Smart Doll Eyes (updated; w/ Volks comparison)

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1 Jun 2016 Update on Page 2.

 

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I couldn't find an existing thread so…

 

The first time I saw a Smart Doll in person I fell in love with the eyes. I don't own one yet, but I decided to take a chance and order some to try on my DD who outgrew her Volks Suiseiseki/Souseiseki eyes some time ago.

 

Today I got around to taking them out of the package. Straight on there's not a lot of difference (Mirai 22mm on left, Volks 20mm acrylic on right):

 

 

But from the side I finally saw what should have been obvious from the moment they arrived—the SmD eyes are really flat compared to the traditional half-rounds.

 

 

 

 

I admire Danny's innovation, but I never expected he would reimagine doll eyes.

 

Has anyone put SmD eyes in other dolls? How do they look? Do you find them easier/harder to place?

 

Here's a quick look at Mirai's eyes in a DD Cheryl (I know they're slightly off and the putty is showing, but that's because I have other eyes to try on her; I'll take my time with placement and the rest once I decide on her "permanent" pair):

 

Edited June 1, 2016 by Guest

My Maya uses Kizuna's eyes and in my opinion she looks great!

 

DSC05493-enh by Mysha, on Flickr

 

Also Isabelle used to use these eyes for some time and I loved her with them.

 

black by Mysha, on Flickr

 

I wish SmD eyes had something to hold them on - once they were in place it was hard to rotate them and position them properly. But on the other hand it was easier to put them in place, coz I had to use less bluetack around them as they are more flat

I admire Danny's innovation, but I never expected he would reimagine doll eyes.

 

I'm gonna be that guy for a second. Most resin animetics have a very low dome like this. The eyes juu-yuki makes for her shop are very similar (though not the same) in dome size.

 

They look beautiful in Cheryl though!

I admire Danny's innovation, but I never expected he would reimagine doll eyes.

 

I'm gonna be that guy for a second. Most resin animetics have a very low dome like this. The eyes juu-yuki makes for her shop are very similar (though not the same) in dome size.

 

They look beautiful in Cheryl though!

 

Oh, is this the new norm? I was an eye-hoarder in my time, but they were always half-round (silicone, acrylic, urethane) and round (glass). The only "flats" I ever encountered were chips for Pullip and Blythe.

 

Cheryl thanks you for the compliment

Hmmm..i have a few Blue Rose Garden eyes that are also very flat like Smartdoll, but i kinda like them better than some dome shape eyes as they fit better at least in my opinion. But then i dont have as many types of animetic eyes to try out. /=

 

Very much agree on how much more difficult they are to put on though!i never even thought of using Smartdoll in a DD before. Looks really nice amd now that he's selling jus eyes..may be worth a shot.(=

I admire Danny's innovation, but I never expected he would reimagine doll eyes.

 

I'm gonna be that guy for a second. Most resin animetics have a very low dome like this. The eyes juu-yuki makes for her shop are very similar (though not the same) in dome size.

 

They look beautiful in Cheryl though!

 

Oh, is this the new norm? I was an eye-hoarder in my time, but they were always half-round (silicone, acrylic, urethane) and round (glass). The only "flats" I ever encountered were chips for Pullip and Blythe.

 

Cheryl thanks you for the compliment

 

Eyes have changed a lot over the last few years. Many companies now offer "low-dome" options for silicone, urethane, and resin eye types. How flat they are can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but I have several eyes that are significantly flatter than the eyes that came with my Smart Doll.

O_O SmartDoll eyes are acrylic?!! My Mirai is from the first release and her eyes are made of resin and are as thick as Volks eyes. Nice comparison btw. I've been wondering wether to get blue or green SmartDolls eyes and this helps with the decision. Thanks!

O_O SmartDoll eyes are acrylic?!! My Mirai is from the first release and her eyes are made of resin and are as thick as Volks eyes. Nice comparison btw. I've been wondering wether to get blue or green SmartDolls eyes and this helps with the decision. Thanks!

 

I'm pretty sure Smart Doll eyes are still resin. I think the title of the thread is referring to the fact that Volks eyes are acrylic.

 

Smarty Doll does appear to be getting a little... ah... sloppy with their eye quality, however. You can see they're not cutting closely around the iris, so you have a ring of super-white around the iris, and then the white of the resin around that, which gives it the same "white-on-white" look as acrylic.

Smarty Doll does appear to be getting a little... ah... sloppy with their eye quality, however. You can see they're not cutting closely around the iris, so you have a ring of super-white around the iris, and then the white of the resin around that, which gives it the same "white-on-white" look as acrylic.

I had the same issue with the White Dolly Story eyes I bought and had in my Ebony for a while. They also were not cut closely. It bothered me- esp since the eyes were $30+.

However, I ended up putting the Smart Doll eyes back in. The reason I like Danny's eyes is because of the large, dark iris. The other eyes I got (Arietta Project, White Dolly Story), while more the color I wanted (an aqua green/blue), had irises that get lighter at the bottom. The strong, dark pupil of Danny's eyes gives the doll a more focused look, in my opinion. The other dolls make her look kind of vague and dreamy. Which is fine- but not the look I'm going for.

I just wish Danny would make some more colors besides the standard blue, green and brown. I would love to see the aqua blue/green color I want (like a sea green). When Harmony comes out, i would love to see a yellow eye for her. Someone did post a picture of Crimson with the aqua colored eyes I'm looking for so I hope that Danny comes out with them.

Thanks for posting these pictures!

My Maya uses Kizuna's eyes and in my opinion she looks great!

 

Also Isabelle used to use these eyes for some time and I loved her with them.

 

I agree, they look great on both Maya and Isabelle.

