Questions from a first time customer

Anon69 · Post by **Anon69** » Tue May 29, 2018 5:37 pm

Hello, I'm looking to buy my first doll and I have chosen to buy a doll from Sanhui. I had a couple of questions. Most of my initial questions have been answered by looking at other threads from new costumers, but I still got some unanswered question that I wanted to sort them out before I make my purchase.

1. When I go to Sanhui's homepage I see 2 ways I can purchase dolls, the "Love Dolls International" and the "Online Store". It seems like the "Love Dolls International" page is cheaper, for example each jiggly implant only costs $50.00 instead of $68.00. But it seems like I can't customize the doll as much as in the "Online Store", for example I can choose different skin colors and there are more eye colors to choose from. Is there are reason why the online store is more expensive and have more customization, like does it have something to do with international shipping? It really confuses me that there are 2 ways to buy dolls and that they have different prices.

2. What is the optimal way to store a Sanhui doll?

3. I know the wigs that comes with the dolls are synthetic, but are wigs heat resistant (can I use a curling tong and/or a straightening iron without having the hair melt)? It's not a big deal if they aren't, it just means I will have to buy another wig, but would be nice to know so I won't ruin a perfectly good wig.

4. How long is the lifetime of an average Sanhui doll?

Floydpink · Post by **Floydpink** » Wed May 30, 2018 9:44 am

I don't know the answer to all of that but I don't think there is any difference between the two ways to order. I think they have just not organized their site so well and forgot to change price on one of the upgrade ordering methods.

I would just contact them on skype and ask. When I did they qouted me the cheapest price where the upgrades were $50 each. That's the way I placed the order too, the upgrades were separate items in the cart instead of chosen when adding the doll to the cart.

They can probably answer some of your other questions on skype too.

Jimbofod · Post by **Jimbofod** » Wed May 30, 2018 5:04 pm

Odd, I never noticed the "Online Store" part before. I think this was just a placeholder before. It looks like maybe they are part-way through reorganizing things, but it is mostly duplicated from the "Love Dolls International". I hope they can make it more consistent and complete. In "Love Dolls International", some of the descriptions would include a detail like shoe size, but then the same size doll featured with a different head would not.

Also, there's an updated accessories section! That's nice - I might be able to order some wigs/clothes/shoes that I can know would fit?! Good wigs/clothes for smaller dolls are especially hard to find. Sorry, I got side-tracked in my excitement for a sec there...

As for your questions:

1. The site has always been sub-optimal. Take it for suggestions sake and contact them directly is the best way. Be sure to metion you are a TDF member and get some discount too. People have been saying they respond fastest to Skype.

2. Newer dolls are coming with hanging hooks, but generally you can store them on a soft surface. I keep mine either in the box or on a bed or other soft cushioned furniture. If you get a newer doll with a soft butt, there may be some chance of flattening as happens with TPE dolls. Memory foam should be safe. For lying down storage, I would keep her on her back. The boobs use the softest gels and therefore would be most prone to distortion.

3. Sorry, I don't know. Maybe you could try heating a single strand as a test? Or SH may know this.

4. Good question! I would say it really depends on a number of factors, and at what point you consider end of life (yikes). I would break it down into components:

Silicone: Sanhui's silicone is historically pretty firm for durability, but I have noticed that the silicone blend on a 2018 doll is MUCH softer than a 2016 in general.

Coloration: The pigmented parts, if you chose those options, theoretically should stay that way. However, anything else that is not the base skin tone will be painted. I don't know for sure, but I suspect they use pigment in silicone as a paint and either air brush or brush brush it on. High-wear areas can rub off over time, or in the case of an accidental scrape. I have a few spots like this on my 2016 doll I am thinking to try to correct myself using silicone pigments and some repair silicone.

Foam: there is a hard foam in especially the larger dolls that helps reduce weight. It can be in the thighs or torso. I have never heard of or would expect any issue with this foam as you can feel that it is pretty tough.

Skeleton: Sanhui now uses a new ball joint stainless steel skeleton for their dolls from 145 cm and up, and the 118 cm Elfie. I don't know if they are upgrading the 125 or other smaller doll skeletons, many of which I think are wire. The older skeleton had many issues, mainly the joints going so loose that the doll became floppy and could not hold poses, stand, or sit up anymore unsupported. The new one, most say so far is really good. Some have noted some very tight joints. Some of these might be by design, but I don't know. Otherwise the joints move reportedly very smoothly. Some other doll makers use ball joints, and those reportedly are holding up well, a couple years at least. Beyond that, it is hard to say, as I don't think this skeleton type has been around as long as some others.

