MiM (Make it Mine) Doll Update: Centaurs and Cents

You can read my full review of the relatively new and highly creative MiM dolls here, or visit the fun website here, but I want to tell you a few quick things that have happened in the last couple of weeks regarding MiM.  First of all, I got my replacement centaur body very quickly, as promised, and was able to finish my photo shoot (they gave me that blue halter top as a free gift!):

Centaur MiM

The horse body can't really strike any natural poses that will stand upright without support.  MiM needs the help of a wall:

That's a pretty good horse pose, though.

This is still the biggest problem in my eyes:

The way the legs bend inwards is not only unnatural, but it prevents the horse from being able to hold most poses where both of the legs are bent at the same time.  The legs crash into each other.  Very frustrating.  Also, the joint where the doll and horse meet has some noticeable gaps:

That would be fine if it meant that the joint had some mobility--it does not.

And, I think the horse body is way too small for the doll torso, but this is often the case with centaur dolls (and even just with regular horses for dolls) because the horse parts would have to be REALLY big to be in the correct proportion.

The horse feet don't lay flat against the ground.

Sigh.

As I mentioned in my review, though, I like this doll a lot so I don't care that much about the horse body anymore.  Maybe I can find another doll torso that would fit it better and do some kind of mod?  Maybe not.  I still enjoy owning it for the simple fact that it exists.

I don't need a horse body to be special.

The other thing that happened to me is that while I was visiting the MiM website one morning (as I often do) I noticed that all of the products were marked with "$0.00" price tabs.  I was worried that perhaps MiM was going out of business or something.  I clicked on one of the products and noticed that it said, "select your own price!" at the bottom, and then there was a little box where, apparently, I was supposed to write in my own price.  Seriously?  I rubbed my eyes and reloaded the page and tried this again.  Sure enough, I could enter any price I wanted into the box and this would be what the product rang up as in my cart.

Well.  What would you do in this type of situation?  I was fascinated.  I have never seen anything like it.  I was desperately trying to figure out how on earth this could be a good business tactic for Make it Mine.  Were they trying to collect some data on what people thought the dolls were worth?  Were they having a clearance sale, and this seemed like a creative way to move inventory?  Was it a glitch?  I naively assumed it must be some kind of promotion, linked to a desire on their part to collect information about the value of their products.  There was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity.  I also saw it as a chance to assign exactly the price that I thought each item was worth so that when I wrote it up here on the blog, I could put *perfect* in my value assessment at the end.

This was not an easy task.  There was no information about what the items used to cost, so I had no reference point.  The email from my last order did not include prices.  I remembered what the basic dolls cost, but that's about it.  Anyway, I ended up buying a doll, a wig and another outfit.  The end of the story is that a few hours later, when I went back to the site, all of the regular prices had been re-posted.  I realized then that it must have been a glitch (duh).  I felt pretty bad.  I quickly wrote MiM an email telling them that it was totally fine if they canceled my order, but, being the awesomely nice company that they are, they let me have the order just as it was.  How amazing is that?

So--we can play a little game if you want.  I'll show you what I bought, you think about what price you'd have put in the box (honestly) and then at the end I'll tell you the prices I put and the actual retail value.  It'll be kind-of like The Price is Right.

Here's my new doll:

Similar to the other MiM doll, she came with a sleeping bag, pillow, a simple cotton outfit (better colors than the other one!), a bobbed dark brown wig, slippers and a pair of underpants:

Here she is with the blue eyes that came with my other MiM doll:

In profile, you can see the thick edge of her eye socket.  This isn't as noticeable in the other doll:

She has a very steep slope from cheek bone to eye.

Here's the wig I ordered:

I adore red hair.

It came in a cute ponytail, but that got messy when I was trying to get the wig on, so I took it down.

This wig is made of lovely thick, soft, synthetic mohair.  It is very different from the MiM wig I ordered last time.

Much thicker than the other wig, and has a mohair texture.

There are some straggly short hairs sicking out on the right, just above her ear, and the bangs are not evenly cut.  It would look better if it were braided or styled in some way.  Without that original ponytail, it's pretty poofy.

I also ordered the "Pj's" outfit, which consists of some cotton shorts, a graphic tee shirt, thigh high tights, fuzzy slippers and an incredibly soft fuzzy bunny hoodie:

The colors in these dolls are hard to photograph for some reason.
Maybe the blue background will help?

 I love the pastel stockings!

 With the black wig and blue eyes:

The hoodie has real pockets and a working zipper.

Wearing my other MiM's blonde bobbed wig:

The blond wig is thicker than the brown one.  I am also having some trouble with shedding/hair loss in the dark brown wig.

Monique Gold size 7-8 wigs fit nicely, too, it turns out:

Ok, do you have an idea of what you might have spent on all of this (doll, red wig, bunny outfit)?  Let me tell you what I decided and why:

What I paid for the doll: $45
Normal retail: $89.99
My reasoning: Lorifina (with extra outfit, shoes and wig) cost me $50 plus shipping on eBay (they're more expensive now, though).  I was also eyeing a Delilah Noir at Cherished Friends which has a fancier outfit and a pet and costs $80.  I figured MiM should cost more than a Hearts 4 Hearts doll ($28) and less than a collector doll like wigged basic Ellowyne Wilde ($114).  Probably $70 would have been more fair.  I got a great deal.

What I paid for the wig: $12
Normal retail: $12
My reasoning: wigs for collector dolls tend to run about $20-$25.  I figured about half of this for a play doll.

What I paid for the outfit: $15
Normal retail: $30
My reasoning: I know these outfits are nicely made, but this is a pretty simple outfit.  Hearts 4 Hearts outfits cost about $14.  Karito Kids outfits cost $20-$25.  $20 would have been more fair.

So...I seem to want things for exactly half price...except for the wig, which somehow I paid full retail for.
How'd you do?

Let me finish up by showing you something about the two MiM dolls together:

Look at their heads.

Their heads aren't the same size:

I removed the wigs so that you can see more clearly:

The serious MiM's face is wider and longer than the happy MiM.  The serious MiM does not have any freckles, and her face seems shinier.  They still look fine together, and I think it is neat to see that the two heads are clearly different sculptures.

Bottom line?  I got a great deal, and am thrilled to have another MiM doll.  I had a few more quality issues with this purchase than I had with the last.  Neither wig is ideal--the dark wig is shedding a lot and the red wig is frizzy and uneven in places.  I still struggle to get the wigs to behave (but, I haven't gotten any moleskin yet).    

I have yet to find another company with friendlier, more invested customer service.  Make it Mine aims to please and it certainly influences how I think about their products.  They're never going to leave me feeling unhappy.

This is my favorite look for the new girl--red hair, brown eyes, and the wonderful purple coat and monkey hat: