I’m always on the quest to find more MSD dolls that are more mature in looks and less child like, even moreso now that I have my Unoa Lusis. Of course my small MSD collection is lacking in males, because whereas it’s fairly easy to find female sculpts that are more mature looking in both body and headsculpt, for some reason the majority of boy sculpts remain too young looking in the face but often will have a mature and buff body (which is just odd if you ask me). It seems like only within the past couple years that more male sculpts with a more mature looking face have started to be created.
I only recently discovered Withdoll within the past week or so after having followed a thread on DoA about mature MSD that had a link to the withdoll website. I was really pleasantly surprised that they have quite a selection of Mature minis annnnnd mature looking male face sculpts! Of course they have some lovely girls as well as guys, but this posting is going to focus on the boys.
The first doll on the site that I was taken with was Aiden, who is in the pic above. Of course I am a complete sucker for dolls with dark hair and dark eyes, so naturally his picture would attract me first. 😉 His default face-up is quite lovely as well, which always helps for first impressions.
You can order their dolls in normal skin, white, skin, rosy white (which is pinky like Zaoll resin), and last but not least realskin UV. The realskin UV has special sunscreens inside the resin that helps belay the “yellowing” or discoloration that happens over time and with exposure to the sun. Other colors are also available, such as tan, gray and etc…but those specialty colors are only available during special event periods. Another thing that is really nice about Withdolls is they come with an additonal set of hands. All of the hands have really beautiful poses and the sculpt has really lovely details.
The second doll I found myself taken with was Taren. You can get him in your choice of two different default face-ups. The face-up above really impressed me as it makes the doll look really soulfull. I’m not sure I’m fond of so many lashes on the lower lid, but it’s still a very beautiful face-up. I also really like Taren’s narrow eyes which depending on face up can be relaxed, sad or even angry.
Currently there is a sale even going on at Withdoll. You can purchase dolls until August 31st at 20% off! It’s quite a good discount really for dolls, and it’s made it really tempting to order. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t seriously considering Taren or Aiden right now, lol. I think I probably would have already ordered one if it weren’t for the fact that I just can’t seem to decide between them. ^^;; It doesn’t help that there aren’t a lot of owner pictures of these dolls yet since they are relatively new.
Well, until I can make a decision I will probably be haunting the Withdoll discussion thread on DoA for a while. And now I will leave you with the link to Withdoll so you can check out all of the beauties for yourself. 🙂
The boys are sweet indeed, and in decent price range too, that is lovely (still out of my league though) although not really mature enough for me, they still seem very boyish (but I have to admit, doubt if I have seen better in this size), but well, I guess I would be sattisfied with the amount of manliness only if they made Iplehouse Denzel this size 😀
This post made me wonder though. It seems that there is a totally empty niche in BJD market- mature male bodies that are, emmm, how to put it politely… Ones that are not in the range between ”skinny-ish ottermode” and ”temperate bodybuilder”. Of course, plumper mature females are sparse too, but not that impossible to find (look at those cuties http://www.flickr.com/photos/cimorenegal/3051460524 )
You are now probably thinking: ”Why would someone ever want a male, mature, fat doll?”
Well, of course, I highly doubt there would be a market larger than 10 or 20 people worldwide, if you cast this guy http://troll.me/images/really-fat-guy-on-computer/programmer-virginity-protection-lvl-99-thumb.jpg in resin… However think bearmode or power lifter, stout, muscular but with a good layer of fat. It would open a huge opportunity for whole lot of charachters not present in BJD scene at the moment (dwarves and hobbits, vikings, lumberjacks, Joe the plumber, ok don’t take me too seriously, but you got the point)
Maybe I’m just bad at googling, if you have seen something like that already, I would be happy if you threw a hint where to find them!
I think the Aiden sculpt with the right face-up has the most potential for a mature look. He actually has a squarish jawline, which is probably more evident in owner photos doing a flickr search. I’m really coming to the conclusion that MSDs are the perfect size for me, so I am always on the lookout for more mature looking sculpts, since I’d rather have a doll that could pass as early 20s rather than 12 year olds. I am soooo very happy to see more companies embracing a more mature look for their mini sized dolls. As you pointed out, they still have a long way to go, but at least it’s a step in the right direction!
You are right though, there is an untapped market for different figure types. I think right now mostly what is popular are the rail thin males that somehow have an excellent 6-pack even though bodily they seem way to thin to be so toned. haha~ However if you look towards the artist dolls, particularly the dolls made by westerners, they are starting to experiment with different body shapes, at least with females. I know that on The Joint forum (which is for people who make dolls), there are a decent number of artists experimenting with different bodies. So maybe with time there might be more types available.
That reminds me, Lumedoll makes mature looking male MSDs, they look even older than the Withdoll boys. You can find them here: http://www.lumedoll.com/collections/69939-all-products They don’t have the type of body you are looking for but their faces say “Yes I am a twentysomething”. They make very Asian looking dolls so maybe it might be something you are into (well I consider Denzel to be kind of Asian looking). Eventually I’d like to own the Tyl sculpt myself, but it will have to wait.
Gosh, thank you! Atik has just the face I am looking for, and the price is amazing. Interestingly as I see in pics, he pulls off both Asian an sort of American American look quite well, I think with a proper face-up he could be quite nice Caucasian as well.
The body, well, it’s a different story. He does look rather anorectic. I suppose though as long as he is dressed properly (think knits, leather, bulky flannel), he would be nice and presentable, but I wouldn’t want to look at him topless too much 😀
Anyhow, he’s the first one I’m rather sure I would buy if I had the money.
Kiran is lovely too, but he’s so small, that I have serious concern, that with this skinny body, he would look like Ken a bit!
No problem, glad I could help! I really like the Lumedolls so I am happy to share them with others since I think they deserve a little more love than they currently get.
Funny you should mention Ken dolls, because for those 30cm guys I’m pretty sure they can wear Ken’s clothes, since they seem similar in size to my Pullip Taeyang (aside from the gigantic head on Taeyang) who wears Ken’s clothing. It’s actually a bit of a plus to be able to find cheap clothing.
After looking at the Lumedoll page again….yep, definitely going to have to make room for one of these dolls in the future!