Novi Stars Dolls- Thread #2

[alse]

So I just found this on taobao and I'm sobbing...

https://gyazo.com/b3447245fb914051a664db3305384328

How cute, is it an active listing?

Could I get the link?

There's several active listings like this one. Just go to world.taobao.com and search "novi stars" and you'll find a bunch just like it. These look like the actual parts from the factory, just missmashed onto the wrong bodies and such.

[Galactica]

So I just found this on taobao and I'm sobbing...

https://gyazo.com/b3447245fb914051a664db3305384328

How cute, is it an active listing?

Could I get the link?

There's several active listings like this one. Just go to world.taobao.com and search "novi stars" and you'll find a bunch just like it. These look like the actual parts from the factory, just missmashed onto the wrong bodies and such.

I don't recall those outfits at all-  but maybe I forgot one of them

Nevermind- I was hoping they were unproduced otufits but it looks like they are from the Skinz dolls-  those are the two I never got around to buying (love their hair and clear bodies- but the painted on "skinz outfits" just look so sloppy and off..."

I was just looking at my Novi's in my doll case this morning and they really are so cute- they display well with so many things:D

[Carrehz]

my fire and ice set

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OMG I love your girls!! I'm not normally a fan of hybrids but those are gorgeous, omg _

[vampyrefay]

Aliexpress has official novi stars right now

[Loona]

Aliexpress has official novi stars right now

I can confirm this. However, I'd like to give a warning, in general, as well as for picky collectors regarding this: I ordered 4 boxed dolls from them in the beginning of November last year, and I had a terrible experience over the purchase, from basically almost every aspect possible - the sole exception being that the dolls are indeed originals (based on comparing the boxes and the dolls with store-bought MIB dolls I also had).

First of all, the package took approx. 3 months to arrive. I did not mind this, as I did not need the dolls urgently, but if they were supposed to be a gift for a child for Christmas, this could have caused an issue.
Secondly, the boxes arrived in a terrible state. They were only wrapped in a plastic bag with no additional protection, and (quite expectedly) got severely crushed, they also had some gaping holes due to the bending of the plastic. Hands and accessories were dislocated and were all over the place in the box. Again, if these were ordered as a gift, or by a MOC collector, the crushed box and the dislocated contents would already be an issue enough, but there was also damage done to the dolls: more than one antenna arrived bent and their paint damaged - one even broke in half and the part that broke off fell out of the box through a hole caused by the bending! I got lucky it did not fall any further, and I found it within the plastic bag wrapping.

I do realise that the long transit and the unfortunate timing (pre-Christmas period with extended amount of packages at the post) most likely had an impact on the above damage, but I still don't think a simple plastic wrap is sufficient for packaging MIB dolls, at any time of the year.

Had it been enough, and had the boxes arrived in good condition, I still wouldn't have been happy. Out of the 4 dolls I ordered, none had well-aligned eyes, some were inserted so wonkily that I believe these may be dolls that were rejected on a 2nd QC run, when already in the box, because of the misaligned eyes, and this is how they ended up here instead of on store shelves.
I know there are many collectors out there who are picky regarding eye wonk, so if you are among them, please order with caution/think twice. Sellers may not even understand what you will be talking about if you open a dispute over this (I know they didn't in my case, I had to send them pictures on which I drew guiding lines to show the difference in alignment), and be prepared for an initial answer along the lines of "that is a small issue, your children will not mind" or "eyes are not always aligned, just like with humans". The latter of which is very true by the way, and we should indeed accept that. My eyes are not perfectly the same size either. But I do believe there is a difference between how we treat features in a human face and in an item we buy for money, as a collectable. Many sellers there treat these items as toys for children (which they are, btw), and do not consider QC issues a problem at all (which is less OK IMO. I would have been annoyed by QC issues already as a child). I have experienced this on several other occasions, too, like when I received 2 doll shoes for the same feet instead of a pair. They told me "my child will not mind, and also, doll shoes do not have to fit perfectly, just like human shoes also do not fit perfectly".
(Which is utter bullpoop, by the way. Doll shoes designed specifically for a brand usually do fit perfectly, and they should, because the size of all the dolls' feet in that range will be exactly the same size. Unlike human feet.)

And the worst part came here: when I took pictures of the damage and the wonky eyes and applied for the dispute, the seller started to behave in a way that I've never experienced before from a seller, not even in personal sales. AliExpress is less strict about rules, and sellers do tend to behave less accepting and cooperative there vs. on eBay (where, I believe, reportin this could have resulted in them being banned), but this was not even about cooperation. They started calling me names, and sending me messages like "how can you sleep at night" or "how can you look into the eyes of your children like this"? I can't even understand the whole situation...

In the end I did get some of my money back, but you can imagine how happy I was with that solution, and with the dolls, after all... so yeah. Order with caution.

[vampyrefay]

Aliexpress has official novi stars right now

I can confirm this. However, I'd like to give a warning, in general, as well as for picky collectors regarding this: I ordered 4 boxed dolls from them in the beginning of November last year, and I had a terrible experience over the purchase, from basically almost every aspect possible - the sole exception being that the dolls are indeed originals (based on comparing the boxes and the dolls with store-bought MIB dolls I also had).

First of all, the package took approx. 3 months to arrive. I did not mind this, as I did not need the dolls urgently, but if they were supposed to be a gift for a child for Christmas, this could have caused an issue.
Secondly, the boxes arrived in a terrible state. They were only wrapped in a plastic bag with no additional protection, and (quite expectedly) got severely crushed, they also had some gaping holes due to the bending of the plastic. Hands and accessories were dislocated and were all over the place in the box. Again, if these were ordered as a gift, or by a MOC collector, the crushed box and the dislocated contents would already be an issue enough, but there was also damage done to the dolls: more than one antenna arrived bent and their paint damaged - one even broke in half and the part that broke off fell out of the box through a hole caused by the bending! I got lucky it did not fall any further, and I found it within the plastic bag wrapping.

