On selling your first doll- I finally understand....

I sold the very first doll I ever purchased in the hobby this morning. I have some surprisingly mixed feelings about it. I never saw myself as attached to my dolls; I've never  really given them any kind of emotional value. I'd always kind of knocked and joked about the sentimental sales posts I'd seen on the marketplace, but now I understand why they do it.

I have empathy for those posters now.

My first doll was an Iplehouse JID Tania, legit. I didn't even know about recasts at the time I bought her, not that it matters.

I chose her because she was the closest match I could find to the then-unobtainable Luts Delf Spica and because I couldn't bear to spend money on an SD or a minifee. I've seen Spica a few times since, but I'm not sure she's (yes, she; I had planned on mine being a girl) my grail any longer. I found a good deal on her and a seller willing to do layaway.

I made things and bought things in preparation for her arrival…only to find out how oddly sized she was.

The Big Mnf vs JID Comparison

I see this question happen so often, I decided to do a post on it. This is just my opinion, so feel free to take it for what it's worth. Some people won't be bothered by the proportions, so I'll leave it to you to make up your own mind!

The cast:

Poe, a Legit JID Girl (based on my JID legit/recast comparison thread there is little shrinkage between legits and recasts). She has a pretty bad tattoo from when I first got into the hobby as well as a broken elbow. Poor neglected thing really needs some love. She also has the old style large bust, not the new glamour bust (the body S/L have). She desperately wants that new body….

Snow, a recast mnf Rheia: she is a bit smaller than a legit body but not by much. The size comparisons should still be accurate. She has her heeled feet on, so I had to support her in a few pics.

Conclusion:

• The Mnf is obviously the better poser for the dancer-ish poses, but the JID is more sturdy.
• The JID has a more useful mobility joint, and she can almost hug her knees.
• The Mnf body is better sculpted. The new JID body, the one L/S have, is much better, imo. This body is supposed to have additional posing modifications, but JID still can't compare to Mnf.
• If you're going with this hybrid, you will need to mod the mnf neck shorter to accommodate the JID.

I had some serious formatting issues, and I don't know why. Something was up with Blogger I think, so I could not rearrange pictures, nor could I add text between them. Weird!  In any case, I hope this post is useful. Let me know if you need more pictures.

Thank you for reading, and happy collecting!

Slim Mini Shoe Review!

I adore shoes. I love them in my size, and I love them miniature. I'm especially a sucker for adorable heels. I'm making a list of different shoes and brands that fit minifee, Unoa, and JID girls (and similar sized minis), where I got them and what I thought of them. I will update this as I get more shoes to review. Hey, I need an excuse to buy more right? Check back for updates.If you have Den of Angels access, be sure to view the shoe thread for slim minis there as well.

Iplehouse JID legit vs recast comparison

I wanted to do a comparison between recast and legitimate JID girls from Iplehouse. For those who don't know, JID are the 42cm-sized range from Iplehouse. The sculpts currently available as recast in the JID line that I am aware of are: Asa, Tatiana, Benny, Daniel, Jerome. (Don't contact me about buying them, and I don't own recast JIDs.)

Since I don't own my own recast JID, a friend over at AtticFlowers has graciously taken some photos of her recast girl, Kourin, a JID Asa.

Our Guests:


(legit)

And Kourin:


(recast)

Here are some pictures of the recast girl. Where applicable I will provide pics of the legitimate girl or give my commentary.


AtticFlowers says her recast girl has a tendency to fall out of joint a lot. This does happen with my legitimate girl, but only when she is strung loosely. Once she's strung super tight (which is hard to by yourself) and with thicker elastic (I use a thickness best suited for SDs because she is so heavy), my legitimate girl doesn't have this issue.



Here the body overview of both dolls. The recast is on the left of the screen, the legitimate on the right. As you can see, both dolls' joints are very flush.


(recast)


(legit)

AtticFlowers says she, "sanded out most of her [the recast girl's] seam lines. They were BAD, and the sanding done by the recaster was sub par. You can see where the aggressive sanding by the recaster left a gap in the shoulder, the drill hole was also partly to blame."




(both pics are of the recast girl)

The legitimate girl does have some obvious seam lines, mostly on the back of her legs, but nothing too major.


The head cap seems to fit very well on the recast. Note that it does not have an Iplehouse plate in the back, where the legitimate does. Note the sticker on the Legit girl's head. It is thick, blue, and slightly domed rather than a flat, matte sticker.


(recast)


(legit)

Here is the inside of the headcaps. Both headcaps have the JID mark inside, but where the legit girl has a serial number (I assume this is for the sculpt, not the specific doll), the recast just has the doll name.




(legit, placeholder pic until I can get a better one)

Important note: If someone knows if other legit JID sculpts contain names rather than serial numbers, please let me know. I could not find any information on this. It is possible that some legits just have names as well, rather than serial numbers like the Tania sculpt has.


(recast)

In this recast, the string channels are actually drilled really well.




(both pics recast)

Yet, the insides of the recast remain messy. Legit insides generally do not like look this, and do not look like this in my legitimate girl.


(recast)

AtticFlowers says, "The C shaped pieces on the wrists are very fragile. This one was miscast slightly and broke when I tried to fix it. It's actually in two pieces, but stays in place well. Gluing didn't help, as its a high stress area."




(both pics recast)


(legit)

The legit girl lost her wrist pieces long ago. >.<

Well I hope this helps!  As always, don't judge a second hand doll as a recast too quickly, do your homework and shop safe!

Oh and be sure to check out my friend's tumblr, Flowers in the Attic, here!

Happy collecting!