Dollshe, a review
Dollshe is easliy one of my favorite doll companies and artists. I have been a long time fan, and have had the pleasure of adding many of his dolls to my doll family. Nearly all of my major doll plans in the future involve obtaining and customizing more Dollshe dolls. The quality is some of the best I have ever seen. The sculpts have wonderful personality, realism, as well as some whimsy. Few dolls have inspired me more than my Dollshe dolls.
I remember seeing Dollshe dolls for the very first time at my first meetup in January of 2007 Christy (Harlowkitty) had her Vincent and Timo (Bermann 77 and SA Bermann), and my friend Hoshikage had her Van. I instantly fell in love with Van's distinctive nose, Bermann's wistful gaze, and the venation on the hands. They made a huge impression on me and I knew that someday I would need to have my very own Bermann and Van.
The jointing in Bermann and the Hound style bodies was so advanced compared to many dolls early on. These dolls could slouch and move in ways that just wasn't possible for many other dolls. They didn't have the stiffness that makes other dolls more doll like, and instead they could evoke more feeling and moods just by leaning forward and curling their backs. Dollshe's joints revolutionized the bjd hobby. My friends and I would joke about the biting hips, and on more than one occasion I was pinched, but the range of motion and emotion evoked by the movement was worth the minor injuries. :)
It was a few years before I took the plunge and bought my first Dollshe doll, a Hound painted by SDink, on the secondary market. He was so handsome, and his jointing set the bar for my expectations in my future dolls. While I fell on hard times as a college student and sold him, I still retain his memory and think of him often. Once my life stabilized, my Dollshe collection grew even more.
I really had fun illustrating the poses he could do.
I brought home an Orijean on the DSAM 32 body during the Dollshe website opening event. He became Zornon, my iconic alien friend. I dyed him grey and made his costume.
Zornon's customization and costume design won first place at the Uncanny Dreams 2011 customization contest. I took him to Fort Stevens and spent a day photographing him with my husband, those photos were an evolution point in my photography and I was honored when they achieved Gallery+ status on Den of Angels.
Soon I plan on getting another Orijean in grey to become Zornon 2.0 (or one of his friends). I recently purchased a Rhythmos 18 Orijean as well in anticipation of growing my Orijean collection.
Zornon explores the old battery, my Orijean thread on DOA.
I love how a simple tilt of his wonderful neck joint can evoke completely different expressions. He goes from defensive to exploratory and curious with ease.
Orijean is such a fun sculpt that pushes me creatively, here he is in a hat by Candygears and a collar by Allison Wonder.
Then I got my first tan doll, a pale tan Bernard on the new Pure body. This body quickly became one of my favorites. From the beautiful musculature, to the elbows that locked, and the toes that could point, I had found a favorite body.
I eventually became very lucky and got my very own Bermann 77 from the secondary market. He has been painted by Thelyn aka Lyn Raftis. He is the grail of my collection, the shining star. I cannot express fully with words what it meant to me to bring this doll home.
Here he is in a collar by Allison Wonder.
And I brought home my first Van, one of the last cast when Dollshe closed for the first time. He is such a rich wonderful tan, not quite like the new pale tan or the new tan. Instead he is a warm tone in the middle. It was a fun and rewarding challenge painting his angular features. He is also the most I have ever spent on a doll, at well over double his original retail cost.
I liked Van so much I got a second one on a pure body when Dollshe announced the re-release.
And he became the inspiration for a drawing in my art class. I got an "A".
A tan Saint on the pure body visited for a while. I enjoyed painting his dark resin. He is one of the most beautiful and realistic dolls I have ever seen.
After seeing the beautiful faceups others in the community were getting from Dollshe, I rolled the dice and ordered an SA Hound head with faceup just before the discontinuation. (This is also when I ordered my Rhythmos 18 Orijean.) He has become a fast favorite and shares a body with my Van.
To help other members of the community, I did a comparison of the bodies a year and a half ago. It is very difficult to choose a favorite body out of the line up. They each have strengths and weaknesses. Each one has a different style, mood, and range of movement. Each one is a beautiful work of art. With each of the new bodies, I am excited to try them out and add them to the line up.
The Rhythmos 18 body is a bjd reduced to it's simplest most basic form. It has the most elegant hands and feet, but it is much skinnier than other Dollshe dolls and does not possess the posing range Dollshe has previously been known for. It is hard to dress, drawstring pants were my solution. And I have not yet found shoes that fit the feet yet. However, the toes are so gorgeous, it would be a shame to hide them in shoes.
I love the "flippers" the Rhtyhmos body comes with. They make changing clothes a breeze and I wish my other dolls came with them.
The Rhythmos body does not bend very well at the waist and does not sit. The shape of the shoulders also makes it difficult for him to hold poses with his arms outstretched. However the aesthetic with the Orijean head is very beautiful, sculptural, and a work of art on its own.
