iDyepoly Review

Having now dyed a doll with both iDye and RIT I can confidently say I prefer iDye for most BJD applications.

The colors are less accurate, but deeper and richer than you'd think. I was not able to make blue actually come out blue, which seems to be a common problem based on my internet research.

I've never tried to get blue from RIT, but I know it can be done.

RIT dye is easier to work with. It's less temperamental, takes more dunks to get a deep rich color so you can more easily control the shade you're going to end up with, and while warm you can kind of blend the color together before the piece dries and the color sets.

However, RIT dye rubs off pretty easily. I've gotten the majority of RIT off a resin piece with little more than a Magic Eraser sponge with some acetone.

Pink RIT powder dye on Recast Aileen Doll Ashes (Minion)

Zaoll Body Posing

Disclaimer:

In these photos she has the Feeple 60 double jointed arms. Zaoll default arms are single jointed and cannot do much. Also all these pics were taken at night in those precious hours when the spawn are asleep so pardon the crap quality and the flash. XD I take my moments where I can get them.

She has also been sueded and will soon be wired to help with her posing.

As I mentioned in the review on her when I initially got her, she is single jointed. This does affect the posing ability.

There are several different modifications and such that you can do to improve upon this, including sueding and wiring, as well as poseability modifications to the joints themselves. I'm going to be attempting some on the arms soon and will post when I get around to that.  For now, here is what I was able to get her to do.

It is more than I thought I'd be able to do, and I should note that I can *almost* get her to balance on one leg. She needs ankle support and then I think she'd be able to do it.

First, here is the body with Feeple 60 Moe WS arms attached:

Review Time: Dollmore Zaoll Dreaming Luv

I purchased this pretty little lady second hand from a friend, so I can really only give my opinion as to quality of the doll. I can relate my friend's experience with Dollmore and my own from ordering Dollmore clothes.

Site: Dollmore.com

Ease of Ordering: Always easy to order from, uses paypal to pay. Can't complain there.

Speed: Dollmore is always pretty quick on shipping things, even dolls (my friend who orders frequently says it usually takes around a month). I've never had an excessive wait from them. When they make mistakes they're pretty good about fixing them.

Clothing: The clothing is usually pretty well-made, with a variety of things to choose from. In my early days I preferred to shop there or Alice's Collections. So it's really a taste factor.

Onto the doll herself!

Rrabbit Clothing Review

[Note: At the time I took pics, I wasn't planning on a review so they're pretty bad quality, lol. Since then, everything has been mixed up in my doll stuff boxes, so eventually I'll take better pictures. You'll have to deal with these for now. XD I'm also having major format issues with Blogger today, so if anything's weird I apologize. ]

English Site: http://rrabit.com/rrabitstore/rrabitshop/

I ordered during Chinese New Year, so I'm a little shocked this shipped when it did. Here are a few pics of the items I ordered:

A Short Review: Vings Eyes

Unedited Vings in my kitchen they day they arrived! <3

Let me preface this with the fact I completely forgot to write this post last year. I even looked to see if I could find an older draft, and nothing. That said, I won't be able to get into details about arrival times and stuff because it's been so long. I'm also not sure exactly which shade of green I ordered either. I know they were about 18mm and teal.

Around the time I ordered, Vings was having issue after issue. A lot seemed like they were just making stuff up, but for you dear readers, I elected not to get a refund and waited something like 6-8 months? for them to arrive so I could review them for you.

We ordered from their taobao to save a little money (the pricing difference on the large eyes was enough we decided to go with that instead of their direct site). I believe my eyes were approximately $60 + shipping. I paid more than average because I had to get giant eyes because Soony has giant eyes.

Anyone who has been following my posts and photography will have seen them, as Junko generally wears them.

These eyes are gorgeous. They are my favorite urethane eyes that I own. The color is crisp, bright, and very accurate to their sample photo. They are even with no bubbling, irises and pupils are the same size.

The catch the light in an absolutely magical way, and rarely require any editing at all, unless it's in low-light conditions.

Vings are definitely worth the money. They've aged well in the year or two that I've had them, as in, no noticeable  yellowing or anything as I've heard urethane eyes can do overtime, just like the dolls themselves.

