Dream Valley Mini Discussion Thread 2

I've ordered several dolls through DV, including a blank Achelous head, Adela, Uncia, Bone Butterfly (non crystal version), 1/4 Dragon, Lucia, and waiting on a Maurren split. All blank.
Expect them to be on the longer side, and be pleasantly surprised if your doll ships earlier than 5 months. The shortest any of my waits were was 5 months for Achelous and BB. Pretty sure Uncia was 6 or 7 months. My dragon was like 8 months, and Lucia 6.

The coco brown resin will also require more time to polish, so just strap yourself in for a long wait...!

 

This is nothing short of freaking epic. You killed it on the bone texture on the horns too!

 

@Cryptid hahaha such drama from your dragon!

 

I’m joining you both on ordering the new moth girl! I ordered mine in white skin, blank, from BJDivas (I’m juggling other layaways right now so I needed another extended layaway in order to bring her home.) These time-limited offerings are hard on the budget, even though I understand the company’s use of them. One month just isn’t much time, but I just couldn’t pass her up. She’ll be so perfect flitting around an antique trunk full of clothes in my doll’s special attic display. As lovely and striking as those head wings and shoes are, it was really her four arms that finally got to me. Years ago I fell in love with the multi-armed 1/3 size Souldoll Shiva, and while I couldn’t reconcile her with my crew, I always secretly longed for a doll like that. That’s why Dream Valley’s Ghost Moth is so perfect for me and my collection.

 

Haa great, @PoeticSoul , welcome, I was thinking she would be a doll to your liking!

 

@Saphira I ordered DV Lilya Mermaid 4 and a half months ago, but right at start of ordering period as soon as she was released, i think they do not start production until after the official ordering period closes and all orders are in. I ordered June third and think ordering closed June 30th. No word yet. So it's been about 3 and half months since ordering closed, 4 and half months since I ordered. I expect another 2 months before i hear something. Perhaps December if lucky!

@Cryptid Your Ivory and gold dragon is incredibly beautiful. Fantastic job with the gold leafing if that is what it is, he is astounding!

 

Joining in here to say I also preordered the Moth lady in the new coco brown. So excited as she will be my first DV doll.
Here's my work in progress mockup of her design. She'll be the "Moth(wo)Man" cryptid of my crew, but with a death metal theme. lol

I love her headpiece with the skull, but I'll probably replace her stock antennae with the CoralReef set I have stashed away.

 

Oh I LOVE your concept for her! The black and red is such a good color palette for her. I'm still brainstorming how I'll paint/style mine (sounds like I'll have quite a bit of time to think it over, lol!). I was thinking of going in more of a brown/muted direction for her moth parts, mostly inspired by the tawny-colored/brownish moths that I see around my house. I'll have to figure out if there are any real-life moths species I want to take direct inspiration from. I've always thought that DV's faces have a bit of an owl-like quality so maybe that'll play into my inspiration for her too. So excited!!

Edit: Okay, I've been doing some moth research and I think I simply have to go with the Death's-head hawkmoth as inspo. They have a marking on their thorax that resembles a skull! I wonder if the Dream Valley sculptors referenced this moth genus when designing her skull headpiece?

 

I Love this concept, that coral reef mask will be amazing, it looks like!!!

 

DV is bringing back some dolls for a final release before discontinuation. Sina Visitor System
Also including Phoenix and Uncia's beast parts, if anyone wants to try to get those separately. Phoenix's legs are 600 yuan = 84.22 USD (before proxy and shipping fees), Uncia is 800 yuan at 112.30 USD, as well as the lower human halves for both and Phoenix's wings.

 

Thank you so much!!

Thank you!!
Ahh yes I have to assume that was their original inspo, but their fullset customs weren't themed that way so who knows. I think it's a great color scheme and theme to go with though!

 

OOh my

Wow I never even thought about the Death's Head, you are right, that had to be of influence given the skull head piece. I was thinking of going in the direction of the Lymantria dispar dispar - Wikipedia perhaps.

 

Disappointing to see the dragons going. Hopefully they’ll do more dragons in the future.

Everyone’s plans for their White Moss’s sound so cool. I’m planning pale purples with a moon theme for my girl.

 

My Dream Valley Cedar arrived this morning! Going with Cypress as a name, Cedar just isn't doing it for me. But he's SO pretty! --eyeballs were not part of the fullset, lol.

