Dollshe

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Dollshe was one of the first Korean companies to produce BJDs. Dollshe's first offering in late 2003, Bermann, was the first 70cm doll and presented a new visual aesthetic - a thin, elongated body with disproportionately long limbs and a gaunt, sentient face. The new aesthetic presented shaped all future 70cm dolls from other companies; it has only been recently that other body shapes have become available in that size category. Though the Bermann originally had a lukewarm reception, Bermann is one of the rarest, most expensive dolls on the second-hand market.

Dollshe dolls were available through LUTS for a short time, then moved their sales to Tensiya under the care of artist/seamstress Anu. For a time, Dollshe dolls could also be purchased through Dollmore and Iplehouse.

After a painful scandal with Dollmore, Dollshe dolls disappeared from the market as their sculptor, Kim Ki-Yong, created a new body.

The current Dollshe dolls are now available through the Dollshe Craft website but can still be ordered through the Dollstown website. Now that Dollshe has a fully functioning website, it is uncertain whether new orders through the Dollstown site will continue once all previous orders on the Dollstown website have been filled. It is probably advisable to place any new orders directly through the Dollshe website. Dollshe Craft, the casting company formed around Dollshe, does the molding and casting for Dollstown and several other companies.

Lines

Dollshe bodies were also unique in that they were the first to experiment with non-traditional jointing structures. The original-body Bermann had joints with extra shells and pieces to create added posability. The second release of the 70cm male body was simplified, but still had double-joints.

The most recent release of Dollshe male bodies has an unprecedented number of pieces and joints for an extensive range of motion.

2003 - 2008

70cm male (original body; Bermann body)

It should also be noted that there are two versions of Bermann's body, the Original 77 which were released in S. Korea and the later issues that were offered through company, Tensiya.

60cm female

Tiny

70cm (second body; unlimited)

All male heads, except Van, came in an "SA" version ("slack afternoon") which had half-closed eyes. Hound also came in an "IM" version ("impressive"), which had a furrowed brow and sullen expression.

Male
Female

2009 - Current

74cm (DS28M 32s Body) & (DS28M 35 Body)

In January 2009, Dollshe unveiled their new body (male), the DS28M 35 BODY. The body was named after the 35 pieces that made up the structure of this body. The vision behind this design, was to offer more range in movement, greater pose-ability and a doll that would closely mimic the human body's range of motion. Shortly after the release of the DS28M 35 BODY, Dollshe introduced the DS28M 32 BODY (male) in March 2009, which was almost identical with the exception of being made up of 32 pieces instead of 35. The DS28M 32 BODY is easier to pose and to some, more aesthetically pleasing than the DS28M 35.

70.5cm (DS18M Rhythmos BODY)

After the release of the DS28M 32 Body and DS28M 35 Body, Dollshe introduced a new 70.5 cm doll in November of 2009. DS18M Rhythmos BODY (male), was suppose to take the place of their old, unlimited 70cm (male) body that had stopped production in April 2008. It is a much thinner, less muscular and less complicated body than the old, unlimited body. The DS18M Rhythmos has the ball-joints of the body attached directly to the forearms of the arms and the lower legs as well as a two piece torso over the three piece torso, to promote easier posing.

Dollshe used the term Rhythmos after the Greek word of rhythmos, to highlight their desire to show a body design which reflected the idea of rhythm, flow and a perfection in beautiful lines.

The body also comes with extra pieces of flat resin stubs meant to be switched out for the hands when dressing the doll, to allow for an easier time in putting on shirts and jackets.

70cm (DS18M Pure BODY)

In July 2010, Dollshe unveiled their re-designed version of the old, unlimited 70cm body as the DS18M Pure Body (male). As Dollshe stated, it was a 'cleaned up and re-designed' version of the old, previously unlimited 70cm body but one which was more aesthetically pleasing with more muscle definition and offered more stability in standing and holding poses. The biggest overall changes included eliminating the infamous "belly pop" by making the torso two parts instead of the previous three design, re-sculpting the buttocks which eliminated the predecessor's "clenched" design and re-sculpting the lower legs and knees to allow for more stability when standing.

During the promotion and sale of the DS18M Pure Body Event, Dollshe decided to allow customers to switch their orders from the DS18M Pure Body to the old, unlimited body (which had been discontinued in 2008), due to high customer demand, very slow deliveries of orders and various production problems. Whether the old, unlimited body will be permanently available in the future is not certain.

Head Sculpts (2009 - current)

When Dollshe started up production again in 2009, they decided to offer their doll heads as faceplates rather than the traditional head and head cap sculpts. The reason was to allow for easy changing between OE and SA versions as well as be a measure against piracy. Saint and Bernard are therefore re-issues or re-sculpts and have very slight differences than their previous head and head cap versions.

Currently, Saint and Bernard are the only old sculpts to have been re-issued. A number of individuals have asked Dollshe through the message boards if other well-loved and popular heads sculpts such as Hound and Husky would be re-issued and Dollshe has said that they had no plans to do so. Bermann, who was always intended as limited release, would also not be re-issued.

All current heads come in an open eyed ("OE") version and an "SA" ("slack afternoon") version which has closed or half-closed eyes.

Male

Skin tones

Dollshe currently offers the following skin tones or resin colors:

  • Pale (equivalent to white skin)
  • Fresh skin (equivalent to normal skin)
  • Oriental
  • Pale Tan
  • Tan
  • Ebony

Dollmore versus Dollshe

In November of 2006, Dollmore released Kyle Reese, the first of the 70cm male Dollmore Model line. Dollshe alleged that Dollmore modified the 70cm Dollshe body (which Dollmore was also selling at the time) to create this new doll. Dollshe provided comparative photos, including images of the inside of the pieces, which showed identical proportions and in some cases, identical tool marks. Hound and Kyle Reese could interchange pieces flawlessly.

Within a short time, Dollmore released a second version of the Model body that looked less similar to Hound. Dollshe pledged to fight it out legally, but the actual outcome of any court proceedings is unknown.

Dollshe and Handsculpting

Dollshe Craft has strong feelings about originality, piracy, and hand-sculpting and will not work with sculptors or companies that do not meet their standards of artistry and ethics. A post by Anjonghak of Dollstown sums up the philosophy of both Dollshe and Dollstown.

Dollshe dolls are all sculpted by hand with photographic proof of originality freely provided.

Links

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