Do you have a Smart Doll? Pt.2

Cinnamon Realityverse Chi and cocoa Beyond, Fortitude, and Never Say Never are my current top three, although I'd love to see a cocoa Reality!Chi to see if I'd prefer her over cinnamon. (I already know I prefer cinnamon over tea.) I might end up with a cocoa Independence or a tea Monday at some point as well; Monday isn't a sculpt I connected with right away, but honestly the more pictures of her I see the cuter I think she is!

I'm guessing based on your other picks that you mean North semi-real? Do you have preferred skin tones for any of them?

 

Oh, I didn't know there was a North semi-real, I was talking about North anime! I will have to look for her picture now! I like the anime girls as well, but out of the line up that I can see in the shop, North is the main anime one I'm into right now. There have been some suuuuper cute anime girls in the prototypes garage, but if I understand it correctly, those were rejects I love Selene, Noreen, Chiitose, and Barbara. If I remember right, Chiitose was one of the OGs, is her anime version discontinued or will she come back? I think there was an issue with her head cap being a different size than the others, right? She's looking so cute in Realityverse and Multiverse form, though! I don't use social media much anymore so I only stay on top of releases by peeking at the shop itself, but I'm starting to realize I should keep an eye on the twitter.

Love the ones on your list too, especially Never Say Never. She has beautiful make up. I felt the same way as you regarding Monday. At first, she was not for me. But every owner photo I see makes me see her potential, she is really adorable! She almost has a Disney or Barbie vibe to her, meant in the best way. Super charming and happy, and she seems to photograph really well. Her promo photos don't quite do her justice. Oh yeah, I totally forgot to add cocoa Vision to my list. With closed eyes, it's one less thing you have to coordinate... but also one less thing you get to coordinate. But how cute would it be to take pictures of her like she's sleeping!

In terms of skin tones, the ones I've seen in person, were a long time ago. The new colors seem to be pretty different, so I still don't know which I'll like best in person. But, I am favoring both tea and cocoa, as cinna seems close to an NS. I do think cinna is pretty, though. It's just that I have a lot of NS and lighter dolls in the sisterhood right now, two tan resins on the way, but both smaller in scale, so either color would be great to add some variety to my big girls. Tea is my top pick for Genesis followed by cocoa, but if I have a chance to get her and cinna's the only option, you can bet I'll grab her in cinna! Dang, while I was browsing around, a wild Genesis tea dropped. Shame I have a dolly on layaway right now, or she'd be on her way home already, and I'd just take a leap on that frame thing.

I have a soft spot for the girls with birth marks, but it seems the birthmark option busts are no longer available, and it would feel wrong to change them out for ones without birthmarks. But, as a girl who grew up flat, I also want my dolls to have a chance at a busty life

 

There are/have been three different Chi forms - classic, multiverse, and realityverse. I'm pretty sure multiverse was the one with the different headcap, as she's the one who's been discontinued (or as Danny put it, decided to return to her home universe). The classic version is also anime, so she still has one of each style available.

I knowwwww. I had an artist accidentally set my full layaway as one month instead of giving me one month to make my first payment, so I'm strapped right now or I'd have snatched her up! I usually prefer her in cinnamon, but freckles....

 

Wow, that's wild about your layaway! And you couldn't correct it? Oh noes! Well, I don't think that SmD is going anywhere so we could both wait around for the next drop.

So, just for science, I was tallying up some items in my cart
I noticed that they ask you about your social media account. Do you have to have one in order to buy a SmD now? Or is that field optional? They didn't ask that question back when I bought Nami And I deleted my social media accounts some time ago.

 

It's not required, no, but Danny has started putting photos Smartie owners have shared on Instagram on the product info pages, with links back to the original posters. I'm assuming it helps him confirm who is sharing a doll they actually bought legitimately versus someone with a really convincing fake.

 

Thank you for answering! Oh, that's kind of sweet, that they want to make sure they're sharing pictures from real owners and not accounts that repost other people's content.

 

Do SmDs shiping now have Evolve frame?

 

Only straight from the Smart Doll website, I think. Last update we were given were that official dealers won't get Evolve until sometime around November. But all the dolls on the Smart Doll site currently have the Evolve frame.

 

Thank you! I know that the Evolve knees bend further than the original. Do they also bend more at the hip?
Where can I find a description of the various changes in Evolve. I found the "bees knees" post but I couldn't
find anything with additional information. Admittedly I've not been visiting lately.

