Five Little Girls

12/8/2013

Took a group shot of my five little Iplehouse girls this morning. From left to right; Erzulie, Nami, Bonnie, Byuri, and Elin. Both Bonnie and Nami are Normal skin, but Bonnie is a lot lighter. Nami seems to have yellowed quite a bit with time, which is fine, as I like her colouring.

The difference in normal skin colour might be a bit of an issue, since I have to talk to Iplehouse about getting some replacement upper arm parts. Both Nami and Elin have cracks in the bottom of their upper arms at the elbow joint. The resin is so thin there that the tension can cause cracks. Elin's right arm is quite bad. Sometimes the crack opens right up, and the tab at the elbow looks ready to break off. Elin has just one cracked elbow, but Nami has cracks in both.

I know many other BID owners have had the same problem. It is my understanding that Iplehouse is aware of the cracks occurring in their first BIDs and claims to have addressed the problem. Both Nami and Elin were made in August 2011, so maybe they have since then - I don't know. My Byuri, who is from December 2011, and gets just as much play time as Nami - if not more - doesn't have any cracks. Maybe she will, or maybe she won't - only time will tell. I've read that IH will allow us to purchase a replacement part, but only if we can show copies of the Certificates of Authenticity, plus good clear photos of the cracks - which is why I've prepared the photos above.

Anyway, I thought I'd just mention the problem here, so other BID owners will be aware of the potential cracking problem, and that it is possible to get replacement parts. My Nami will just end up with lighter upper arms, so unless the resin can be blushed to match, she'll just look like she has faint "T-shirt Tan" when going sleeveless in the summer.

8 Comments

Jane

12/8/2013 02:35:36 am

How lovely to see the whole line up and all so perfectly dressed and shod too!

I am sorry about the elbow cracks though!
Perhaps you could artificially 'mellow' the new arm by leaving it on the window sill in daylight for a few days.......a friend of mine did that when she needed to match some new hands to her older doll.

Martha

12/8/2013 02:40:01 am

Yes, I've thought of that too. But I haven't even started the ordering process yet, and then it takes awhile for them to come. So, maybe in February.

Paige link

12/8/2013 04:44:49 pm

Hello, this comment has nothing to do with this post, but I don't have time to scroll through and find a more appropriate post. At any rate, I used your textured fairy wing tutorial and LOVED it...thank you so much for sharing the process!!!! Here's a link to my blog post with pictures :) http://justonemorepaigeontheinternet.blogspot.com/2013/12/fairy-party-part-one-things-made-and.html

Laura J. Underwood

12/8/2013 10:53:45 pm

Bonnie is *beautiful* but so are the others.

Sorry about the crack. Iplehouse is not the only bjd maker that had that issue to occur. I noticed it in an older Hujoo, and my Goodreau Edge has a missing bit of resin that holds the pin in place for one ankle and one hand because apparently the tiny bob of resin slipped out at some point and I didn't notice it until I was restringing. I hope Iplehouse does good by their word. I have been trying to get in touch with them about my account because I want to order one of their dolls, and so far, I have heard nothing.

Teena Baucke-Rients

12/13/2013 11:12:47 pm

Just enjoyed catching up on some of your blog posts! Amazing as ever!

So sorry your BIDs have the same problem. Both of my NS girls, made late 2011/very early 2012, developed the same problem a few months back.

All I received from Iple was scolding that I was handling my dolls too roughly, and a price of $15 per upper arm section + shipping from Korea to "fix" the problem...which I have no guarantee won't happen again in six months, since I know I haven't abused my dolls.

Your work, past and present, continues to inspire and delight. Thank you again for sharing it with all of us! :)

Martha

12/14/2013 01:12:23 am

I contacted IH and they were very accommodating (compared to last time with Peach), but warned that the colour of the new resin probably won't match, which doesn't matter to me. They set up a private account for me and I ordered a bunch of other things, including a doll as well, so I wouldn't have to pay so much just for shipping the tiny arm parts. Now the price of shipping the doll will cover everything.

I plan on laying out the new resin parts and hope to speed along their "yellowing" so the resin does match. Then I will wait until the cracks get so bad that the pieces actually break off before switching in the new parts. I figure, make the old ones last as long as possible, so I don't have to keep buying new parts every few years.

Teena

12/14/2013 09:56:31 am

So glad you are getting replacements so you can fix your adorable gals up--hope the mismatch isn't too great and/or mellows for you. I just found $100 w/shipping too steep for four little arm pieces w/o anything else to order for the time being. (Their attitude wasn't an incentive, either, LOL.)

My girls both have a loop of tape wrapped around that part of the arm, to hopefully catch any pieces if they do eventually crack all the way through and come loose. I have cracks on three of four arms so far. Yes, I do also hope the replacements do not just show the same problem again--that would be very frustrating. :(

Hope this is an isolated problem w/older dolls...my BIDs are some of my favourite dolls of all, and I hate to think about never buying the others still on my wish list due to this issue.

Martha

12/14/2013 08:52:30 pm

From recent discussions on ZOZ, the problem seems rather widespread, and has turned several people off of buying any more BIDs. It won't stop me though, as they are among my most favourite dolls. If worst comes to worst, they may just end up always wearing long sleeves - or at least down to the elbow.

Five Little Girls

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