Fingers: This is KIND of part of the skeleton, but these are always wires. There's a recent thread discussing this, but generally SH uses nice thick wires, far better than most dolls. There is a common issue of the wire poking through at the end (finger pokes, toe pokes). The wires are generally attached to a plate representing the doll's palm (or foot plate), and in some cases the fingers can also detach from this. This seems to happen much less frequently for SH than for many other dolls, especially cheaper TPE dolls.

Eyes: Sanhui's current dolls have movable eyes. These are, in some heads at least, not too hard to remove, though SH says officially they are not removable. The design is pretty simple, but there's a chance that a spring could fail after long term. In that case, I imagine you could work with SH and get a replacement.

Overall: if you treat the doll well, I would expect a bare minimum of 2 years. In my mind, the open question regarding this is the new skeleton and how the joints hold up over longer periods of time. If you don't care about if the joints eventually become loose, then it would come down to the silicone, the high wear areas, and how well you maintain them. Silicone can be repaired pretty easily and safely. There are lots of tutorials and advice around for this.

Wight · Post by **Wight** » Thu May 31, 2018 5:22 am

3. Just tried curling my redundant Sanhui wig and it didn't burn. It is advised to use a forming hair gel with chemical heat shield working with curling iron.
Results are hard to succeed because straight wig fibers do not curl well permanently.

genmasaotome · Post by **genmasaotome** » Thu May 31, 2018 10:05 am

Is flattening really a concern for silicone gel? There are several videos on youtube featuring plastic surgeons running over silicone gel implants with cars and trucks, and dropping them off multiple story buildings. I think I read somewhere on this forum that the gel implant option isn't so much an implanted shell filled with silicone gel as is used in breast augmentation, but is silicone gel filled directly into the doll's area. Nevertheless, I reckon the silicone gel fill would be extremely resilient.

Jimbofod · Post by **Jimbofod** » Thu May 31, 2018 8:28 pm

genmasaotome wrote:Is flattening really a concern for silicone gel? There are several videos on youtube featuring plastic surgeons running over silicone gel implants with cars and trucks, and dropping them off multiple story buildings. I think I read somewhere on this forum that the gel implant option isn't so much an implanted shell filled with silicone gel as is used in breast augmentation, but is silicone gel filled directly into the doll's area. Nevertheless, I reckon the silicone gel fill would be extremely resilient.

Well, drop tests and long term pressure during storage are two different kinds of stresses. I know that this is a common issue for TPE dolls -- usually the butt since dolls are likely be stored laying on their backs or possibly sitting. The gel inserts in Sanhui dolls vary depending on the part, with breasts being the softest, but now having a newer Sanhui I notice that even the regular silicone like in the arms and legs is very soft as well. I might be inclined to purposely make sure this new doll gets moved around some just to be safe and avoid the issue. I may be repeating myself from above, but the new storage hook system, I'm guessing, has been added as way to avoid this with the new softer dolls. Their silicone from a couple years ago? I wouldn't worry at all because it was a much stiffer formula.

roninfiertze · Post by **roninfiertze** » Thu May 31, 2018 8:45 pm

Anon69 wrote:Hello, I'm looking to buy my first doll and I have chosen to buy a doll from Sanhui. I had a couple of questions. Most of my initial questions have been answered by looking at other threads from new costumers, but I still got some unanswered question that I wanted to sort them out before I make my purchase.

1. When I go to Sanhui's homepage I see 2 ways I can purchase dolls, the "Love Dolls International" and the "Online Store". It seems like the "Love Dolls International" page is cheaper, for example each jiggly implant only costs $50.00 instead of $68.00. But it seems like I can't customize the doll as much as in the "Online Store", for example I can choose different skin colors and there are more eye colors to choose from. Is there are reason why the online store is more expensive and have more customization, like does it have something to do with international shipping? It really confuses me that there are 2 ways to buy dolls and that they have different prices.

2. What is the optimal way to store a Sanhui doll?

3. I know the wigs that comes with the dolls are synthetic, but are wigs heat resistant (can I use a curling tong and/or a straightening iron without having the hair melt)? It's not a big deal if they aren't, it just means I will have to buy another wig, but would be nice to know so I won't ruin a perfectly good wig.

