Serendipity Mini including Sharmin discussion thread

I don't want to say ill of Serendipity, they rock, and the face molds are adoreable, but I seriously have issues with Saoki's level of poseability. It's very lacking. I haven't wired her yet, but she cannot cross her ankles without her hip joints popping out, she sits unstably, and her wrists do not bend in different positions at all. The body has a nice sculpt, but it's very sadening to me that she isn't much fun for me to play with.


I'm such a wet blanket, aren't I? :cry:

 

When I received Tristana ( Sharmin), I was surprised by her size: small ( she can wear some Tyler’s outfits).She was more beautiful than I thought. A pretty petite doll!

3 little problems:
-A little scratch at the base of the head (mold scratch?)
-The elastic of the legs is strangely tended (the knees fold too often)
-I cannot find shoes for her (feet are thin and long!!)

If you like sewing and knitting, she is a perfect model. She is expressive and unique.( I didn’t touch her face up because it's well made)
I am in love with my Tristana

(And sorry for my English!!! :cry: )

 

I got a serendipity Shall and shes so much more amazing than in the pictures! ^_^ I love her so much! but she lacks posability as apparently all Serendipity dolls do... as long as you don't mind restrining/wiring her I think shes amazing! ^_^

 

It has been brought to my attention that there are two types of Serendipity bodies: an "old" and a "new" one.

While sanding my girl nearly a month ago, I ran into an unfortunate mishap, which resulted in the need for a replacement part. I contacted Serendipity about it, and they told me that they would take care of it as long as I sent her back. After a few weeks of waiting, they contacted me, and told me that they'd send me a "new" body. I received it this past weekend and wanted to inform Serendipity owners and prospective Serendipity owners of the two types of bodies.

I believe the type of body you have (if you already own one) depends on when you purchased your doll. I think it's safe to say that you have the old body if you bought your doll prior to the Serendipity site being launched and the separate offerings of the head and body OR a mix of the aforementioned + exhaust of stock. I purchased Sharmin this past summer, and she had the "old" body: slim but curvy body, smooth, rosewhite pink resin, full hips, wider torso. The hands are attached to the body with little wire pieces in her wrists, elastic strung through. The feet consist of a separate ankle joint, and the feet are attached onto the elastic with a molded hook.

When I received this "new" body, I missed the quality of the old body. The resin felt lighter and looked a bit plasticky, the torso was narrower, the resin was pinker, and the waist was slimmer. HOWEVER, with the new body, Serendipity introduced smoother ball-joints and incorporated them into the feet and hands. An indication that you have a new body is if the hands and feet both have a ball-joint molded onto the appendage. Attachment may be similar, but there shouldn't be as much strain on the hands (more so than the feet). If you have a new body, chances are, your hands and feet have miniature s-hooks.

My own personal thoughts on the body (a bit incoherent, but be merciful - I finished up a midterm exam), bits and pieces from what I informed my online doll friends:

It's actually pretty nice, but it feels so much lighter and a bit plasticky (can we say shiny boobs?). She sits very nicely and doesn't flop backwards. I hardly have any posing problems: most importantly, her ball-joints are well defined, and her upper torso sits cleanly on her lower torso. Her hands and feet are much more delicately sculpted, and you can see an underlying bone structure; her hands are significantly more expressive. The ankles are able to move and pose better because of the new construction.

My big complaint is how much thinner she is in the waist. I asked Bella for "old" body measurements in cm, and she gave me an ~13.4cm. I measured the "new" body, and it was ~12cm. That explains why some outfits made on a Sharmin body fit somewhat improperly. The old lower torso was ~1cm bigger than the new lower torso. For instance, a pair of pants I purchased from Cheery Doll hardly fit Sharmin's "old" body.

So there you have a summary.

 

i too.. thought her bust size was much too small for her figure. but as i found thats easily remedied using the unoa bust plate and cutting out some of the insides so it fits better.

i fixed the hand problem by replacing her hands with unoa hands. I want to get unoa feet.. but no one seems to want to give those up XD same witht he unoa original hands.

 

I'm looking for a pair of normal underwear (not lingerie) for Dawn. Do you know of any that might fit her besides those ebay hopscotch hill ones (I don't want to buy a lot of extra things, just one pair of underwear)? I guess I could've posted this in the marketplace as well... and now it's there. This one is more about what kind of underwear will fit her and the other one is about the fact that I wanna buy a pair.

