Warning: This is a rich in photos post.
Upon knowing that there is a museum/gallery like this in the metro, I immediately made it a point to go there the next day. Dolls sometimes give me the creeps especially if they look close to the real deal! But because of my curiosity, I swallowed my fear and went to Dolljoy. The emergence of Dolljoy is a nice story in itself. The owner actually has four daughters and whenever there was a special occasion, they always received dolls. Since dolls became a huge part of their lives and they wanted to keep the tradition, the owner decided to do the most obvious thing: to open up his own doll-making factory instead.
The museum was divided to a number of attractions. Since I really fell in love with the gallery and I highly recommend this tour, I will happily walk you through the attractions, one by one:
CHRISTMAS VILLAGE
This is the first checkpoint of the tour. Entering into this room made me feel that I am in a winter wonderland. While I adjust my body heat to the cold temperature or which I think is cold because of the abundance of winter related things in the room like snow-covered twigs, pine trees, a snowy landscape in the wall and Santa Claus, I could not help but to click my camera away.
The manger was complete with Precious Moments-looking dolls embodying those characters present during the birth of Jesus. This scene was so cute!
Did you know that the initial color of the suit of St. Nicholas is actually green? It was only during the early 1950's that it became red. During those times, Coca-Cola was having a really low time in terms of their sales because of post war depression and the non-acceptance of the market of their products. Luckily, Coca-Cola has a sales marketer who was studying children stories then and he stumbled upon this jolly character, St. Nicholas, who gave things to poor children to alleviate their condition even just for a while. Using this representation, they tweaked the image of Santa Claus to a jolly, fat man, donning a red and white suit (the colors of Coca-Cola), holding a glass or a bottle of the drink to work in their favor. This tactic obviously increased their sales and gave us the Santa Claus that we have come to known. I bet while his suit is still red, Coca-Cola is here to stay.
They also have this miniature Christmas vilage!
WEDDING DOLLS
In this part of the tour, I was able to see the different kind of weddings we practice here in the Philippines. Above is the Western wedding.
Look at how lovely this bridesmaid is! See, even though you have a bad experience with dolls during your childhood days, I think going to Dolljoy and seeing their very cute and chubby dolls will definitely remove the bad history from your mind.
They also have a garden wedding.
A Chinese wedding. So this is how a traditional Chinese wedding looks like!
Here is also a depiction of a rural wedding complete with baskets of fruits and vegetables, Barong Tagalog, Abaca hats, banderitas and a carabao-pulled karitela (carriage).
JUNGLE ISLAND
An educational presentation of wildlife and the environment, this is a fairly new attraction of the museum.
Aside from vinyl dolls, Dolljoy also makes a wide-range of stuffed animals like the lion, black panther, leopard, tiger, giraffe and alligator.
I have come to love panda because of the movie installment Kung-Fu panda. They actually dedicated an entire corner to these lovely group of Pandas in all shapes and sizes. Those little cuties at the bottom and in the baskets are so fluffy that I would give my all just to have a chance to take one home and cuddle them!
SPORTS STADIUM
This part of the tour is an ode to the colorful Sports atmosphere here in the Philippines. How could one forget those times when he watched numerous UAAP or NCAA games just to support their school's basketball team? Almost everyone who had spent their college years in the metro had surely grew an attachment to these games and a regard to their school's players in one way or another. Some of the known basketball players we see now in the PBA had actually came from the roster of UAAP players before. In here you can see a tight game between the rivals, the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the De La Salle Green Archers. I could still remember the tension and pressure before whenever these two teams fight for the win.
Here are the Azkals playing in a flowery, grassbed, who had actually made the Philippines known in the international football scene. The curly dudes in the yellow uniform looked like the Younghusband twins for me.
And here is a very muscular Manny Pacquiao who just had again knocked out a contender.
The Magician Efren "Bata" Reyes is also a figure that should not be missed!
BABY BEAR'S GARDEN PARTY
Baby Bear has turned a year older and he invited all of his friends to join him in the celebration.
