Alice in Labyrinth 1/3 Doll Discussion

AIL is my all time favourite BJD company, I just LOVE their sculpts! In my experience the old Normal Skin tone matches Volks (and similiar NS-yellows) very well.
But in 2016 I purchased a MSD AIL doll also in NS and it appears their resin must have changed because her skin tone was much more peachy and not like the old NS at all.
Allie27~~ if you are considering getting an AIL doll, I'd say GO FOR IT! Seriously, their dolls are wonderful!

// PS: I'm curious if anyone here has purchased their new 1/3 bodies?

 

Oh yes, I saw they had their special sale and was super tempted too- but money is a bit tight atm here, unfortunately
The Alice sculpt is beautiful, I can see why that is your favourite. I have the sleeping version Alice (on a DT13 body) and she is one of my all-time favourite dolls :3
I would love to see owners photos of the new Jane head from AIL.... I wonder if anyone here on DOA have ordered her yet??

 

I have a (slightly modded) AiL Heyley head on a Volks Seirei NS body, and a Volks Kujo head on the AiL body that work OK. I'm not the best one to judge resin-mathcing as I don't insist on an aexact match (since very few people have the exact same skintone on their face as on their body a bit of mismatch in dolls is more natural, to me, than an exact match).

The AiL body seems to pose reasonably well, but I've not done any comparisons - I bought it because it enabled Maudie (my character for the Kujo head) to be shorter than her older siblings and cousins (although only when standing - she looks the same height when sitting - all the height difference appears to be in leg-length).

Teddy

 

Teddy~~ Out of curiosity, is the AIL body that you purchased in NS? If yes, will the AIL NS still match Volks dolls and the like? ._.

Oh yes, I remember reading somewhere that AIL designed the 1/3 of theirs with slightly shorter legs compared to most of SD bodies because they wanted a more realistic looking body :3 The AIL body looks really beautiful- it's nice to hear that it seems to pose reasonably well^^

 

Yes, NS. It's a close enough match for me but, as I said, I'm not fussy about an exact martch so am probably not the right person to make a judgement call on it.

Teddy

 

Mine fit the dress that she wore previously on her Volks SD10 body, it's just a tad longer on this body

Teddy

 

Allie27~~ AIL 1/3 dolls will fit clothes for regular SD sized dolls. If you look at the measurements they are more or less the same as most other 1/3 girls, it's only the legs that are shorter :3
For wigs, all the AIL 1/3 dolls wear regular size wigs in 8"-9", so finding them wigs/eyes/clothes shouldn't be a problem for you at all

 

@Allie27 I used to have an AiL Alice head on a Dollfamily body, it was an excellent resin match and great proportions too. However this was a few years ago. Alice was also on my Shinydoll body for a while, I found it to be a bit too slender for her. If anyone has a picture of their AiL body to share, I would love to see it, it looks so lovely in the company photos

 

Like with most resins, unless you leasve your doll out in direct sunlight, it's such a gradual process you don't notice it happening. It's just the colour your doll is.

I prefer most "normal" skins after they've yellowed a bit because they look a more realistic flesh colour than the too-pale-too-pink colour of NormalSkin resin, and WhiteSkin is definately nicer after it's yellowed a bit, as it's far too stark to look natural (to me) when they're new and unyellowed... I guess that's why the only white-skin doll I own got dyed royal blue for a fantasy character rather than remain white.

Short answer : I haven't noticed any of my AiL resin yellowing any differently from the others (Volks, Luts, Custom House, Ninodoll, RML etc.)

Teddy

 

What do you think a

What do you think of the posing ability?

 

@Allie27 Thanks for sharing, congrats on your doll! How long did it take from ordering to shipping? Was it within the 4-week estimate?

I was considering buying a 1/3 size Aya, but talked to my wallet and ordered their mini Aya 3 weeks ago

 

@Allie27 My 1/3 AIL dolls used to wear Leeke wigs and they fit well. Most of the Leeke wigs I have had, have been in a size 9"-10" (I always got the biggest size so that my Volks boy could wear them as well). Leeke wigs are quite stretchy so size 8"-9" would prolly work fine as well for AIL dolls.

 

The Alice I used to own also wore size 9-10, from what I remember, the wig cap fit over her ears, here is a link to her wearing a Leekeworld fiber wig: .
And in a 9-10 Leekeworld mohair: Eden

The picture of your AiL body is great, she has such fabulous knees, thanks for sharing!

 

it is the tiny blue full stop dot after the colon^^ I didn't name my photo in flickr, so it shows as a 'dot'.
Here it is again: .

 

Very pretty

Teddy

 

I didn’t see that there was finally a thread for 1/3 AiL dolls! Hooray!

