BIG news from Makie labs.

I think the only one where the head and body colour fully match is the one with the reddish-brown hair. None of the rest seem to match in hue. It is definitely definitely most noticeable with the cocoa bean makies though, the difference is huge.

I feel like the ankle and wrist joints look ever so slightly different, but I can't put my finger on why, nor make out the details!

Yeah, that's not promising - they look very, very different. I'm kind of surprised that the picture got posted looked like that.

(I'm still trying to be optimistic - especially since I have a gift card! If the worst comes to the worst and I really don't like the result, I'll just buy a bunch of stuff for the Makies I already have.)

Smart move Ash. But yea...looking at it? :/

The colour match on cocoa is honestly unforgivable as far as i'm concerned. the other two look ok to my eye, but cocoa is just flat out WRONG and it's making me quite angry to look at.
I mean, I was optimistic. I could cope with shine, i figured texture difference would maybe be ok, I was hoping for something that didn't feel and look like cheap barbie knockoff bodies but this doesn't fill me with confidence.

the girl's legs look thinner which concerns me. Have makies lost weight? If so, i'm NOT impressed. They promoted themselves on body positivity, shaving weight off seems totally counter to that message.

But my biggest gripe is that body/head match difference for the cocoas, that is just absolutely and completely unacceptable. If they're THAT bad irl, then it's a compelete deal breaker for me. Just... that's it, i'm freaking done.

and it's very upsetting because had I known the match would be THAT awful (I honestly had faith they'd at least be similar, not exact of course, but similar!) I would have ordered more Makies while they still had full 3dp bodies.
I feel like they've hidden this from us for too long and thus removed from us as consumers the ability to make an informed choice and now I feel sorta... cheated out of those cocoa Makies I had planned but put off because I trusted them not to screw this up.
I trusted the lab here, trusted they'd manage it and the end result would look ok.  But holy cripes on a bike, that colour match just...
It makes them look like frankendolls.

Not a happy camper right now, not in the slightest. I hope closer images set at ease a lot of these fears but right now i've gone from cautiously optimistic to sobbing pessimist.

Please please tell me Makie Labs haven't managed to just throw away all their adult fans and all our expendable income.

Oooh P_M, I think maybe you're right about the thinner limbs, I don't know how I didn't notice that before. They DO look thinner now that I look at them properly. I hope we get to see some proper images that show more limbs so we can see. I think maybe the thing I was noticing about the wrists and ankles is actually this: the lower arms and the shins are possibly thinner.

The colour issue might be because Makie Labs seem to keep around a small crew of makies that they use for all their shoots, and they've just popped the heads from that crew onto new bodies. Regardless, that doesn't actually seem like a good idea to do though, it makes it look like they won't try to colour match cocoa bean at all. If the photoshoot is to be used as promo material, it probably wouldn't really fill a lot of people with confidence that their doll won't be so mismatched.

I'm going to be very interested in seeing the results of this photo shoot, I hope they post up something about it soon.

twitter claims the bodies are no slimmer, we'll see.

I REALLY hope any production cocoa heads match the body better because if I got something this mismatched? I'd be really really unhappy.
It does make me anxious about ordering a cocoa. Previously I was all "this'll be fine." but now i'm thinking "no it won't be" and wishing like hell i'd ordered more before the switch. eugh.

it fills me with zero confidence, it fills me with dread and makes me hurt inside. I love Makies (hence this forum) and have given them a great deal of money over time, but two broken makies and now this just.. eugh.
Feeling a little bit unsettled.. ok a lot unsettled.

It still makes me a bit... hmmm that they've not bothered to announce this change to the general public. I dunno, that feels... deceitful. If they dont' tell anyone and just start shipping, I think that'll really be too much. You just can't do that, customers will be expecting one thing and get something totally else! I mean, nobody's gonna buy something as expensive as a makie without doing research first but all promo material, all reviews talk about the 3dp body, even the photos on the blooming website show that body. Can they really claim to be "the worlds first 3dp doll" if only the head is now 3dp?
I'm still not totally convinced about how they've handled this switch over in itself, and now i'm feeling a bit... apprehensive about the product itself.

I can deal with some colour discrepancy, even the dyed makies had variation within their body and parts after all, but a really big colour difference coupled with a huge texture and shine difference makes for a doll that looks like a cheap frankendoll of parts.

