SoulDoll mini dolls Soulkids Discussion part 6

@marci12 : I'm so curious too, because I saw my first Charlotte at a local meetup and fell in love with the Light Serenity color. When my girl arrives, I can ask the local owner of Charlotte if I can do those comparison photos. I hope they are similar, but I imagine Souldoll makes the resin name adjustments because these concept art dolls are limited products. They probably mix the unique resin color in small batches and can't ensure that the resin colors will remain consistent.

 

Has anyone seen a Young Won owner picture anywhere? I'm thinking about ordering her, though she doesn't seem to be very popular. I like her strange grumpy face.

 

Question for those who own the new Soulkids girl. I love my Angel and I am very very impressed with how fluidly she poses. But currently she can't stand on her own (with flat feet) . I was so sad and disapointed when I found out .

It's like her heels insist on being the only point of contact and her toes get pushed up in the air. And that throws of her balance completely. She can stand in are converse style sneakers but they absolutely don't fit her aesthetics. And even with them her feet still try to do that.

I'll try to take a picture because it's kinda hard to describe.

But still. Can your girls stand? Maybe it's just a case of bad string tension.

 

I usually have my girl in her heel feet with heels but I've never had an issue getting her to stand. Weird stringing issue maybe?

 

@QuietYurei : I have never seen owner photos of her sadly. I think she's very interesting as well, but she's definitely a rare one.

@laquaza : I don't have a kid's body to attest to, but I do know that Souldoll's in particular come strung incredibly tight compared to other doll companies. My first Souldoll boy was so tight his arms would fold at the slightest movement, I had to loosen him up to hold poses. I can't say for sure that is your issue, but it could be if the string tension is pulling her feet upward a bit? Just an idea. All the Souldoll lines I have had (Double, Zenith, Tera Zenith) can stand...I doubt their Kids line (one of their most popular) would have such a faulty engineering flaw.

 

Just popping in to say, my NL boy stands very difficulty, not sure what the problem is, but he's fine in chunky boots, or when I have him in his 'casts'

 

Okay, so as someone brand new to bjds, I am curious about my experience of the new SK double jointed girl body and how it compares to bjds more generally.

I find myself surprised at how limited some of the range of motion is... specifically 1) the fact that the inside of the elbows point directly forward and to rotate them so that the arms cross over the chest requires turning the shoulder in such a way that the upper arm starts coming out of the socket, and 2) basically any movement of the hip, including sitting down, requires the thigh pieces to come out of the hip socket. ...And this is to say nothing of any pose that does not include knees pressed tightly together.

All of that said, it's clear to me that these constraints lead to a series of poses and motions that are very elegant, feminine and pretty. So if - as a rather suspect - there have to be some tradeoffs around poseability somewhere, I guess these are good ones to make. It just leaves me feeling a bit like I have training wheels on. I wish I had the latitude to make more mistakes.

Is this an unreasonable reaction? Maybe this body is actually more flexible than most...? Maybe there are bodies that are more flexible but have made tradeoffs in other areas (body part shapes or stability or what have you...)

Maybe the joint-out-of-socket situation is not as problematic as I'm finding it? Maybe I just need to look into wiring or sueding so my girl can hold those poses better on her own...?

Any advice or anecdotes from those with more experience in the hobby (which is to say anyone) is/are much appreciated. ^^

Incidentally @laquaza, mine stands well, but I do have to hold her feet down and wiggle her ankles a bit to get the angle right.

 

While I don't own a soulkid myself, I have handeld them and I have many other dolls, so I can compare them somewhat. Generally speaking all dolls have their strengths and weaknesses. Flexibility is only one part on the puzzle. Some dolls have a large max range, but don't do their inbetween poses very well, so the real possible poses are still limited, the opposite extreeme is a doll with a limited range, but very good control within that range, making many poses possible but only within that limited range. Some dolls have very well engineered joints that preforms really well, but are less pleasing to the eye, and the other extreeme there is a very beautiful doll with less mobility. Some dolls have a lot of mobility, but not much stability, making posing them frustrating because of that and others again are the oposit with a limited range but they will hold the pose you put them in until you move them again. Some dolls are clearly made with some specific poses in mind while others are equally good (or bad) at all they do. The list keeps going, but you get the idea.
These things are hard to put into words, so ususally when beople discuss posing they mostly say that a doll pose well, or not so well, but that don't really say much as people will have different frames of reference and different preferences.
This does make it a little bit difficult to research the posing abilitites of a doll body, but there are a few tricks.
One is to look at owner pictures. The best ones are the ones where the doll is not carefully posed. a doll pictured simply being around while the owner makes something for it, for example, will usually just be plopped down and will take the kind of pose that comes naturally to that doll. Looking at a lot of owner pictures can also give you a hint. Look for things like if a disproportionally number of the doll are holding their arms in certain pose, or tilt their head a certain way, or is never posted free standing and so on.
Looking carefully at company pictures also help. While that can sometimes be a little bit misleading (usually not on purpose, it's more a case of them knowing their dolls and want to show off their strengths) Souldoll usually have plenty of pictures of the dolls in different poses. Don't just look at the sales page for the doll you are interested in, but any other that shares the same body, to get as large a sample size as possible. If you see a lot of repeated poses or notice something missing, that is a possible indicator of what the doll can and can't do. I just looked and it does seem that there are very few pictures of arms crossing in front of the body and in the few cases that they do, there is usually something supporting the arm (an elbow rested on the dolls knee or on the arm rest of a chair and such) while there are alot of pisctures of the dolls with the arms bending forward or folded up towards the face. Some of these have the elbow joint fully exposed so you can see quite well how it works.
So in this case, there is nothing wrong with your doll, that's simply how it is made.

