LeekeWorld DollLeeke D type 26cm discussion part 1

Don't know about the resin match, but the price isn't too bad for a blank planetdoll riz doll (about $170 if I remember correctly). You could always sell the head or use it as practice for faceups.

 

It's a Tinybear wig, colour is Amber Swirl. She used to belong to Tinybear so that wonderful wig came with her!

 

howtouseart - congrats on on your cutie Sweet! I'm hoping to get her. Can't wait to see what you think about the new body. Spam us with poseability pics and let us know if the arms have double joints.

I'm teaching a beading class at a local bead store. Here's an old pic of my Isabella wearing one of my necklaces (it's my Domuya's, but she borrows it from time to time).

 

I though I would contribute to the conversation here, as I have been trying to find out more information and have not found much. I am also hoping to get some feedback and opinions from other current "Sweet" owners.

Ok... so I recently bought a Leeke D tiny off the Marketplace here on DOA. It is a "Happy" girl with a #2 body and I also got an extra "Cutie Sweet" head. I figured I should buy a less expensive (previously loved) Leeke D before ordering one off of the company website... with all the specifications and waiting a long time before i really knew what i was getting.

My first impression was that the body is not as well engineered as other Yo-SD size BJDs. It lends to either being floppy in some joints and kicky in other areas all at the same strung tension. The neck hole of the heads seem to be too big for the neck, but that might just be an issue with the #2 body... I dunno? I do LIKE the #2 body because I have found that it has more "realistic" proportions. Unlike the #1 and #3 which are a little "stumpy"... in my opinion. That is just my preference tho, the #1 and #3 are still very cute, just not my style. Oh and the hands on the #2 are more expressive and versatile compared to the "jazz" hands of #2 and #3.

Now on to the main issue I want to discuss... the SWEET HEAD...
Is it just me... or does the "Sweet" head/face look very asymetrical? More specifically the eyes. She is blank, without faceup at the moment... and has NOT been modded in any way. But I think its is awful how bad the right eye (from our view) looks compared to the left. It is considerably smaller and lob-sided. It is also set lower on the face and the upper arch is extended further than the one on the left. I've compared this blank head to the pictures on the website and it seems true for the regular "Sweet" head as well at the "Cutie Sweet" (the one witht he elf ears). It is just not as noticable in the company pictures because it is hidden behind the faceups. But as an artist myself (in all kinds of media, including BJD faceups)... it is blatantly obvious. I am sorry, but it was an awful surprise when I first saw it. I have seen other company heads with asymetrical eye issues, but none this bad. The "Happy" head is not that bad, the upper eye hole arches are a little off but fixable with some light sanding/modding. But I just wanted to put it out there that the "Sweet" head has major issues, especially when blank.

If anyone out there also owns a "Sweet" or "Cutie Sweet", I'd like to get your opinions on this. Does your doll have these issues? Is it an issue with only one sweet type head and not the other?

Here are a couple picture so that you can see what I am talking about...
Not too obvious in this pic, but more noticable in person... really.


And in this one... I used a couple diagrams to show the issue... the magenta boxes are the SAME size and level. The black lines indicate the distance between the most inner point of the eyes to the bridge of the nose. Now tell me that is not bad?! How did this get past quality control?!


Now that I think about it... this might be the reason some people find the faces scary without really knowing exactly why.

*Edit*: So I found this image from Caya's FS thread...

Does no one notice the deformities... really?!
Sorry... No offense Caya. You didn't sculpt the mold.

 

Well I guess no BODYs perfect What i meant was no person is completly symettrical. Though I have to say I wish I saw this before ordering my cutie sweet. I hope it's fixed now and maybe the've noticed. I sure hope so because i love her look.

I'm getting a cutie sweet too. she's 3rd body, normal resin. hopefully only 2 more weeks before she's sent out, maybe sooner?

EDIT: great now i really notice a difference in the eye size. It's really obvious in the 3rd picture here:


I feel like i should have seen this sooner being an artist and all.

 

To: silentstardust

Aww... yeah, it should have been something noticed before ordering her, but I don't think it can be helped. The manufacturing company would have to re-master the molds after creating a whole new sculpt for the head. Who knows if they would be willing to spend the time or money to do that? I am planning on bringing this issue up with the company anyway, because it is just too much of an issue for me. I completely understand that no one is perfectly symmetrical, that on its own would look weird. But my point being that for the amount of money we pay, quality is expected. This should have been caught before any master molds were made.

My best advice would be, and this is just my opinion... if you ordered and requested one with a faceup, try and contact them and request one WITHOUT a faceup. You might actually get it faster. But my point is, that without the faceup you can modify the eyes without having to erase a faceup you paid for. If they say they cannot "refund" you the faceup fee... just ask to use it as a credit for a wig, shoes, or something else.

I was working on my Sweet's eyes this evening and I think I've imporved it as much as I can without redoing her facial features completely. I will try and post pics in my original post to show the differences. I couldn't do too much because I realized that part of the major problem is that her nose is mis-aligned with her mouth. Both should be centered and that throws off the eyes.

