NarinDoll - New Dolls and Items

Hi Everyone,

ooops.. the new system is forcing me to cut many photos previously posted. I am chopping out all the skin tone stuff, which I have made into a web page to help people already. That is located on my site at:
www.dollfair.com/skinchoices.htm

ooops... I had to delete the optional head photos as well. Those are now online at Narin Dolls main site, www.narindolls.com

 

Yes, the optional heads will be available in all 3 colors. I should have a swatch with those colors later today. They are really being fussy about making sure the photo and the actual doll skin matches perfectly.

For the 43 cm's, boy and girl bodies can head swap.
For the 60 cm's, they cannot because of some structural differences around the neck.

The 60 cm dolls will also have these same expression choices. Unfortunately, they are just finishing them up and so I can't show photos of them for another week or so. If anyone wants a 60 cm doll with optional plate, I can just email in your choices when the photos are ready. Or if you feel comfortable, you can order them using the 43 cm faces, which will be similar (just closed mouth).

Also, sorry about the logo brushing onto the faces-- I've been experiencing a ton of hotlinking and my bandwidth is getting eaten up at a ferocious speed. I'm hoping this will help a little : - )

Gee, this weekend has been like the holidays coming early... how fun.
Catrina

 

Hi Pam,
The 60 cm head options photos will be similar to these 43 cm. I am not sure if I will get those before we need to send in the order. The main difference is the smaller ones have the open mouth, and the bigger ones have a closed mouth. The eye expression will look the same whether it's a 60 or 43.

We can send in the orders and make decisions after the photos come out, and I can email them final 60 cm choices. You can always go with a default, and then add in an optional head before the order ships to the US as well. I'm trying to be very flexible, because timing for the holidays is tight.

YES! You can order any number of faces for your doll. It is so refreshing to be able to get what we want, and not battle with auctions and lotteries. I am so happy this worked out : - ) I can imagine your Marilyn Monroe. Our Gallery section will be so amazing in the future... seeing the dolls with the variety of expressions and customizations.
Catrina
P.S. You can send me your choices to [email protected]. Please give me legal name as well as DOA user ID so I know we have addressed your wishes.

 

Hi Judy,
We will be receiving the skin tones swatch any moment. I just emailed a Korean letter from my translator to remind them (nag, nag nag...). I agree, it's hard to tell what skin tone is what. I also have current owners of Narin dolls who want to make sure the new face parts they order will go exactly with their dolls. So this is really important!

Sign up for a thread ping on this thread... I will feel really guilty opening up a new thread .. "WORLD EXCLUSIVE-- Narin Skin Swatch!" LOL. So I will most likely post it here and on my site. I hope everyone will get a notice.

Please order by Wednesday. I need time to process the paperwork, and they are a half day ahead. Banks closed on the weekends there.
thanks for your interest
Catrina

 

Hi Lishe,
thanks for the order. Noriko of Narin Dolls Database fame tells me her 43 cm dolls go with a size 6 wig. Probably would go with a size 8 wig for Narae 60cm. Guess a lot depends on how stretchy the wig cap is.

Note to self: must get Narae a Neales mohair wig. "Yum, it goes down to the bum."
He's so funny.
Catrina

 

ARRRR WENCH! Ya ain't gettin' ya dollies 'til tha farst part 'o Decembaaaaaa.. ARRRRRR.

: - ) How'd I do in Piratese?

They told me three weeks from when they receive the order. Sent in the end of this week, that is sometime early in December they will arrive here. I will ship every last one of them within 24 hours. Hope to take a photo of the giant stack of them! And then you ought to have them in a few days. For Xmas delivery it's going to be close....
Catrina

 

Hi, everyone has a file here. Please email me at
[email protected] and give me your legal name and changes.
If you don't get a confirmation email, please resend it (sorry but I'm sending it in very soon and don't want to miss anyone's changes).
Please don't PM me with choices from DOA, because often people forget to give me their legal names and I am getting very confused

It's fun though! I am going to the bank today to set up a permanent wiring account with Narin. I appreciate everyone's patience with this first order-- you can see how Narin Dolls itself is only just getting up and running with their options. LOL I guess we are going to be first in line then!
Catrina

 

I know, I know.. I felt the same way when I got the swatch this morning it's like:

"This is fabulous but this really sucks, too!"

