A few weeks ago I took some comparison photos of my friend's Makie doll with my Lati doll - showing the different poses they hold and the ease to which they do so. I only have one BJD doll now, having sold the others due to not really 'bonding' with them and feeling they were wasted with me. I kept back my little Lati Lami as she is very sweet and I hadn't quite decided whether to part with her or not.
Obviously they are quite different in size. Although their joints are of a different type, they are in similar places, i.e. shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles.
I could have done with a flatter surface but this was the best I had for photographing them against a neutral background.
The girls kindly obliged and showed me some of their 'poses and paces'
Strike a pose! Just love this pose!
Even on a very smooth surface the Makie doll held her poses well.
Sadly I couldn't say the same about the Lati doll, who in the end gave up and watched....the surface was just too smooth for her.
The Lati has a bit more flexibility than the Makie - I love the way she sits in this pose - a position I still often choose when sitting on the floor! Poor Makie though just couldn't do that.
She does manage to sit up though and doesn't fall over backwards.
You can see here, the Lati has a more 'natural' type pose, but they can still both kneel okay.
All in all, despite not having quite as much 'flexibility' than the Lati doll, the Makie doll wins hands down for me as when you put her in a pose she keeps it. This is really important to me as I like to take my dolls out and about and write photo stories, and there is nothing more frustrating that spending too much time trying to get a doll to hold a pose.
Of course not really knowing anything about BJDs in general, I am sure someone more knowledgeable than me would have more success with perhaps playing around with the mechanisms in the Lati doll - I don't think there is anything wrong - she is nicely strung - it is just that she doesn't suit what I want her to do. She is a really sweet doll, with a charming face, but doing this comparison really helped me make the decision about whether she was to stay or look for a new home, and now I have my own Makie doll, Wren, the little Lati Lami doll will be up for re-homing where she will be enjoyed more than I am able to. I much prefer the size of the Makies at 10 inches. The Lati is just too small. I think also the fact that the BJDs are so expensive also means I am more wary about taking her out anywhere in case she is damaged, so the poor girl has spent most of her time in her box!
I am very grateful to my friend for leaving her doll with me for a week - she certainly was a great 'enabler'.
I can't get over how nice the articulation is with both of them and they look really fun to photograph! I was never a huge fan of the Maki's but just seeing your blog this past week with cute little Wren is starting to change my mind! :)
ReplyDeleteThey are a lot of fun to photograph. Being unsure of the Makies but being attracted by the fact that they were made here in the UK was part of their appeal to me, but there was a certain amount of uncertainty as she is so different from most of my other dolls. When I first opened her I really wasn't sure but have to say she has really grown on me, and I think I have made more clothes for her in a week, than I have made most of my other dolls. I have no regrets at all with getting her. The customer service is excellent as well. She had some scratches to her eyes, and they replied immediately to my email and sent replacement eyes straight out and explained how to replace them. Never had service as good as this with any other dolls I have bought new.
DeleteThese are a fun pair to see together!
ReplyDeletePersonally (and I don't have a Lati, so I can't speak to that comparison specifically) the biggest issue I have with comparing Makies to resin BJDs is fear - I'm not not worried about a Makie falling over and breaking, so when I had a Makie I was always happy to try unsupported poses with him that I'd never have tried with a resin doll. But that's just me! ;)
I think that is exactly it...when you are aware just how expensive resin BJDs are, it does worry you with the various posing issues and I think that is just how I feel - thank you for putting it into words!
DeleteMakies just feel so robust! Plus of course you can get replacement parts should you need to!