Dolls from Angell Studio? Good or bad?

How is the quality?
Good for the price-- the resin has a nice weight to it, and feels pretty matte (I ordered my Angell-Studio F-Nicety Vera twins in Normal urethane, though). The dolls don't really look like the pictures, though. I had to mod mine to look more like the pictures (sand the nose, sand the lips, make the face softer).

How was the customer service?
Great, but I corresponded with them in Chinese, because I'm fluent. That probably made it easier for them.

How was the packaging? Did they send it with a carrier bag?
The box was destroyed, and so was the lid. It wasn't packed securely enough-- one of the boxes had a chunk missing out of it. The dolls were packed in the carrier bag within the destroyed boxes, but they survived. No bubblewrap at all.

Is the store reliable?
Yes, though they could be more clear about paypal fees.

How is the resin smell?
The smell was overwhelmed by the pungent perfume that they spritzed the dolls with, so I don't know.

Anything else you can think of, please let me know!
They seem to like you more if you're Chinese because it's easier for them. The F-Niceties like to bite you, but it appears this problem may have been solved recently. They pose... strangely. They're strung even stranger. I never figured out how to unstring it without cutting the elastic.

And another thing... if you order something there, and you realize you made a mistake with something, how can you cancel the order? Do you email them... or?
Email them, they're really nice. They prefer email over the messageboard. They tend to reply at night around 2-4AM (Pacific).

 

I got my Cain a couple of days ago and I am very happy with him. He came in a silk bag that was in a box, and was wrapped like a burn victim. I didn't ask for a scent but they gave him one anyway, which I don't really mind cause it will wear off in time. I think he is more beautiful than the pictures, even without a face up. My Cain poses okay; he has locking knees and a mobility thigh joint. Resin quality is great to me, and he is strung tightly in the arms, which makes him "punchy" (as opposed to kicky). It's a bit hard to put eyes in due to lack of eye wells. His proportions are a bit odd to me: his head seems too small, the chest is too big and *ahem* his genitals are very wierd looking. But I like my Cain a lot and he is great value for the price they are charging. Highly recommended ^_^

 

They speak mandarin but I don't think it matters when it's written no?

Well I did a comparison here:
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/starbolins/COMP02.php

My main complaint is that my girl isn't very good at standing at all and when she does stand, it's usually easier to make her stand bow-legged. In general the angell-studio girl msd doll prefers to pose bow-legged, but it's ugly so I have to force it to pose in a non-bow-legged way which causes problems. The arm also doesn't hold subtle poses very well but that can be fixed by restringing/hot glue sueding. I'll post again if I can think of any other major posing problems. Posing is a big factor for me but the biggest factor for me about dolls is their face and Angell-studio dolls look nothing like the ones on the site and is filled with ugly angles. Plus the triangle nose bothered me tons so I had to sell my girls. I still have one though for just in case I can think of something to do with her body. Out of all the angell-studio dolls, I think gus has the least amount of bad angles but I could be wrong. But yeah the bad angles I could actually get by but the triangle nose is something I can never get over with. I think I'd be a big angell-studio fan and have like 5 of their dolls right now if they would stop sculpting triangle noses.

They come pre-assembled. My girl came sanded but I don't know if all angell-studio dolls come sanded, sorry.

You can choose what resin you want for the sd angell-studio dolls but not the msds anymore(I don't know why). I got my girls before the change, that's why they're urethane angell-studio msds.

The difference between urethane and french resin is that french resin is glows so it gives your doll an ethereal look. French resin also has more tooth than urethane so it holds your dolls poses better. I don't like french resin though because not only does your doll yellow faster if they are french resin, it doesn't yellow evenly. So your doll could have random yellow "tan" lines of where he/she was exposed to the sun more.

 

I have one of Ty's girls now. I have to add in that compared to my Angel Region boy, and my old DoC boy, she feels a lot more... smooth. Like glass XD It's really noticeable compared to my AR, but just barely compared to my DoC.

 

大家好，这里谁会看中文？

 

你好,我會看中文。

Ahhhh, I really wanted gabriel since gabriel is perfect for a boy I've been wanting to make but unfortunately yes, she does have the triangle nose.

I've actually heard that the sd boy body is quite good but don't take my word on it and look up some comparisons to decide for yourself since I don't own one.