 

They do! One of the things Danny said when prepping for the launch was that Evolve solved the problem of Smart Dolls leaning back a bit instead of being able to sit fully upright when wearing jeans.

There's two posts I can recommend. The first is the "What is Evolve?" post Danny made; it goes through all the differences between Evolve and the Gen 2 frame. The second is the Evolve changelog, that catalogues the changes made between different updates for the frame itself - such as one point where they found out that slightly thicker vinyl of one casted batch made the shoulders pop off, so they changed the connector and sent a free new joint to the people who had reported the problem. You can access the change log from the "What is Evolve?" post at a couple different points, so I'll only link the first post.

(Yes, I've read every article. I work at a library. Reading for information is one of my things, haha.)

What Is Evolve?

 

Thank you! Apparently I need to acquire a new SmD now, which one shall it be....

 

We'll look forward to seeing her when you do! And if you need someone to commiserate with while waiting for shipping, even though it's way faster than with resin dolls, we shall be understanding and empathize

 

Which one, which one, that is the question?! The more I look, the more make it onto my wishlist Who is on your short list @TomB ?

 

I have 5 SmDs now;
Star (Starlight), Bonita (Ebony), Mika (Mika Jougasaki), Tori (Entropy) and Storm (Strength).

I'm now 85 years old and looking to downsize rather than acquire more so I'd not been
looking for the past year or so.

I'd like another in tea I think but there's only 3 presently available...

 

Beautiful dolls in your collection! I've been seeing tea dolls restocked daily the past few days I've been stalking watching the stock. However, they have been selling out within a couple of hours. If they restock during your sleeping hours, it may be hard to snatch the one you want.

 

They do release them! But yes, they sell out same day. Fabric Friends has some as well, although they won't get the Evolve frame until November.

 

WOW, within hours.... Morning in Tokyo is evening here (west coast US) so I'll start checking then.
Do you know when they announce new stock Tokyo time?

 

They have a twitter page for it although it doesn't seem dedicated completely to new stock:
https://twitter.com/SmartdollLand
They will announce it the day of the restock or the day before.I have only been following it for a week or two? And from what I can see it has trended around 7 or 8 pm in Central US time. Since you're on the west coast that's actually not so late, around 5 or 6 pm if I have my time zones right. They may release a few dolls throughout that time. And sell out around 10 to 12 pm my time. So 8 or 9 for you?

 

5-6pm sounds right for west coast; I'm one hour behind that, and the drops usually happen around 4-5pm for me. I've followed the twitter account for about six months, and this last week is the most non-drop posts I've seen; usually it's 98% product development info and drops. I'd recommend looking over the storytellers and option heads to decide who you want, and specifically keeping an eye out for when that doll or dolls drop. Usually only the special colors or rarer full dolls sell out immediately, but they do tend to disappear within a 24-hour period at most. Hence my recommendation of the authorized retailers if you can afford to pay a little more and consider it a worthwhile trade for the stress.

 

I have 4 smarties and one dollfie dream! I really love the way they look. 2 are on the evolve frame, 2 on gen 2. The dollfie dream is DD3.

I've had a lot of fun customizing my dolls with new wigs and outfits. the ones i have are:

Melody in Cinnamon
Moment in Cinnamon
Chitose classic in Cinnamon
Athena in Tea

And my DD is akihabara girls Ruri.

 

How awesome! Your doll family sounds beautiful! Could you share your feedback about the evolve frame? How do you like it compared to the gen 2?

 

Sure!

There are pros and cons to both in my opinion.

Gen2:
Pros: super lightweight and the frame is narrow. So certain things like thighs are pretty hollow, leaving more room for modification. For example, if you wanted to add an LED light battery pack or additional wiring, Gen 2 is much better. I personally prefer the neck movement of Gen 2 over Evolve. It's also really easy to replace hands without much effort.
Cons: not as poseable and much more breakable. Posing isn't hard so to say, but definitely takes more effort than Evolve.Gen 2 is really similar to a Dollfie Dream 3 skeleton but... clunkier, if that makes sense. But Gen 2 smart dolls are MUCH lighter than dollfie dreams. I also really dislike the elbow joints, they pop out a lot and look really weird.

