Unboxing Sino-doll SI-162/D body style with S30 ›Linyin‹ and S31 ›Chris‹ heads

After having been spoiled by a perfect eye mechanism in Gynoid Tech's Model 7, Sino-doll's eye mechanism brings us back to reality.

Similar to Doll Sweet's eye mechanism, Sino's variant works a bit erratic. Sometimes the eyeballs jump chaotic, sometimes precise adjustments work as smoothly as they should. This behaviour is rather consistent across all three Sino-doll generations – November 2018, June 2019 and December 2019 – I reviewed.

I am undecided if I really want to recommend the 'eye mechanism' option. In some moments it is helpful, in others it can be a nuisance so it can be worth the (moderate) extra fee. Since it does not come with the risk of a visually negative impact like the 'standing without bolts' or 'bikini lines' options, I'd suggest to consider the eye mechanism if doll photography is on your schedule. For the sex doll or companionship use cases, the eye mechanism is not necessary.

If you are planning to get the 'eye mechsnism' option, just keep in mind that switching the eye color will be much more complicated than with regular eyeballs embedded into a silicone cavity.

Sandro

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The Sino-doll skeleton is quite OK as far as range of movements and robustness is concerned.

This doll has the 'shrugging shoulders' option which works nicely.

The adjustment of the joints is intended rather for sex than for posing or photography; the joints are very easy to manipulate and movements are smooth. They are only a little bit tighter than Doll Sweet's 'more loose joints' option.

Ex factory the joints keep a pose, but they are a tick too loose for serious posing or long-term standing.

This is good if you want a doll primarily for sex, but for a dedicated photo model the joints will loosen too quickly.

The neck connector has changed significantly, compared with the sample from one year ago. What Sino-doll is now using seems to be inspired by Doll Sweet's spigot type connector, but the spigots are mechanically not compatible, at least not without modification.

Similar to the SI-152 sample, the head requires a firm push onto the spigot to get a firm connection. If you do not push the head down enough, the head does not lock and will roll off when the doll lies flar on her back. If you have pushed the head down sufficiently vigorous, you might have trouble getting it off. I have encountered this as well with the SI-152, with this SI-162 sample and both heads as similar customer feedback. So the neck connector does it's job to keep the head firmly attached to the body, but it is inferior to Doll Sweet's original.

However, there are confusing consistency issues.

This is the head side of the S30 head:

And this is the head side of the the S31 head:

The connector of S30 is attached to the core with four screws. The connector of S31 does not have any screws, but some silicone residue. It appears as if it is just glued onto the core.

And it gets even more confusing… the A10 head from last May was attached with three screws and one drill hole was empty. It is unclear how the connector is supposed to look like – four screws, no screws, some screws?

Depending how it is supposed to be, it might affect adaptability. If the connector is screwed into the core, it might be possible to nondestructively replace the original Sino-connector with – for example – a Doll Sweet connector. If it is glued-in, nondestructively swapping the connector might not be possible.

Sandro

From her heritage, the SI-162 has reference class ancestry for standing capability. As well Z-Onedolls as Sino-dolls excel with the 'bolts for standing' option. I have a Z-Onedoll standing for about three years, without getting loose joints or falling. And the SI-152 sample is standing for half a year, similarily rock-solid and without any tendency to get 'weak knees'. But ultimately, the bolts for standing are crutches. In case of Z-Onedoll and Sino-doll they are most useful crutches, but the dream of a doll with beautiful feet and standing capability remains.

So one of the reasons for purchasing the SI-162 sample was to learn more about the 'Standing without bolts' option.

Is it a satisfying replacement for the 'bolts for standing option'?

In short, it is not. Not even remotely.

First a few words about the aesthetical aspect. 'Standing without bolts' means that Sino-doll uses a firmer silicone for the feet. I have considered a similar approach for retrofitting standing capability into a current DS, but I dismissed this idea for implementation reasons. Sino-doll is struggling with the same issues.

The left foot is how it is supposed to be:

When looking very closely, slightly above the ankle you can see the different silicones. There is a hardly visible deviation in skin color. Haptically you can clearly feel the difference as the two silicones are not blended into each other. Also the foot is more firm and (much) less oily.

The left foo is good. No complaints.