I like to look at my dolls from all angles and take pictures at all angles without really worrying "oh damn you're ugly this view, oh, and this view and...etc." It's really annoying for me. Though the current dolls that I own don't have zero bad angles, they actually have very little beyond the typical doll ones like don't take a picture from under your doll's chin cause it looks ugly problems.

My vera girls were actually modded since I thought I could get past the triangle nose by modding but in the end it was not really possible(unless I want a quite a bit smaller nose which I don't). The other problem face wise with their dolls is that they look pretty dimensional on the site but in real life their sculpts are surprisingly flat.

I'm sure you'll be able to restring and suede/hotglue fine for the first time, it's easier if you have a friend to help though because restringing the angell-studio vera was really difficult for me and my sister together(she doesn't pose really well so I had to string her super tight but because of her strange stringing, it was a great struggle).

But yeah I really do love the angell-studio dolls but I can't get over that damn triangle nose...=[

 

I actually like the triangle nose (maybe because I'm addicted to anime, lol). You can probably sand it down a little so it looks more rounded. I have found that my boy can look smug, thoughtful or just happy depending on what angle you set him at, which is what I've been looking for ^_^

 

This is a good thing to know, because I am planning on getting Gabriel-pink(when she comes back) or Cain-White

 

I'd like to hear more about the fragrance options. Are they horrible, or do you like them?

 

(Sorry this is a bit jumbled, but I'm trying to write it out as I remember it)

This is my experience with Angell-Studio:

September 22:
I placed my order for Milky White Kana head & body + custom make-up + nightgown + fine body blushing, coating + Elegant Lily Resin Scent. This includes a free wig & eyes.

I also ordered at the same time a Lilith Head w/ custom make-up + elegant lily scent. This also comes with free eyes & wig.

I ordered a pink wig, and also White Lilith's Black Leather Outfit.

I noticed awhile after I placed my order, that they listed an optional "gold frizzle" with lilith's outfit at an additional cost. I asked them if this meant the wig, and they said yes. So I placed an order for the wig + additional items.

I first asked if one of Adam's outfits fit a Volks SD13 boy. Tony replied with YES. So I ordered that along with Lilith's White Lace outfit + wig, and Vera's Black Outfit. Tony wrote back and said Vera's outfit is for MSD-sized doll. I said that that was ok, since I was ordering it for an MSD-sized doll.

It took about a week and 7 emails to finally get a price quote and a paypal request from them for the additional items order. When I got it, it said that it was cancelled. I opened a new transaction and paid what they requested and sent it to the paypal address they had in the original request.

I sent an email stating that the payment was sent, only to get an email back from Tony stating that they did not have a paypal account for their English email account, and that I needed to cancel the payment and send payment to their original paypal account. He also said that he had overcharged me $15 - (this in addition to the $5 overcharge of the original order due to their instructions being confusing. I live in Virginia and chose "VA" after already chosing "US" as my country .... he told me "VA" meant Vatican, and that they overcharged me $5 in shipping due to me selecting "VA".)

I checked my paypal account to cancel the payment, and found out that I couldn't cancel the payment because it had automatically been "CONFIRMED". I emailed Tony back and told him that either he DID have an account under the EN email address, or someone was being a fraud and taking payments under AS name. 5 HOURS LATER, I received an email stating "Good news! We received your payment!" It takes 5 hours to find out that you indeed DO have the english email account attached to your paypal account?!

So to sum things up to this point - I've been overcharged by $20, it took about 10 emails to get them to answer questions on the original order and the additional order. Tony said he would compinsate my losses with additional accessories and a free pair of eyes of my choosing. I requested the lighter crystal purple eyes on their site. He said that was ok. When I sent the order for additional items, I requested a slight adjustment to the face-up request. Tony said that was ok and that he would pass the word on to the artists.

I received an email on October 13th that AS had delivered my goods on October 9th. I checked the tracking number, and it said that the goods hadn't been shipped out until the 12th. I received my doll, head, lilith's black dress, 2 extra eyes & wigs, and other items listed on the site that says come with the doll. (the pillow that turns into a carrier bag, box, picture cards) I did NOT receive the additional order items, nor did I receive the items in compensation for my $20 overcharge.

Lilith & Kana's heads were DEFAULT, not the request I made. I was upset that Kana came with white eyelashes, since I had requested darker ones. Overall though, they are very beautiful face-ups, so I can't complain much more on that part.