So basically, if you're on the fence about them, get them.

Here are some pics for you so you can judge yourself. I've noted where I've used editing and to what extent.

Thanks for reading as always, and happy collecting!

Very, very little editing.

Brightened a bit because of the severe lowlight.

All I did here was edit the eye shine and desaturate the image.

Iplehouse B.I.D Review and Posing

Hi again everyone! I realized I never did a post on my lovely little BID Anne, Pearl Kingston. (I made the little lady a DoA doll profile though!)

Basic Review:

I purchased her last year on impulse. I wanted a little YoSD and fell in love with her because A) my name is Ann, and B) teefs. I love dolls with teeth! I bought her in their white skin, which is a lovely rosey-pink white that almost looks like a very, very pale normal skin.

She shipped very quickly, and arrived in what's probably the cutest doll box I've ever owned. Thankfully, it was spared along with her paperwork when my basement flooded.

As far as criticisms, sad to say but her acrylic eyes sent with her from Iplehouse cracked, so I never ended up using them. I'm not a fan of lower-end acrylic eyes, so I swapped her out with some blue Makos I had laying around. I'd much prefer more realistic eyes in her, but I'm lazy and have yet to do so.

Also, she does have rough seam lines, nothing I couldn't fix myself, but they keep collecting dirt and color from her stockings which is a little inconvenient.

All in all, 10/10 for quality and service.

Info: Though she calls for 14mm eyes, I prefer 12 or 10mm for more realisim. Her head is a little smaller than a 6-7, so I'd guess she's almost a 6" exactly.

Clothing:
The little chubby thing is big, like all Iplehouse dolls are, and a lot of YoSD clothing runs small. Any YoSD shoes I've tried fit her fine. I can force a lot of stuff onto her body, but then her limbs have reduced movement. Promise of the World clothing is the worst offender. It's cut really, really small. Some of the more generic stuff on taobao fits her as long as it has a little stretch, and she's never without this little bear jacket:

Posing:
Note that she has not been sueded, and has not been restrung so she's like ridiculously floppy. Most of these pics were taken at night by lamplight when my kids were asleep, so pardon the gross flash.

First let's start with some head movement. The head has limited range of mobility for up and down movement. You have to use the torso joint to really give the illusion of more movement than is there. This is due partly to the way they sculpted the slope of the BID neck as well as the way the faceplate and head back meet.

Iplehouse EID Woman Review and Poses

[As an additional note, Lahela is for sale. If you're interested in adopting her shoot me a messaged on facebook or tumblr. Due to her damage and Iplehouse's shittastic resale value, I'm asking $600 plus shipping.]

Mold: Iplehouse Lahela, Light Brown Skin, large bust option, no mobility legs

Note: Lahela is only available through Iplehouse's Full Custom System, which is available the first ten days of each month I think.

Site: www.iplehouse.com, however I received her in a trade.

Clothing Options:

The Iplehouse stereotype is that they all end up dressed like "sluts" (I hate this word) or look like Barbie dolls. That's a sad circumstance largely based on the fact that there is very, very little in the way of custom clothing for these dolls unless you want fantasy or evening gowns. Casual wear in the affordable price range is hard to find, and mostly only on Iplehouse's site itself.

I am working on a What Fits thread which will be here when I get it done.

KKerrin Doll Mae Review

 

I stumbled across this sculpt on Flickr awhile ago and forgot about her. She resurfaced on my feed, and I fell in love. I purchased her from the artist's etsy at the beginning of February.

The artist is based in Russia. It took approximately four weeks from the time I ordered to arrive at my door, accounting for 2 weeks in transit.

The artist is quick to respond, and her English is good. She answered all my questions and was very nice to chat with.

This doll is currently not on topic for Den of Angels, because according the mods she has not properly submitted the doll for topicality. Hopefully Kkerrin will do this soon!

Artist Etsy
Artist Flickr

Info:

The head is MSD size, but very small MSD, with realistic proportions. She fits in a 6-7 wig, though all my 6-7s slide off her head. I think she's closer to a 6" wig.