As you mention, ther are a few workarounds such as sueding and wireing, but they can't change how the joint is engineered, only modding can do that. What it can do is help the doll holding poses that otherwise would tend to slip or are just a tiny bit outside of the dolls natural range.

Another thing that can help or at least never hurt is to take the time to get to know your doll really well. Some dolls takes a bit of getting used to to get the best poses out of. And knowing what your doll can and can't do will help a lot when taking pictures and can also help avoiding frustration when just handeling.

Best of luck in getting your doll to work for you!

 

@Lillith, Thanks so much for your thoughtful and informative response!

I do want to be clear that the double SK body is beautiful and a lovely piece of engineering and I'm having a great deal of fun with it. As you can see here, I got her to clasp her hands and sit cross-legged, so she knows a trick or two. I may decide to get a new body in the long run, but that's a good long way off... Who knows, maybe I'll be bitten by the modding bug? It is the kind of thing that happens to me. But for now I'm VERY satisfied with my purchase.

I do wish there was like a checklist of things experienced doll buyers look for in photos that makers and owners are inclined to disguise. That would be super helpful!

 

You know, that sounds like a great idea for a General Discussion topic. I bet people have a million different things that they look for. Especcially people that have many years in the hobby. I think many do it without really thinking, we just sort of develope a feeling for what dolls we will be happy with, but if we think about it there is probably a wealth of hobby wisdom out there about how to spot the real posing abilities of doll bodies.

 

Does anyone have any hybrids? I’m getting a Gana head, and a Willow (full doll) and thinking of putting Gana on the body, and buying Willow a new body. Willow will be a shell for an oc of mine- who is on the shorter side. She’s in NS, so it’d be nice to have something that is somewhat close to the resin tone.
If anyone has any suggestions, or pictures of their dolls- I’d really appreciate it!

 

I have a Willow (I love her so much!) My only Souldoll Hybrid is a Hari head on Angel Studio 1/4 body. It's not great. I ordered her a Myou body but it will be a while before it gets here. Comparing resin colors Souldoll NS seems to be more pinkish than Doll Leaves and slightly darker than Resinsoul, but lighter than Fairyland. If that makes any sense.

 

Willow is truly so pretty, I'm excited to see her in person! Which Myou body did you purchase, if you don't mind me asking? Coincidentally I was eyeing the 44cm version II on Alice's Collections (though I only just now realized it was taller ).
That is super helpful with the resin! My dolls are mostly from Souldoll, and I don't really have anyone irl that collects BJDs- so the information is very much appreciated.

 

I purchased the new Version II body! I wanted this doll to be my tallest 1/4 girl. Souldolls are wonderful! You are very welcome. I

 

I really want to get a SoulDoll Kid girl but am torn between the 2 body options. Has anyone had/handled both and can give some pros and cons to both bodies?
I like the look of the N.L body more but it seems to not have an ankle joint and I'm wondering if this is ever causes issues.
The character I have in mind will also likely be one that mostly wears heels so that's pretty important to me but am not sure which body is better for this.

 

@EternallyEmma I have the NL body, the old double jointed body and the newer double jointed body. The NL is the most aesthetic imho but is also the worst posing of the three haha. I believe I have some heels (for non high high feet of course, so low heels) I can try on them all if you want a comparison photo?

 

The NL bodies definitely have the weaker pose ability. While the do have ankle joints, they are not very efficient, especially on the boy body, as it is heavier, my sister has the NL girl body for her minifee head, and while the posing is as limited as my boy, she can at least stand pretty easily

 

YES please! If you don't mind of course, that would be really great!

@Mew-Lidia9 Oooh, do you know if they are compatible for a hybrid the other way around then? So a SoulDoll Kid head on a minifee body? I don't want to hybrid as I do like the look of the SoulDoll bodies but it would be good to know if it is possible to do so. Which resin options does your sister have please that she's used for the hybrid and what's the match like please?

 

@EternallyEmma Not a problem! I can also show you a Souldoll hybrid with a Minifee body ( I have a Minifee and a floating head I can try on). Gimme a day or two to get it done.

 

I don't know about the other way around, but it should theoretically be possible? Both the minifee head and souldoll body are in normal skin, the head is older though, so it is more yellowed, but the difference is slight (you won't really notice unless you look for the difference)
Here is some pics you can see of the doll.
Lishe Fantasy Hanfu
July 2020 outfit Cafe Mew Mew
Login • Instagram
Login • Instagram
Login • Instagram
Login • Instagram

I hope that helps