The BJDs of Chinese company Loongsoul are designed by artist JiangShangXiaoLong. After years of interest in their dolls, I finally acquired not one, but two BJDs from the company. Since the dolls are completely different in size, I decided to discuss each one separately. The first review of tiny dragon Tinboo can be read HERE. This article will focus on the second doll, the company’s Ancient Legends Limited Edition God of Dragon BJD YingLong.
LoongSoul’s tour de force, God of Dragon YingLong was released in November of 2011 and the company took pre-orders until December 31st. The doll was a long-term project. Parts for the doll were revealed as early as the summer of 2010. The company’s connection to the dragon combined with 2012 being the Year of the Dragon made YingLong’s release truly special for LoongSoul. 75 cm tall YingLong was the first fantasy anthro doll by the company. He was also the first doll of their Ancient Legends collection.
A month ago the largest box of dolls that was ever delivered to my home arrived. Inside was tiny dragon girl Tinboo along with two boxes containing the parts for YingLong. My YingLong was cast in normal yellow resin. He was ordered with face-up, body blushing and outfit. The doll was smoothly sanded. YingLong came with a translucent pair of resin dragon wings, a three-part dragon tail, dragon hands with pointed nails, large dragon feet, both human and dragon ears, dragon horns, and golden cat-eyes. (My purchase did not include extra human parts.) In addition, there are three resin plugs to cover the wing holes and the tail hole if desired. Added to the boxes were two red dragon toys and a plastic disk-shaped mirror which were gifts from the company.
YingLong came partially assembled with his dragon feet and hands packed separately. The elastic cord was held in place at the end of his arms and his legs with rings. These I replaced with small hooks that I hooked to the hands and feet. It turned out to be easier than it looked, but I did use pliers to install the parts. The tail was cast in three parts. The elastic to attach it was already in place on the doll, but would need to be removed to cover the tail with the resin plug. Once again, the tail was fairly easy to install. I used a piece of black ribbon included with the doll to help thread the elastic through each section of tail. I did need pliers to attach the final part. Once I had the doll assembled, I tried to pose him. I found that the tail was useful in making YingLong stand. The two legs and tail formed a tripod. I worried originally about the wings making the doll so top-heavy that he would have difficulty holding a pose, but it wasn’t hard to place the legs and tail so that the doll stood without any fear of him toppling.
The wings are very impressive. They are nicely painted. The wings plug into the shoulder holes easily and are held in with the help of magnets. The octagonal shapes of the plugs allow the wings to be posed above the doll’s head, spread out, or dropped low. Playing with the wing positions was really a lot of fun!
I had a little difficulty with the horns. They are designed to stay on with magnets. There is a small pick on one end to push into the wig to keep the horn from rotating. The horns occasionally toppled off despite the magnets. Another problem occurred at the joint at the ankle and foot. The top of the large clawed feet was airbrushed, and moving the parts caused some color to wear off. This is not an uncommon problem with body blushing on dolls. I saw no other wear spots on YingLong’s blushing.
YingLong has slots on either side of his head for ear installation. To install the ears, the doll’s head-cap needs to be removed. The ears slide into the slots, and once the head-cap is replaced they stay in place. YingLong’s face-up is nicely detailed with feathery eyebrows and tinting to bring out his oval face, high cheekbones, and full lips. The wig included with the doll is quite long and is styled with braids. Even undressed, YingLong appears quite impressive.
The outfit included with my doll is multi-piece. The under-layer consists of a gauzy top and skirt. The top is pieced together to allow openings in the back for the wings. An elaborately embellished over-layer fit like an apron over the gauzy layer. Additional matching pieces are added to an upper arm and one hand. Jewelry also was included. (I did not use all the parts of the outfit in the posing photos.) The outfit is very detailed and well assembled.
Everyone who has seen my YingLong so far has been very impressed with him. He is the largest doll I now own and the most elaborately constructed. While I originally wished I had ordered human parts too, I doubt I would actually have used them very often. I like his dragon version so much, I can’t imagine him being anything else.
Photos above~ Dragon toys – gifts from LoongSoul, ear installation, YingLong’s face-up.
LoongSoul – company website
Special thanks to Mint on Card, international retailer for LoongSoul dolls, for their assistance on this project.
~LoongSoul Doll~ previous BJDcollectasy article on the company
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