5mm pupils work best in her, but they gap on the side. I'm currently on the hunt for the right size of eyes for her. (Just ignore the gaping in the photos for now.) The artist suggested 6mm-8mm fish eye style eyes.

She arrived in the cutest little box with a certificate of authenticity.

Taobao Agent Review: Final Notes

I absolutely cannot recomend Taobao Ring enough. They are my agent of choice from now on. My order arrived quickly (as quickly as possible once the USPS got ahold of it anyway) and shipped quickly from China. Everything was accurate, or as much as I cared.

There was one mistake: the rose leggings were supposed to be 1/3 but the seller sent 1.6. It wasn't worth arguing, as I'll just do it again for the larger size too because they're that cute.

When your order arrives, there is an option to click "arrived" and move the order to your past orders list. They also immediately ask you to provide feedback on the order, which I did.

Taobao Agent Review: Taobao Ring, Part 3

Okay, here is Part 3 of my experience with Taobao Ring. I'm being detailed with this and doing so many posts on this because ordering from Taobao can be stressful, and so can be finding a new, trustworthy agent. Feel free to ask any questions I haven't answered so far.

Note: This post was done by checking out their mobile site, so things might look slightly different on desktop.
Additional Note: Taobao Ring will not knowingly purchase fake or bootleg goods on your behalf. This applies to recast dolls, parts, and replica Lolita items, among other things.

A few things seem to be missing from my order, and I'll update when these get fixed! They're very friendly and accommodating, so I'm honestly not too worried at this point.

First, they updated me to let me know via email that they'd ordered my items. When I check on my account screen, I see this cool notification:

You can click on multple orders to see their status and to see which items they're still waiting on.

Review: Elleo Dolls- A Friggin' Amazing Company to Work With!! (with poses)

I'll start by reviewing the order and the order process and then review the dog itself! See a couple poses at the bottom of this post.

Site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ElleoDolls?ref=l2-shopheader-name

Ease of Ordering and Payment: 10/10. Super easy. I contacted them via Etsy and they worked with me using pictures I sent to create the dog. They sent me emails throughout the process with 3-D models as he was being made. 

Price: 8/10. For the work they did and the effort they went to to make this dog, they get massive props! They did roll the cost of painting into the dog's price, which is amazing.You be the judge if the size for the cost is worth it!

Accuracy: 8/10. They get bonus points for how realistic the dog is. Be SURE to get the measurement at the head and at the withers (shoulders) to make sure the doll is the right size for the breed.

Speed: 10/10. I ordered him in February, so it took about 5  months to get him to me, and that's with them having to sculpt him from scratch! 

Shipping 10/10: I've had good experiences both times I've used the Russian postal services, but both times I paid for EMS. He arrived quickly and was packaged perfectly. 

 

Material: The dog itself is made of a very light plastic. I am not sure what type it is, but it is whatever they use for 3-D printing. It has an interesting texture to it, which actually kinda works to give the dog a little more realism. I am a little scared of moving all his joints too much in case it is fragile.

Painting: This is fabulous. Hands down one of the best animal paint jobs I've seen. The artist was so humble, not sure he could pull it off, but seriously. It's perfect.

Eyes: You can't change the eyes on this little guy. With the way the head is glued together you can't really get into the head anyway. This is okay with me though, because the likelihood of finding eyes that are small enough is slim and look at how great the artist did at making them look so sad and watery and brown!

Posing: Wonderful. My only qualm is that the middle joint is too long. I'm thinking of modding the joint from one joint into two so that he can curve more and scratch his own nose with his foot. 

The range of motion of his neck is really awesome. The neck joint mechanism is really innovative!!!

 

Scale and Accuracy: He's a perfectly replica of the breed, but I think the artist thought basset hounds were small, like a dashund or corgi, when they're actually much bigger. He'd be great for a very small, maybe mature tiny or mature MSD. 

He is sculpted beautifully. The little folds of skin on his feet are perfect, his jowels look great, everything about him just screams basset.

 

Overall, he's very cute, and worth it!!! I'm going to just have him be a puppy and see if Elleo dolls can print me an even bigger one next year!!!

