A Quick Comparison: Illusion Spirit mini and Volks SDC Hands

Since Volks has yet to release option hands for the SDC boys, a question that pops up fairly often is about the alternatives that might be out there. Illusion Spirit's jointed hands are one option that comes up fairly frequently, and while I don't have those, I do have an Illusion Spirit mini with their standard hands, which have the same wrist joint, so if you're curious about the fit, this is for you!

Top row: IS hand on SDC arm front & back.
Bottom row: SDC Miko and IS Zhu Qing, each wearing the other's right hand.

The wrist joint on the IS hand is slight smaller than the SDC one, but still fits reasonably well. I can't speak to the colour match since my IS sample is tan, but it looks like fit wouldn't be an issue at least.

Adventures in Humidity (or Dolls in the New Garden)

This shouldn't have been as much as a surprise at is was, but I've discovered a new challenge when it comes to outdoor doll photography: the humidity.  It was over 83% here today, and my camera lens kept fogging up - even after being outside for a good 20 minutes!

Still, I did get manage to get a few pictures snapped, so I thought I'd share them (even if a few of them do have a bit of a natural filter to them!).

SD13 Irvin (I'd just wiped off the lens)

Clothes shopping for MSDs: Guess Doll

Two outfits spread out over 3 dolls.

One of the added money-sinks of getting into ball-jointed dolls is that the relative price of ready-made doll clothes tends to be proportional to the price of the dolls, which is to say high.  That tends to be offset by the fact that these guys are large enough that sewing for them is less of a challenge than it is for smaller dolls, so it does even out on that front.  Unfortunately for me, my sewing machine broke when I moved, so I've been watching for alternative clothing sources.

One clothing line that caught my eye was Guess Doll.  I've primarily seen the clothes sold through the dealer Denver Doll Emporium - shipping costs from them had turned me off when I was on the other side of the border, but now that I'm based in the US, I decided to order a couple of outfits and hope for the best.

The two outfits sets that I ordered ("Casual Affair" and "Cagey") were both in the $50-$60 range, which is quite reasonable considering the number of pieces included (two tops plus jeans in the first, and three tops plus jeans in the second).  I wasn't hugely impressed with the darker jeans from the "Casual Affair" set, which seemed a little thing and with only basic detailing, but everything else exceeded my expectations.  In fact, I would say the the quality is almost on par with some doll clothes that I've seen listed at twice the price.

Lumedoll Atik in the "Cagey" jeans and hoodie.

Withdoll Aiden in the "Casual Affair" tank and jeans.
These jeans were my least favourite item in the bunch.

JID Boris in the "Casual Affair" overshirt

SDC Miko in the "Cagey" t-shirt

SDC Miko in the "Cagey" jacket and t-shirt

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Works in Progress: The Unfinished Dolls

SDC Miko in his default look

Some people never buy a doll without a plan for what to do with it.  I am not one of those people.  Naturally, that means that my collection is sometimes a little less cohesive than some, but it also means that it's full of unfinished projects, and I thought it might be fun to share a few of them.

WIP #1 is my Volks SDC Miko.  I'd been eyeing the SDC line for years, but had never had the opportunity to pick one up (at least at a price I was comfortable with) until coming across this guy whilst browsing Mandarake late last year.  I was surprised to find him at all, but to have found him with his complete fullset was even better, so of course he landed in my cart.

But when he arrived, I realized that while he's a fabulous doll, I don't actually like his default look.  So the first thing I did was put his head in the freezer and take out those big blue eyes (if you've never taken the eyes out of an older Volks doll, tossing the head in the freezer will make it easier - although the newer ones seem to use a freeze-proof glue, so the newer your doll, the less likely it is to work). 

SDC Miko and Fdoll Charlotte
in their most recent styles

I replaced the eyes with some brown glass ones, but felt like that wasn't enough of a difference - unfortunately I didn't have any flashes of inspiration, so the poor guy ended up in cast-off wigs and clothes.  I'm thinking that a faceup with darker colours may be in his future now, but we shall see!

In his most recent photo (there on the right), you will also see WIP #2, a Fantasy Doll Charlotte.  I ordered her last year, when rumours that Fdoll was discontinuing their dark tan started circulating.  I didn't have a plan for her, but I'd been thinking about picking up one of their tinies for years, and had a good experience with sister company Angel Street, and had always wished that I'd picked up my Angel Street doll in dark tan.

So as with the Miko, this girl came home without a plan.  She also (unexpectedly, since I didn't do much research) came with a free faceup, which I believe may be one of the barriers to knowing what to do with her.  I should wipe it, because it's not to my taste, but it's just cute enough that I haven't done it yet.

Fdoll Charlotte in looks that just didn't quite work.

I will say that one great benefit of not knowing what do with with a doll of this size is that it's so much easier to find clothing for them since they can share with standard size fashion dolls.  In these photos she's wearing a Liv and Barbie outfits (and even a Liv doll wig in the pool photo), and another taken from an anthro doll.

Li Shang's default look

Lest anyone think that it's only BJDs that end up in the unfinished pile, WIP #3 is a customization project built around a Disney Classic dolls - Li Shang from Mulan. 

Years ago, I had a plan to turn the old McDonald's Li Shang (more an action figure than a doll) into Sky from Jade Empire.  I never got around to it. In part that was because I lost the base figure during a move (although he would have been easy enough to replace), but primarily because I was getting away from working on smaller action figures in general.

Jade Empire's Sky

But then I was wandering through a Disney Store last week (looking for a t-shirt for a nephew), and the "Sale! $10!" sign caught my eye.  And remembering my old plans for the figure, I thought I'd give that project another go, doll scale this time.  We'll see if I actually get around to it this time! ;)