New Smart Doll

I am brand new to the idea of getting a BJD.  I must admit I really like the Smart Dolls. The first one I saw was Kanata with her Green eyes and glasses (Glasses Extra) which is what I am looking for.  Though she is beautiful with her pouty face not sure I want to be locked to that.   My next favorite is  Prowess she has the large Anime Eyes just wish they were green.  Also I would prefer not to have the red face markings but I do not hate them.   

 I have lots of questions but let me start with a few.

• Is there an option to have eyes color Changed in the order
• Are all the doll body's pretty much the same with the exception of skin tone.  I ask because if my character if real is only 157 CM so her legs would not be too long. 
• Showing pic of my Kurumi below.  Which Doll would you start with for her?

Kurumi is a the taller Cat Girl with Glasses. 

Welcome!  The eyes in vinyl BJDs can be changed out, so if you would prefer Prowess to have green eyes, then you can remove the red eyes she comes with and put green eyes in there instead.  You can find guides for how to do this on YouTube.

1 hour ago, Neko1967 said:

I am brand new to the idea of getting a BJD.  I must admit I really like the Smart Dolls. The first one I saw was Kanata with her Green eyes and glasses (Glasses Extra) which is what I am looking for.  Though she is beautiful with her pouty face not sure I want to be locked to that.   My next favorite is  Prowess she has the large Anime Eyes just wish they were green.  Also I would prefer not to have the red face markings but I do not hate them.   

 I have lots of questions but let me start with a few.

• Is there an option to have eyes color Changed in the order
• Are all the doll body's pretty much the same with the exception of skin tone.  I ask because if my character if real is only 157 CM so her legs would not be too long. 
• Showing pic of my Kurumi below.  Which Doll would you start with for her?

Kurumi is a the taller Cat Girl with Glasses. 

 

• Danny/Culture Japan/Smart Doll will not switch out the eyes for certain dolls when you order.  I asked about getting Prowess' heterochromia set on the Prowess-cosplay Tomorrow.  However, there are plenty of sellers who offer great animetic eyes for decent prices.  Heck, even Volks DD eyes are okay to use for most SmD.  However, keep in mind, if you do go for Kanata/any of the F6 sculpts, you might want to go for a slightly smaller mm dimension.  I want to say 22mm is good, while 24mm will leave your doll with no whites in their eyes.

• The bodies are exactly the same.  I feel that there are very, very minor variations, however, depending on when they were made and what type of body they are.  I admittedly feel like the Cinnamon body I received via a "singularity" kit, which is what you usually get with Pebbles/Only the Brave are a little subpar in comparison to the bodies you'd get while purchasing a full doll.  I have a tea Resilient/Mirai and a Milk Kanata, and they both pose/move a lot better than my Mirao Monday.  There are also cortex shells, which are a harder vinyl, and their big issued is they're discontinued completely.  The other issues with those, I feel, are mostly cosmetic?  I really didn't like the seamlines--which could be sanded off--and the "shine" that reminded me of Barbie Doll bodies.

 

If you are looking for a slightly shorter doll, with legs that aren't as long.  I would actually recommend a Volks' DDS body.  They're a little shorter than SmD/Dollfie Dream bodies And they do have shorter legs.  If you do have your heart set on SmD, a hybrid is always an option, just keep in mind you would have to sacrifice widening a SmD's head hole to accommodate a DD neck peg, unless there is an adapter somewhere I don't know about.

•  As you were saying you didn' like the face-markings and eyes on Prowess' sculpt, I could probably recommend Summer, if you don't mind tea.  Unfortunately, the only dolls with that particular sculpt are the anime-style Prowess', Summer, and Haruka-- and I have no idea ifwhen Haruka will ever be restocked.  You could also go with Kanata.  Though, there are a lot of cheaper glasses/wigs/eye options so that you can customize your doll to make her your own.

