been released on a regular basis.
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| Gen 1 Licca-chan |
Gen 2 begun in 1972 when Licca’s face changed, her hair is styled to reflect the 70’s trends and she’s got a white flower hairpin in her hair. The hair is still auburn. Her ears stick out and become her trademark, there are tree dots in her eyes. Her lips are still closed, and she still measures 21 cm. There are magnets in her feet / shoes (?) and a magnetic disc is also included in her box to serve as a doll stand. The disc is a curious contraption, when you push it, the doll looks like she’s walking. A special house playset is also produced – it’s got a magnetic floor so Licca can stand wherever she wants. Isn’t it clever? In 1975 Licca changes ever so slightly, but we’re still on Gen 2. Her lips are now parted and her body looks different too. Some sources inform that this is the first Licca to come with bendable legs. I cannot be sure, so if you know anything on the topic, please share!
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| Gen 2 reproduction |
1982 marks the beginning of Gen 3 and Licca-chan changes again. The lips are still parted, the ears don’t stick out so much anymore, there are still 3 dots in her eyes, she gets a lovely button nose the hair is auburn but the style makes her look completely different. Her hair is straight and she gets thick bangs, also straight. On top of that, she’s also about ½ cm taller. She looks a bit sharp to me and I guess I’m not the only one to get that impression because in 1987 Licca gets a new headmold and Gen 4 begins. It still continues to this day though in 1992 there was a short-lived Gen 5 with a slightly silly face, but that wasn’t one of Takara’s brilliant ideas, they soon realized it and retrieved to Gen 4. Now that’s nostalgic when you think that the girls of the 80s played with Gen 4 Licca, now they grew up, they had their own children and those children play with Gen 4 too. Licca connects generations. As to the face paint and hair, Licca’s face is going to be pretty much consistent when it comes to the screening. There will be variations in terms of colors or shades, but it’s the hair that’s going to set them apart. The flagsip Licca is going to have strawberry blond hair, but you’ll get all the other colors as well, like my Yumekawa Unicorn Licca-chan. Licca’s also going to be one cm taller than her predecessors.
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| Gen 3 - in reality there are 2 white dots and 1 brown dot in her eyes |
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| Early Gen 4 |
Of course, my Licca-chan is Gen 4, the one that I like best. I feel Licca is a perfect doll for me – she’s cute in the unique Japanese way, but she’s vinyl and durable like an old school Barbie from 80/90s. In fact I think time has stopped for Licca and that’s what makes her so appealing. Moreover, Takara (Takara Tomy) has managed to achieve where Mattel failed – they kept the high quality for so long because Takara Tomy likes to be consistent. Licca’s box illustrates that well, it’s pretty much the same as my Exciting Shopping Licca’s from 2016. The front will of course inform you of the model – LD-15 so it will change, but the rest is pretty much the same (well, save the bottom, but I haven’t deciphered that part yet). Curious thing, the dates. According to www.1999.co.jp, Yumekawa Unicorn Licca-chan was released in 2019, but when I undressed the doll to put a fashion pack on her, I discovered a clock imprinted on her back with the date 12/2020. I’ve seen such clocks before, I once investigated the expiry dates on booster seats to check if my younger daughter could still use her sister’s car seat. This clock seems to indicate the production date of a batch of dolls mine belonged to. So she was manufactured after the release. That makes sense too. I read that Ruth Handler believed the toy industry must be dynamic and aggressive to correspond to children’s needs because their attention span is short and they get bored easily. So Mattel would come up with loads of ideas every year. Of course, producing at such a pace, there would be some pretty bad ideas and we have seen a few. Takara seems to be more relaxed in that matter. Let’s come up with loads of ideas, yes! But then let’s pick up a few that are best, produce the dolls, put them on the shelves and see if they are popular. If they are, let’s continue making them. We have all the time in the world. By the way, Exciting Shopping doesn’t have the clock on her back, but she’s a little older.
My new Licca presents the Yumekawa style (yume-dream, kawaii-adorable) where pastels dominate though there are some darker colors included as well in order to, as Wikipedia informs, create a nightmare within a dream. There will be baby pink and blue, soft yellow, lavender, seafoam green and usually they will be mixed to create a truly rainbowy outfits. There are also the so called Yumekawa Unicorn plushies with flower crowns on their heads and there is such a unicorn printed on Licca’s dress. The tulle flowers imitate his crown. There are lace sleeves, beads and bows and all the cute stuff. The dress is just like any other Licca dress – cut all the way at the back and held with a humongous strap of Velcro. I get it, It’s for the kids to dress the doll easily and it works. Now I know why I can’t remember my childhood Benetton Barbie to have come with a pair of leggins. I must have taken them off, then unable to put them on, I put them away and they got lost.
Now the accessories are kept to the bare minimum in the Yumekawa style. So Licca gets all that is absolutely necessary- a pair of shoes, a purse, a pair of undies and a headband. The shoes are rubbery like all the other Licca shoes. The purse is made of fabric, it’s flat but functional and more durable than you would think. The headband is a nice touch and the bow on it is made of fabric! Now Takara could have just made a molded, plastic, nasty headband like other companies do, but they didn’t. They went that extra mile to show they produce excellent dolls and I see that and I appreciate that. Licca’s wearing a pair of undies, white and plain, but you can buy a pack of three pairs of colorful panties for her. She’s wearing white flower earrings. One thing! There’s the Yumekawa / Yume Kawaii style and Yami Kawaii style, don’t mix them. Yami Kawaii means „sickly cute” and the make-up will be crucial here. It’s to give and impression of being slightly sick, so flushed cheeks or an occasional black eye may happen because the Japanese find that … cute. I respect them but I don’t understand them.
Licca’s outfit is undeniably cute, but it’s her hair I like best. It’s silky, shiny, crimped, LAVENDER and perfectly trimmed and so are her bangs. My little girl has a lavender-haired fashionista Barbie and I despaired at the state of her beautiful hair right out of the package. It looked like the manufacturer used blunt scissors to trim it or perhaps they didn’t bother to trim it at all? It’s chopped! A disaster. Licca’s hair is just perfect. According to www.1999.co.jp the Yumekawa series will be continued and Yumekawa Miki and Maki-chan are going to be released in mid-June. So far only 1999.co.jp has shown the stock photos, so I’m not sure. But if they do come out, I’ll be buying them! As to the facepaint of my both Liccas, they’re almost the same. The only difference is the shade of purple in their eyes and the pink on their lips. You’ll see it if you look for it.
By the way, I keep mentioning my other Licca and you might not have seen her because I’m posting a second post today. I’ve been criminally behind with my English posts so you might go back to the previous one where I showcase my first Licca. My little collection is growing. I already have 3 dolls, 2 fashion packs, 1 playset and 2 more fashions are about to be shipped (they will arrive within a couple years I hope as I selected Japan/Polish Post to be the carrier to avoid customs charges). I’m making more plans and they involve Licca’s mom and some furniture. Thanks for dropping by!
Licca is such a cute doll, and I love kawaii style. In the US, about the turn of last century, the style for a time was to look "pale and interesting." Sort of like you were dying from tuberculosis, but not. (shrugs)
ReplyDeleteHowever, in ancient Japan, while people thought white skin was the fashion ideal, and whitened it, they also thought black teeth were beautiful, so they coated their teeth black. Yuck!
You're right, I've read that exposing teeth was highly unattractive, that's why Japanese women would smile with closed mouths. :) The easthetics remained despite ages passed, so when Mattel introduced a Superstar Barbie to the Japanese market, she wasn't popular, so Mattel and Takara remodeled her.
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