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)

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.

Pokémon Syndrome: Acquisition Disorder, Recasts, and the Doll Hobby

All Teh Dolls.

All instances of you* in this piece refer to general “you”, not anyone specific. Also, there is nothing wrong with buying or selling. Even buying or selling a lot. This is not meant as a critique or criticism of anyone or anything in particular, but rather a cautionary tale to explore your own motivations for doing so.

“Gamers have a term for this madness.  It’s “acquisition disorder.”  It’s when you have to have the new shiny.”- Click for Source

The problem with collecting hobbies is what I call Pokemon syndrome: Gotta catch ‘em all! Meaning that the compulsion to buy and buy and buy often overrides need and good sense. For some people, it gets dangerous. They obsessively buy everything they can pertaining themselves to their hobbies, shop out of their budgets, don’t live within their means, and can even rack up massive amounts of debt. (Have you seen the Star Wars documentary on Netflix where they talk about their obsession with buying and collecting? Watch that shit. Then come back here.) It’s not quite the same as a shopping addiction, which is a whole entire other issue that can be aggravated by Pokémon Syndrome, but it’s a very, very real thing. If you have a shopping addiction, like any other addiction, and you feel it’s a problem or becoming a problem, then please seek help.

Buying becomes a panacea. You’re feeling stuck, uninspired, sad, or whatever, and shopping takes over. You buy a new doll because you’re bored with the old ones or simply “not feeling” it anymore. A new outfit brings the spark back: the excitement of shopping, of comparing, of imagining, then the excitement and joyful, satisfying anxiety of waiting and checking tracking, and then the climax of arrival. You open the item, gush, glee, take a few pictures, post on social and media- and then the high is gone. So you move on to the next quest.

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.