Granado introduced a new 70cm BJD boy body, Evol last year. The tensed and rippling muscles enthralled the company’s fans worldwide. This year, Granado created a new body they named Embody. It is the same size as Evol, but while the former is full of tension and potential movement, Embody is a classically muscled and elegant figure. The heads that fit Evol will also fit Embody, and now customers will have a choice from two excellent sculpts.
I was told by Granado that I received Embody #1, the first finished body! My doll comes with a Mars head and is cast in normal skin resin. The box differs from previous designs, but as always, he came well packed. Removing a top sheet of foam (with little openings at the bottom for slightly protruding toes!) I finally had my first good look at my doll. In the photo below you can also see that spare cord and the ownership certificate are visable.
I removed Mars from his box. He is a heavy doll cast in normal skin resin and very solidly built. First I tried standing him, which was not difficult at all.
Here is a better look at the head. Mars, unlike other Granado heads, comes with molded hair. He can also wear a wig.
The elbows are double-jointed. They work very well, holding position easily. They are not natural looking at the outer elbow joint, but that is a typical trade-off for more poseability especially with such muscular arms. Mars can reach around back and to the top of his head with no difficulty or slippage of the joints.
The Evol body does not have an upper thigh joint, but as they can sometimes undermine the stability of standing dolls, especially large heavy ones, this was not an issue for me. There is virtually no pivoting of the thigh. I had taken the head off here so I could spray it for his face-up. In the picture you can see that under the head there is a kips disk at the neck joint for stability.
While I had him seated, I took a photo of his hands. They are begging for a manicure!
The upper torso is one of the joints that tend to be rather limited in movement. Here Embody really impressed me. Its joint is one of the most flexible I have found in a doll, and is especially surprising in a boy so large. I could pose his upper torso forward, back, side-to-side and pivot it and he held the pose. It took a bit of pulling on my part to move the upper body due to the strong pull of the elastic cord.
The double knee joint is also a solid performer at taking and holding poses.
The Mars head reminded me of the model Shaun Ross, so he became the inspiration for the look of my new doll. I didn’t finish his face-up and need to find a wig, but here is my doll so far. This is the perfect body for the Granado sculpt that I have coveted for quite a while!
Granado photos of Mars:
