Pros and Cons of Soom Idelian

ooh i can finally answer this lol!

pros:
- aesthetically gorgeous. seriously, 10/10 sculpting, design.
- great poseability, rock solid standing and their shoulders/hips have grooves so they make this satisfying "click" sound and thus can be posed in positions many BJDs can't or struggle with. (e.g., lifting their arm and holding it)
- they are so solid. some BJDs i've had felt so delicate and made me afraid to touch them at all, but an idealian is just a big thick chunk of resin.
- their jointed hands are also fantastic if you happen to get them. they're REALLY good at small movements/poses, just like the rest of the body

cons:
- expensive. i know it's the BJD hobby, but $800+ is nothing to sneeze at for a basic, naked, faceup-less doll. they don't even include free eyes! soom also frequently lists photos of their dolls with faceups and body blush that they don't offer which is weird.
- heavy. personally, i like their weight, but omg it's like carrying a toddler. a buff, absurdly handsome toddler.
- difficult to clothe. they are QUITE big. Idealian 75s have a 34cm chest and 19cm thick thighs. clothing can be a challenge to find, and when you do:
- expensive to clothe. be prepared to spend a minimum of $40 for one piece of clothing. some good search terms to use are EID, Uncle, ID75 (or ID72 which is slightly easier to find), and Tera-Zenith (souldoll's ID75 equivalent). always check for measurements!!
- hard to find if you don't grab the one you want right away. ties in with expenses. soom doesn't offer basic versions of their idealian line, and their re-releases only offer a specific few.
- oh god where do i put him?!?! be sure you clear off ample shelf room for these guys

all in all if you're not super in love with the SD size as a whole, you'll probably think idealians are cumbersome. but, i'm someone who has like six? 65cm+ SDs so i'm definitely a target audience lol

 

I get you, when it comes to the looks. The shop pictures often look stunning. I ended up ordering a Gluino and Hyperon years ago. But ultimately they stayed in their boxes all the time, because I was quite shocked when they arrived as they are quite heavy and I find it hard to pose them. The body is very rigid, obviously there is lots of resin on them and just one joint in the chestpart, which can snap back hard in the original position fast when you're not careful (I literally hurt myself a bit once). They can stand quite well, though. Another point is clothing. SD70s clothes usually won't fit, as they aren't wide enough. So you either will have to sew yourself, get Soom Idealian clothes ideally, or try outfits from companies that have similar measurements like Granado (which can end up a little short sometimes, so check before or ask).

Anyway..after a while I sold Gluino and I am still trying to find a way to find another body for Hyperon, which is probably not going to happen because of the huge necessary neck and the color of the resin (he is ns but looks different from the usual super gem ns - more red, I'd say).
Still I am not gonna tell you, that it was easy to let Gluino go and I just can't bring myself to give Hyperon away at all. Also, I am somewhat lazy and weak and just used to skinny big boys that are quite easy to pose. I don't want to scare you away from them, if they are literally top on your grail doll's list, but if you consider getting other models that you are just as interested in, that are a different, easy to handle type, in this case I highly suggest picking the latter.

But as you can see, when it comes to posebility: Zest already got another opinion, therefore I might just have had bad luck in some points (and should loosen the strings maybe). Also look for the threads here on Doa about the different models and see what people have to say about them individually. You could also watch YouTube unboxings, there you see how other people handle them. Best of luck!

 

I have 3 "handsome toddlers" over here (laughing hard at this ) and I quest I have more pros and cons to ad.

pros:
-Their hooks are in resin itself which, at least for me, was easier to handle than the usual S-hook;
-About clothes, little by little more stores are selling outfits specifically for Idealian. LegendDoll, Nine9Style and
KoibitoBJD, for example.

cons:
-It's hard to find props for them that will not look a miniature in their hands;
-You have to remove cast seam by yourself. They use to offer this service, but is no longer available.