Evolve:
Pros: Easily the most poseable doll I own. And they hold the pose much better than Gen2. Hinge based system where they literally "snap" in to place. Spine and neck joint are much sturdier. They stand better because of the snap joints so the feet are more stable. Much more stable in heeled shoes than Gen 2 without heel feet. Elbow joints aren't perfect, but much improved from than Gen 2.
Cons: Incompatible with fanmade parts like Adyka busts and bodies. (as of now) Some batches have issues with the shoulder joints popping out. Some posing is no longer possible especially in the legs. Hands take a lot more effort and force to remove. I'm always scared I'm going to break them when I take them off. The bodies are much heavier, about the same as a dollfie dream but possibly a little more.

 

I don't understand. I thought Evolve was supposed to have better poseabilty in the leg joints.
What is no longer possible?

 

Well the other day I tried to make my girl sit cross legged. On the old frame you could pop out the knee joint so they could sort of do it. Evolve its much harder to do.

In terms of dynamic leg poses it is better, but sitting poses it lacks.

 

@Homucchi thank you for the detailed response with pros and cons of each When you talk about the elbows popping out of the Gen2, how do you mean? My DD has an elbow quirk. They like to slip out of the arms even when the double joint is not employed. They don't love staying in their original position. Sometimes it cracks me up when I see she has decided to go with the extra long arms today Finicky little things. Is that how you mean, or something else? I guess the shoulder joint of evolve SmD may pose a similar problem?

Have you tried heating up the hands before trying to change them and does it help? I have to do that with some of the narrow DD hands like the peace signs. It should make the sofuvi more flexible helping it move over a tight wrist part. (I say this but am so lazy to do it that my DD has been wearing peace signs for at least four years now )

 

While not an Evolve frame owner, I did read Danny's explanation of that frame update! Since slush casting has inconsistent thickness by a few mm, they had a slightly thicker batch of vinyl busts that put slightly more pressure on the shoulder joints and made them pop out during some movements. The people who reported it got replacement joints (or so he said; as I'm not one of those people, I can't confirm), and they updated the frame to hopefully prevent that from happening anymore. That said, no idea if it's been a problem since that update, or if any of that batch are still out there waiting to be sold.

 

I wrote Iris this morning asking her if she could order a specific tea doll for me and
she says all of the dolls she's currently receiving are on Evolve frame so FF&D is
receiving dolls on Evolve frame now. She still has dolls in stock with Gen2 frame so
ask about specific dolls but the November thing is bogus.

I don't know if she can order "my" doll but hopefully I'll learn next week.

 

The tea girls sold out really fast today!!! I caught Fortitude before Danny tweeted about her, held her in my cart for about two minutes debating if I should beg the hubby for more dolly money. Refreshed the page and she had already gone bye-bye! I'll bet whoever got her has been waiting on her for a while, so I'm happy they got her and not my indecisive self There's a couple of cinna girls still up, Not Everything to Everyone, and North anime. I thought I might not be able to resist a cinna North anime but I guess I prefer her in tea after all, since I didn't bite.

I'm leaning heavily toward Vision now. I only fear that I might regret going eyeless?? After all, SmD have very very cute eyes. But she's so angelic...! At least, it doesn't seem as though she'll sell out. I read, I think on twitter? that she hasn't sold well. I hope she doesn't get discontinued before I can make up my mind I guess I'm kind of blogging at this point. I keep thinking if I talk it out surely I'll work out a decision, right? Is it working yet?

 

Haha, talking to others can help sometimes!

I too find I prefer North in tea; it's amazing how she looks almost like a delicate magical girl in cinnamon, but a femme fatale in tea! I'm waiting to make up my mind on Not Everything to Everyone until I've seen her in every skin tone for that reason, too.

If you love Vision, I think you should get her. It's not like you'll only ever get one Smart Doll, right? There's something to be said for getting the one you just can't get out of your head; it's why I got Pride, and I ADORE her!

 

You hit the nail on the head in your description of North in both colors!! It is pretty surreal how much a few colors can change the doll's vibe completely. I remember reading something like that on Danny's blog when he was developing Mirai's first face up. Every detail makes a difference!

And you make a great point. I swear dolls are like chips sometimes. You grab one, and before you know what's happening, you've eaten half the bag already. But it's okay because you got a bag to eat a bag's worth, right?!
Aww, so Pride was your obsession like Vision has been mine? I love your Pride. The pic you shared earlier with her blonde wig is so adorbs! I hope you'll share more of her next time you decide to snap some photos
Your story about Pride has given me some confidence If I'm thinking about her this much, it's silly to think I'd regret it, right? After all, her closed eyes are what made me love her in the first place! Hey, talking it out helped after all

 

Oooooo.... I should upload a couple of my photoshoots here. I've only been outside with Dimension (since we get really rainy spring here, and I can only go outside of work hours), but I've done an indoor one with Pride when running errands. I've only been posting them to my Instagram.