Here is Baby Bear with his generous and gallant parents, Mama Bear and Papa Bear, who made the party possible.
CIRCUS PARADE
The circus is in town and they are here to stay to make people happy. Here you can see the Tramp and Hobo which are the common clowns. Aside from this, I was also able to see hand puppets, marionettes, double-faced clowns, finger puppets, and teddy bears with clown outfits.
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
HOT AIR BALLOON FESTIVAL
There has been a big popularity of air balloons in the recent years, all over the world. And to cope up with the changing times, Dolljoy made sure to also put one up for their visitors to enjoy.
And we are done with the first phase of the tour! To cap off the tour in the first building, a dressing-up activity was also put in place. Rows of dolls were laid down ready to be dressed up. You just have to pick a doll of your liking and dress it up as fast as you can so you can still move on to the other dolls!
Melody here is the one I chose as her braided hair and full bangs made my heart melt in an instant. She looks very dainty and polished too.
Since I do not want her to be lonely, I chose Krizia because of her exotic skin color and look. While in the middle of dressing her up, our tour guide already prompted us to come with her as we were already to transfer to the second building for the next phase of the tour. I was to blame for her rugged and unkempt look here!
DOLLS IN UNIFORM
Prior going here, this collection is what I am most excited to see! The welcome wall of the second building houses these dolls in the uniforms of some of the known schools here in the metro.
Here are the dolls in the library. Just a side note, the oldest library in the country can be found in the University of Santo Tomas while the biggest library is the National Library of the Philippines.
And here is their collection! When I first came in the room, I do not know where to start as I am overwhelmed to see their large collection of uniformed dolls. Can you see your uniforms here? And for those who have already seen one being sold at their schools or being given out during important events, you now know the company which makes these lovely dolls for your school.
Poveda College in Quezon City is the first school that asked Dolljoy to manufacture uniformed dolls for them. One by one, schools from different parts of the metro followed in and the rest is history.
DOLL-MAKING SIMULATION
Doll making (vinyl in their case) is a serious business and there are a lot of processes entailed before you could have a fully-made doll.
After concocting a colored mix, the mix is then poured to this copper molds. Dolljoy prefers to use copper as it gives dolls a perfect and smooth finish.
After the mix has already taken up the shape of the mold, intact and has been steamed for quite some time. It will then be ready for trimming.
Next to trimming is painting in which it requires experience and a great deal of brushstroke skills as this is being done manually. Add to this the fact that the paint being used here is quick to dry and once you had already painted it on the surface, there is no way that you could still take them off.
Since we are already done with painting and hair is known to be the crown of glory, it is time then to immerse the head of the dolls to a hair rooting machine.
After the hair has already been planted and since you could not leave the hair to be that untidy, it is now time to style the hair of the dolls however way you want it to.
Since we are all done with the head, let us now move on to fabric cutting and sewing clothes for the dolls, another procedure that requires expertise! Manang here is making a few mini, denim jumpers.
DISNEY PRINCESSES & STARS
PRECIOUS MOMENTS COLLECTION BY STELLA TEJADA - DY
I was able to capture these photos before I was reminded by our tour guide not to. Actually, prior the tour, we were advised that we could capture all the photos we want of the collections with the exception of this. In my defense, I did not know that this was already the Precious Moments collection they were talking about! And debating whether I should upload this or not, I still chose to upload this as the dolls are very beautiful to not be shared to my readers.
The teardrop-shaped eyes is the distinguishing factor of the Precious Moments dolls. There is actually a story behind why the artist, Sam Butcher, made it to be that way. While he was walking along the shore of a beach during one of his vacations, he heard a soft, weeping cry of a girl from a distance. Prompted and alarmed, he followed where the sound was coming from. When he found the girl, he immediately came to her side and asked her what was wrong. The girl then slowly lifted her head, teardrops still falling from her eyes and told him that she wanted to have a particular doll but understood that they could not buy it since they are poor and they do not have any money to buy one. Heartbroken and touched at the same by the girl, he vowed that he will make all her creations have a teardrop-shaped eyes as a tribute to the girl.