They had put LILITH'S head on KANA'S body, even though I requested a KANA doll and an extra LILITH HEAD. They also gave me a box with LILITH'S name on it, and the date "2007/10/9".

The body ... the coating was flaking off, and it had black marks on it. I was able to take most of the black marks off with a Mr. Clean Eraser, but there is still one black mark that is permanent. The blushing on the arms, knees, and shoulders is barely visible. The blushing on her nipples and navel area are nice, though. The nail polish is almost invisible. It looks like they just added clear-coat to them. The blushing doesn't look much like the blushing in the default pictures of the body. I found a piece of resin rattling around in the box and found out that it came off of her upper shoulder joint, but isn't all that visible.

Even though Tony was very nice and replied within 24 hours 75% of the time, I've counted a total of 28 emails back and forth total.

In the end, this is what I got:

Lilith Head on Kana's Body (default face-up instead of requested, body had flaking coating, black marks, uneven blushing, and a piece of resin that had chipped off)

Kana Head w/ default face-up instead of requested, white eyelashes instead of dark as requested.

Lilith's outfit (very beautiful and good quality, but you would have to take off her hands to put the arm decorations on, and I was afraid to pull the shorts on over the stockings because they had beaded decoration that the shorts didn't fit over very well.)
Lilith's nightgown (also beautiful & good quality)
2 short boyish wigs for free
2 pairs of eyes for free - 1 pair 16mm black, and 1 pair 18mm red
box
pillows that zip around into a carrier with handles
Elegant Lily Fregrance - *very* light scent, you have to put your nose literally up to the doll to smell it.

The additional order was not included in the box with Lilith and Kana, and I had to send about 7 emails until I got a response a week later with the EMS code - unfortunately, it wasn't needed since the box arrived battered on the same day. The contents inside the box were ok, though.

I received in the second box:

Lilith's White Lace Outfit - Did NOT include the hat that is stated as included on the site, but it is still very well made and stretches to fit my Volks SD F-01 doll. The wig I bought with it also fits. I was able to get the arm decorations over my Volks doll's hands, but would have to take my AS doll's hands off to put them on. The stockings were too tight for my Volks doll.
Adam's Seductive Outfit - This DOES NOT fit a Volks SD13 boy!!!! The pants absolutely do not fit, and the shirt you have to stretch to put on. It doesn't fit nicely like it does in the AS pictures, but it does fit with a bit of struggling. The chains & jewelry are very well made.
Vera's Black Outfit - This fit my old version DOC Tender Bee-a. The corset in the center stretches a bit, but otherwise fits ok.

I still did not receive the items to compensate for the $20 overcharge. I wrote back to AS and asked them to either send the items ASAP, or send me a paypal refund. They sent me a refund.

All in all, AS does have very good customer service through Tony. He responds quickly for the most part. Sometimes instead of replying to old emails, you have to write a new one with a bold title, and then he will notice and respond ASAP. Other companies I've dealt with don't even respond, so it's good to have some communication.

My doll was packaged with her lower arms, chest, lower legs & feet, and head in bubble wrap. If they had wrapped the ENTIRE doll like a mummy, the doll probably would have arrived without any chipping, black marks, or coating problems.

I've noticed that AS is getting better in their packaging and such, so I will hopefully be ordering just a doll body for my extra head by the end of the year. I'm hoping this time it will be a smoother transaction and that the body will arrive flawless.

Also, please note that AS DOES charge 4% Paypal charges + price of items + price of S&H. This is not noted until you are near the end of the purchasing stage. So please keep this in mind before ordering.

Here is a picture of my lovely Lilith, as you can see her face-up is done very well and looks very close to the image on their website:



If you have any questions that aren't answered above, please feel free to PM me and I will try to answer your question as best as I can.

~ Jibrille

 

Wow you ran into a lot of problems with AS, Jibrille. I think they have improved since then because I didn't have any major problems when I ordered. An issue that still remains is the black markings. There are marks on my boy's thighs that were removable with a magic eraser, but some are permanent. I requested the "dark" eyes option and wrote on the order comments that I wanted brown eyes, but I ended up with gray eyes (just about the lightest color you can get, lol). I will have to sell them because I didn't want them for my doll plus they are flat-back and won't fit in my other dolls' eye wells. I am not a fan of the wig they sent me; there are hairs coming off and the quality is just sub par to me (luckily I have another wig my doll likes better). I just take it as "you get what you pay for", but I think the positives outweigh the negatives.