The DSAM 32 (and 35) bodies are broader shouldered and taller than the other Dollshe dolls, and are somewhat harder to find clothes for as well. Shoes are also difficult to find at times. They are not easy to sit, but the other joints such as in the arms, torso, and neck, have such the ability to emote so much expression, that the trade off is worth it for me. My next Dollshe doll will be a grey DSAM35 Orijean.
The Pure body locks in many positions and sits and stands very very well. While it is a little more difficult to get the classic Dollshe slouch, it is still there. The locking mechanisms provide stability that none of my other Dollshe dolls have. This body is easily my favorite of all doll bodies ever made.
The original Hound style body and the Bermann 77 body both have a graceful ease to their posing. They naturally slouch. Sometimes they can be a bit frustrating to pose and I'm always afraid they are going to fall. Because these are my rarest, most expensive, and irreplaceable dolls, they always use a stand and my Bermann wears jointed hands so I do not worry that he will break a finger. I hope that someday Dollshe makes his own line of jointed hands.
My Bernard and Orijeans (and the Saint that visited) all have the newer Dollshe faceplate system. While it makes it easy to change the faces, the magnets are not strong enough and there are no manual mechanisms to secure the face to the doll. As a result, I have had many accidents with the faceplates and now resort to hot gluing the faces on the doll. One improvement that I suggest is to include some kind of sliding lock mechanism (like an Unoa perhaps?) so that the faceplate cannot fall off.
Recently I had the pleasure of playing with an Ausley Love. Her jointing is very similar to the Pure body, with a revolutionary new improvement. The silicone nubs included in her joints (and in David's) make her posing effortless, stable, and she is a pure joy to play with. I hope to someday add her to my doll family as well.
I'm also a fan of Dollshe eyes, though they have non-standard sizing and don't fit in all of my dolls. These are Cockpit Green shown in a Bambicrony, and Sea Blue in my Lagoon by Batchix. They have wonderful depth, detail, and vivid colors.
While there is give and take in every doll, and Dollshe is no exception, they are some of my favorite dolls. There are many more good points to each of the body styles than bad, and the faces are wonderfully expressive and unique. They are works of art. They sculptural beauties that inspire creativity in many artists and seamstresses. And the resin quality is top notch. The care in engineering has been ground breaking and innovative. Dollshe has never stopped evolving and innovating, even in the face of adversity. My dolls have always been worth the price, the wait, and the effort. They make me want to excel in every way that I can so I can present the very best of what they are and can be.
This is most of my current Dollshe crew. There are some floating heads without bodies and faceplates that did not make it into the photo.
I hope my honest review has been helpful. I love all of my Dollshe dolls, quirks and all, and hope to bring home many more in the future.
I remember seeing Dollshe dolls for the very first time at my first meetup in January of 2007 Christy (Harlowkitty) had her Vincent and Timo (Bermann 77 and SA Bermann), and my friend Hoshikage had her Van. I instantly fell in love with Van's distinctive nose, Bermann's wistful gaze, and the venation on the hands. They made a huge impression on me and I knew that someday I would need to have my very own Bermann and Van.
The jointing in Bermann and the Hound style bodies was so advanced compared to many dolls early on. These dolls could slouch and move in ways that just wasn't possible for many other dolls. They didn't have the stiffness that makes other dolls more doll like, and instead they could evoke more feeling and moods just by leaning forward and curling their backs. Dollshe's joints revolutionized the bjd hobby. My friends and I would joke about the biting hips, and on more than one occasion I was pinched, but the range of motion and emotion evoked by the movement was worth the minor injuries. :)
It was a few years before I took the plunge and bought my first Dollshe doll, a Hound painted by SDink, on the secondary market. He was so handsome, and his jointing set the bar for my expectations in my future dolls. While I fell on hard times as a college student and sold him, I still retain his memory and think of him often. Once my life stabilized, my Dollshe collection grew even more.
I really had fun illustrating the poses he could do.
I brought home an Orijean on the DSAM 32 body during the Dollshe website opening event. He became Zornon, my iconic alien friend. I dyed him grey and made his costume.
Zornon's customization and costume design won first place at the Uncanny Dreams 2011 customization contest. I took him to Fort Stevens and spent a day photographing him with my husband, those photos were an evolution point in my photography and I was honored when they achieved Gallery+ status on Den of Angels.
Soon I plan on getting another Orijean in grey to become Zornon 2.0 (or one of his friends). I recently purchased a Rhythmos 18 Orijean as well in anticipation of growing my Orijean collection.
Zornon explores the old battery, my Orijean thread on DOA.
I love how a simple tilt of his wonderful neck joint can evoke completely different expressions. He goes from defensive to exploratory and curious with ease.
Orijean is such a fun sculpt that pushes me creatively, here he is in a hat by Candygears and a collar by Allison Wonder.
Then I got my first tan doll, a pale tan Bernard on the new Pure body. This body quickly became one of my favorites. From the beautiful musculature, to the elbows that locked, and the toes that could point, I had found a favorite body.
