This is the first BJDcollectasy doll review. In the future, we will occasionally feature reviews of different dolls and companies. Note: Necessary Doll Nudity.
Dream High Studio Mimi The Fire Maiden Tiny Fairy Doll
Dream High Studio’s Mimi arrived well packed in a small box covered in packing tape from Indonesia. The Limited Edition doll was encased in a smaller red paper- covered box. She was packed in a “sleeping bag”. Other items packed in the box included eye putty, a tiny sponge for cleaning, and a laminated “Traveler’s Passcard” from Dream High Studio. Mimi had her pink glass eyes already installed in her head, and surprisingly, was both faced-up and body-blushed. (Doll artist Donny Harijanto explained that he has decided to include full body blushing with face-up orders on dolls.) While Mimi is listed as being cast in white resin, her resin has a warm tone, and with the body blushing, the resin looks like a light peach color. The surface of the doll is smooth and has no visible casting lines. Mimi did not come with any clothing and outfits are currently not available for her at Dream High Studio or Luxour Academy where DHS BJDs are sold. Some doll costume designers are just starting to experiment with the doll. The company hopes to release several additional sculpts with the same body. The future editions will all be limited and will be offered in two releases. Each release will be cast in a different resin color.
Mimi is an intricately jointed doll with 26 resin parts. She has double joints at elbows and knees despite her diminutive 10.5 cm height. Her shoulders and hips have an extra cup-piece at the joint which allows a wide range of movement. Mimi also has an unusual double neck-joint. The neck is actually a separate cylindrical piece. This allows the neck to swivel at the bottom and the head to move at the top. Due to her large head and tiny feet, Mimi cannot stand freely. Not being able to stand however, is more than a trade-off for what Mimi CAN do!
This doll is easily one of the best posing BJDs ever made! Mimi can be positioned in an amazing variety of complicated poses. Her stringing is tight enough to hold the poses, but not so tight that it is difficult to manipulate the joints. She is not “kicky”. Her joints slide effortlessly from one pose to the next. A larger doll would likely have a harder time posing in this way due to weight and gravity. The artist took advantage of Mimi’s size by maximizing her joint design. Despite the double joints, both elbows and knees are designed to create a smooth line when bent.
While Mimi is not the lowest price tiny doll available, the higher cost is more than worth it for collectors that can appreciate a doll with a unique appearance, is incredibly well designed, and is well constructed in high quality resin.
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Additional Customer Comments:
When I mentioned that I was working on this review in a Yahoo Group, one collector of Dream High Studio dolls contacted me. Sheila has eight of the company’s dolls! I asked her for a short statement on the dolls which is included below:
“I love all my DHS tinies. Squee was my first and then Bunko. When Bunko arrived, I just fell in love! No matter how I posed him, he would stay just how I put him and was a good solid feel in my hand. Bunko and I were so excited when Donny announced that he was making a female! When she came I was amazed at her posability and sturdiness despite her size. Donny is a whiz with joints. You can see that he put a lot of thought into developing them and he did a great job! I’m eager to see who he comes out with next!”
Bunko with picture of Mimi’s arist sketch.
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Dream High Studio dolls are available exclusively from Luxour Academy. The company also has a website for related art dolls and accessories; Dream High Studio. The BJDs for November are on the website for this month only, as mEda of Luxour Academy is away until December.
More photos of Mimi can be seen in the BJDcollectasy Gallery HERE.
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