I guess they had a horrible time getting the photos to match the actual resin. I just got the translation from them about it. It's from Narin's president:

"How are you?

I am sending you the skin colors in the attached file.
Please refer to them.

The reason that it has been delayed is because of our
internal concerns.

It was very difficult to set a standard because the
colors appeared to be very different depending on
types of monitors used and viewing angles. As you
know, it is difficult to send you the color chips,
because they cannot be an accurate representation
since urethane changes its color over time.

Thus, please advise the buyers that although the
colors can be differentiated from each other, there
may be a misrepresentation of colors in this file.

As a reference, Pinky White is the most commonly
circulated color.

We will make the eyes for 60 cm similar to those for
40 cm. Since the artist is working on them this
month, we anticipate to show them next month.

Thank you as always"

Hey, nice guy huh?

He talks about the 60 cm face parts-- I had asked him what to do since those were a little delayed. and so he is advising that you guys choose one referencing the 43cm face parts. The eye expressions will be identical but of course, on the 60 cm face with closed mouth.


OK-- I'm here! Send your decisions / changes/ questions to [email protected]

Thanks & whoopee! this is getting so exciting.
Catrina

 

Thanks so much everyone. The order was wired in today to Korea.

Due to the color choice delay, I am putting the actual person-by person requests together Saturday. This should give everyone time to consider the new skin choices and email me a selection. We told them to expect all the paperwork this weekend.

They had a meeting about our order, and have sent me a send date for the order: December 10. It will be tight for holiday delivery but we intend to get everything shipped within 24 hours from here. If there is anything requiring extra time, they have promised to let me know. It's been crazy with all the extra choices coming at the last minute, the new head options, color swatch arriving, and the tight holiday schedule. I really appreciate everyone's kindness and patience as we navigated through this first order!

Oh no, what I am I going to do without my little pink shouting YAY girl??
((YAY)>
Catrina

 

They are quoting the faceups at between 10 - 100 US. I hope to get the sheet with all the quotes very soon. I made each request on a page with a number. So they will send me back a page with numbers and the quote price.

As soon as I get them... you will hear from me!

: D It's so exciting!
Catrina

 

Hi Steph, I checked my SENT box, and it appears the PDF graphic for Naomi's order didn't catch when I attached it. So I have resent it to you with the Korean.

BTW everyone, I should clarify, the face up quotes are fees that I am collecting for the artist from you. I am only asking you for what the artist is charging Narin. Neither Narin or myself are making a cent off this-- indeed, it has been a huge undertaking with all the organization, paying to translate it into Korean, etc. We just want you to be happy with your doll.

Thanks
Catrina

 

Happy Turkey Day to you too, Steph!

I sent Narin's president another picture of Naomi. I told him how famous she is, and that we needed to match her new head part and make up with her current face. The photo you sent was very detailed! I am sure they will do their best for her.

Since I needed to get the face paint artist choices in quickly for Narin to proceed with the orders, I ended up calling some people on the phone! It was really nice getting to chat with some of you. BJD collectors are such an interesting breed.... each so creative and with so many unique facets.

I got another email this morning from Narin, telling me that they hoped there would be no skin choice changes because they were busy making the dolls... I emailed back and said 'No- no changes, we are sure!' You know how hard we all thought about those choices, and seems everyone feels good about his or her choices though it was hard choosing between two white shades. It was really a nice feeling knowing the dolls are being made now. They also said they were prioritizing those holiday orders. We have a couple birthdays to hit as well, so I 'm really pleased they are keeping on track.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving dinner... for myself, I ate all that delicious food and then fell asleep before I could even have any pumpkin pie.
Catrina

 

My goodness, Rachel... you can't believe, I just emailed the Narin president today with exactly the same question. The doll absolutely blew me away when I saw it. This is a custom Narae 60 cm, and he told me she has a Chinese phoenix on her back. it's the most incredible thing, you must see it (everyone else) and I will put the link at the bottom of this post.