 

Just saw that Dream Valley’s discontinuing some of their fantasy sculpts. Sad to see them go, but I’m so so excited to finally get Dragon Sylves. Seeing pictures of him is what got me looking into the hobby in the first place, but I wasn’t ready to drop $500 on a whim back then and by the time I realized how much I adored him the limited window had long passed. I’m so glad I’ll be able to grab him before he’s gone for good!

 

Ooh yes I love the pale coloring on this moth! Lovely idea~

Oooh a moon theme sounds really cool!

@Pafferton He looks great!!

 

My order of Maurren's crow accessories shipped early to me. They look great on the anpiel! (Achelous human on B4-04)

Spoiler: few more pics

 

As someone who got Z7 as one of my first dolls but never managed to get Qing - I can confirm that when DV says discontinue forever, they mean it.
If there's a sculpt you've wanted, and it's on their discontinue list, grab it now.

 

I love my dragon Sylves!!! The sculpting on him is beautiful (his hands/nails are so detailed and I love his facial expression)— I hope you enjoy yours just as much once he arrives
What color resin are you planning on getting him in?

 

My crow boy is still months away from shipping, but I just preordered a set of Nirvana bird legs from Dream Valley’s resale event and I’m very eager to see if I can get them to work on the crow boy. Going to have to dye them black, of course.

The fact that Maurren’s legs weren’t very birdy was kind of a bummer, and I always loved Nirvana’s jointed talons and feathery legs, so I’m glad this worked out

 

I came here to check if anyone had any updates on their Cedars and I'm so glad I did or I might not have known about this!! Thank you so much for mentioning it, because...

I was planning to do the same thing!! Great minds & all that I managed to get a set of in stock Nirvana wings for my Maurren, but I also wanted those legs so bad but couldn't find them anywhere. I did find one of the full dolls in stock that I was really tempted to buy just for the legs, but luckily it sold before I could make that decision lol. Super excited to finally be able to get my hands on a pair. Here's hoping they fit!!

Also really exciting to see that people are getting their Cedars — they look so good! I always order blank because I like to fully customize my dolls but that fullset was definitely tempting (same with Maurren tbh). I ordered through DDE which I've heard tends to be a little slower, so it might still be a bit... but he'll get here eventually

Now if only I could afford that moth girl... I've always liked designs with extra arms. I really love looking at everyone's concepts for theirs though and the different moths people are taking inspiration from! Maybe someday they'll release a boy moth as well and I can get that one... hopefully after my current big layaway is paid off though lol.

 

I’m very interested in picking up a dragon from the discontinue sale, does anyone know the difference from wall white vs white vs pink? I can only find their old white listed in that resin comparison pic. Thanks!

 

White is warm-toned and more ivorry, wall white is a very pure white afaik, and pink is a nice mellow peachy pink. I don't have wall white, but I can take some comparison photos of white with pink tomorrow, and also how the white yellows. I'm pretty sure wall white is close to Coral Reef's white which is a very paper, pure white kind of tint.

 

That is super helpful, thank you so much!

 

His face is so good! I considered getting the human Sylves for a while, but the expression just doesn’t charm me the same way.

I would have loved to get him in grey resin like his original release, but since they’re only offering this last round of orders in a limited selection of colors I’m going with Wall White so I can blush him with a nice cool grey tone. Might even try dying some of his extremities, but I’ll definitely have to practice that before he arrives.

 

Of course! Happy to help. Here's a picture of MOST of my resin (realized I missed my FL normal, TD pink, RD normal fml).



For search references:
DZ moon white 2024
DZ White 2023
DZ white 2024
FL 2024
Souldoll white, unknown year
Linlin near mia pink 2024 (indie maker)
Gem of Doll milk peach pink 2023
Coral Reef white 2024
Ringdoll tan 2023/2022 (unsure of year)
Asleep Eidolon/Xagadoll tan 2024
Dream Valley wall white 2024
Dream Valley white 2023
Dream Valley pink 2024
Dream Valley yellow 203
Dream Valley white 2024

If you need pictures in other lighting, lmk!

