Out of the Box: Zed (Angel Street Zazean)

Angel Street Zazean

Back before June of 2010, my familiarity with BJDs was limited to a tiny handful of companies.  I had two large scale ball-jointed dolls, and while I was regretting having missed another (YID Cocori), I thought that I wouldn't really want any more than three dolls of this size.  Famous last words, right?  That was the same spring that a doll-collecting friend pointed me in the direction of a couple of popular BJD forums, and suddenly the number of dolls that I "needed" multiplied.

One of the things that especially caught my attention was the existence of some of the lower-cost options.  I was also debating picking up an elf doll, and thought that this guy, Angel Street's Zazean, would be a good choice.  One of the dealers happened to have one in stock, and while in many ways I wish I'd pre-ordered instead (the in stock doll was the introductory LE one, so he cost significantly more than the standard, and the in-stock version was in a cream white resin, which doesn't really fit with my other dolls), that did mean that he was home within the week.

Zed was actually the first doll that I
photographed outdoors.

The first thing that I noticed upon taking this doll out of his box is his lightness - he weighs significantly less than any other doll of this size that I own.  This is one feature that I've found most of the lower-end BJDs to have in common, and is one thing I try to mention when people ask if there are actually quality differences between the dolls.  That lightness isn't necessarily a bad thing, of course, but it is a difference that I think is worth pointing out (I was surprised - although not necessarily disappointed -  at how light he was because I'd had people insist that there was zero difference in resin quality/type across the price ranges).

His current wig

He's also single jointed, which is a negative for some people, but I've found that it means he can stand more solidly unassisted.  His features are more simply sculpted than some, but on a doll with such an angular, elf-eared head, that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Additionally, I think those simple features make it easier for him to pull off ridiculous hair colours and detailed outfits.

Even though I've been on the fence about this doll since the beginning (whenever I talk about thinning the herd, "I suppose I could sell the white elf" is where I start), this doll has a certain something to him that means he's stuck around, and probably will continue to stick around.  He just has that much character (and looks that good in elaborate fantasy outfits!).