Anyway, the Chinese phoenix is from Chinese mythology. The phoenix is the symbol of high virtue and grace, power and prosperity. Narin's president also adds, "imagination." (Those guys are so imaginative.. love them). Anyway, it symbolizes the Empress with a dragon, who symbolizes the Emperor. Only the Empress can wear the phoenix symbol, because it is power sent from the heavens to the Empress. The Chinese phoenix later was only worn by those of great importance, with high moral values, loyalty and honesty. It has the beak of a cock, the face of a swallow, the neck of a snake, the breast of a goose, the back of a tortoise, hind of a stag, and the tail of a fish.

The doll can be seen at:
http://narindoll.com/html/c_narinshop/detail.htm?p_code=UD10000-172&lcate=UD&mcate=10&scate=0&no=172
You can also see much of Narae60's body sans clothing... if you are curious. Gee, wish I could just post the pics here! The face close up is gorgeous...
Price is $1,320 .. of course I can get one for anyone who wants one.
You can choose skin color and a custom face at no added charge.
Delivery time will be longer than 3 weeks due to the time necessary to paint the phoenix. ((dies looking at the doll again...but rises quickly, like the phoenix))

Catrina

P.S. The doll's face up is done by "Basic Line," who will be doing many of the first pre-order doll face painting. Yum yum. Check out the gorgeous eyebrows and eyelashes she did... just lovely.

 

Hi everyone,
I got a letter at 4 am this morning from Korea-- just waiting for my translator to send it back to me (it's Sunday after all... wahhh) but I ran it quickly thru Google Korean beta and I believe we are starting to smell packing boxes in Korea. From what I can read they will perhaps do a partial shipment, sending the holiday/ birthday orders first this week by EMS. There was some double checking/ confirmation of my business shipment address. oooh this looks good. They will be sending me the dimensions of the 43 and 60 cm boxes tomorrow so I can make sure what I have will fit them.

If it does look like there will be a partial shipment for the rush orders, I promise to get follow- up info on when the rest will come. I told them my next order will be placed after the first shipment is entirely received (I'm so mean). Before the order arrived, they were confident they could deliver everything on Dec. 10, but there were so many custom facepaints I think this knocked us a bit off schedule. However, those with custom face paints are getting Narin's really best artists.. so this should be really exciting to see.

I want to apologize to those I owe a 43 cm $30 rebate to for my slowness... I'm having to go through everything again and look at who gets a rebate vs. who used theirs already for shoes and accessories vs. who owes me a little more to pay the artist for a custom facepaint. Big fun! If you owe me face paint money, please wait for the invoice... it will come soon.

Other news-- there was a request for the 43 cm cyborg human hair wigs, and Narin is able to get those by special order. Their cost to me is $150/each. If you look at the Cyborgs photo, you will see they are very long and really high quality. Since they are so expensive, I just ask for 3% if you use Paypal so I can break even. They can ship here with the dolls so I will not charge shipping. If you want to pay by check that is not necessary. The special order on these takes an added 2 weeks.

OK, more soon... we are getting close now : - ) Keep checking here for more updates ...
Catrina

 

OMG. They are shipping the holiday/birthday dolls tonight. The translation just came over and it's confirmed....

((gets brown paper bag))

((squees into paper bag))

I am doing a response to them which I'll send off this afternoon, and I promise to get a ship time for the rest of the order. I'm so thankful to them
because we had people overseas with holiday gifts and birthday gifts, and now we know they will be there in time!

HURRAY NARIN DOLLS!

((squee squee))
Catrina

 

Hi Steph,
Well, there is the early-early batch (which has to get thru foreign Customs in Europe before Christmas) ... then Narin will be sending me more batches over the next week or so I believe. I just sent a letter in asking about delivery for the rest because I knew I'd be getting that question. All the facepaints did delay things a bit but not terribly. Luckily you are in US, so **I hope** to get the special box to you in time for the holidays here.

I also feel really funny asking them to "get the lead out" when I'm talking about faceups... you know, don't really want them to rush the creative process on those.. : -) delicate balancing act. I'll relay info as I get it.
Hang in there...
Catrina

 

Houston, we have EMS Tracking numbers now from Korea for two cases.

More as it comes....

