From what I've heard is going on in the CN side of the hobby, the Hyper Gem release is very unpopular (to the point where no one is proxying it on Xianyu) and is making some hobbyists angry, as despite people asking for particular releases, certain resin colours and head-only sales, this feedback was ignored in favour of the Hyper Gem that no one asked for. I'm doubtful there'll be an upgrade to the ID75 body, especially as this new body has very similar engineering, but I don't think the ID lines are at risk of being discontinued. In other ID75 talk, the worst storm in 30 years hit my area (flood warnings, heavy rain, 100km/h wind), and some of my boy's parts were knocked off the table I had them on for sueding, including the hand his Volks SD10 gremlin accomplice was holding onto as a joke. She fell off the table as well, and was unharmed, but I woke up to find a stray pinky finger on the floor...I've glued it in place for now, but I think I'm going to need epoxy and perhaps wire reinforcement for a more lasting repair. I'm not even that upset that she broke his finger – if any doll was going to do it, at least it was the one doll he interacts with. Now I want to work the broken finger into a character interaction between the two of them...
Out of curiosity… does Hyper Gem have detachable parts? I hope not! I’ve never really understood why some BJD companies include that—and even provide multiple versions instead of just one. I tend to avoid buying dolls like that because I don’t want to put myself in a position where I have to explain it to customs. Personally, I also think Hyper Gem is too thin and too tall. I still believe they should have created a more masculine, muscular-sized doll instead. And honestly, I do think the Idealian line is still successful. On their sales page, there are people spending over $3,400 on a limited Idealian—people are so rich! Well, I guess we don’t necessarily have to be rich; we just need to start saving now and hope that when a special doll comes out, we’ll have the money ready for it. I don’t really like the dark, ghostly side of the Idealian line, but interestingly, it seems to sell well. I’d love to see them explore more of a “godly” concept instead—the good side rather than the darker, edgier themes that will give me nightmares if I have it displayed in my room. Ohhh! Im going to buy a small single cabinet for my doll to protect it - I would cry if my $1600 dollar doll got damaged.
@Orangatang I'm not sure what kind of "detachable parts" you're referring to – the Hyper Gem seems to be designed to have exchangable fantasy parts like digitigrade legs like smaller Gem lines, and Soom may make different legs, wings or perhaps a centaur like they have with the smaller Gems, but because BJDs are technically a series of parts all strung together, every part is detachable. If you're referring to genitals, it's unlikely the Hyper Gem has magnetic detachable genitals. The ID75 body has sculpted non-magnetic genitals and most KR dollmakers don't sculpt genitals that way – it's mostly a CN thing – and CN and KR dollmakers have started making male bodies with no genitals after figurines with genitalia were being censored in China: there's more information in the "No more swappable genitals on Chinese BJDs?" thread in General Discussion. I appreciate your sympathy for my broken hand situation, but rest assured it doesn't bother me – maintenance with BJDs is just part of being in the hobby, and I'd rather have dolls I know how to repair than be too scared of potential damage to do anything with them (this is why I don't buy expensive outfits – it doesn't matter if something I've sewn gets seaspray on it, but if a $200 USD outfit starts getting corrosion on the fastenings, I'd be too reluctant to use it).
@castironteapot Yeah, I've heard that in general Chinese doll owners aren't big into fantasy parts outside of maybe things like horns. I believe even the Vampire heads from the ID line aren't popular in China either. @Orangatang As @castironteapot mentioned the ID75's don't have detachable genitalia so I doubt the Hyper Gem do either. As for why companies might make them detachable at all, well it allows for better pants fit for one, especially tight pants. And having different options to attach can be fun to play around with.
I remember the first big BJDs I saw with my own eyes were the SOOM guys. They totally got me. SOOM has beautiful BJDs and I like those old bodies.
My Idealian York got delivered this morning! It came in a big, heavy box up to above my waist. The outer packaging was dented, but luckily the doll box inside and everything else were fine. I just hate when border security has to open the box to inspect the item. Thankfully, it passed through customs without any issues, and I didn’t have to pay any taxes or customs fees. I also don’t detect any resin smell—usually a new doll has that distinct scent, but I can’t smell anything, which makes me wonder if my doll is really new or not. I’ll spend more time with my doll tomorrow since it’s my day off. I was hoping Soom would include some freebies—like eyes for my doll—but unfortunately, they didn’t. Now I just have to wait several weeks for the eyes I ordered online to be delivered. This hobby is so addictive. If Soom releases Photon or Narmer soon, I’ll definitely grab them. I really need to start saving for my next Idealian doll—I’m hoping this time it comes with a faceup. That faceup of Cedarwood Photon looks awesome! I wonder who's the lucky person that got him.
