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| Withdoll Aiden in temporary eyes and wig |
Back in February I placed an order for Withdoll's Aiden in dark brown (the UV version). I've been admiring the company's work for a few years now (since their limited edition Fenrir was released), but held off on buying anything since I was on the fence about the narrow noses that their sculpts seem to have. But looking at the "Fallen Angel" promo shots, I decided that I could live with the nose, and went for it.
The doll actually arrived nearly three weeks ago, but since I was out of town for April, I only opened him last night (luckily nothing was amiss!).
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| The box in a box |
Withdoll ships their dolls in a cardboard shipping box into which the (also carboard) dollbox fits tightly. I appreciate that since it means that there are fewer
packing materials to throw out (or store), but I know that worries some people as it means the inner box can be damaged when cutting open the outer one.
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| In the box |
Inside the inner box, the doll is protected by multiple layers of foam (included the foam doll cut-out that some people use for crafts). I received a pair of Glib acrylic eyes and an extra set of option hands along with my doll, and these were packed on the base layer, next to the doll itself.
As the eyes were packed separately, the doll obviously ships eyeless.
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| The hip in action |
The first thing that stood out to me upon unboxing this doll was the unique engineering of the hip joints. The body has a multi-piece hip that allows the doll to pose in a surprising variety of realistic positions. It also means that the doll looks rather less realistic when unclothed, but the sacrifice or form for function strikes me as being well worthwhile.
While the hip is the most distinctly different of the joints, the doll is fantastically engineered overall - I would also say that the elbows and chest are exceptionally well done.
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| Showing off the joint movements |
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The doll's colour is also interesting. It's a solid brown, but still has a certain translucence to it, which means that the colour can look deeper or lighter depending on the brightness of a room (or the use of flash). Compared to other companies, it's solidly in the middle of the dark tan and lighter tan options.
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| Iplehouse ebony, Withdoll dark brown, Illusion Spirit tan |
That comparison photo also makes it obvious that this doll is a fair bit skinnier than many other MSD-range dolls. As such, it may be tricky for this guy to share clothing with some of the bigger guys in this size group (he's wearing pants designed for a JID in this photo, and they fall much lower on his body than they do on a JID due to the tiny waist on this doll).
I'm still waiting to finalize this doll's look, so I'll have to post an update at some point, but right now I'm thrilled with him. :)