 

Thank you so much! Pink was the perfect resin tone I needed, I think! I really appreciate it

 

The original grey was beautiful, it’s a bummer they aren’t offering it again. That being said, wall white is a lovely choice and I think grey blushing will look really cool! You’ll have to share pictures when you’re finished

 

Oh my, I've joined the Moth Girl order and I'm so excited and stressed at the same time. This will be my first doll with any fancy parts and I've heard lots of stories about delicate parts getting damaged in transit.... I know it is probably many months away, but this will be my first doll like this. Also the first in such a deep resin colour (coco brown) and the first from Dream Valley... There are so many aspects of her that excite me ^^

 

Congrats! She is stunning. I can't wait to see pictures of her!

DV is a lot faster when you order during a promotion. In fact, it's been my experience that if I want to order any optional parts, I order with a promo doll. Otherwise, 9 months for heel feet...

As far as shipping goes, I have ordered multiple dolls from Dream Valley via Alice's Collections, Denver Doll Emporium, and BJDivas. I've not had any problems, BUT it appears to be dealer-specific. If it's DDE - I highly recommend emailing them and BEGGING them not to use UPS. UPS is rough AF with boxes. Almost every doll I've gotten via UPS has had something broken. BJDivas has had serious issues in the past with Chinese couriers, which are the wild west of shipping. To save money, Chinese couriers (who move inland dolls to ports) will unbox all dolls and throw them in one big box, which can be catastrophic for delicate parts and blushing. There's not much Divas can do about it, unfortunately. That's why when it comes to Chinese company dolls, I prefer to order from ACBJD, as they are a Chinese dealer and can be more, erm, firm with couriers. (Divas has also had this issue with Doll Chateau. Impldoll avoids the issue by shipping direct to customers and skipping the dealers entirely.)

DV has also been a bit better lately about keeping separate parts wrapped and not attached to the doll, so hoping for the best for you!

....aaaaaand you aren't in the US (just checked your profile right quick). So yeah. Please ignore everything I just said.

 

That was a very helpful answer, thank you! I ordered from Alice's Collection as I have never had any problems with them. I didn't know that Dream Valley made their promotion dolls quicker, I always thought that there was a longer wait for promo dolls because so many people order during the promotional period.

 

Promo dolls can be mixed in timing

It's eight months today since I ordered my dragon and nary a sight of a shipping number. Granted I went with a 1/4 fullset so that is a big doll and a lot of painting, but I am a little sad that I will almost certainly not get it in time for my birthday.

 

I ordered a Frejya head and the male muscular body in the limited red in August of 2023 from BJDivas, and I'm still waiting. I ordered Lucia the dragon rider from DDE February of this year and she arrived in September. I've currently been waiting over a year for each of 3 MSDs from different companies ordered through BJDivas. I received a set of DV dressing hands recently, so they are still shipping things out, but they seem to have really long wait times right now. I got my previous Dream Valley order from them in 2022 and the wait time was nowhere near as bad.

In terms of the current event, Nirvana Phoenix is seriously tempting me!

 

Well, decided to order Sylves on layaway! The timing was never right on his earlier releases for me, but I really want him, so grabbing him now before he is permanently retired! Also ordering some phoenix wings for another doll, since I want articulated wings for them.

 

Hello fellow DV enjoyers o7 After 10 years of not buying a doll I decided to get back into the hobby when I saw DVs beautiful fantasy sculpts. So needless to say, I ordered myself a dragon and phoenix for my birthday! I just could not resist...

Now, as I have been looking at ideas for what I want to turn them into, I was looking at wigs. And I have been wondering- someone in an older post mentioned their heads fall on the smaller scale of MSD (17-17.5cm for the two I am waiting on, at least according to Alice's Collections).

Can any of you who already own a DV MSD confirm this? ;U; I am not sure if I should be looking at 6-7 or 7-8 wigs. I'll probably wait till they arrive (wish me luck and patience) to measure exactly but I figured in the meantime it wouldn't hurt to ask about your experiences c:

 

You're going to want size 6-7 wigs, and either 10 mm or 12 mm eyes (depending upon how realistic you want them to look). DV dolls have smaller heads and very slender necks/bodies.
Congrats on your orders! And happy almost birthday!

 

Waaah I had no idea their eyes are also potentially smaller since the website and Alice list it as 14mm x'D Fortunately, eyes are something pretty easy to obtain. Will also be looking at the smaller wig size then. Honestly part of why these dolls appeal to me is that they have a bit more...balanced proportions (for lack of better word) than some other MSDs I have seen. I want smaller dolls than my one boy, but still ideally something a little less child like, so it's worth it!