4. How long is the lifetime of an average Sanhui doll?

Hello and welcome to the forum! My second doll, from over 2 years back, was a Sanhui 165cm (non-plus) face #1, I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.

1. I went through a now-defunct, or perhaps temporarily inactive, TDF vendor known as XS Dolls when I purchased. I have since bought a different doll directly from a manufacturer (different company), and my experience between the two concerning support after receiving the doll has been very different. I would highly recommend using a vendor for your doll, even if it costs more. My experience with manufacturer support has been, frankly, abominable, even though the doll was cheaper that way.

2. I just store her either lying on her back in my bed with both arms at her sides, or on 2 layers of the plastic foam from her box plus 2 blankets, layered, on top of the carpet of my floor under the bed. In the 2 years, 3 months I have had her there has been no deformation of her buttocks from this. I do not however have gel anywhere other than the breasts, and that could easily change how you need to store her.

3. I have used a low temperature heating iron on 1 wig, it worked out fine. I wouldn't recommend that with a wig that has thin, wispy hair however, it could easily melt the much thinner strands together and make a complete mess. It just depends on the wig. Most aftermarket $60~ synthetic wigs that I have owned have been great and I would trust using a (LOW TEMP) curling iron on.

4. 2 years and 3 months in, she is still my main doll and I have her in bed with me nearly every single night. Her hips have gotten loose so that she doesn't hold an unsupported upright sitting position anymore unfortunately, same for her shoulders not really keeping her arms raised, but the elbows and knees etc are all like the day I got her. The hand construction is the best of any of the 4 dolls I have owned, no finger wire breaks yet in spite of posing gripping items for pictures etc. My friend's of the same model had a wrist break, as our older models (same doll same age to the day) had a slight defect where the metal attaching the wrist joint was way too thin and could snap. I haven't had this problem, but I am very paranoid about anything like that happening and baby her wrists a lot. I know it was corrected shortly after we got our dolls. Her breasts are starting to get a little less perky with time, but it is not progressing quickly at all, and I pretty much sleep with her smashed up against me as tightly as possible.

Jimbofod · Post by **Jimbofod** » Thu May 31, 2018 9:08 pm

Regarding longevity, does anyone know more of the history of Sanhui? Looking back at a couple of the oldest posts here on their forum in TDF, they seem to date from 2016. (I could have missed older ones based on how the ordering is not based on the original post date but the last comment posted.) Their web site says they were established in 2010, so I wonder if anyone has a Sanhui from before 2016 when they apparently appeared on the scene of TDF.

CF · Post by CF » Thu May 31, 2018 9:12 pm

I fixed the spelling of the thread's title. A first time customer is someone buying something for the first time. A first-time costumer is, presumably, someone new to the world of theater!

Typos. We all do them! In this case, it seemed worthwhile to avoid any confusion. Carry on!

Anon69 · Post by **Anon69** » Sun Jun 03, 2018 10:15 pm

Thanks for all of the replies! They have been very helpful and I will contact Sanhui for the remaining questions. Also the Rosy Pink pigment for vaginas, does it look good? I'm a bit hesitant if I'm gonna go with Pink or Rosy Pink for the vagina, the difference seem to be that Rosy Pink has a lighter color and some kind of gloss varnish finish to make it look wet. Does the wet effect look good or does Pink look better? Do you have any photos to show?

roninfiertze · Post by **roninfiertze** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 2:30 am

Anon69 wrote:Does the wet effect look good or does Pink look better? Do you have any photos to show?

Unfortunately my doll is from before they began offering all these options. There was no color choice, nor textured skin available! Sorry I can't help with that one.

Floydpink · Post by **Floydpink** » Tue Jun 05, 2018 3:19 am

Jimbofod wrote:Regarding longevity, does anyone know more of the history of Sanhui? Looking back at a couple of the oldest posts here on their forum in TDF, they seem to date from 2016. (I could have missed older ones based on how the ordering is not based on the original post date but the last comment posted.) Their web site says they were established in 2010, so I wonder if anyone has a Sanhui from before 2016 when they apparently appeared on the scene of TDF.

I think in the beginning they only sold very small dolls and only in the chinese market. Took a while before they released life-size doll and focused on western market as well.

Either way I'm not sure one can even judge how the dolls today do by looking at the older dolls, anyway. I'm sure they have changed pretty much everything since then, like skeleton and silicone mix, so that longevity of newer dolls might be completely different.