In any case, I hope this helps you make the decision of whether or not to go with Elleo Dolls. As a seller, I cannot recommend them enough. They are thorough and accommodating and an absolute pleasure to deal with.

I hope this convinces you to take the plunge and get your dolls a furry, four legged friend from Elleo Dolls!!!

Kemper Wigs Review

Another belated review!

The Raven wig in black on a Delf Soony.

Note: According to a friend of mine, Kemper prices fluctuate based on the cost of mohair at any given time. If the price seems high, wait a bit to see if they drop.

Site: Kemper Dolls
Price Range: Varies, usually $5+

Communication: 5/5. Typical, nothing bad, nothing extraordinary either.

Ease of Paying: 5/5. Just used Paypal.

Speed: 5/5. Shipped really quickly and packed well.


Like the picture: BETTER. Seriously. The pictures on the site do not do these wigs justice.

Quality:4/5. These wigs are great for the price, but they do take elbow grease to make them pretty. Don't expect something flawless right out of the package. Pet them. Style them. Love them.

I ordered a black Raven mohair wig in 8-9. It has this great little velcro dohicky to make the wig stay on tighter. I only paid about $9 give or take for this one (it may have been more). As you can see, it's fluffy. The bangs were awful when I got it. I just flat-ironed it and styled it and now it just looks like messy black hair. You can do more with it if you try.



This was a random fluke. I needed a teal wig and I found one on the site, not mohair, for $5. So I bought it. When it arrived it looked like a Halloween costume wig. Shiny, gross, blech. It had potential though, so I used hairspray and baby powder to remove the shine. voila! Pretty, cheap, tough teal wig. I traded this away with a doll, but I'd like to order it again.



I have plans to order a carrot wig and some others from them when the current prices drop. If you're willing to work at it, these wigs are nice, and I can't recommend them enough. Because of the effort it takes with these I can't say that they're worth more than about $15 a piece though.

In a nutshell, give them a try and don't get frustrated as you work with them. They do take some effort, but they're soft and look really realistic.


Thanks for reading and happy collecting!

Dollshe Urethane Eye Review

Full Disclaimer: I've edited the eyes to be brighter
here.

A bit belated but here's the review in a nutshell.

Website: Dollshe Craft
Price range: $40.00+

Related Posts on my Blog:

Big Eye Comparison Post
(And just browse the blog for more reviews because I'm too lazy to link them right now.)

Speed: 4/5. Urethane eyes take a long time. I was under the impression the eyes were in stock when they weren't (nobody's fault really so I'm not factoring that into my review). They don't seem to note whether eyes are or aren't in stock, so just assume they aren't and spare your sanity.

Communication: 2/5. They didn't respond to me for a loooong time when I asked if the eyes were in stock or not. After two months, two emails, and two posts to their board they finally responded and apologized for the delay. I did get shipping notices.

Ease of payment: 5/5. Typical methods, very easy.

Like the picture: 3/5. A friend who owns Dollshe eyes suggested I check out the colors via a search on Flickr, as the site pictures aren't true to life most of the time (they seem to be more pale in person than on the site). The eyes I chose ended up BETTER than the pictures, but do some research before selecting a color based on their site.

Price: 5/5. Worth every penny.

Quality: 5/5. Absolutely gorgeous. I love that they are small eyes (10mm urethanes are a pita to find), and yet they're as beautiful as the larger urethane eyes I own. I prefer Dollshe urethanes over Vings at this point! I'd like to order again in the future.

No edits to the eyes. This is how they look inside my house in the dark under a lamp. Still gorgeous.

Retro Review, Alice's Collections: not the place to go for hard-to-clothe slim minis

In this review, I want to go over some of the many items I've purchased from Alice's Collections.

Speed: 4/5; my previous orders from them were all very quick, maybe a week or two at most. Unsure of current shipping times.
Communication: 5/5
Quality: 3/5 (most items don't fit well, but are sewn well from decent fabrics)
Ease of payment: Super easy.