@Allie27 - Regarding yellowing, I have two secondhand AiL normal skin heads from 2008 that I’ve been told were displayed out in the open and in my opinion they’ve yellowed much more nicely than the Volks body I have around the same age. The AiL resin did lose all its pink color, but that’s easily replaced with blushing. The yellowing itself is noticeable but not dark, if that makes sense... The Volks body I have turned a darker yellow while keeping its pink pigments, but the AiL resin didn’t get nearly as dark but did lose all the pink pigments. Overall I’m really impressed with how the resin aged, but I do think part of it has to do with being sealed. I’d recommend sealing your new AiL body with MSC because there is a noticeable difference in the way my sealed bodies have yellowed vs the unsealed bodies, regardless of brand.

I also have one white skin AiL doll (Daryl) but she’s not a good candidate for analyzing yellowing because she spent so much time in a dark box, not in the open.

Right now I don’t have any new normal skin dolls (besides Dollmore but their NS is practically white) but I can show you pictures of the AiL heads next to a few year old white skin SWITCH body if you want

 

I forgot I DO have a normal skin head!

This is 2008 AiL Alice's headcap (left) next to 2015 SWITCH Yiho (right).
Alice's headcap is yellower than Chloe's because it was never sealed (both had their faceups done the same year they were made, 2008).
The SWITCH head has been in a box for a couple years and you can clearly see that it has maintained its pink pigments while pink seems completely absent from the AiL headcap (again, not much of problem for the face after blushing).

Links to the photos:
normal skin resin comparison 1
normal skin resin comparison 2

Here are the white skin comparisons. In the description under each photo I put information about which headcap is where:
resin comparison (incandescent light)
resin comparison (indirect natural light)
resin comparison: normal vs white
The last photo is why I need to buy a new 1/3 body and am thinking of taking the plunge on the AiL 52cm..... Chloe should not be on a white body but there she is! I don't like having her on an SD10 because it's too childlike and doesn't pose as well as the HD57, but that's probably in part because I need to restring it.

It will be a few months before I have the funds saved to buy it, but I will definitely post pics of the resin difference when I put Chloe on her new body. It will be interesting to see a ten years difference in AiL normal skin resin.

 

Is anyone going to take part in the AiL free head event? I think I'm finally going to buy the 1/3 body because the body alone still qualifies for one of the free heads, and I've always wanted Bertram. The website even allows you to choose a different resin color for you free head than your original order and the AiL eyes gift still qualifies as well.

 

Not me, There aren't any AiL heads that tempt me enough at the moment.

Teddy

 

@ker246 Me! I bought an 1/3 sized Aya and I took a Jane head with it. I took the Aya in white skin and the Jane in normal skin.

 

@Follow-the-Wind I'm very excited to see what you do with your Jane head! I have seen only a handful of owner photos of this particular head, not many people seem to own it

 

@Lotte Rotten I don't know what I will do of her, but I'm sure I will love her. She has beautiful features. IMO, at least.

 

@Follow-the-Wind Yay!! Congrats on your upcoming Aya and Jane! That's so exciting you're getting two new heads

I'm planning on getting the free Bertram head in white skin because I want to use it on my white skin SWITCH HD57 body. I'm really looking forward to finally getting the 52cm body since the legs are a much better length than other SD bodies. Even the SD10 I paired with my Alice head seemed like its legs were too long and that bothered me.... I actually think I'm going to use the new AiL body with Alice rather than Chloe (so sadly Chloe will have to keep waiting for a new body!) If I had more funds I would buy a second AiL body and choose Elijah as a second free head but that's a dream

 

@ker246 Thank you! I'm eager to get the two of them . I agree with you, AIL body is beautiful with its short legs. It is more realistic.
I already know what I want to do with Aya (she's going to be another Oni in my yokai crew), but I wonder what I'm going to do with Jane. I love this head but I didn't planed to get her!

 

Ooh the Aya sculpt would be perfect for that! I really like all your yokai doll profiles. And I’m sure you’ll figure out something to do with Jane (don’t be like me who currently is hoarding 9 floating heads...)

 

@ker246 Thank you! The Aya will be a perfect little sister for Yamaji, my Miracledoll Baiye. I will add horns on her head ^^
You have more floating heads than me! Currently I've 6 floating heads...

 

I need to get rid of 4-5 because it’s getting ridiculous at this point

I emailed AiL asking if they offered layaway payments as an option, since I didn’t see anything mentioning it on their website. They responded:
We accept order by installment payment.
First of all, if you pay a third of the total amount, we will produce
the product.
Please pay the remainder twice every month.
Product will be shipped after payment is completed.

The “twice every month” part I think got translated wrong and probably means a layaway period of 3 months total with one payment each of the remaining 2 months after the initial payment, but I could email them again if anyone has other questions!

 

Heyley and Alice are my favourites (I have Heyley, but have had the lips modded a little):


I'm still tempted by Alice but... Well... The Heyley filled the role of Edith which is what I was looking at them both for in the first place.

