Angel Of Dream (AoD) 60cm Discussion - Part 2

Perhaps you can contact Alice’s Collection (or other dealer that carries AoD) and ask if the recent face ups are different from the promo ones? Mayhaps even ask for a picture of a more recent faceup??

 

That's a really good idea! I'll definitely contact them then. I might do it when I'm a little closer to having the funds since I don't want to bother them when I can't buy yet. Hopefully people still buy from AoD, even if there isn't much activity re:AoD dolls on this forum... which makes me wonder if I should try looking at international/non-English speaking forums if AoD is more popular other places... but idk where to start with that so contacting AC is a good bet xD

 

Some threads simply seem quieter than others. The large DZ thread is fairly quiet, too. I don't remember the last time I got a notification for the large Leeke boys. It may be over a year since I got a notification for the OrientDoll thread.

I think sometimes it may be connected to how often new stuff comes out from a company that keeps a thread moving. The Soom thread is fairly active as is the Dollshe one. The Impl thread moves along smartly, too.

 

I think other doll-friendly areas on the internet attract some dolls more than others too. It seems like I don't see too many of X doll on DoA but they will have 10 or more posts a day on FB or Insta. I really prefer the forum style to talk about dolls, but sometimes they just are not on here. I'm not really sure the exact reasons, dollitics? It's beyond me.

 

I didn't realize there was even an active discussion thread for AoD dolls until I just saw this pop up in the recent posts. I had a bjd Instagram account for awhile and never saw AoD there either. I have an AoD Yuki that I got in 2018, but she was on my wishlist ever since I started the bjd hobby.

 

I belong to several doll groups on FB but I don't recall seeing a lot of stuff about AoD in the wild. My favourite doll is Moswen, an AoD Chi (OT for this thread). He was my first and I still love him to pieces. For this thread I have Kijika who is an LE Doll/AoD Adonis collaboration doll. They only made 38 of him and for the longest time the majority of photos found via a Google search were of Kijika. I've probably posted this photo before but it's my favourite of Moswen & Kijika.
Moswen & Kijika 1 by ID Locke, on Flickr

The vast majority of my collection are dolls that you barely see or that nobody knows exist. I didn't intend for that to happen. It just did. To be fair, some are from companies that folded ages ago and people newer to the hobby have likely never heard of them. Others are from independent artists with really small runs. Some people recognize (like Unidoll Ark) but you rarely see him anymore.

 

Yeah, it's strange how some very good dolls and companies are seldom mentioned. I rarely share mine, but I was put off and heartbroken over the sentiments expressed about pregnant women and motherhood in general, so I keep my little resin lady out of public's view to save my own feelings being trampled.

 

When Kijika was first released there were some not so kind words about his sculpt. Others didn't like him but obviously I did because I bought him. It's still not a good feeling when someone disses on something you enjoy/find beautiful/speaks to you.

Thing is, these dolls are art and art is highly subjective. What one person likes, another will hate. I think it's a good rule of thumb that if you've got nothing polite to say then don't say anything.

My most recent purchase (not an AoD) is most definitely not to a lot of people's tastes because of the very heavy mods done to him by a former owner. he sat in the MP for a couple of years. For my purposes with his character he's perfect. he intrigued me because he is so very far from the typical BJD beauty. I can guarantee that if you see him you won't forget him as he is not just a random face in the crowd.

 

@Iron_Dog I really like your Kijika. He's a good example of what I like about Angel of Dream-- there is an expressiveness about their faces that goes beyond a typical neutral pretty face. I wonder if we never see them around anywhere because they've just fallen out of fashion? It seems that over the years I've been in the hobby, the trends have continued steadily towards more and more realism and away from stylized sculpts like AoD.

Here's my Agnes (AoD Yuki). I myself do tend to collect dolls that are more towards the realistic end of the scale, but there's always been something about her face that I loved, and she hung out on my wishlist for years and years before I finally got one. Weirdly enough, even though AoD is a lot less realistic than most of my other dolls, she doesn't look out of place with them.

At some point, after I have several other projects finished, I'm probably going to mod her eyes a little bit and then have her faceup redone. I love her as is, but I am also really fussy with my dolls' eyes and tend to mod and tinker in that area until they're exactly perfect. A lot of the time, the eye mods I end up doing are such slight changes that it's hard to tell I changed anything, but it makes them feel more right to me.

 

I'd say my collection is divided into 3rds with each 3rd being stylistic, realism and fantasy. The dolls I buy are whatever their character dictates. Sometimes that means realistic and other times not.

Your Agnes is lovely @thedarkeststar13 I like her wig. Once my guys have their look, it doesn't change. I had to purchase Moswen a new wig last year as his previous one was simply done after 11 years. It took me forever to get used to the new wig although the style was very similar to his original one. Even now, a year later, when I take him out I have a moment of surprise before my brain clicks that he's got a different wig now.

Eyes are a huge deal to me, too. Now that I make my own, it's a LOT easier to get the look I want as well as a lot faster to get the eyes in the doll.

 

I ordered a white 60cm body back on September 10th, and I received it yesterday. The doll actually took longer to ship to me then it did to get made. 10 days! 10.freakin'.days! for the body to be made. I was shocked. I ordered the body through Engodoll a Chinese dealer on taobao. I had to have the body shipped by boat though, since all the other options left open to me cost more then I paid for the body. Once my forwarding service shipped it, it took a month to get to me.