Overview:

I'm very particular about the clothing my dolls wear these days. I would rather pay more, sometimes a lot more, for an item that looks like a miniature version of the things I would wear than pay less for something that doesn't quite achieve that. A lot of doll clothes don't quite achieve the level of realism I prefer. Some things are realistic, some aren't exactly perfect. Many of the clothes that came from this store have over-sized, out of scale buttons and cheaper cuts. Not all of them are this way, however.

I don't mean to insult anyone, and if you like Alice's Collections clothes that is all that matters.


There are quite a few things I can't wait to try on my dolls, since they weren't available when I placed my first orders a couple years ago. However, I'll be getting most of those items on taobao to save money. This brings me to the next important point....

Acrylic Paint Review

I am not a professional artist, but I've been at this for awhile so I thought I'd share my opinions on some acrylic paints that I've tried. I don't have an airbrush, so I can't address these types of paints.

Games Workshop Paints:

I bought this at my local hobby shop. It comes in a little bitty bottle for a hefty price (I want to say this was like $3-$4, a lot for so small an amount). It doesn't dry quickly, which is a plus for eyelashes, and it has a nice, thick quality to it. It is important to thin it because it is so thick. I find the pigments to be really strong, and I like to use this one for eye liner. I don't use it for super fine lines because it takes a lot of thinner to be useful for that.

I give them a 4/5 for vibrant colors, but it loses a point due to price point.

Walmart brand cheap paints (Folkart and others):

These things are great starter paints. They are mostly water, so if you thin them too much they lose their color. They dry very quickly. I use a little retarder to make them last longer. I liked to use these for most applications until I got an upgrade to acrylics with better pigment.

I give them a 2.5/5. Great starter paint, but you will notice the difference when you upgrade.

Martha Stewart acrylics:

These are surprisingly good. Not too thick, not too thin, so they are good for various applications depending on how much thinner you want to use. These are my default paints, and I like to use them on my pony repaints. They have good color and don't dry too fast.

I give these a 3/5. They are a step above the Folkart paints, but for the price you may as well save up a little bit more and go for an artist grade paint. They are definitely better quality than the folkart paints.

JoAnn Fabrics brand paints:

Not terrible. Slightly better than Walmart brand paints, so you get what you pay for. This brand does make an awesome affordable gloss, which I highly recommend. 

2.5/5 for the acrylics, 4/5 for the gloss (it takes a couple coats for maximum effect)

Prismacolor:

These are artist-grade paints. They are perfect. They do require a lot more thinner than the cheaper acrylics because they are thicker, but I really can't complain. The colors are more vibrant even when thinned. They were more than worth the funds. I haven't done a whole lot with them beyond some pony repaints for practice, but I'm looking forward to working with them on a face up.

So far, these babies get a 5/5.

Paints to avoid:

Spray paint- This shit is permanent (mostly, and I assume you can remove it if you really try and/or seal really well before you spray) and can damage resin. I've heard good and bad lately, but it's not a risk I'm willing to take.

Nail polishes- Same as with spray paint. I've heard too many horror stories to even chance this.

Paints with thick glitter in them- They won't look right on the doll, and the glitter will be way out of scale on the tiny area you're working on. They can also clump and look cheap. Avoid.

So there you have my little paint review. I hope it's helpful. ^_^

Short Review: Illusion Spirit SD Girl Hands From AC

Instead of buying a bunch of expression hands for my dolls, I decided to just buy some jointed hands for the same price, essentially.

They were on sale through Alice's Collections and qualified for free airmail shipping.

They fit her perfectly. The scale is correct, they fit in the wrist well. This means they should theoretically work on Feeple 60s and SDgr girls, since all their wrists are pretty close in measurements. I'll test them out on my F60 girl later.

The color match is way off to the old Delf resin, but my girl is pretty old so she's yellowed a lot. The color is quite close, maybe slightly pinker, than my FL dolls.
                             
The fingers are sculpted wonderfully, and they have cute little nails sculpted in. They don't look creepy or have the sausage fingers that some jointed hands seem to have.

Where to buy: http://www.acbjd.com/is-13-female-jointed-hands-p-2961.html?cPath=4_134
Price: $80 (I got them during a promotion for a discount.)
Communication: 10/10 AC answered questions quickly and kept me updated.

Thanks for reading and happy collecting~!