Teddy

 

@ker246 haha ! I didn't count the three I have for sale
Will you take a body + a head with layaway, then?

 

Yes! I just submitted my order asking them to invoice me for layaway payments
Normally I prefer paying all at once and avoiding layaway but I don't want to completely empty my hobby funds at the moment because I've been eyeing a few outfit sets elsewhere.

I was playing around with my Alice head and last night. I'm halfway through giving her a new faceup so I finished blushing but haven't used paint yet (so she currently lacks eyebrows, eyelashes, lip lines etc). I put a wig and eyes on her and dressed her to see how the colors look. She's quite yellowed so I'm not liking the peachy pink color I used on her lips (should use brown-red instead I think) but I'll probably keep her eyeshadow the way it is since I used mostly brown and only a little pink.

​

 

I like the outfit. It would fit in with my own dolls' aesthetic beautifully.

Teddy

 

Thanks Teddy! The dress is from Volks and the blouse is from Rrabit (where Most of my doll clothes are from). Strangely the blouse is 1/4 size but still fits the SD10 body my AiL head is on.

 

@Teddy Your Heyley is adorable! It seems not many people own this sculpt- which is strange as Heyley has such a sweet face^^

@ker246 Hope you have a lovely time painting your Alice- please do post a photo of her once you've finished her face up^^ I just adopted an Alice head myself (2nd hand via the DOA marketplace) but I'm undecided on what hair colour she should have and how to paint her ><

 

I certainly will! And congratulations on your new Alice head!! I remember you have a sleeping Alice and mini Alice, so that's fantastic you now have the original sculpt! I can't wait to see what you do with her. Is she NS or WS?

 

Thanks - I always saw the Heyeley sculpt as pretty much a repeat of the Alice sculpt but with the mouth open (which is why I had a hard time deciding which one to get - the open mouth decided me in the end) so perhaps more people come down on the side of the closed-mouthed Alice instead...?

Teddy

 

@ker246 Thank you^^ My Alice head that I just got is normal skin colour (slightly yellowed). I always decide on wig and colour of wig first- and then do the face up afterwards in colours that will work with the wig... but with my new Alice head I can't seem to decide on the wig colour... ah decisions, decisions!! :3

 

@Teddy Oh I adore dolls with teeth too^^ But reading the threads here on DOA it does seem that quite a lot of people prefer dolls with closed mouths/no teeth- so maybe that's why the Alice sculpt does seem to be the most popular of the AIL dolls :3

I do wish AIL would create more new dolls... they are a very quiet company.

 

That’s actually very interesting, I’m the opposite! I try finding wig/eyes afterwards to match a faceup. Tomorrow I’m going to try to finish Alice since I’m heading out of town on Saturday and also I’ve decided I want to mod my Chloe’s eyes. I didn’t realize until recently her previous owner had modded her eyes open and I’m not entirely pleased with the shape, so I want to sort of “fix” the state they’re in now. I realize she’ll basically look identical to the Isaac sculpt afterwards but it’s not like I can put back the resin that someone else already removed

I would love to see more head sculpts from AiL but I think it was probably a significant effort for them to develop their own body and maybe that’s why they seem to have new releases at a much slower rate than other companies.

 

I think so - those of us who like the open mouth and visble teeth seem to be in a minority.

Teddy

 

@ker246 Oh so you didn't know that your Chloe had modded eyes when you purchased her? I wish you the best of luck modding her eyes to a style you're more happy with!^^ I'm modding my Alice head and her eyes (making them smaller using milliput). I already have the mini version of Alice, so I want this big SD version to look a little different from the mini one :3 I do find that eye mods are always a bit nerve-wrecking tho ><

@Teddy I'm afraid you're right that those of us who like dolls with open mouth/teeth are a minority- strange tho as to me dolls seem so much more alive with slightly parted lips and teeth showing :3

 

Oh I can’t wait to see how your SD Alice looks with modded eyes! Are you thinking of extending the upper lid?
I understand what you mean about wanting the big and little Alice’s to look different. I didn’t like when my two Dollmore Dahlia’s looked similar so I completely restyled the small one.
And yup, no mention of the Chloe eye mod when I bought her but after removing her eye makeup it’s clear she was modded non-doll friends even could see it. I always thought her eyes looked a bit odd, but figured it was her faceup’s lack of eyeshadow (nope lol). I’ve only done very minor eye mods before so this’ll be an adventure

 

@ker246 I'm sorry to hear that the seller didn't mention to you that the Chloe head had modded eyes- that was wrong of her (unless she maybe wasn't aware of the mod?) Are you going to mod her eyes so that she will have bigger, open eyes? :3
I hope to be able to work on my Alice next week- as I have a face up commission first to complete.

 

My Aya has been shipped! I can't wait to get her
I decided I will try to put the Jane head on my Volks SDgr body. I hope it will work!