The right foot shows the vagaries of this approach:

The segue between the two silicones is clearly visible; there is even a ~1mm ridge.

Honestly, it's ugly and I do not like the way it looks and how the ridge feels. The right foot has the sexappeal of Frankenstein's bride where one foot was hacked off and another one was attached.

Visually, the 'standing without bolts' option is a 50% dissapointment. One foot good, one foot bad – that is a hit & miss quota.

Side note: This is the third 'hit & miss' customization option I encountered from Sino-doll. #1 is the bikini lines option, #2 is body heating, and #3 is 'bolts for standing'. The positive side is that these are all optional and you can do without them.But in case you choose to pay the (moderate) extra fee for one of these options be advised that you might get dissapointed.

Now let's see how the bolts for standing perform for standing.

In a nutshell, the doll can stand with the 'standing without bolts' option, but the silicone around the ankles gets visually compressed and she does not stand safely. Without leaning with her weight on a third point of contact I could not even make her stand for the fraction of a second.

So best case is that you can shortly put the doll down on her own feet, e.g. to open a door or for showering. But for posing or display, the 'standing without bolts' option is absolutely no alternative to the bolts option. In case you can live with something like the right foot on this sample, the 'standing without bolts' might be wort considering as it makes handling the doll more convenient.

This is the only reason why I am not madly furious about the deformed right foot:

After putting the full weight of the doll onto her own feet, there is no visible damage. So you can safely let your doll stand in the shower – without scratching the shower with bolts, and without the risk of water entering the inside of the doll. In same cases this convenience might justify the extra fee and the risk of a deformed foot.

In comparison with Gynoid Tech who also claim standing capability without bolts it's worth pointing out that Sino-dolls approach kind of works. It might not be pretty and the doll might not be able to stand safely on her own feet, but opposed to GT she won't ruin her feet from putting weight onto the feet. That's particularily noteworthy as any GT doll costs at least twice as much as a Sino-doll. Better performance for less money, that might be worth a thought for one or the other.

Posing Capability of this doll is limited by the ramifications of the 'standing without bolts' option. When doing standing poses you will have all hands full to work around the side-effects oft the 'missing' bolts.

Sandro

The Silicone Blend is a bit puzzling – it feels quite different than the silicone blend used for the SI-152 sample. It feels softer and leaks significantly more oil.

The Skin Surface is smooth. I am not sure if there is a texture. If there is, it's extremely subtle.

Skin Tone

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In the past months, several Chinese doll makers have introduced Surface Finishing. That means that there is some kind of 'layer' above the silicone flesh. Examples for this are Doll Sweet's S-level makeup, Gynoid Tech's default skin surface with little beauty marks and hinted blood vessels, and Hitdoll/Ildoll's 'Hyper Realism' option. Sino-doll does not have a skin surface finishing like this, neither by default nor as an option. That creates the impression of a simpler appearance, quite a bit away from the shallows of the 'Uncanny Valley'.

Similar to the smooth joint adjustment this is an indicator for the intended primary usage scenario: keeping you company in bed.

That does not mean that a Sino-doll is not photogenic; with some love you will be able to harvest beautiful pictures from a doll like the SI-162. But if photography or display is the main reason to purchase a doll, a Sino might not be the first choice.

Sandro

Generally, the manufacturing quality of this SI-/162 sample is quite good.

Trimming of the seamlines is good; the doll is clean and does not suffer from manufacturing residue as I encountered several times with a Z-Onedoll.

Eyebrows are brushed with precision, eyelashes, as well as finger and toe nails do not make the impression they could fall off anytime soon. In some areas, manufacturing quality is not so far off from a Doll Sweet.

Overall, there are no massive flaws or dealbreakers.

Though, there are a couple of quirks in the details.

• The S30 head has four screws, the S31 head is missing these four screws – this is a strange inconsistency. In the SI-152 sample from last summer, there were three screws but four holes drilled.
• The neck connector makes it too hard to swap heads. Actually it requires almost brute force to get a head off the body.
• The way the silicone is cut to make an oral cavity is bit of an imperfection. Especially the lips of a love doll should be nothing short from perfect.
• Also, the dismantled 'chic' of the right foot should not pass QC, not for a doll from upscale price level.

Sandro

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