Dream Valley Mini Discussion Thread

@lambentumbra Hello and welcome! Definitely a good spot to ask, no problem.

I don't have a Dream Valley doll specifically with a two-part torso, but I have their Rabbit Olivia with a three-part torso and some other dolls with various two- and three-part torso configurations. I like a three-part torso well enough but yeah, there's only so much you use it for. When I do posing, either to get the dolls set up in their cabinet or for photos, most of my torso motion comes from chest joints.

I grabbed my Olivia from the cabinet to see about getting her to do some lower torso poses.

Spoiler: Lower Torso Poses

Standard Pose, No LT Movement


Max Forward LT Movement


Max Backward LT Movement (Note: she really didn't want to stay in this position)


Max Side Movement (Note: only photographed one side; it was a little fussier getting her to pose the other way but not really different)

So, in conclusion, maybe if you want your Cedar to be a yoga instructor or have a really sassy side-lean?

 

I ordered Uncia with the 3-part torso (because cat-like…movements? in my head at least?) and he hasn’t arrived yet, but seeing Olivia makes me regret that choice . I only got it for posing better, but had I known it doesn’t do much, I would have picked the 2-part torso.

I suppose it is always useful in case you wanna use the animal legs with another torso for some reason.

@JaxxCapta Do you think the hip part just slides back into regular position when you try to move it forward or back and some sueding could help or is it just not designed to really do anything? (Asking because I would like my doll to be able to arch his back a bit more.)

 

I think some sueding might help things stay in place! Especially for tipping it forward and to the side. Most of the trouble was that things kept sliding back in place, though for tipping back it felt like it didn't have a ton of room to move, either. For a guy doll, the hips may be shaped different so you might be able to finagle more motion out of it.

 

Thanks! I’ll play around with it when I get him!

 

@slight & @JaxxCapta Thanks for your input! I think I'm considering the three-part torso a bit more now... I do kinda like that side lean lol. I did think of a couple more questions if that's alright. Do you (or anyone else that has one) find that the torso being split into totally separate parts/the elastic not going all the way through the whole doll affects the posing of other joints at all? And does whatever connects the two halves seem like it will hold up reasonably well, or does it seem kind of fragile? I think my main concern now is just the possibility of it breaking, since I'm not really sure how it actually connects. Thanks again!

 

Your mileage may very with the Cedar body, but my Olivia actually has some of the best posing of all my crew, especially with her legs (even better than some of my other Dream Valley minis). I’d take pictures but I’m at work right now, but from what I recall of how she’s connected is that there’s a resin hook in her hip piece that the elastic from her head loops around. The hook seems pretty sturdy to me, even with how tightly Dream Valley strings their dolls, and I’ve detached and reattached her lower body a few times now to dye her.

Edit: Just got a chance to peek at how she’s connected, and there’s a resin loop inside the hip piece with a large S-hook going through it which the elastic from the head loops through.

 

Glad to help!

I don't think the torso split has affected her posing; between her and my other dolls with their variety of torso configurations, I think the torso joint(s) don't affect how other joints behave that much. And same with @slight I took my Olivia apart to dye her, then did all the fiddling around with restringing. She did perfectly fine! Her resin's held up quite well between that, me banging on parts and doing other stuff to them to try and get weakened magnets out (that was from the dye, not what DV gave me, promise!) and general trying to pose her/her falling over because I misjudged her balance.

 

@slight & @JaxxCapta Thank you so much for all the info! I ended up going with the three-part torso after all

 

Has anyone tried a wig from Alice's Collections on one of these dolls? I'm eyeing WMS031 Black 1/6 for the doll I'm waiting on, and I think it will fit, but it would be frustrating to pay $55 for a wig and have it not fit.

 

I'm looking at buying a wig for my Bethel as his fullset wig, while perfectly fitting and nice is just kinda meh (pale cream blonde bob). I haven't pulled the trigger yet though so I can't comment really on fit.

I can say, however, that because of his horn (which is part of his sculpt, not magnetic), it seems like a number of the 6/7 wigs I have on hand don't want to fit well on his head, which is wildly annoying. If the horn was just a touch lower on his forehead I feel like it wouldn't be creating such an issue.

 

I did a fairly pose-heavy photostory with the anpiel (Achelous human) recently... I continue to be amazed at how well this B4-04 body holds poses and looks so natural. DV's engineering is superb. I did wire my critter from head-to-toe with florist wire so it doesn't bend over so easily at the waist, but otherwise didn't change anything from DV's original stringing.

More of the anpiel posing in this photoshoot.

 

Aurelia is gorgeous, especially her face (I have been adoring the sculpting for Dream Valley's faces in the past couple years!), but the jellyfish mermaid design just doesn't do much for me.

I really, really wish DV would sell their outfits and heads separately as well. C'mon, lemme buy them without also having to buy painting or a whole doll!

 

Just got my first Dream Valley doll! Uncia beast ver with the 2 part torso. He's so nice and does some great poses. Got him a week ago and went nuts, already totally customized him except for the wig (current one I stole from another doll).

 

you did such a cool job with him!! He looks really stunning

 

@AraraSnow Oh man, I saw your tumblr post with the other photos. Great job on the customization! I never would've thought "red panda" with this sculpt, but you made it work really well.

 

@AraraSnow The color transition of his red and black parts in his profile are gorgeous. Was he painted with an airbrush, or dyed?

 

@AraraSnow - Wow, love what you did with him! I think he looks even better the way you did his face! Congrats!

 

It's all dye! I have heat-resistant gloves, I just held the part into the dye the amount that I wanted the gradient and dipped it up and down. Then flipped it over to do the other color.

 

This was my first time dyeing a doll, so I'm glad it came out as well as it did.

 

Oh wow he looks absolutely amazing! You did such a nice job customizing him I can’t wait for mine to get shipped now haha