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| Mirodoll Lele. Forgive the dress, I had nothing else that fit him on hand. |
Mirodoll is one of the lowest-cost BJD producers out there and, having not heard much about them, I was curious to see how they would stack up against other dolls. Normally, their 1/4th scale dolls retail for just over $100 USD, but they had a sale recently and as a result the doll was offered for $90. I think it's important to mention that up front because I do have a fair number of complaints, but it's worth noting that the doll's price was a fraction of some of the ones I'll be comparing him to.
The first surprise was discovering how little packing protection was used: inside the shipping box was a simple draw-string padded bag - and almost nothing else!
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| The shipping bag. |
The second surprise was that they cast my doll in the wrong colour. I had requested their "dark chocolate" resin, but the doll I received is in "dark grey". The colour isn't terrible (and if you wanted to create a drow/dark elf character it might be perfect), and while I can understand shipping errors for off-the-shelf items, for a custom-cast item, I was surprised to see this kind of mix-up happen.
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| Dark grey Lele, unclothed. |
Unfortunately, the dark grey shows sanding marks even more so than tan colours do, and as a result the doll is covered in lighter patches. The faceup is also a bit on the odd side in terms of colour choices, but for something that was included with the price of the doll, I can't really complain.
Still, there are some positives: the weight of the body is surprisingly hefty. While he can't compare with the weighty (and much higher-priced) dolls from Volks or Iplehouse, he easily outweighs even larger-scale dolls from Bobbie/ResinSoul and Angel Street/Fdoll.
The body and head also have much more detailed sculpts than any other doll I've seen at this price point. The body in particular surprised me with its level of detail and also with the solid engineering. In fact, while my overall impression is less than stellar, I would whole-heartedly recommend this body for hybrids.
One other thing of note: although this doll is sold as a 1/4th scale doll, he's actually significantly shorter than any other MSD-range doll that I own. That's not an issue if you're using him as a customization project and intend to make your own clothes, of course - but it does mean that he can't share clothes with many other dolls (and it's why he's wearing a dress here - it's the only thing I had on hand that fit him).
In any case, I think he'll make a great project doll - but if I order from Mirodoll in the future, I'll certainly be tempering my expectations.
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| Height Comparison: Volks SDC Miko |
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| Height Comparison: Island Doll Kevin |
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| Height Comparison: Withdoll Aiden |
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| Battle of the Grey Dolls: with Monster High Neighthan Rot. |
I was interested to see that this very inexpensive BJD came in that green satin bag, because the three Kaye Wiggs dolls, which are really very expensive compared to the majority of other dolls in their size range, come in the very same sort of bag! It's a while since I received my Hope, but she came inside the bag which was inside a brown box, and that was it as far as I can recall!!! Just goes to show eh?
ReplyDeleteHugs Sharon in Spain x
It's interesting to know that the Kaye Wiggs dolls are shipped the same way. I'd have assumed that they'd arrive in more protective layers than most - how funny that they come in less!
DeleteHi, my girl doll order went wrong too, I got the large bust size body in stead of the smaller size I ordered, luckily I liked it, and Mirodoll apologized for the mistake. Sorry to read about the wrong color and the size! Your doll seems to pose rather well, mine doesn't pose well at all - I think her size, 60 cm, has something to do with that.
ReplyDeleteShame that your doll doesn't pose well - I often think it's easier for the larger dolls to be well engineered, so I wonder if there isn't some non-size related engineering issue with the 60cm girl bodies. Still, how funny when the engineering is the best feature on the 40cm boy - I wonder if the dolls had different sculptors/creators?
DeleteAnd how disappointing to find out that these mistakes are so common - although at least I know I'm not alone! ;)
There are a number of companies that use those padded satin bags and the dolls usually survive the postal system okay. Bit of a bummer getting the wrong colour though, are you going to keep him? I agree the face up looks a bit odd, but that is something you can change. Interesting review though, and it's nice to be forewarned...I have wondered why they are so much less expensive.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
X
Good to know about the bags! I've only had one other doll come bagged (my Lumedoll Atik), but he was wrapped in bubblewrap inside the bag and had packing foam in between the bag and box. Seeing none of that extra protection was new to me.
DeleteI'm still debating whether I'll keep him or ask for an exchange - there's a certain strange appeal to this colour, and with a different faceup I think I may have a more interesting look for him than I would have for his brown counterpart.
I keep thinking, he's GREY. Why did they make him grey? I've only one time seen a grey person.
ReplyDeleteHe's got a nice build and looks a little bashful. Congratulations on having him in your group.
Amazing what some folk think is suitable packaging.
Heh, I know, eh? I wonder if they only read the word "dark" and made a strange assumption!
DeleteVery interesting doll and review. I don't have any dolls of this scale, but I think they are really awesome from what I have seen of others collections. His face looks very angry! Nice to know that there are some of these out there that are a bit more affordable.
ReplyDeleteHe does look angry, doesn't he? The scowl was actually one of the reasons I decided to get him (aside from general curiosity about the company) - there are so many dolls with pleasant expressions that I thought this guy would be a nice break from that.
Deletei enjoyed reading your review.
ReplyDeleteThe coloring is odd. It's too bad they cast him in the wrong color. Is dark gray actually a color choice?
dbg
Thanks!
DeleteYes, dark grey is actually one of their standard colours, along with other non-human ones like blue and green. Which does make sense since they have some non-human sculpts (there's a 1/3 elf and a 1/6 rabbit, and I believe a fair number of people buy bodies alone with the goal of matching them to other company-made fantasy heads), but it was certainly a surprise to see on a human-style doll!
I like his color! I think it gives him a sci fi appeal. He does seem a tad ticked to be in that dress. Perhaps he's prefer one less frilly? ^_^
ReplyDeleteHa! We'll have to see if he looks any happier after a change of clothes! ;)
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