 

 

Eyes have changed a lot over the last few years. Many companies now offer "low-dome" options for silicone, urethane, and resin eye types. How flat they are can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but I have several eyes that are significantly flatter than the eyes that came with my Smart Doll.

 

Flatter than Smart Doll? Can you share who? I think flatter eyes would be a huge benefit when dealing with smaller heads.

 

Of course, I also wish companies would standardize definitions of "high" and "low" dome. I measured Gumdrops against Enchanted eyes earlier this month to help out someone on DoA, and discovered Gumdrops "Standard" are higher dome than "Enchanted" Hi-Dome.

 

 

O_O SmartDoll eyes are acrylic?!! My Mirai is from the first release and her eyes are made of resin and are as thick as Volks eyes. Nice comparison btw. I've been wondering wether to get blue or green SmartDolls eyes and this helps with the decision. Thanks!

 

Whoops, I guess a comma might have helped. Smart Doll eyes are re— well, I think they're resin but neither the website or card they come attached to specifies.

 

I also have the green but haven't tried them on Cheryl yet.

 

 

I'm pretty sure Smart Doll eyes are still resin. I think the title of the thread is referring to the fact that Volks eyes are acrylic.

 

Smarty Doll does appear to be getting a little... ah... sloppy with their eye quality, however. You can see they're not cutting closely around the iris, so you have a ring of super-white around the iris, and then the white of the resin around that, which gives it the same "white-on-white" look as acrylic.

 

If they were resin in the beginning they probably are now, I just find it weird that they don't state that on the product page or on the product (that I can find).

 

I wonder if the white rim around the irises might be intentional, to help with spacing when they're being made, since the actual irises are not perfectly round. But I'm not an eye-maker, so that's a guess.

 

Danny appears to have very high standards for the Smart Doll line, so I gather that he considers the white sliver in line with his design philosophy.

 

 

 

I had the same issue with the White Dolly Story eyes I bought and had in my Ebony for a while. They also were not cut closely. It bothered me- esp since the eyes were $30+.

However, I ended up putting the Smart Doll eyes back in. The reason I like Danny's eyes is because of the large, dark iris. The other eyes I got (Arietta Project, White Dolly Story), while more the color I wanted (an aqua green/blue), had irises that get lighter at the bottom. The strong, dark pupil of Danny's eyes gives the doll a more focused look, in my opinion. The other dolls make her look kind of vague and dreamy. Which is fine- but not the look I'm going for.

I just wish Danny would make some more colors besides the standard blue, green and brown. I would love to see the aqua blue/green color I want (like a sea green). When Harmony comes out, i would love to see a yellow eye for her. Someone did post a picture of Crimson with the aqua colored eyes I'm looking for so I hope that Danny comes out with them.

Thanks for posting these pictures!

 

Could you see the white-on-white on the White Dolly Story site? I'm just curious if they're advertised one way, then show up slightly different. On the Smart Doll site you can see the white-on-white in the close-up photos on the "Eyes" product pages (for example, Kizuna Eyes).

 

I'm sure Danny would like to expand the eye selection in the future, but I don't see it being a huge priority at the moment in light of everything else he's working on: dolls in various skin tones, wigs, outfits, shoes, accessories, ROBOTICS.

I think the flattest eyes I own are my Arietta Project eyes, in terms of a low dome. They're so flat they actually look different than most eyes -- the dome serves to capture and suffuse the light around the eye, and Arietta have almost no dome so you get a very sharp, crisp look. Some people really love them; some people really dislike them. I happen to be a huge fan myself. However, Arietta still has a fairly big eye base, so their overall height is not necessarily smaller.

 

The flattest of the flat in my collection are the Cohullen Druith, they have a low dome AND a low base, they're almost no taller than a pair of Blythe eye chips. I only have one pair I got second-hand; I have no idea how to buy directly.

Mirai had resin eyes , but Danny switched to Acrylic eyes while making Kizuna , Not sure if New Mirai eyes are still resin or not ? but I am sure all the other girls eyes are acrylic , He switched because Acrylic eyes are cheaper and easier to make .

Mirai had resin eyes , but Danny switched to Acrylic eyes while making Kizuna , Not sure if New Mirai eyes are still resin or not ? but I am sure all the other girls eyes are acrylic , He switched because Acrylic eyes are cheaper and easier to make .

 

Ugh, really? I'd assumed for 3,200 yen you'd get better than acrylic...

 

For Mirai, he might be using up his supply of resin eyes and then switching over to acrylic once the original suppy is exhausted.

I found this today:

 

 

I also found the information buried on Kizuna's page, which I hadn't thought to check since I'm an Ebony & Mirai fan.

 

They're acrylic.

Interesting. The girls got switched to acrylic, but the guys are getting resin eyes:

 

I would assume that's because you can't make a smaller pupil in acrylics without being able to see the edge of the lense. It's a struggle I've been having with the boy I'm working on currently, so I kind of resigned myself to having to shell out for resins of some sort.

I have a question to people owning a smart doll boy. Could anyone please tell me a size of an iris of his default eyes? I planning to use SmDB eyes in my resin guy, but need to confirm the size is correct. Thank you ^^

To tell the truth I wasn't 100% sure how to measure the iris so does this image help at all? Between the two widest parts it seems to be about 8mm.

To tell the truth I wasn't 100% sure how to measure the iris so does this image help at all? Between the two widest parts it seems to be about 8mm.

Oh, great, thank you! And could you please measure its height as well?

Sure

It's only slightly taller than it is wide at the widest point, just nearly 9mm.

Thank you very much, Torino! Now I need to test in on my resin guy, when he finally comes