52 minutes ago, Neko1967 said:

I am brand new to the idea of getting a BJD.  I must admit I really like the Smart Dolls. The first one I saw was Kanata with her Green eyes and glasses (Glasses Extra) which is what I am looking for.  Though she is beautiful with her pouty face not sure I want to be locked to that.   My next favorite is  Prowess she has the large Anime Eyes just wish they were green.  Also I would prefer not to have the red face markings but I do not hate them.   

 I have lots of questions but let me start with a few.

Welcome to the hobby! I started out with a Kanata as well, because her design was right up my alley. - However, I wasn't looking to shell a particular character, so I had a little more freedom there...

If you like the face shape of Kanata but not the pouty expression, note that basically all Smart Doll girls with the more narrow anime eyes share her head sculpt. So you could get one, where you find the faceup more fitting (maybe Freedom or Moment?) and customize Eyes and Hair from there.

In case of prowess, you can always change the eyes yourself. But removing the red markings is likely not possible without repainting the whole face.

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• Is there an option to have eyes color Changed in the order

Smart Doll used to have eyes in different colors, you could order separately. But as they are currently not offering any (just like separate wigs), they likely won't change the eyes for your doll order, either.

You can still get a pair of anime style ("animetic") eyes elsewhere and swap them out easily. I guess most 22mm size eyes shoud be a decent fit for Smart Dolls.

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• Are all the doll body's pretty much the same with the exception of skin tone.  I ask because if my character if real is only 157 CM so her legs would not be too long. 

Smart Doll bodies are all identical in shape - you can only swap the bust sizes. Unless you plan on getting other dolls and wanting your character to look short against them, I don't think that will be much of an Issue. - The 1/3 scale is more of a ballpark than an exact value anyway...

In the images, your Kurumi looks fairly slender, so the long legs probably wouldn't be that bad of a fit.

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If you're just starting out with the hobby, I get, that customization may feel a bit intimidating. It is definitely a solid move to start with a doll, which you like the whole package of and then try and customize later. But if you are going for a specific character of yours, you will have to customize: Even if you get a Kanata, you'd have to get a black twin-tail wig anyway (the straight wigs don't really lend themselves to being tied up this high).

Anyway... get a doll, where you think the face matches your Kurumi best, and then swap around eyes and wig until you're satisfied. - If you drew those pictures above, you probably also have the skill to do your own faceup - but let's not overdo it for now...

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Showing pic of my Kurumi below.  Which Doll would you start with for her?

In the drawings above, your Kurumi has a relatively "flat" face (small nose). From this point ,a Smart Doll head would be a good fit, as their faces also have a more flat profile. As said above, maybe Freedom or Moment could work.

But for the faceup in general, none of the currently available Smart Dolls really matches your Kurumi "that" well.- Here I would actually say a DDS Karin from Volks might be a better fit. Dollfie Dreams have a more pronounced nose (less flat face) compared to Smart Dolls - so it's up to you, if you like the aesthetic - but except for that, it could work:

Karin is a standard model, so should be fairly easy to get a hold of. She's already on a DDS so she'll be a bit shorter compared to 60cm dolls. And she comes with green eyes (albeit fairly bright green).

 

Feel free to ask further questions and if you end up getting a doll, we'd all be happy if you shared some pictures.

One advantage to Dollfie Dreams is the large selection of heads available directly from Volks as kit parts. A couple of disadvantages I see in Kanata:

The size of her eyes, and your character has much larger and rounder eyes than Kanata does.

Kanata’s jawline is too strong, your character has a much softer look IMO.

Kanata’s product page describes her look as grumpy, and your character seems very cheerful.

I would also stress that SmartDolls tend to have very flat faces, and the amount of flatness isn’t apparent from the product photos. I’d recommend looking at a lot of owner photos of Kanata that show her from different angles before going with her. I liked Kanata right up until I saw how plateau flat her cheeks are, and while my tastes aren’t necessarily yours, it does illustrate the importance of doing research before buying a $500 doll. 

One other note: Make sure you can source a wig before buying anything. Head, body, and eyes are easy, and a wig with a specific style can be impossible.