The dolls all look innocent and beautiful. Looking at them made me warm inside. The details were impeccable that it made me want to buy a Precious Moments doll in an instant. Dolljoy had been commissioned by Sam Butcher himself to make the dolls for him.
AMERICAN INDIAN DOLLS COLLECTION
Since I grew up with Pocahontas as one of those cartoon girls that I look up to, I was awed and amazed at the same time to see the exclusive collection of American Indian Dolls of Dolljoy. Made by artist director, Ruben Tejada, brother of Ms. Stella Dy, the dolls were made with a great attention to detail. I felt that I was being transported back to time.
HARRIET ROSEBUD MINIATURE HATS
Rosebud is a very famous milliner. Based on New York City, she still continues to create one-of-a-kind and bold hats which she have been know for. In here we can find the miniature version of the hats that she made. Each mini version corresponds to an original-full size version made by Rosebud.
TOYS FOR THE BOYS
This is the collection of toys of the boys of the family. The only thing that caught my attention here are the doll version of the boys in the Archie comics, like Archie, Jughead and Reggie. I was in love for the longest time with its comics. You could just ask my dad and mom how many comics I do have in my collection.
DOLLS AROUND THE WORLD
This collection displays the different dolls of almost all nationalities.
This is so cute! They really made the dolls to be chinky-eyed to represent the features of the Chinese.
The Filipino doll counterparts were wearing the infamous baro't saya that Filipino women of long ago wear during the Spanish colonization. The bigger doll was also wearing the colors of the Philippine flag.
Look at this cute and black-haired Vietnamese doll complete with straw hat and Ao Dai.
FILIPINO ETHNIC GROUPS & TRADITIONS
COCEAUX LE FONTAINE
A collection by Anton Buencamino, Le Fontaine was actually a fictional character. She is always being invited to the bestest and most grandiose event all over the world, and whenever she does she makes sure that she arrives looking as fabulous as ever.
DELLA REESE DOLLS
A known actress and singer during her days, Della Reese, started selling dolls in which all proceedings went to her beloved charities.
COMMUNITY HELPERS
THE AQUINO FAMILY
Who would have ever thought then that one of the Aquino siblings would be a President of our country someday?
During the inauguration of the former President Aquino, these dolls acted as her give-aways.
BE CAREFUL WITH MY HEART
A very known daytime television drama in the Philippines. Be Careful with my heart follows the adventures and misadventures of Maya, a simple girl, who eventually had Ser Chief, a businessman, fell in love with her. The drama has a very nice and light story, which is the main reason why Filipinos loved it!
And for the last activity, dressing up again! But this time, cuddly teddy bears instead of dolls!
That basically wrapped up my fun-filled 3 hour tour in Dolljoy. I was amazed to know that there is really something like this hidden in the metro. Even though I am already quite late, I am happy to discover it nonetheless. Ending up the tour, we were led to one of their cute doll shops.
It is hard not buy something here! I just have to grab one for myself!
All the dolls that you could see here are all beautiful and hug-worthy. These match dolls retailing at Php 150 for 4 is quite a catch. This would serve as a nice gift for your little inaanaks during the holiday season. A very easy way to keep something delightful in your pocket. Of course, they could also customize dolls for you to serve as a give-away for that event of yours! They just need a minimum of 300 orders, I think, and they could already make a replica of you!
The tour is highly recommended, especially if you have nephews/nieces and little kids. Bring them here on a Saturday (8 AM and 10 AM), and I assure you that they will have not just a smashing good time but also an educational time during their stay here!
DOLLJOY GALLERY AND MUSEUM
(add) No. 31 C. Raymundo Avenue Caniogan, Pasig City | (web) www.dolljoygallery.com | (phone) +632 6412686, +632 6721939 | (mobile) +63922 8390553 to 54 | (email) inquiry@dolljoygallery.com