Yay! Decisions feel so good when they were hard to come to. I really think you'll love her and I'll look forward to when pictures are possible!

 

This is Mika on our tire swing.
I know that it's a bit small for the 1/3 girls but it's such a fun prop...

Mika - Swinging by Tom Beach, on Flickr

 

Current favorite thing in the world (sorry other dolls): I managed to snag Transcendence in tea! I had hoped for grey or cinnamon, but I'm just as glad that isn't what I was able to get - the tea is gorgeous! I have Relentless in tea as well, so I can justify getting another set of hands for them to share I think...

I also got her one of the new Leisure of Dolls wigs in very dark purple because I had some spare purple eyes from Relentless (I prefer her with blue) and she looks so good with short hair. Highly recommend the Leisure of Dolls wigs btw - they're a little thicker than the wigs the dolls come with, but not so thick as Dallas Doll Co. I like Dallas Doll Co a lot, don't get me wrong, but some of their wigs feel like they're almost eating the dolls' heads at times!

Picture came out kinda big, so enjoy under spoiler.... and bonus, the "Welcome Foolish Mortal" sign I snagged last Halloween in the background next to my router.

Spoiler

 

So a funny thing happened on my way to the forum....

Long story short I maybe might have been debating getting a Proud Prowess for a little while now as in the LGBTQ+ myself and I think she'd fit in with my other Smart Dolls. I went to double check price and/or just out right buy her earlier tonight, and that's when it happened. I saw a doll in stock that I had dreamed of since I first saw it. One that sold out before I even knew about it, one that I have stared at with longing every time I look at anything on the Smart Doll site, one I never thought I'd see in stock. So yeah poor Proud was pushed to the back burner for now as I clicked add to cart and rushed to buy the lovely Grey skinned Transcendence.

I'm in mild doll shock as never dreamed I'd ever actually get one of the blue or grey Smart Dolls, and not only did buy one tonight, but she had fangs which I am a sucker for grey vampires. So dream come true Smart Doll ordered.
Now the hard part wait over shipping. XD

I also need to plan where she will fit with my others, will she hang out with Haruka (my milk skin Eiji and homage to my love of anime and magical girl characters.)


Or will this night creature fit in with the "trio" (my three in cinnamon skin, and who all share my extra hands sets in that color.)
Kabuki, Chaos (blind random head that looks like Athena, but is cinnamon), and Hero (my trans-male Genesis on a male make it your self kit body.)

Chaos and Hero are siblings and Kabuki is Hero's crush. (Hero's head came on the body Chaos has so that's why made them siblings.)

 

I love Culture Japan’s commitment to employee-first business ethics, artistry, and representation. I have three smartdolls - a courage, a proud prowess, and a transcendence! Here’s my beloved transcendence Amara on a trip we went on recently.

 

Is anyone else bursting with excitement for the new pear girls? I have never been this excited for a Smartdoll with the exception in cinnamon Relentless (missed out unfortunately). Watching all the pictures makes me so very happy and feel I want to take pictures again, and even sew(I can't sew)! I want the one with codename Debora in alla the skin tones, and the supercute cocoa one. My heart is fluttering! This would be my first Smartdoll, and I have been following Danny since 2014

 

I love the evolve frame. I like the haptic feedback.

 

Yes, I still have yet to pull the trigger on getting Vision, as much as I talked about her. She's still on my wishlist and will come home eventually After seeing the pear girls developing, I just know that my first SmD (well technically second) will be one of them They all look so stunning and I think it will be so fun to style her.
And TY for the reply terri/ny I'm so looking forward to trying that new frame out myself!!

 

I'm actually checking the Smart Doll website every night sometimes twice as I wait for the pear girls to be listed. I need a cinnamon skin "code name Debora" so bad it hurts. (only going for that color so she can share hands with the bulk of my Smart Dolls) I want to get a pear future someday as well, and I pray for a plus sized male doll if Danny ever brings back Smart Doll boys.

Anyway yes I am all aboard the pear SmD hype train, I have longed for more body type options in the doll hobby for ages now and the pear girls being not limited make me so happy.
I'm thinking "Debora" and my grey Transcendence (who still needs a name) might make a cute couple.