*sigh* what can we do?

 

sherilyn - i'm happy you are contacting the company and i will be curious to see the results. This completly bugged me all night. As an artist and perfectionist I was like it's a few millimeters off, and then i'd be like but it's off! I agree with you that for the price we pay the dolls should be perfect. I like your suggestion but i'm going to accept her as she is. I might consider wiping the faceup in the future and fixing her like a friend of mine did with a doll of hers. For now i'm going to accept her and love her for her lazy eye . maybe i'll even ask you to fix her, paid of'course, if you do a good job on yours

EDIT: I was talking with a doll friend who has been in this hobby a number of years and she said some doll companies do this on purpose. it is a little quirk to make them not perfect. she mentioned two doll companies in particular dollzone and volks.

 

silentstardust - Ahhh... i see, they do it on purpose... But why? For the most part the faces on BJDs are not perfectly symmetrical anyway... like real people. It really is a matter of artistic license when it comes to deciding what features to make "off". In my opinion, the Sweet issues were a bad choice if done on purpose. Since I discovered this and have worked on my Sweet head, as well as the Happy head... I see that most of the Leeke-D dolls have these issues at varying levels. None that I have seen are as bad as the Sweet though.

It's nice to hear the you will love your girl "as-is" when she arrives. I still think that the Sweet is the cutest out of all the Leeke-D sculpts. But the lazy eye would just bother me to death if she arrived like that with a faceup on that I paid for. I'm glad I saw this in person before ordering her from the website. If you do decide on getting her "adjusted" let me know, I'd be happy to help.

Oh, and yeah, I've worked on a few Dollzone heads and they are very asymmetrical too. I've seen many of the Volks dolls in person and they are really top notch when it comes to quality and sculpts. I think they probably do the best job of creating real beauty within "imperfection" that I have seen. I am a big fan of their vinyl dolls (Dollfie Dreams) as well.

 

That eye quirk is similar to the one on my obitsu gretel, who actually has to take two different size eyes if you don't want them looking too off.

Anyway, on topic, leeke-d. I'm looking at the pictures of my leeke-d mint at the moment (I cannot look at him exactly, my friend has him right now -.-) but his eyes seem a lot more even than sweet's does

 

sherilyn - thanks for the offer ^^. If i don't love the face then after i get my next bjd after her i'll take the advice of my friend who also does faceups. can you just wipe the eyes of the faceup and not the whole thing? personally i love the mouth of the faceup artist i chose but the eye makeup i'm don't really care either way. anyway i'm just going to wait and see.

 

To: einon
Yeah, I recently modded and did a faceup on an Obitsu Gretel head and I really had to even out the eyes. It was really off in shape and width. She looked great afterwords though and I have since sold her to a new home. The same goes for the Obitsu Angela head too... both are badly asymmetrical.

To: silentstardust
I personally have not done just wiping off parts of the faceup before. I do find that once the layers of MSC are disturbed it's not as nice looking anymore. And if I were to reseal the face with MSC, any of the glossy areas would need to be re-glossed. I can always give it a try first and then if it doesn't work... I can wipe the whole thing. But yeah, wait and see when she arrives first.

 

I have to say I have never noticed that they eyes are not the same size- well there you go! I have a Peanut and I just absolutely love him to pieces. I'd love a whole little herd of Leeke D's hehe

I do so wish there were more boy clothing for them, and also more baby stuff for them. I'd love to see cute toys, bottles, baby-cups, maybe even a pushchair lol!

 

I like the quirky eyes on the old gretel though, is why I got that one and not the newer oe.

This board is making me wish I had my Mint with me ;-;

 

Here's the best frontal pic I have of my Sweet. Isabella's a bit asymmetrical but it doesn't bug me. Still think she's cute as can be. Will try and take a better one when I get home. Then I will really look at her.

 

calliope13 - what size eyes do you have in her? i've been wondering.

 

I'm waiting on a Cutie Sweet too, and I have to say, I didn't notice the asymmetry when I was ordering, but I really don't mind her imperfections. Maybe I am weird, but I think it just makes her more endearing!

Eek! I can't wait 'til she gets here!!

 

Hello every1!
I have a question... does anybody know can leeke-D wear luts hdf shoes?

 

The Sweet head I have is an elf one from a few years back but it has the same facial features which look far worse blank than they do made up.
I find it a problem only when putting eyes in, I have to use 16mm or 14mm with large irises to minimise the effect.

I recently redid the face up on mine and gave her 14mm grey eyes as opposed to the 16mm brown she had been wearing for ages. She looks a lot more mature now as well lol.

I'll find the pictures and add them later.

 

Here is a bit of an update...
I have modded and done a faceup on both heads now.
They look much better, but this whole thing has kind of soured my taste for Leeke-D dolls in general. I have her up for sale in the Marketplace (the link is in my signature below), just in case anyone is interested.

 

Awww sorry to hear that hun

Here's a couple of pictures of my girl with her new face up. I haven't modded her face at all, just used careful blushing to deceive the eye, especially around her nose.