Endless BJD Store Review

Site: http://endlessbjd.taobao.com/

Style: Casual/mori girl, with some things for boys

Size Range: yo-sd to SD

Communication: n/a (use an agent)

Quality: 5/5

Ease of Payment: n/a (use an agent)

Fantasy Doll (FDoll) Information, Posing, and Body Review

Note: Though I haven't posted the details yet, I should note that I don't own recasts anymore, beyond my dragons, one cheshire cat, and a second-hand littlefee head. I consider myself pro-owner, recast neutral. I do not and have not ever posted recasts to DoA and will not do so in the future. An upcoming post will explain my position and a few other things.

All the dolls in this post are legit.

Onto the post!

I am utterly shocked and impressed with Fdoll's (Fantasy Doll company) 60cm girl body. You'll see soon through the pics that she beats my other girls in posing. There's a few more acrobatic things she simply can't do because her body lacks a latching system, but with sueding and possibly wiring she'd definitely be the best in my collection.

For comparison pics between Delf Type 1, Feeple 60, and FDoll, see this post HERE. 

Note: In these pics she's wearing Delf option hands, not the default FDoll hands.

There isn't much info available on this company that I could find, so I thought I'd start compiling some information.

Site: http://www.fdoll.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=34

Price: $218 for the full girl, $178 for her body.

Quality: Her resin is heavy and her jointing is well done. Definitely not bad aesthetically for a cheap body.

Snake Eye BJD Store Review

Jill modeling Snake Eye Heels

Site: snake-eye.taobao.com/‎

Style: No specific style, very random

Size Range: Yo to SD (most options for SD13 girls)



Communication: n/a (use an agent)

Quality: 5/5

Ease of Payment:  n/a (use an agent)


Overview:

I have ordered several items from Snake Eye, and I've been satisfied with everything.

The items have all been perfect scale and perfectly executed. I own two pairs of Snake Eyes heels, a pair of glasses, and an MP3 player. The only downside to Snake Eye is that they don't restock often and they don't have a wide variety of items.

Review: Mako Eyes (urethane)

Mako Eyes Review

Juri 08 (legit) wearing 12mm Makos

Site: http://makoeyes.com/index.php

Size Range: 12mm to 22mm

Items: AM-006 (x2), DAN-009, AM-019, IB-017, AM-020

Price: $25 per pair; shipping is affordable. They offer very, very cheap airmail, and ems is affordable if you're doing a group order.

Communication: 2/5- They never replied to emails (I sent a total of 2 emails when the estimated shipping date had passed), and only responded on their Q&A board about four days after I asked there. I did receive an order confirmation and a shipping notice with tracking info.

Quality: 5/5- These eyes are bloody gorgeous, and for the price, way, way worth it. The colors are sharp and crisp, the irises are even.

Shipping speed: 3/5-While the initial estimate was a month, they actually shipped about a month and half (maybe a little less) after that. I was given a second estimate of 4/18, but they didn't actually ship until 4/21. They arrived three days later on 4/24.

Packing: 5/5-They arrived in this huge box, and my first thought was, "Uh, how many eyes did they send me?!" Turns out they were just packaged really, really well. Better than some dolls I've ordered.

Ease of Payment:  5/5- It was easy, just paid with paypal.


Overview:

Mako eyes are made from urethane, the same stuff your resin bjd is made of. Urethanes can take a long time to make overall, sometimes as long as 9 months or longer. Mako cuts the time to a couple months at most. They are also more affordable than most urethane eyes (compare $25 Makos to $50 Vings, for example).

The eyes are gorgeous. They're pretty low dome, with flat backs. They're a bit difficult to position, but look gorgeous and photograph well. (I'll be doing an eye comparison post soon to show you the differences between urethanes, acrylics, and glass eyes.)

I can confidently say I will be ordering again. The range of colors is wonderful, from realistic to more fantasy colors. I wish they had smaller than 12mm sizing, as I have dolls that I prefer 8mm or 10mm, but it seems to be quite hard to find urethane eyes in those sizes. 

Outdoors with no flash

Indoors with flash

Hope this review was helpful. ^_^ Thanks for reading and happy collecting!