 

I use tonner's betsy mccall undies. ^^ They fit great and are cute.

 

Tonner's Betsy McCall is 14" tall, so the clothes are a bit short, unless the fashion is full length on Betsy. Betsy is a bit thinner than the Unoa, but she can fit the looser fashions well.

She also fits the 16'" Kish doll cloths. They are a bit loose on the Unoa....

 

Wait, I don't have to take pictures. The doll in these has the old body. http://www.dollseye.com/unoasharmin/

 

Correct. MSD wigs are usually 7/8 and will be big on Sharmin. You might be able to get away with a 7 but 8 will swim on her. She wears a 6/7 and that is the same as LeekeWolrd Sweet and the others.
Karin

 

Her leg just fell off, there is a little bar across the foot which is not glued in place,it keeps slipping out, is this right?

 

Another question!! are her eyes really 12mm??

 

The information that I received from AjumaPama which got it from Serendipity is her default eyes are 10mm if you are referring to Sharmin.

Karin

 

Mine looks good in both 10 and 12, but 12 give her a sweeter look while 10 a more adult look.. 14 is too big unless you bevel the eyewells.

as for wigs. her head is 6.7inches.. so 6/7 wigs fit.. i have a leeke MSD wig and it fits OK, but i have to hold it down with vecro. Sweet would fit her.

 

I have a Sharmin, I will try to help.

Can you describe what you mean by her leg coming off? Do you mean the "hook" that is sculpted into the resin of her foot piece? Has it broken? Or do you mean the half-sphere piece that serves as her ankle joint? Pictures would help...

~Tara

 

Hi, On the dolls foot is a small bar/pin which holds the hook at the end of the elasticated string, it's the small bar/pin which keeps coming out of the foot thus causing the leg to fall off. hope i have made this problem clearer for you .

 

I have the same type of Sharmin you do.

Have you tried to use "super glue" to put the pin back in place? Make sure to put the elastic around the pin first before trying to glue it back.

If you can't get it fixed that way, you should contact Serendipity. She should be able to help you.

GL!

 

Oh thanks what I have done is put some clear nail varnish over the hole to stop it sliding out have I done right?

 

I'd remove that nail varnish and use super glue instead. The varnish won't really hold the bar in place, especially over time...plus some types of nail varnish can damage resin.

 

A nail varnish remover with no color added is what you want. Or pure acetone will work...just use it quickly as it can potentially damage the resin.

 

Sharmin is small, about the size of a Unoa (they share clothes and wear the same sized wigs plus I think the even have the same sized eyes 10-12mm).

Her head would look VERY small on a MSD sized body, and there are not, as of yet, any Serendipity boy dolls out there.

I hope that helps.

 

MSD clothes will not fit Sharmin. She is much slimmer than all of the other ~43cm dolls sans Unoa. For example... Sharmin's waist on the new body is approximately 12cm.

~biscuit

 

anyone know how _that_ works?

I'm also assuming she doesn't have the interchangable ears like Sharmin, ne? ;_;

 

I think you put the teeth part into her mouth, and no, she doesn't have interchangeable ears like Sharmin. Sharmin is the only one.

 

I think both Noal, Sharmin, Shall and Alice CAN have their ears swapped, but only Sharmin comes with the optional ears.

- Therese

 

Shall is the only one with teeth, so I'm not sure why they would make her teeth interchangeable.

As Descending Twilight said, Sharmin is the only one with interchangeable ears; Shall, Alice, and Noel have their ears molded onto their heads.

~biscuit

 

I am just curious, does Sharmin have very notcieable seams? If so, is this easily fixed with sanding? ^^

 

My Sharmin had horrible seams. However, other owners did not have this problem.

When I needed my body replaced, I received another one that was seamless. Moreover, my third doll, another Serendipity girl, had a smooth, seamless body, too. Chances are, you will received a finished doll.

 

Hi!
Sharmin has NO seams whatsoever!!!
One of the most beautifully finished BJDs one can buy.
Enjoy!!
Raven

 

My sharmin came very smooth, no seams. I love her!

 

i actually got my sharmin on the first limited preorder open to koreans only (i got her via a shopping service) and she had no seams, but also a different wig and eyes.

