Hayden, Kai, & Aneke
Hayden arrived on Nov. 22nd, 2021. Kai & Aneke arrived on Oct. 11th, 2022.
I think I’ve lost my mind? My original plan was to replace Hayden with one of the new dolls. Hayden has many of the options that were available at the time when I ordered her. She’s a ‘build-your-own’ Cutie. So are Kai and Aneke.
Hayden has standing feet, heat, ultra-skin, and a tongue. I also had her ears and belly pierced. Kai and Aneke have standing feet, tongues, and the new articulated hands. I also ordered them with no holes, because as for myself, they are truly, only for emotional support. Like we say, just ask, and Ainidoll can most likely meet your request.
The other request I had was to leave the bolts out of the standing feet. Just ship them separately, which they did. I wanted to see them have perfect feet, without bolts sticking out, at least for a while. I’ve had them standing, since it’s only been a week, I can’t say for sure what the outcome may be?
We know for a fact, trying to stand a doll that doesn’t have standing feet will end in disaster. The skeleton will push straight through the heels. With standing feet there is an additional plate attached where the balancing bolts mount into. Standing them without the bolts means there’s no balance adjustment to try and stand them on their own is near impossible.
I took a few pics for you. As you can see, to my surprise, in Kai’s and Aneke’s feet, the skeleton has put pressure on the TPE heel even with having the standing plate. You can see the outline of the bolt hole. This is after one week of standing. Even keeping socks on their feet all the time just keeps them from getting dirty. They may get a little lint, especially with Aneke’s fuzzy socks there.
So, I haven’t accomplished my goal as of yet. Looks like if I insert the heel bolts this could alleviate this problem? It could result in more pressure toward the front, however the front part of the plate is wider, so I will continue to check out this common question. My feeling is the result will be the same.
Seems the only way to keep pretty feet is to never stand them, which again, limits our options for photo ideas.
Point being, I’ll keep an update on how having standing feet without the balancing bolts in place, affects the feet in various ways.
Some Photography Tips
& Doll Safety
I always recommend three points of contact when posing your doll. Unless she’s seated or laying down in some fashion. Even then you may need something to prop her at athe right angle. Many people will use empty Pringles cans, since the first person that did that, has become a running joke in the community. You want your doll to be stable and not go crashing to the floor.
Getting an inexpensive tripod or two, disassembling one to some degree, and putting tennis balls on the end of any small blunt or pointed end of whatever your using, will keep her from falling and not poke into her delicate TPE.
Also, an inexpensive ring light from Amazon or Walmart with a phone mount and remote, will steady your shots, also making it easier for each pic to look consistent when changing poses.
Note: Holding the remote while posing them may result in multiple pictures of your butt.
The Articulated Hands
This feature is the reason I decided to order two more dolls. I’ve had Hayden for almost a year and have done many photosets with her indoors and outside. Also, with Sierra (my 110cm, 27lbs.), and Auri (my 145cm, 60lbs.). Hayden’s 37lbs. and manageable. I am in no way going to attempt moving Kaley to an outside location being she’s 77lbs. Maybe next year? By the way, wrapping Sierra’s legs around me with her arm around me while carrying her as a real kid is so satisfying!
Moving them around you have to be careful of their fingers. Every now and then, you find in the process of moving them, you bent a finger back or sideways. This becomes even more difficult with bigger, heavier dolls. Most of my doll’s fingers have finally broken. Thankfully only Kaley’s right ring finger is the only one broken on her so far. As of now, the makers of Ainidoll can only do articulated hands down to the 128cm dolls.
As you can see, already I have had the new hand skeleton poke through the fingertips at times. Pulling the finger up and gently lowering it back down, you’ll feel the skeleton tip move back into the correct position within the finger. Squeeze tightly on the finger, and gently move them segment by segment when you’re posing them. You really have to take your time when posing the hands. You’ve added a whole new dimension to your doll with this new feature.
The Wrist Joints
Next, I’ll mention the wrist joint, which is also part of this new feature. They can rotate left & right, and up and down, and either combination, along with all the various individual finger movements. You’ve basically added 13 more joints on individual axes just for the hands.
Kai was kind enough to demonstrate for us. Here are a few examples.
They can move slightly past where I’m showing them, but you can see the twisting and stress extreme poses will put on the TPE. Also, it won’t look natural. The only two examples I omitted was flexing the wrist up and down with a fist.
Thia last example is as far back as the fingers can go with almost as wide a stretch. Already it’s an unnatural look.
In Summary
I realize this is a much longer post than most. With the articulated hand feature many other posing options can now been realized. To me, each of these things helps to bring my doll to life and makes her more real for me and my doll experience, fantasy life. Yes, there are many compromises we have to live with about our dolls, but where would any of us be without them? Celebrate your dolls!
My final recommendation, add articulated hands as an option for your doll. It’s worth it!
