SobaDolls

So! I recently got the BEST DOLL EVER (in my humble opinion, anyway), Ruri by SobaDolls.



She is a 'Flumo' BJD, not a resin one, though, so unfortunately I cannot go brag about her on the rest of the forum. Flumo is cold porcelain, technically, though it feels a bit like a high-grade plaster to me. It feels more fragile than resin, and you need to be careful not to get it too wet; it dissolves when submerged in water for too long (no dye baths for these dolls!). Ruri comes in 2 shades, brown and beige. I ordered beige but will get a brown doll soon.

I messaged the artist on Etsy to order Ruri. She made a custom listing for me and told me my doll would be done in 4 weeks. She was. This was inhumanly fast for such a nice doll! Especially a custom order made during a non-preorder period. It was incredible!

To me, she's the absolute perfect size. She's 47 cm tall and pleasantly curvaceous-- she's not some skeletal waif. She's very robust and doesn't look or feel delicate.

I really like the way Ruri feels. There's a slight roughness to her-- but in a good way? It reminds me of touching high-quality linen art paper. She's very heavy, too- she feels solid. I like holding her; she's not too heavy to be carried about easily, but she feels solid and high-quality.

Spoiler: ruri flumo texture

Her poseability is the best thing about her, though. She was fully fabric-sueded by the artist, which helps a lot, but she's very well engineered too. The thigh joints are incredible, I love how easily she can hold her knees to her chest, kneel, and sit. She can stand unattended, but she's not the most stable, and I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving her standing unattended, especially because she'd probably shatter. I think her instability has to do with her relatively loose stringing, though. Her ankles don't move much, but I don't mind that. Hyper-flexible ankles can affect stability.

Spoiler: ruri posing

Her upper body poses almost as well as her lower half. She can easily touch her face and her head. Her shoulders don't allow for an incredible range of movement, but they are still very, very, good.

Spoiler: ruri arm posing

Her elbows are sculpted so cleverly! they're very attractive double-jointed arms.

Spoiler: ruri clever elbows

Her face sculpt is very gorgeous, too. She reminds me a bit of Scarlet Johansen. I wish she had a bit more of a forehead, but with the right wig, that won't even be noticeable. I also love her body; the subtle anatomical detail is very well done.

Spoiler: ruri face + scarjo

This is the 4th Ruri ever made. She has a silver roman numeral in her head indicating that:

Spoiler: ruri headcap

(by the way, isn't the keyhole detail super cute?)

Ruri came to me strung and wrapped in a LOT of bubble wrap. I appreciate Grechka, the artist's, commitment to getting her to me in one piece. She did not come with a company box or COA, and I kind of wish she had, for storage and record-keeping purposes. Grechka sent a tiny 'Lucky Day' candy bar, though, which tasted like a Snickers bar with vanilla caramel and without the nougat, and that was very much appreciated . (I'd add a picture but I ate it already...)

Ruri also came with free handmade eyes. These are incredible. I am so thrilled with them! They were a great surprise, I had no idea I would get eyes.

So, now for a price breakdown. Ruri cost me $200 USD, free shipping. she shipped strung, too. I almost feel like I stole her, that's how good of a deal this is. An incredible-posing artist BJD made on a custom order, who was finished in four weeks, who is fully fabric sueded, who came with eyes easily worth $20-$40 dollars on their own, who was shipped strung, who was made by someone committed to communicating everything about the process, and who was shipped free of charge. I literally plan on tipping when I buy my next doll, I think I underpaid for this masterpiece. Sure, she's not resin, but Flumo seems just as good to me. She also won't yellow!

Her only flaw is a loose headcap-- the magnets are slightly weak. but that's such an insignificant thing that I can't bring myself to care!

anyway. I loved this doll so much, I was inspired to write a review and encourage other people to buy these dolls.

Now she just needs a faceup, a new wardrobe, and a wig! She's wearing the underwear from my Goodreau MiM doll right now-- She's also currently living in my MiM doll's sleeping bag. She just barely fits!

 

The texture is great! It's way too humid right now for me to try and do a faceup, but I'll post photos for sure. She's a super fun doll and I highly recommend getting a doll from Grechka if you like the look of the material and the sculpt. This is the best buying experience and doll I've ever had.

 

So! Small update; unfortunately Grechka is no longer selling dolls, but if she ever does so again, I'll update the thread. I'm hoping someone else gets one of these girls. My Blanche still has no faceup, but I'll update once she gets one