OK, they finally caught in the system. They are in the air now...hurray:

Acceptance Date/Time : 2005-12-06 16:35
ExchangeCenter Date/Time : 2005-12-07 01:04
Dispatch Date : 2005-12-07
Dispatch Number : 185
Flight No. : UA884

Fly little dollies, fly!

Edit-- Wednesday.
OK, I sound like i have no real life here. LOL.
But--I've waited 8 months to have these guys show up.... so thanks for humoring me.
I'm pinching myself-- all these months... they are finally on the way. It's like a dream.
Alright, I think they arrived in Chicago around noon today but they aren't tracking through Customs yet. So now I'm thinking they will arrive on Friday. We're in good shape for international delivery by Christmas. I'll be taking photos of the boxes as they arrive.

I haven't heard when the next batch will come but I did ask... hope to hear more soon...

 

OK I ran the 4 letters I just received through Googlish and so far it appears another shipment of Narin Dolls from our first pre-order will arrive next week! HUZZAH!

I do not know who will be in this shipment so it's going to be very suspenseful to see who it will be....

More later...
Catrina

Added update: Just confirmed by my translator there will be another shipment next week. Details to come. If anyone wants any extra stuff, I plan to put in a small order sometime in the next week or so. Not a big huge pre-order spam order, but a smaller one in light of New Year's etc. Confirmed there are numbers left in the Tattooed Narin and Tattooed Narae LE 10 series. Head parts (faces) still available. PM me if you have a request.

 

Well, friends... it finally happened! The mail truck pulled up and out came -- one box! Oh no! It seems the larger of the two boxes got separated and will not arrive until Sunday or Monday.

Anyway, the box which came had four things:
1. default pinky white Narae43
2. default white Narae 43
3. white blank 60 cm Narin
4. custom facepainted open eyed Narae 43.

All had their part order numbers taped to the sides, so I know whose dolls these are from the order records.

I want you all to know, they are breathtaking.. spectacular... I knew they would be high quality but these are truly beyond belief. Steph G you can chime in here and back me up on this! I don't want to take photos of other people's dolls, so I will show you a photo only of the outsides.. they are a violet color, with the logo on them. Then inside, the two futons, and the doll, a lovely two tone high quality wig, and a scroll tied in a ribbon which is hand lettered and signed by Bimong, the artist. Our order got in quickly, and we all have low numbered head plates! Some are under #10... like #5!

I have many other BJD's in my collection, which are familiar names to you all.
I will not compare them directly to any particular doll brand, as I don't want to have this thread go off topic or get locked. Please respect my wish to keep this thread on topic, thanks.
Here is how I feel these compare:
1. the French resin is awesome. Very lifelike in color and it has a matte translucent texture to it. Feels almost like a light marble rather than resin.
2. these dolls have to be the most spectacular posers of all BJD. The heads go to any position... and stay there! The waist is the same. There is no snapping or popping or flopping.. things just glide into place and then.. stay there!
They are truly in a class all of their own. You will not look at other dolls the same after you hold one of these in your hands. Steph G, I get it! I get it!

3. the hands are delicate and look real. body lines are lovely and realistic.
4. well-balanced.. they stand on their own immediately.
5. the faces are lovely and lifelike. When you open the box, it's as if you are coming face to face with a real person. When I opened the boxes, I kept saying "Oh! Oh!" at this person staring back at me.
6. The head parts (which are not really faceplates, but the front part of a full head) are smooth in connection and attach quietly and easily with a magnet connection. Once on, they do not come off unless you ask them to.

Because the shipment got split, there is only one doll shipment I can do today. It's to a DOA member who has asked for EMS, and hopefully you will be hearing of this girl's arrival soon. It might even arrive Sunday! I had a phone chat with this member this morning, and so hopefully you will hear more soon.

OK, they are so beautiful I feel teary-eyed! They are overwhelmingly more than I expected, and I did expect something near perfection...

So we will get the second part of this one in the next day or so, and another full shipment this coming week. Please be patient as they fill this order. I cannot wait to hear from all of you about your doll's arrival. Be sure to get out the Kleenex when you see the mail truck though. You might need it.

*sigh* off to the post office now!
Catrina