Update 4!
Ebony steps closer release planned this September! All Smart Doll customers will get first dibs - the online store will close for 12 hours and Smart Doll customers will be sent the usual password to enter and purchase.
Just like all our Smart Dolls - Ebony is not a limited model and will always be available.
This photo of Ebony taken today with final frame, outer shell and wig. Faceup and eyes are still prototypes but very close to being final.
Ebony so cute!
And here are the chibi representations of Ebony and Ivory illustrated by Ikkyuu-sensei.
Folks who follow my Instagram would have already met Ivory.
Corporate imaging ^^;
We need to ramp up production even more before we can release the bodies as a standalone product. I thought I could do so in July but demand remains high a year after launch ><
Ebony colored Mirai Frames are in and final.
Sorting and assembly.
Ebony inherits the Mirai original colored spine.
Update 3!
Wig design finalized. Eye color changed to green - will probably make darker for final version. Default apparel not finalized.
Another update - T-shirt color tests - which you prefer?
Update 2! More photos of Smart Doll Ebony in our Hijab and Turtleneck set.
Update! Faceup test done. Working on more now.
Sorry for the lack of updates - it's been kinda... hectic. I just done a headcount and realized that we now have 17 employees (*-*)
I'm also in the middle of opening a shop in Tokyo which is actually located in the same building as my office which is strategically very convenient for us - news about this soon.
Anyway, this is just one of the new products that I'm working on which I'm calling Smart Doll Ebony - the first soft vinyl doll to be released in ebony on a global scale.
The prototypes came back today so the faceup is not complete yet. Once thats done we will work on the paint masks. Then it will be the design of the eyes and wig before we can release. I expect her to be released after Eiji later this Fall.
I plan to release the Ebony line in various tones starting with the one you see in these photos.
I'm also working on prototypes of the hands being casted in a softer vinyl so that kids don't poke their eyes out - they are really nice to hold too. The hands I mean - not the kids.
I also plan to have Smart Doll Ebony displayed first at Anime Expo 2015 - our booth number is 9001 in the South Lobby.
This is what the soft vinyl for the head and bust looks like freshly casted with the spout attached - we heat these up in the office and cut off the flash as you saw in our corporate video.
This post contains a video, click here to view.
And here is a better comparison between the current and Ebony version.
And yes - the male Smart Dolls will also have Ebony versions.