 

I don't really know how much better they can get in a month's time (I placed my order on the 22nd of September, 2007 - received it on October 16th, 2007 - today is October 27th.) But I do feel optimistic that they will do better since they have improved since this thread was started.

I let them know about the dark marks, the chipped resin, the overcharge problem, etc. The only thing I did not mention was the missing hat that was supposed to come with an outfit - by that time, I was just tired of emailing back and forth with concerns.

I do applaud Tony for doing his best, though, and have told him that he's the best customer service rep I've dealt with through any doll company - and that's the truth.

And as I mentioned before, I *will* be buying from them again hopefully before the end of the year.

As you said, the positives *do* outweigh the negative.

But as for "you get what you pay for" ... I spent just over $950 USD through AS. I've bought lesser expensive dolls that came without black marks or chipped resin. I do believe that they can do better in their packaging and quality control. I also spent quite a bit of money on the Adam Seductive Outfit that I was told would fit SD13, and it did not. So I'm out of money for that. I'll try to sell the pants in the marketplace soon, but I'm unsure exactly what type of doll they'll fit since I don't have any other SD-sized boys other than a Volks SD13.

 

Huge thumbs up for Angell Studio - I just got my Cain in today.

1 . Did the dolls look like the ones in the photos?
Yes

2. How is the posability of the doll?
Surprisingly good. He stands right out of the box, holds his arms up, etc.

3. What kind of skintone do the dolls have?
I can check later. I ordered a white skin Cain & a pink Adam (to go with a DoT body)

4. How was the customer service?
urm.... well.... I did send a couple of emailed questions but never got a reply. Use the "contact" or care board on their site - I got a response throught that. I also never received a shipping notice, but I ordered on (09/21/07) & received him today (10/27/07). I also asked for the works - body seams, blushing, faceup, etc. Not too bad!

5. How was the packaging? Did they send it with a carrier bag?
The packaging was VERY well done. His arms & hands, torso, legs & feet were all seperately wrapped. His face-mask was double-sided. The carrier bag is actually the futons sewed together with handles & a logo. It is very cute!

6. Is the store reliable?
I had a straight forward order, so I imagine so, as much as other online stores.

7. How is the resin smell?
resin-like ^^;; The Adam head has no smell & my Cain smells faintly of vanilla.

8. Anything else?
Cain's pants won't close. But I use Marsh's fabulous pants, so that doesn't matter. I consider it to be a good deal for the clothes regardless. That being said, I plan to order again. I LOVE the extra face-masks in the pretty gold/sheer bags. But what are those light colour metal threads? ^^;;

 

I asked Tony if the Adam Seductive Outfit fit Volks SD13 Boy before I purchased it. I told him I would only purchase it if it fit a Volks SD13 Boy. He told me that it DOES fit SD13 with very slight difference, but he was wrong. The outfit that I got does NOT fit SD13 Boy. The pants do not fit AT ALL, and the blouse stretches in the front to clasp and looks awkward.

Not all of the clothes they sell fit the J-exp bodies. Some of them, like the Vera outfits, fit MSD-sized dolls like Vera. But they do fit Angell-Studio dolls for the most part, although some of the items I got (such as Lilith's panties+garters+stocking set that is all sewn together) is very tight and you have to struggle to put it on. The arm decorations do not fit over the hands - you would have to take the hands off before putting them on.

I only know this for the following outfits:

White Lilith Black Leather Outfit (Outfit fits, shorts are troublesome to put on over the panties/garters/stockings, arm decorations do not fit over hands.)
Pink Lilith White Lace Outfit (fits Volks SD9/10 tightly, and arm decorations slip over SD hands, but not over AS hands. Stockings are too tight for Volks SD)
Vera Black Outfit (fits old style DoC girl body)
Adam Seductive Outfit (Shirt is tight and a stretch to put on, pants don't fit at all)

I have not tried the lingerie set on Lilith/Kana yet, since it is too similar to the Black Leather Outfit - I didn't see much of a point. Once I have another body to put the extra head on, though, I will have use for the lingerie set.

I do NOT know how well the other AS outfits will fit on other AS dolls, as I only have the 1/3 girl body, and the Lilith and Kana heads. The other dolls I have are listed in my signature.

I suggest you contact AS about the fit of their other outfits for AS dolls and the different sizes of dolls they sell.