My birthday was on the 2nd, I just chose to order that day to treat myself- thank you so much!!

 

@Cylunny A bit more about eye size. I've found with a handful companies (like Dream Valley) listed size is the largest size that fits the head and can look good, but going down a size or two smaller also works. So with your doll a 14mm eye will give it a wide eyed, innocent and child like look. However for an more mature look it's better to go for 12mm, 12mm with small irises, or even as said for a few molds 10mm eyes. Most my DV 1/4th dolls have in 12mm eyes, though I have 14mm in one of my girls to make her looks sweeter younger.

 

@Tippetarius Thank you, that's very handy to know! I will definitely test out what works best with them. The Phoenix is definitely intended to be on the cuter side, if I keep the original head maybe the bigger eyes will work well on them (I got a freya head too because...I love the sculpt and wanted to maybe use it in future) cx Other than that more eyes will never hurt...they are so pretty...

I have been trying to design/plan what I want to turn them in already, and suddenly half a year and more of a wait feels long. Can't wait!!

 

Dream Valley showed off pictures of their next doll, a new dragon boy. Sina Visitor System

I'm wondering if he's using the same body as Ehecatl. The arms look a bit thicker than the Sylves/Rah bodies.

 

And right after I ordered my own Sylves, too! It's okay though, I think I prefer the slimmer feet Sylves has - don't think I could do the new one justice yet. The horns and forearms on him look really cool though..;U;

The arms look a tad thicker to me as well!

 

I just obtained a DV Olivia (with the rabbit parts) 2nd hand and aah she is so cute! New can of MSC also arrived yesterday so now I just need to wait on that mask then seal her head & the floating practice head to get some serious faceup attempts in cx

Since she's the first 1/4 I have seen irl, I was quite surprised at just how small and delicate she looks next to my 1/3 boy. Even her eyes are teeny! But I think I definitely prefer her size overall, much easier to handle and carry. I absolutely love those bunny legs as well, they are so nicely crafted. Very excited!

 

Velarde, DV's new dragon boy, is up and he will be discontinued forever after the preorder period on the 13th of December ends. He comes with a free head with no scar and human ears, and his tail can be bought separately in wall white or black resin. No black resin for the doll itself tho! Really wish he was available in red...

Looking at the official site, he is indeed using the same upper body as Ehecatl. Same chest and arm thickness.

 

I have been wondering - was Ehecatl (their snake man) a one time only then discontinue sale like Velarde was? Or do you think he will ever be re-released? I wish, I wish,,,

 

Looking back at the release info it just says time limited instead of one time release. So it might be possible that there is a second release but it's not always easy to tell with DV.

Aww man, they've got me with the big stompy dino feet! Not so happy about it being a one time release as originally thought i'd pass and pick one up in a second release but that plan has been scuppered. Having bought both the mini Griffin and Ehecatl this year, I've already pushed my budget a bit

Not sure what system they're using for the legs. While it's nice they're going for changeable parts on their fantasy dolls, the fact they keep changing how it's done every couple of dolls means that not much is compatible between dolls. I'm hoping they'll stick with some sort of system soon!

 

@Epicari that means I can at least hold out hope then xD thank you so much!

 

That Velarde has a mobility joint instead of thigh peanuts leads me to believe he's prob strung normally, and to change his legs you'd need to have legs from another BJD/DV and string them on in place. EDIT: I think that's why he's a one-off release--either they don't have plans to revisit this body or they're still working on a method to change the legs/arms easily like Chimera/Moth.

I'm also tempted by Velarde but may similarly have to get him secondhand/through DDE. DV give our wallets a rest!!

@Cylunny There'll be people selling their Ehecatls secondhand, so unless you were set on a certain face or resin color, you'll be able to find one. I know some people (including myself) also bought two Ehecatls to be able to combo tan/green or black resin or for multiple heads, so there'll likely be extras floating around. Keep your eyes peeled around February-April!

