The Doll Forum

From Weight Reduction 3.0 to Weight Reduction 4.0, how far have we come?

On Aug 10, 2021, we published a post here to share the development journey of weight reduction: viewtopic.php?t=144495 how to upgrade and improve the Weight Reduction Tech from 1.0 to 3.0. We are so excited that more and more doll lovers started to pay attention to the lightweight doll, and we deeply feel the trust and support from those comments! Also, so appreciated for the suggestions, ideas and feedbacks from you all!

Today, Starpery here to announce the official release of the Weight Reduction 4.0 and we want to share with you —— From Weight Reduction 3.0 to Weight Reduction 4.0, how far have we come?

After W.R. 3.0 was officially put into mass production, we found there are some problems in achieving W.R. standardization: sometimes the dolls are a bit stiff while sometimes are too heavy, the weight reduction effect is unstable. So our team did a lot of research and testing right away, and found:
If we choose the softer W.R. foam core, the much heavier silicone/TPE materials (weighs up to 25kg) will severely squeeze the foam core when pouring, which caused the foam core to harden and made the weight loss poorer…
If we choose the harder W.R. foam core, the doll will be much lighter but with a poorer softness…

How to better control and balance this two aspects? This contradiction has always haunted W.R. 3.0…Therefore, we determined to find a better way to resolve it!

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In previous research and testing, we came to a conclusion: it is necessary to reduce the extrusion of the TPE/silicone material on the W.R. inner core during the pouring production. But, how can this be achieved?

At the beginning of 2022, Starpery W.R. Team was set, independent of our factory, we started R&D testing in a small room.

Our team tried various methods:
Method 1:
Keep the doll mold lying flat then pour the materials to reduce the gravity effects of TPE/silicone on the W.R. inner core…
Method 2:
Use the special spindle frame to fix the doll mold for rotary pouring, then injected the foam inside the mold… (Since the picture was lost, we only found a similar picture of the spindle frame on the Internet, as shown below) Method 3:
Try the drip irrigation method to pour the material into the mold…

Until the Nth method, we still didn't find a better, more effective and more standardized method to achieve it. Then our team fell into suspicion and even thought that achieving effective weight reduce and the great softness was an irreconcilable contradiction in itself. After taking such lots of time and cost in R&D, should we continue? Persuaded by our company's leaders, W.R. team chooses to persevere!

At that time, we came up with an idea: How about separating the mold and pouring silicone/TPE below the body first, then pour the rest before they solidified. Therefore, we selected 172 body for the First Silicone mold redesign. After the new mold is done, we got the first test doll, althought it is much softer and lighter, there are more molding lines on the body, also some parts of the body are prone to lack of material, as pictures shown:

When we saw the light at the end of tunnel, more problems arose... Have taken more than half a year, it seems that we returned back to the original point, makes us so frustrated…

So our team held a meeting to summarize work in the past six months and got some useful tips:

a. The non-woven fabrics we used all the way will increase the hardness of the foam core, we need to find a way to remove it, and make the foam core directly attach to the silicone.

b. Use the drip irrigation method to pour the material into the mold, although it is slow, it helps a lot to slow down the compression of the material on the inner core.

c. The material pouring method changes, adopt the horizontal mold pouring first, then vertical pouring.

At the beginning of 2023, we started to use the new method -- By improving the foam core mold, reducing the errors between the skeleton and the inner core, and the situations of uneven skin, body lacking of material. Additionally, control the thickness of the doll's skin by controlling the thickness of the foam core.
The doll skeleton + foam core + doll mold are integrated into one piece!

Through above improvements, we finally made a better 172 body which is about 5.3kg lighter than the W.R. 3.0 body and with a more realistic softness.

Although we got a relatively satisfactory result in testing, more problems may arise when it comes to mass production. High defective rate has always been a big problem for super weight loss. Also, to make dolls better, we need to minimize the mold line, so we modified the mold again——Recast the mold to the previous design but add openings at the hand and foot areas, which is not only used to fix the doll skeleton but also can make it easier to make hard hands and feet in the future.
On the other hand, further reducing the foam core’s thickness, and allow a certain amount of silicone material pressure on it to achieve a better result. We also purchased a high cost new machine to assist in standardizing production.

