Creaky joints?

Hi everyone! So I was wondering if anyone had any trouble with their Smart Doll body creaking a lot?

 

Her body in general seems really stiff compared to the Dollfie Dream bodies. She feels lighter but to me she seems harder to pose and move around. (I wish I could do that tucked in knee thing I can do with my DD's...it's so cute!) I especially have a hard time changing her default hands, even with a hair dryer it's really hard to remove them...

 

Should I add some grease to her joints, maybe? What would you guys suggest?

I was under the impression that the creakiness and stiffness was preferred, as opposed to looseness. But I imagine being too much would be annoying. However, my Eiji is my first 1/3 vinyl doll, I don't have a DD to compare him to and probably won't till Kagamine Rin finally comes out.

 

I've heard a lot about the girls being stiff and noisy, and maybe it depends on the individual doll but I've never really found my Eiji to be too stiff. I never had the slightest trouble taking his hands off, despite what I hear about the girls, but I don't know if this is a difference with Eiji or just my Eiji.

The people who talk about their girls being stiff almost always say that it's because they're new, and this decreases over time so you just need to 'exercise' the joints.

 

I'm interested to know whether the stiffness affects all the girls equally, as I'd still like an Ebony one day.

 

As far as any flaws in Eiji goes, for my one the only thing that's bugging me is that the double joint in his arm comes apart far too easily, and I have to take his whole arm off at the shoulder in order to be able to easily get it back. Since I lack arm and hand strength it's difficult to snap the two halves of the joint together again, and replacing his arm at the shoulder is often a hassle. I'm better at it now, but that's only cos of all the practice I've had doing it by now lol.

Edited March 7, 2016 by Guest

I've been having the same problem.

I've been working with vinyl dolls with internal skeletons for over 8 years and while a minor annoyance, creaking joints has always been a sign of nice, tight joints that will hold their position. If you are used to the absolutely silent operation of strung resin dolls this sound can be somewhat of a surprise, but it is nothing to worry about. Do not use any sort of lubricant on the plastic joints as this can deteriorate the plastic, not to mention stain the vinyl and/or clothing. As long as the joint can be moved easily enough, any noise it produces is not a bad thing, just a part of vinyl ownership.

Yep, I agree, I would rather have a joint be a little stiff than too loose, which can be a real pain. My Ebony was very stiff when she first arrived but has loosened up nicely. Her wrist/hand ball joints are still pretty stiff, so I am extra careful when posing her. If you try to force a stiff joint without supporting it, you can snap it. There is kind of a learning curve with vinyl dolls but once you get the hang of it they're great.

My smart doll wrist twist part was so tight when I first got it that I literally didnt even think they turned until I saw a picture of someone twisting them and I was like wtf! lol.

 

They do loosen up slightly after some use but id rather have them be really tight and hold weight better than be too loose

Ah, thank you all for the feedback!

 

This is true. I did notice that the joints were looser with my DD girls. I am fairly new to doll ownership (I don't own any resin dolls yet) so I'm still learning about how they are made and what to expect. I'm glad to know that the "creaking" is a good sign and not a bad one. I will admit it can be a bit annoying at times and I'm still nervous that if I bend something too far, or wrong without knowing, I might break her, but it seems like Smart Dolls are made to be very balanced and sturdy, so that's a huge relief! Although, I haven't been able to get Mirai-chan much exercise here lately so maybe with time I'll get used to it and it will help work the joints a bit more. It isn't a deal breaker though, since I still very much want Ebony and Chitose.

 

The hand issue... Ehhh. I was thinking maybe when I get Chitose I'll use one pair of hands for the changeable parts, and one set of hands for the default. Maybe I'm just not holding them under the hair dryer long enough?

 

So yeah, if there's nothing to worry about, then that's great news! I still love my Smart Doll, creakiness and all