 

@lynxie that's handy to know, I will definitely do that! I should hopefully have marketplace access by then as well xD I'm not really too set on anything I just really want a snake man, can work around whatever there is c:

 

I have a stringing question for the 3-arm boy body. When I first got the body (purchased from DV via Legend Doll), he was strung so tight he creaked with even the slightest movement and I could barely get his head on. I tried tying him curled into a fetal position and leaving him like that for a month and there was no loosening of his elastic. There was also nothing beyond the knot to loosen him. I made the decision to have him re-strung looser and we actually needed to cut the elastic in order to re-string him. This was back in...2018 I think.

Fast forward to now and he's become a little more on the loose side than I'm happy with. He still stands fine but I'd like him to be a bit tighter (and it has been about 5 years since he was last strung). Problem is, I don't remember at all how he's strung (I do remember we re-strung him the same way DV did). Does anyone here know/remember how this body is strung? Is the 3rd arm part of the arm stringing? Is it part of the torso/legs stringing? I'd like to have a bit of a plan going into this before I start taking him apart.

 

@Iron_Dog
I have a 3 armed boy, I got mine when they were new and have since restrung him. Without looking I think I have mine with the 3rd on it's own string with a bead or some other mod inside to hold it like a washer and then his body strings threaded up through the one for his 3rd arm. I plan to find a better long term fix later on, but have other dolls in the need work list above him as this works for now.

My restring life hacks aside, I'm pretty sure like 90% the 3rd arm was originally strung on the same cord that ran neck hook to feet, but mine was so tight I had to cut his strings to re string him. and he had overly thin strings too so his posing was weird.
I know one of his sisters has her 3rd arm on the body strings, but she was less tight and on thicker cord so never had posing issues. (His other sister is owned by a dear friend of mine and I have no clue if she's ever been restrung.)
Good luck with you boy I hope you are able to get him back together in a way that works well for you.

 

The idea of the 3rd arm on it's own string with a bead to hold it in place is brilliant @Tippetarius I'll have to see about doing something like that. I have a literal chest of beads and while most are seed beads, I do have some larger pony beads that could work. Thank you for the idea/insight.

He's currently okay as is right now but will def need re-stringing in the very near future. He's just come back from the very talented face-up artist, Bunny, and I'm in love with the work she did on him. I also sent her his 1/2 brother, Kyrieleison (DV Dean giraffe-taur in purple), at the same time and his face-up is stunning as well. I'll need to post some pics of them and hopefully the light will be at least semi-decent tomorrow.

 

My 3-arm came with the arm strung with body/leg elastic too.

 

If the elastic is torso/leg, it might not be and easy pull tight and re-knot to make him tighter. It's looking like it might be a full re-string. Ugh. One of my least favourite parts of the hobby. At least I have plenty of elastic on hand so I don't need to run around trying to find some suitable for the job. I also have a bunch of kips and might see about putting one in the 3rd arm socket to improve posing/stability.

 

Ah, thanks for taking a look. I was also thinking it might be a lower body changes at the waist style like Uncia/ Rabbit girl so it'll be interesting to see if that's the case. I wish there was some clearer way of understanding why sometimes DV dolls are single release and some aren't, because Velarde doesn't look anywhere near as complicated or difficult to produce than some which haven't been marked as single release. It all seems a bit haphazard!

It makes me wonder if @Tippetarius bead method could allow the arm to be wired with the wire being anchored on the bead. Or are the channels on the arm too small to allow for wire as well as the elastic? I would likely want to use a simpler stringing method too

 

@Epicari The 3rd arm is fairly slender so I'm not sure. Maybe if the wire was on the thinner side? I should probably be proactive and do that stringing job today but I don't know if I'm feeling like hopping on that struggle bus. I have another doll (OT for this thread) that desperately needs re-stringing as his elastic actually broke ages ago (he's a mature tiny and strung with beading elastic) but I'm kinda intimidated at doing it. He had jointed hands and it seems pretty daunting to string those. I'll have to do it at some point as he's literally in pieces right now but....

 

Alright anyone drooling over the new boy they got up? Because omg for me ,it like my two oc got together and that’s him .
Adventure note

 

People with 1/4 scale dragons, I need your help.

In the hopeful but slowly less likely event my dragon gets here before Christmas, I want to make him a santa hat. What size would a fabric hat have to be to do this (fitting over one horn and some of the face spikes but not the neck spikes)?

 

@Cryptid yayyyy! Lol guess I have my next project picked out!