In July 2023, we tested 172 and 151 two dolls many times. With W.R.4.0, this two dolls are much lighter:
172 body weight can be reduced from 35+kg (W.R. 3.0) to 29kg,
151 body's weight can be reduced from 25kg (W.R. 3.0) to about 19kg.

Moreover, we use a new better soft silicone material for production, so W.R. 4.0 doll is soft from the inside out——not only soft on the doll surface, but also inner soft, even softer than normal TPE doll.

In October 2023, we completed multiple pouring tests of these 2 dolls, basically confirmed the effect. Then we started the toughness tests until now.

Along the way, we have maintained a mentality of continuous development to create products and update technology. The development of W.R. 4.0 also made us more convinced that 600+ days and nights of hard work are worth it, we can solve the contradiction between softness and light-weight. All dear doll lovers who care about dead weights are no longer being hassled.

Thanks for the patient waiting, in the first phase, there are only 172 and 151 two bodies available for W.R. 4.0 silicone doll production. Additionally, all features are still available: Gel breasts, Fixed/Removeable Vagina, Soft butt, Hard feet, Moaning Function, Heating Function, Auto Clamping&Suction (151 W.R. 4.0 is available) Standing feet& Shrugged Shoulder, Realistic Body Painting, Matte Effect.

W.R. 4.0 will be applied to all Starpery bodies, but we still need more time to make new molds for other bodies.

Nice, I hope that the 168 body gets the softness it deserves. And I would order the model again. Unfortunately, the current condition was very disappointing (except for the 165 G body, without WR. She's heavy, but perfect).
Keep up the good work.

Is 4.0 also been used on your TPE dolls?

Really interesting stuff!

172-F is, for my taste, the best looking body in the industry. Great choice for the new WR4.0, I will consider buying one if the quality is good!

Looks interesting. After 2 dolls with WR 3.0 and both with heavy damages on delivery I am heartbroken . But the 163G body got my attention and if it comes in WR 4.0 I am considering.

Edit 163G cup not 165

It's very interesting. Thank you for all these explanations retracing the whole process.

You have already been pioneers in weight reduction for TPE models and very important weight reductions for some mid-priced silicone models. With this new innovation, you put dolls of realistic size and silhouette within the reach of users who have back problems and/or who are aging. If this is done without compromising softness, it is an innovation that will tempt many people.

For the 151 cm body which becomes ultra light, it would be good to offer heads to complement that of Rong (which is pretty, but only one head available for a model, it's really limiting). To go faster, you could scan and downsize some of your heads for larger models (with this body, I would see BingBing, Misa, Iris, Kelly, Saner, Lia, Yao, An-ran, Lin, Yuyan. Rather Asian heads due to the format and silhouette of this body).

On top of my list for sure.

Starpery is to be congratulated! May this research help your business grow. You are making your products, and eventually, the entire industry, far more accessible for everyone.

Despite what some beefy athletic dudes contend, (It's all in the lifting technique! Weight is essential for realism!) weight is the #1 problem for many doll-lovers. If you include women, and us more mature men, I'd say it's a significant majority of owners, or would-be owners. And concern for weight is the main reason why so many small dolls are sold. Some folks might want small sex dolls. But most of us don't. We just can't, or don't want to, handle the weight of most full-sized dolls.

Go, Starpery!

Saw the video on YouTube, it looks very promising.

Posts like these make me wish we had ‘upvote’ buttons!
Great news, everyone. I’m keeping an eye on these improvements

The process of innovation is fascinating. Many ways to fail and only a narrow path forward to success. Not an easy problem to overcome, weight reduction. I admire the persistence, because that is what it takes.

I get a small laugh from the mental picture I conjure-up of a doll spinning, spit-roast style, while being injected with "life giving" silicone, like something out of a sci-fi movie.

Doll Love is a pure love.