I eventually became very lucky and got my very own Bermann 77 from the secondary market. He has been painted by Thelyn aka Lyn Raftis. He is the grail of my collection, the shining star. I cannot express fully with words what it meant to me to bring this doll home.
Here he is in a collar by Allison Wonder.
And I brought home my first Van, one of the last cast when Dollshe closed for the first time. He is such a rich wonderful tan, not quite like the new pale tan or the new tan. Instead he is a warm tone in the middle. It was a fun and rewarding challenge painting his angular features. He is also the most I have ever spent on a doll, at well over double his original retail cost.
I liked Van so much I got a second one on a pure body when Dollshe announced the re-release.
And he became the inspiration for a drawing in my art class. I got an "A".
A tan Saint on the pure body visited for a while. I enjoyed painting his dark resin. He is one of the most beautiful and realistic dolls I have ever seen.
After seeing the beautiful faceups others in the community were getting from Dollshe, I rolled the dice and ordered an SA Hound head with faceup just before the discontinuation. (This is also when I ordered my Rhythmos 18 Orijean.) He has become a fast favorite and shares a body with my Van.
To help other members of the community, I did a comparison of the bodies a year and a half ago. It is very difficult to choose a favorite body out of the line up. They each have strengths and weaknesses. Each one has a different style, mood, and range of movement. Each one is a beautiful work of art. With each of the new bodies, I am excited to try them out and add them to the line up.
The Rhythmos 18 body is a bjd reduced to it's simplest most basic form. It has the most elegant hands and feet, but it is much skinnier than other Dollshe dolls and does not possess the posing range Dollshe has previously been known for. It is hard to dress, drawstring pants were my solution. And I have not yet found shoes that fit the feet yet. However, the toes are so gorgeous, it would be a shame to hide them in shoes.
I love the "flippers" the Rhtyhmos body comes with. They make changing clothes a breeze and I wish my other dolls came with them.
The Rhythmos body does not bend very well at the waist and does not sit. The shape of the shoulders also makes it difficult for him to hold poses with his arms outstretched. However the aesthetic with the Orijean head is very beautiful, sculptural, and a work of art on its own.
The DSAM 32 (and 35) bodies are broader shouldered and taller than the other Dollshe dolls, and are somewhat harder to find clothes for as well. Shoes are also difficult to find at times. They are not easy to sit, but the other joints such as in the arms, torso, and neck, have such the ability to emote so much expression, that the trade off is worth it for me. My next Dollshe doll will be a grey DSAM35 Orijean.
The Pure body locks in many positions and sits and stands very very well. While it is a little more difficult to get the classic Dollshe slouch, it is still there. The locking mechanisms provide stability that none of my other Dollshe dolls have. This body is easily my favorite of all doll bodies ever made.
The original Hound style body and the Bermann 77 body both have a graceful ease to their posing. They naturally slouch. Sometimes they can be a bit frustrating to pose and I'm always afraid they are going to fall. Because these are my rarest, most expensive, and irreplaceable dolls, they always use a stand and my Bermann wears jointed hands so I do not worry that he will break a finger. I hope that someday Dollshe makes his own line of jointed hands.
My Bernard and Orijeans (and the Saint that visited) all have the newer Dollshe faceplate system. While it makes it easy to change the faces, the magnets are not strong enough and there are no manual mechanisms to secure the face to the doll. As a result, I have had many accidents with the faceplates and now resort to hot gluing the faces on the doll. One improvement that I suggest is to include some kind of sliding lock mechanism (like an Unoa perhaps?) so that the faceplate cannot fall off.
Recently I had the pleasure of playing with an Ausley Love. Her jointing is very similar to the Pure body, with a revolutionary new improvement. The silicone nubs included in her joints (and in David's) make her posing effortless, stable, and she is a pure joy to play with. I hope to someday add her to my doll family as well.
I'm also a fan of Dollshe eyes, though they have non-standard sizing and don't fit in all of my dolls. These are Cockpit Green shown in a Bambicrony, and Sea Blue in my Lagoon by Batchix. They have wonderful depth, detail, and vivid colors.
While there is give and take in every doll, and Dollshe is no exception, they are some of my favorite dolls. There are many more good points to each of the body styles than bad, and the faces are wonderfully expressive and unique. They are works of art. They sculptural beauties that inspire creativity in many artists and seamstresses. And the resin quality is top notch. The care in engineering has been ground breaking and innovative. Dollshe has never stopped evolving and innovating, even in the face of adversity. My dolls have always been worth the price, the wait, and the effort. They make me want to excel in every way that I can so I can present the very best of what they are and can be.
This is most of my current Dollshe crew. There are some floating heads without bodies and faceplates that did not make it into the photo.
I hope my honest review has been helpful. I love all of my Dollshe dolls, quirks and all, and hope to bring home many more in the future.