So chances are yours will be sanded :3

 

Hiya, so Serendipity Sharmin's feet are just about 5cm long and 2.2cm wide across the widest part of her foot.

Someone on the forum pointed out that Sharmin can fit Cutie Delf shoes, so I have a pair for her and they fit nicely, but you should probably sand off her long big toenail. The end of her big toe still sort of pokes through the end of the shoe, but it's not really noticable.

I have now tried Petite Ai shoes but they do not fit at all. They are much too small. Cutie shoes are actually rather large on Petite Ai. I guess cutie shoes are just generally rather large.

For awhile my Sharmin was wearing Dream of Doll runners and Kid Delf maryjanes. If she has socks on she looks OK in these shoes, but without socks, the MSD sized shoes are way too big for her.

 

She can also wear the shoes for Hopscotch Hill dolls that you can get on ebay for under $5 a pair. And, Tonner's Matt' O'Neill shoes fit her too.

 

from what i understand, helen kish clothes are hit or miss as they are a bit chubbier than mini BJD. I would guess they fit MSDs the best since they are the chubbiest of the minis. I think the general consenus for the best fit in comercially made clothing is American Girl's Hopscotch Hill. If you search Kish on the board, there are several threads discussing this. :grin:

 

I bought a hand-made outfit for a Hopscotch Hill doll off ebay and it was definitely too big for my Dawn. I guess I would not recommend going Hopscotch Hill for Sharmin except in the case of the shoes. As far as Kish goes, I think the outfits will fit with a little pin or addition of extra velcro in the back. I'm sure it'd be a better fit on an MSD, though.

 

My Sharmin is p.o.'d at having to wear Matt's shoes! She wants some cute GIRLY shoes. I didn't know that about the Cutie Delf -- I will have to order some.

I'm looking forward to seeing the new Teen Trend dolls from Mattel -- I suspect those shoes may fit her too.

I filed off the big toenails first thing. That was creepy.

 

Friends 2Bmade and Bardie doll Ken shirts (short sleeves) Fit Serendipity, as they are tight on DOD slim boys

 

Kish clothes, for the most part, don't really fit minis. I've bought some, but usually they're too big in the waist and too broad around the shoulders.

 

The Barbie-Ken shirts I bought fit my DoD Too just fine, both the tank top & the looser short-sleeved shirts.
Michel (my Too) hasn't worn them long, as I have not washed the clothes, but they certainly go on just fine.
Too's clothes are a little too big on Bee-A, generally, so I expect the shirts will fit her & the other DoD girls just fine.

Can't speak to the Friends 2B Made stuff until I make it down to the closest one, about 2 hours away.

Ann in CT

 

I was wondering how the Serendipity head cap is removed, I'm scared to touch mine as it looks pretty stiff!

 

I have Sharmin, and she came with her headcap off and one of her snaps off as well. I glued the snap back on and put her head back together, so after having to do that, I had no fear of removing it.

What you can do is take a thin knife and sort of insert it along the edge between the cap and the face and just lightly twist the knife and the head cap will pop off.

It's not on there all that tight, I can assure you!

 

Just pop it off. :P Like gayle said, you could use a knife, but I find that a bit extraneous considering how Serendipity headcaps are attached (either with snaps - older version - or magnets - newer version). Just used your nails (or the bit you have - my nails are always very, very short), and lift from the top to bottom or bottom to top. It may not appear to budge, but you won't break or hurt her. I also prefer using your hands since you have more control over where the headcap goes: the last thing you need is for the piece to fly into oblivion and come crashing down on the floor somewhere. ^^;;

 

The eyes are very easy to remove. They are just held in there by a big ol wad of soft eye putty. Just pull all that out of there, and get the original eyes out. If the putty you removed is still sort of soft, you can reuse it to put her new eyes in.

 

The wig shouldn't be attatched or anything - it should just slide right off. (Unless I'm forgetting something that's particular to Serendipity.) Most owners can't seem to get their dolls wigs to stay on at first, or so it seems.

 

Some Serendipity dolls come with velcro already attached to their heads. Lift your fingers underneath the wig cap, and pull it off.