I do realise that the long transit and the unfortunate timing (pre-Christmas period with extended amount of packages at the post) most likely had an impact on the above damage, but I still don't think a simple plastic wrap is sufficient for packaging MIB dolls, at any time of the year.

Had it been enough, and had the boxes arrived in good condition, I still wouldn't have been happy. Out of the 4 dolls I ordered, none had well-aligned eyes, some were inserted so wonkily that I believe these may be dolls that were rejected on a 2nd QC run, when already in the box, because of the misaligned eyes, and this is how they ended up here instead of on store shelves.
I know there are many collectors out there who are picky regarding eye wonk, so if you are among them, please order with caution/think twice. Sellers may not even understand what you will be talking about if you open a dispute over this (I know they didn't in my case, I had to send them pictures on which I drew guiding lines to show the difference in alignment), and be prepared for an initial answer along the lines of "that is a small issue, your children will not mind" or "eyes are not always aligned, just like with humans". The latter of which is very true by the way, and we should indeed accept that. My eyes are not perfectly the same size either. But I do believe there is a difference between how we treat features in a human face and in an item we buy for money, as a collectable. Many sellers there treat these items as toys for children (which they are, btw), and do not consider QC issues a problem at all (which is less OK IMO. I would have been annoyed by QC issues already as a child). I have experienced this on several other occasions, too, like when I received 2 doll shoes for the same feet instead of a pair. They told me "my child will not mind, and also, doll shoes do not have to fit perfectly, just like human shoes also do not fit perfectly".
(Which is utter bullpoop, by the way. Doll shoes designed specifically for a brand usually do fit perfectly, and they should, because the size of all the dolls' feet in that range will be exactly the same size. Unlike human feet.)

And the worst part came here: when I took pictures of the damage and the wonky eyes and applied for the dispute, the seller started to behave in a way that I've never experienced before from a seller, not even in personal sales. AliExpress is less strict about rules, and sellers do tend to behave less accepting and cooperative there vs. on eBay (where, I believe, reportin this could have resulted in them being banned), but this was not even about cooperation. They started calling me names, and sending me messages like "how can you sleep at night" or "how can you look into the eyes of your children like this"? I can't even understand the whole situation...

In the end I did get some of my money back, but you can imagine how happy I was with that solution, and with the dolls, after all... so yeah. Order with caution.

I haven't ordered from them before so thank you for experience! most people seem to have issues unless its something simple like plastic doll eyes or fake lego peices

[Galactica]

I buy on AliExpress constantly, but they do NOT value packaging, and very clearly try to ship EVERYTHING as cheap as possible- (mostly because shipping is free as a incentive)

Also, a lot of the toy products on there are what appear to be 2nd unauthorized runs, and factory rejects.

[Loona]

I buy on AliExpress constantly, but they do NOT value packaging, and very clearly try to ship EVERYTHING as cheap as possible- (mostly because shipping is free as a incentive)

Also, a lot of the toy products on there are what appear to be 2nd unauthorized runs, and factory rejects.

I totally agree with these. My main issue however, is that it used to be different in the past. I remember my very first orders all came in tiny boxes (and those were also with free shipping). Cost-cutting is a totally understandable thing and I wouldn't have any problem with it as long as it still offered sufficient protection. Many AliExpress sellers fail on the latter recently. For someone who orders now for the first time, the change will not even be noticeable, and they will just order already with this in mind. For me however, it's just a visible decline and an increased risk of probably not getting what I thought I'll get for my money.

Also, though it seems they abandoned tiny boxes completely, there still is a odd variance in the protection used. I always shake my head when I receive nail art stickers in 3 layers of bubble mailer (totally unnecessary protection), but painted plastic miniature figures in just a plastic bag-type envelope, with no bubble mailer layer.

Aaaaand, Nita is now available on AliExpress. I've been looking for a spare Nita head to use for rebody, but I couldn't yet make up my mind to shell out $20 for the full set (most likely without box), knowing the energy pod will likely arrive cracked or broken, holding a very wonky-eyes Nita to boot

[maycrestmom]

ok is it just me or have there been like a slew of knock-off novi and MH on ebay lately??  I am presuming these guys are fakes??

Does anyone know if they even make novi dolls any longer??

[maycrestmom]

just had to update ... been having more fun with hybrids and yay = I finally got back a carmela so happy to be done :-)

anyhow = I think they make a cute pair :-)

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[vampyrefay]

ok is it just me or have there been like a slew of knock-off novi and MH on ebay lately??  I am presuming these guys are fakes??

Does anyone know if they even make novi dolls any longer??

they haven't made novi stars for years

[FluffleNuff]

Just bought two Sila Clops, (I'm not hoping too hard for a beautiful box after shipping) but I would be very happy to get her to someone who would like her, in box or not. PM me if you'd like! She should be here in about a week or so

[lovebeam]

anyone know what the value on doe is?

[maycrestmom]

think the "hard to find" russian ones are going over a hundred nowadays - at least on the evilbay

[Carrehz]

think the "hard to find" russian ones are going over a hundred nowadays - at least on the evilbay

It might be an idea to keep an eye out on eBay UK for the last four girls - they were released over here, too ("released" is being generous, really; they showed up at exactly one shop, The Entertainer, for a short amount of time.. and I think they get a lot of end-of-line stock, so I suspect we just got really lucky with them, lol) so maybe they could pop up on there?