So, far AoD white is a decent match for Volks white, just shinier. I'm debating between putting my rose white Huisa Switch head on the body or my Le Petit Frere Volks head on the body. Switch's rose white resin is noticeable more pink, and I'm not sure if I want my Le Petit Frere to be as tall as my Volks Ernest.

 

@Iron_Dog I think your Chi is the one I really liked when I was considering that sculpt as a newbie! My tastes ended up changing at the time but Moswen is still awesome! Kijika has a very expressive face, I agree that that does seem to be a thing for AoD- more stylized and expressive faces, but not completely smooth and anime like, say, Dream of Doll(R.I.P... I thought that company would be around forever). It does seem like that's going out of fashion, unfortunately. I've always preferred more stylized dolls and nowadays the stylized ones are more aligned with Doll Chateau or newer DollZone dolls if they're not straight-up anime. For someone who's finally having the time/means as an adult to actually be more in the hobby, it's difficult knowing that the styles I loved back when I was a newbie are just out of fashion nowadays.

@thedarkeststar13 Agnes is very pretty! I'm somewhat faceblind so that sculpt looks to me like it would fit well with realistic dolls but I may be missing some details that make it different. I think the faceup adds to the realistic affect. And modding dolls to your tastes is something I think is really cool, I hope it works out! I've considered getting a doll just to mess around modding with because I missed my chance to get an extra head for any of my current crew when they are new and I'm too nervous about messing up to work with the originals. I seem to have bad luck with the dolls I fall for being limiteds or discontinued and I get scared I might not be able to undo something and then be unable to find a head that looks the way they look before the mod... if that even makes sense lol. I stayed up all night so my brain's not very coherent rn.

@Cloudedmind congrats!! That's really fast! Maybe they had one in stock or something? That is some awesome turnaround time, even with the long shipping!
Which bust size did you go with, may I ask? I'm still not sure about which one I want for my girl when I get her, I'm mainly worried about clothing fitting her well rather than nude appearance tbh.I'd probably go with what's the most "standard" without being gigantic but it's hard to tell in the pics on Alice's Collections. If you have pictures I'd also be interested in seeing how the white resin looks in photos these days since I'm probably going to go with that for my Meng Li when I get her unless it's somehow absolutely horrible.

 

@Cattya Thank you. On the plus side, dolls that are "out of fashion" can frequently be picked up 2nd hand for less because they are less desired by the majority of people. Out of the 68 dolls I own, 46 are limited/discontinued/company folded. Most of those I purchased 2nd hand. Some of them were very difficult to find like my 2 grails (Impl Miguel the Demon Hunter LE 100 & Unidoll Ark), both of which took me 7 years to acquire. As long as you're patient and doggedly determined, you stand a good chance of eventually finding what you're after.

Being face-blind is equal parts tough and irritating. I was at a doll meet and kept staring at someone else's doll because I thought it was beautiful and it called to me strongly. I finally asked the owner what sculpt he was. I was highly irritated to find out that it was an Angel Toast Crow because not only do I own one, I had mine sitting next to me the entire time. Yes, a face-up can massively change a doll but I'd had no clue they were the same sculpt. I think that's why I subconsciously have my dolls painted in a way that makes them distinctive. Coping mechanism for face-blindness that's transported over to my dolls.

 

@Cattya That's certainly possible. I'd be interested in testing it again, but at the moment don't need another body in that size. And, sorry, I should have mentioned that the body I bought is the 60cm boy body, but I can still try to take pictures of the resin color this weekend if you want.

I do have one problem with the body though. It's left bottom leg part is curved compared to the right. I don't know if the leg wasn't fully cured when it was assembled and tight stringing or the awkward position it ended up in during shipping is what caused it to bend some.

 

Does anybody have owner pics and/or opinions on the 62cm version II body? Also, the given shoulder measurement of 13cm seems pretty narrow to me—could someone possibly confirm it is the true width, measured with the arms included?

 

@Havra I think the version two body is rather new. It certainly wasn't available when I ordered my now 62cm ver. 1 body back in July. As such there's not likely to be owner pics for it.

 

Oh! I had no idea how new it was. I just saw it on Alice’s Collections last night and wondered. Well, I suppose nothing to do but wait until they start popping up.

 

@Havra While this is only supposition, my version one body has 13.5 cm shoulders across the widest part instead of the 12cm Alice Collections has listed for the body. So, it's possible that the new bodies shoulders may be wider then what's listed as well. The measurement might have been taken at the narrower parts of the shoulder width.

 

@Cloudedmind
Thank you for the tip. When it isn’t an overlay on a photo with a line showing where the measurement was taken, I’m often left skeptical as to what I’m really looking at.

(Same with neck circumference measurements. Is that the top point of the neck, the base, or...?)

If I had a spare $200 I would be very tempted to just buy one myself, but that isn’t the case atm so I’ll wait.

 

@Havra I recently ordered the version II 62cm boy body and it should arrive to me in a few days so I can get the measurements for you if you'd like!

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I'm really excited to see the body in person, it looks very nice, especially for the price. Also, can you believe it only took 7 days from the day I ordered to the day it was shipped out to me?? That's honestly SO amazing