To remove her eyes, just remove the head cap. There are two mechanisms: headcap snaps and magnets. For headcap snaps, place your fingernails underneath it and pop off; then change eyes. Using a butter knife or blunt, flat objects seems a bit extraneous to me. If your doll has magnets instead of headsnaps, twist the cap to the side, and it should hang downwards. You are now able to change her eyes.

There's no reason to be so nervous about your doll~ They're quite sturdy, and there's really no way of breaking them unless you intentionally do so. Part of the fun in having a new doll is to play and discover. ^_^

~biscuit

 

Actually, they can break. Make sure she doesn't fall onto a hardwood/cement/tiled floor, 'cause I'm 95% sure that's what broke Ichii's finger.

 

I have done work on antique bisque dolls in the past so maybe I am overly cautious. I am just not used to this type of construction and materials.

I guess when I pull Sharmin's wig off, if there is Velcro she will probably have snaps holding her head together and if there is not, she likely has magnets.

Carolyn.S

 

Well, yeah. I was more so referring to the fact that if you take off their wigs or change their eyes, in essence, playing with them, they wouldn't break. >.>

 

I have a serendipity Shall and she came with a few little pieces of velcro holding the wig on, so its pretty easy to get off and when its on, it won't slide off!

also the headcap is attached with snaps, so a simple lift should work for getting the headcap off, and if not, I suppose you could go for a knife/flat object to pry it off.

don't be afraid of breaking her, shes MUCH sturdier than fired bisque pieces (porcelain, I suppose)

 

She is definatly sturdier than porcelain. My Shar has take a few nose dives and has been absolutely fine, though I am glad it hasn't happened on cement or a hard floor.

The only thing I worry about with all the dolls is the possibility of broken fingers. They are rather small so I am really careful when I put on tight wristed garments.

 

I know that Serendipity dolls wear 6/7 wigs, but the Monique wig I want (Trix) only comes in 5/6 and 7/8 Since it is an elastisized wig, I was thinking the 5/6 is a better bet... has anyone tried this on their Serendipity dolls? Thanks :grin:

 

No, no, no!! ^^;;;;

It's better to go up a size than down. I ordered a 6/7 wig for my Serendipity girls, and it is SO SMALL. >.> It is SO frustrating to struggle to put on a wig that supposedly "stretches" (Honestly? Even though wig caps have some stretch, there isn't as much as people make it out to be.) - it's even more frustrating when you finally get the wig on, and it pops off. x_x

I won't deny it; 7/8 is too big. :/ Buying wigs for Serendipity girls is a bit of a pain. >.>

[I thought Barbie had a circumference of size 4...? Someone else can confirm. ^^;; In that case, 5/6 seems like it'd be too small.]

 

I haven't got any wigs in that size any more, but 5/6 is what I had to put on Tyler, so I'd think it would be too small for Serendipity.

Actually, I have a supposed 6/7 human hair wig that is waaay too small on Sharmin. I'd go with the 7/8.

 

Weird... it seems that people are saying 6/7 is too small and 7/8 is too big... what size wigs do people have for their Serendipity doll? I'm looking at Kemper wigs as well as Monique... what luck have people had with those wigs?

 

Hi I have two trix wigs for my Sharmin a pink and a white one.The pink fits a bit better you get them on with a stretch and a pull. They stay on sometimes but they do fall off .The 6-7 fits better I have a lexy wig which is a perfect fit.Posh doll wigs that say fit Sharmin are good fit too.I have a Aziza pink wig msd size fit ok a Cheery doll wig is a little big but stays on with the velcro.I got a lovely wig from Neale size msd which fits too.I also got fur wigs from zoi replica wigs I gave the measurements and they are good .I hope this helps

 

Thanks... you have the 5/6 Trix wigs?

 

Yes both wigs are in 5/6

 

You can get wigs that are exactly a size 7 rather than being a size 6/7, etc. Those kind of wigs usually come with no elastication and with the intent being on gluing them BUT all you need is velcro rather than horrid glue and this works very well. [/i]

 

Most of the wigs for my sharmin are 6/7. There are a few exceptions, but I think those might be rare cases, at best.

I wouldn't go with a 7/8. I got a mohair wig from Dollmore that was supposed to be for Sharmin, but it's sooo huge. It's more of a size 7/8 than a 6/7, and the size difference is VERY noticeable.

Hope that helped.