Top 5 Reasons to Start Collecting Licca-chan in 2024!

Have you considered starting a Licca-chan doll collection recently? It could be that some of your long-time favorite doll lines aren’t exactly scratching your itches recently, or that you live somewhere where any doll from the U.S. or the English-speaking world in general comes with an unreasonably high price tag… or that you’re simply interested in entering the world of Licca-chan!

Personally, as a European who also travels to Japan at least once a year, Licca-chan and #Licca dolls are very affordable to me, especially compared to any Mattel or MGA doll line. I especially appreciate the dolls’ consistently excellent hair quality, the approach to articulation, and how even the most budget releases are full of high-quality details. So, without any further ado, let me tell you about the 5 main reasons why I believe 2024 is an excellent time to start a Licca-chan collection!

Weak yen

There’s no way around it: the yen is very weak right now against the dollar and the euro, although that trend has shown some fluctuation recently. If you want to start a collection of Japanese dolls of any kind, now is the time! Most Licca-chan releases (pretty much all of them except for the limited or exclusive ones) are available on several different online marketplaces. I find that Amazon.co.jp is an especially friendly option for Europeans, as it handles any customs fees automatically even in light of the new laws regulating imports to Europe.

Different strokes

In recent years, the Licca-chan brand has been careful to diversify its offer to hit different market segments. I like to think that the current offer as of 2024 can be divided into four different categories, which I will be trying to analyze below, going from the most affordable to the most pricey category.

Standard playline Licca-chan dolls are primarily designed to appeal to children. Some, but not all of them, come with gimmicks. Usually, two dolls are released every year that come with a gimmick, are a little more expensive than other playline releases, and are marketed the most intensively throughout the year. They are easily found in stores and most new videos on the Licca-chan official YouTube channel will be about these two dolls. Of course, aside from the two most marketed dolls, there are many more playline releases every year. Very interestingly, there are often about as many fashion pack releases as there are doll releases. Licca-chan very much encourages you to restyle your dolls however you want!

“Adult-like” playline releases are also playline releases, but they come with a slightly higher price point, realistic fashions that are often very attuned to the season’s trends, and great quality fabrics. Their packaging is also very creative and may feature some very pretty photographs that, if you’re a little careful during the unboxing process, can also be kept as backgrounds for the dolls. The defining trait of these releases is that they will be listed on the official page for Licca-chan adult collectors despite being playline releases.

#Licca dolls are taller (27 cm as opposed to Licca-chan’s usual 22 cm) dolls that depict Licca and her friends as teenagers. They tend to portray recent trends in Japanese street fashion. This line often collaborates with famous Japanese and international fashion brands as well as fashion magazines.

LiccA has been synonym with premium Licca releases for quite a few years now! Many of the releases are limited editions and only available through official Takara Tomy stores.

So, as you can see, no matter what kind of doll collector you are, there’s bound to be something for you in one (or more!) of these Licca-chan lines.

No risk of pixelation!

Not only do Licca-chan and #Licca dolls go through strict quality control, and are made with plastic materials that come with a bitter taste that helps keep small children from swallowing the plastic, but all of their facial screenings are beautiful and completely pixelation-free.

A different approach to articulation

Recently, three beautiful new dolls, called Photogenic LiccA, were scheduled to be released in September 2024 for the premium LiccA series of dolls. These dolls are articulated at the shoulders and arms, at the wrists, at the hip, at the knees, and at the ankles, and even come with extra sets of hands! Instead of elbow articulation, they have flexible arms, which are the standard for pretty much all Licca-chan and #Licca releases. However, be aware that the LiccA series is a premium line that is pricier and also probably harder to import if you don’t live in Japan.

Personally, I am very fond of the level of articulation that the standard Licca-chan dolls come with: the standard five points of articulation, plus flexible, “bendy” arms and legs and the ability to slightly rotate her torso. Since it’s very easy to hide the few joints under the dolls’ clothes, I find that it’s also easy to become oblivious to their… doll-ness. Also, this approach to articulation ensures that small parts won’t get detached from the doll very easily.

#Licca bodies are taller (27 cm as opposed to Licca-chan’s 22 cm) and come with less articulation, as their legs are made of hard, hollow plastic and their shoulder joints are disc-shaped, as opposed to spherical. However, I find that the pose their legs are stuck in still looks very natural, whether they’re standing or sitting down.

And at any rate, if you are dissatisfied with the level of articulation your Licca-chan doll has, you can always rebody her or an Obitsu or Pureneemo body (with Obitsu being the more affordable option)!

My First Licca-chan, or the most budget-friendly way to start your collection

We’ve come to the last of our five reasons, which, in my opinion, is also the juiciest! Last year, likely in the wake of the release of the Barbie movie, Takara Tomy released はじめよう！マイファーストリカちゃん (Hajimeyou! (Let’s get started!) My First Licca-chan), a doll release that comes at an extremely friendly price and packed with value. Together with it, four fashion packs were also released, called マイファーストドレス (My First Dress), each of them retailing for less than 1,000 yen each. Suppose that you decide to buy all 5: you’ll have a beautiful Licca-chan doll with five different dresses and pairs of shoes, and you will have spent less than 7,000 yen! Please don’t miss out on this budget, and still extremely pretty collection, while it’s still available.

I hope this article was informative enough! As a European surrounded by beautiful, but ridiculously overpriced Mattel and MGA dolls, Licca-chan has been my lifeline, and I love that so many of the releases across the spectrum of the different lines match my aesthetics.

Do you own any Licca-chan dolls yet? What do you like the most about them? Please tell me all about it in the comments!