Long time! Previously owned a DS and WM but the 1:1 scale just took too much space. Already had tons of figures on display and storage something had to give. Then these 1:3 silicone dolls started appearing in a site for anime images which got me intrigued. Followed the links but the site did not seem legit at first. Then I happened to see reference a reference to TDF. Hey, that's a familiar name. Took the chance then ordered pair. One of them was the Rei Ayanami doll which I will be describing here.
What's in the Package
The standard package appears to be (a) doll body (b) two faces (c) hair (d) preinstalled swimsuit (e) evening dress with underwear (f) chair (e) a battery operated SenSee speech unit with voice and remote touch interactivity (f) Micro-USB to Type A for charged the SenSee (g) document with note on the chair plus dialog for the SenSee unit.
Ordered this during the Christmas promo so got two additional dresses. Seems now it is just a choice of one.
The chair was packed by the feet of the doll and one of the feet was caught in it. Maybe during packing or shipping the left foot appeared bent at an unnatural angle. E-mailed Loribear on this and was asked to bend it back. More on this below.
The doll/figure
Head to foot it is short of 70cm. The body is platinum silicone with a metal internal skeleton. The head is connected via a machine screw. You get two faces made of solid plastic (polyurathane?) and plastic hair that can be switched between the two faces. One face I would call the "beauty face" with a mature look including eyelashes and glass eyes. The other one is an anime-style ahoge face with painted eyes. Both heads have a magnet on top which holds the hair which is a softer plastic but harder than silicone. Between doll models the heads may have the same thread but the hair is not interchangeable as the shapes are different.
The doll had an extra joint above the ankle which is an unusual feature (see pictures). I was told that a softer metal was used on that portion of the ankle. I guess it makes a kneeling position easier with bent feet without breaking the foot. Just keep note of it for posing and pictures as real people do not bend that way.
Feeling around the torso there are solid bars in a trapezoid configuration. This accommodates a cavity which appears to extend up to the chest. My fingers didn't reach the end and I haven't bothered to break out the endoscope yet. The neck bends but the torso does not.
The chest is well endowed, so think of this more as "Mogudan" Rei which I guess keeps with the sex doll theme. The chest is also solid unlike the other Loribear I had, no gel feel here. This apparently has a sensor when you squeeze activates a moaning/dialog on the external SenSee unit.
Another interesting detail are the fake veins on the upper chest, groin and back of hand. The paint looked more black than blue.
The skin on my unit had some glitter. Not sure if this was intentional or some contamination.
The chair accessory
The chair is packed with bent legs. There are dog ears for screws and the doll's legs are packed in between. I found one digging into one the legs from shipping though it did not appear to scratch the silicone permanently. Three wood screws are included in the SenSee package. A regular screwdriver is enough to assemble. You really need it screwed down as the doll is heavy enough to slip the velvet seat if loosely placed. The back legs need to be bent to an angle as recommended in the included documentation.
The chair has a wide back so the doll can only seat in the conventional way. You can NOT turn the doll around holding the backrest without spreading the legs really far to the side.
Ordering Experience
This being a pre-order unit took two weeks before being shipped (released end of December 2023, arrived mid-Jan 2024) Incidentally, when your order via Paypal, the subsequent credit card charge still shows "sex doll" rather than "anime figure".
The shipping boxes did not have any references to this. UPS was used in delivery. In my case the boxes arrived in good condition without damage.SenSee Interaction
It is an interesting gimmick. The unit is a small plastic box with an internal battery (LiOn), speaker, headphone plug, and power button. I think this may be similar to what full scale dolls use for interaction (Irontech heads?). You charge it via a micro-usb plug to type-A, you have to supply your own charger. It took about 30 minutes to fully charge from package (not sure how much residual charge it had) on a 1amp charger.
When you press the button it will cycle through Chinese, Japanese then English. Once you let go at the selected language, you can speak to the unit and it will reply. E.g. "Who are you?" will cause it to respond "I'm your sister?". Herein lies my complaint, the dialog is is not customized to the Ayanami Rei theme. Does not sound stoic at all in any of the languages. And the stepbrother-sister theme does not match the Evangelion series. Mother-son is more in theme, though it might not fit everyone's taste either.
Mogudan old man and Rei would be a perfect match. I wish it was user programmable.Another feature is if you squeeze the right breast it triggers dialog. The left one did not appear to trigger dialog on mine. The SenSee was within a few feet of the doll. Did not ask about maximum range. I suspect motion may also trigger dialog as I was moving the unit around for poses I heard it speak. If it does not receive input for a time it shuts down with an ending dialog "This was the best ...".
The speaker is loud. Fortunately there is a single 2.5mm headphone jack of the type used in PCs/cellphones/airplanes.
Customizability
I tried a 1/3 BJD dollstand to see if I could display it standing (see pictures). The crotch area is open and wide so I had to reverse it. Also you can't really stand it on its feet as the silicone rolls laterally. Also discovered that the legs were not completely symmetrical. One leaned more outward than the other. This maybe be an effect of how it was shipped.
Ordered a 1/3 BJD doll bodysuit but it was too small for the figure. It looks like I would need to learn sewing to make custom clothes.
Having an extra head was nice. Currently experimenting with sculpting my own anime hair using clay.
Warnings
Loribear sent an email to all owners that dark clothing should not be worn on the doll for extended periods as the colors may be absorbed. This included the evening dress included with the package.