 

Smart Dolls are what got me into the BJD hobby. I bought my first Smart Doll in 2019 and they were the gateway into my obsession with resin dolls. I dont have as many smarties as I used to but I am very happy with the 2 girls I have and the ever growing collection of resin BJDs that they led me to. I am excited for the new pear body though and will definitely be getting a pear girl. Cant wait to sew for her

 

Reviving the thread. I recently got my first Smart Doll: semi-real Liberty. I love her so much and am having a lot of fun sewing outfits for her. Currently trying to design a nice mermaid dress using a sheer, satiny green-and-purple iridescent fabric I found in my scraps.

 

I got my tea Nostalgia and she's on the evolve frame like I wanted.

Basically I'm thrilled with the evolve frame. She can hold heavier props
much steadier than the earlier frames. My single problem is sometimes
she's hard to stand in some shoes which want her ankles between detent stops.

Peacekeeper by Tom Beach, on Flickr

 

When Relentless arrived, i had only a few days to sew some clothes. But it was enough to take her with us on our journey to Skandinavia.

 

Okay, this photo works.

 

I really want one, honestly. I want an anime-styled doll in the dark skin tones Smartdoll offers, and I really can’t seem to find any other company that does them. But the usual reasons are stopping me. Price, exclusivity, the size of the doll… I really only work with 1/4 and 1/6 dolls, and I don’t think I could handle a full 1/3 girl. Plus, I really don’t think they have as good a range of motion as current resin dolls.

But if I’d had the chance to get the Cortex Kits when he was still making those, I would have adored it. I’m sad I never got to experience the garage kit days of BJDs and I really want to build one.

 

A little off the topic but Unoa dolls by Alchemic Labo can still be purchased in kits and are also in your preferred size range

@BrigitteJ Relentless is looking so beautiful, and so is the scenery

@TomB I forgot to mention it before but thank you so much for sharing your review about the evolve frame.

I still haven't gotten my Smartie like I planned, I'm waiting on what anime style pear girls will be revealed before buying one. But the semireal girls are tooooo cute as well.

 

ooooo ffffuuuuuu okay I might go look at those. I thought Unoa was discontinued.

 

I wanted just one. Now I have five. They are so different from my 12" and 16" collections but they take up an awful lot of room at 23". I call this gal Paris. She is a favorite.

Paris by Terri Gold, on Flickr

 

Paris is so cute!! May I ask where you got her beautiful wig?

 

Senna aka Genesis wishes everyone a happy new year

 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year by Tom Beach, on Flickr

 

It seems like Danny is working on the boys
I hope he has a wide variety of skin tones like he does for the girls.
I’m really looking forward to see how they turn out.

 

My girls are hoping for a semireal boy. Maybe no blue ore gray, but we'll take, what we can get.

 

That new muscle male body is in works, and it sounds like there is a plan to update the older male body to work on the new evolve frames. Danny made a comment about making a grey vampire boy at some point and then making him in the other skin tone, so as to have options. That news was in a post about making a muscle toned female body. I love how Smart Doll is really leaning hard into having different body options, the new pear body is just wonderful.

 

I just order a smartdoll pear body girl. I’m so excited to get her. Also, I just gave away a bunch of clothes that would have fit her with dolls I sold. Now I need to start a wardrobe for her again LOL

 

Sometimes it's nice to build a wardrobe specifically for a doll, though; it's just so weird to put a doll in an outfit that doesn't fit their character!

 

Gratz and welcome to pear club.

 

My pear body girl made it home. I named her Gordibuena. she is so amazing and cool. I love her, but not going to lie I wish her boobies were bigger, they are the same size as mine (Yes, I have man boobs LOL). She is wearing the medium bust. When I take out her wig and shirt we look like twins LOL

Here is Gordibuena

 

I've got a pear! I was lucky enough to snag a cinnamon one from the very first drop, and immediately plunked a Dollfie Dream head on there.

She's my mini-me, and I adore this body shape! It's like a more flattering version of my own. I still need to add some blush to the head so it matches the body better, but in photos it's hard to tell there's a color difference at all!

 

She looks amazing as an anime style doll. I love the way you style her, and I love that you made her your mini-me. You are right he head looks like the same color as the body in pictures

I do love the “live and let live” head, it so adorable. Right now I have no special clothes made for her. I just put some very stretchy clothes I own that were made to fit my DDdy girls. I’m lucky they fit her.

Mine is also a mini-me I in fact considered naming her after myself, but decided to go with something more suitable and kind funny for her. She is the way I would have love to be if I was a female