Yes, the cocoa looks to be the least successful match. I was afraid that might be the case, given the colors of IM plastic I've seen used as dark skin in other doll lines. It looks like the two cocoa heads are two different shades too, and neither one looks even close.

Granted, few real people, are actually one solid uniform color. Those areas of the body that get more exposure to sunlight will be darker than those areas that stay covered. Even so, the actual tone of the color remains the same, it is just a darker or lighter shade.

Still, prehaps they'd look better, the color difference might be less obvious, in real life as opposed to in a photo viewed over the Internet.

Also, I enlarged the photo as much as I could using my iPad, and I noticed what appears to be a seam line on the leg of the Makie boy who is dancing, as well as one on the cocoa skinned boy's leg.

If anyone else is able to enlarge or zoom in on the photo, maybe they can take a look and give their opinion on whether or not those are seam lines.

Well, if they are seam lines, then possibly a very light sanding with a super ultra fine sanding block might get rid of any obvious ones. It might help to dull the shine of the IM plastic too. Maybe one of those sanding blocks they sell in the cosmetics section for smoothing and shaping real and/or acrylic fingernails.

Totally beside the point, but that little platinum blonde Makie in the GE3K shirt is just adorable! ^_^

Eep, my plan if I caved to temptation was to get a cocoa girl. I'm... trying to assume they wouldn't let such glaring mismatches happen on dolls people were buying with actual money? Honestly I don't know how I feel about the body change, mostly because I think Makies are *still* too expensive for more kids to ever get hold of, which is to say they cost more than a playline Barbie so a lot of parents just won't look further than the price. But for all I know they sell hardly any to adult collectors it's just that we write about them more hah. 

It's gonna be weird if there's too much shine on the new bodies, let alone if they just don't match at all.

I actually can't see any seam lines at all! I'm sure they must be there of course, but looking at the highest resolution of the photograph available, I don't see any seams. Only light reflected onto the backs of limbs.

But yes, any seam lines can probably be sanded or sliced down no trouble! The benefit is that the colour should be all the way through the plastic, rather than only sitting on the surface like with the 3DP bodies. IM bodies will be a lot easier to make more extreme mods of I think (even if unfortunately they cannot be dyed).

I do think the level of shine looks fine in that photo actually. Human skin has a certain level of shine thanks to natural oils, I think the IM bodies have a very normal looking shine to them. But that might change in different lights of course.

Sioux posted a photo too, but it's from further away, so all you can really see is the colour difference.

Hey! Hopefully Nattherat's right about the heads, and that they just borrowed them from some of the Lab crew Makies and popped them on the new IM bodies so that they could take a quick photo to give us a sneak peek.

Especially since they know we've all been anxious to see the new bodies.

That sounds more like something the folks at MakieLab might do, and they probably figured we'd recognize those Makie heads from all their other photos that have been posted.

After all, the Lab must have just gotten the new bodies in, so they can't have had enough time to print out some new heads and dye match them to the bodies yet. I'm sure they have been waiting to actually see the bodies, before dyeing any new photo model heads, in order to see which dye color formulas will need to be changed.

Lol, MakieLab folks probably just couldn't wait to see what the new bodies would look like with the Makie heads!

I'm sure they will switch to a much darker brown that will more closely match the color and tonal quality of the new cocoa IM body's brown, before they start actually shipping out the new IM bodied cocoa bean Makies to customers.

Re: Seams. Thanks Nat, on my iPad, I was seeing what looked like a thin black/dark line going up the middle of the side of the leg right about where a seam would be. Of course, while it keeps getting better, IPad resolution still isn't the best for enlarging something to see details, which is why I was hoping someone else could take a look. ^_^

All IM plastic products have seam lines, but companies that produce better quality products do make an effort to remove or at least minimize the seam lines as much as possible. So it looks like this plastics manufacturing company takes some pride in their product.

Also, didn't they say that the company producing the IM bodies is a British company, and the bodies are being manufactured right there rather than overseas someplace. So that's good.

I think at this stage we're just going to drive ourselves nuts with questions. Yeah, the picture we've seen isn't good - but it's one picture about five minutes into the changeover. We don't know what it "means" yet - like a few people have said, I'm guessing they've taken heads they had lying around and popped them on new bodies, that doesn't necessarily mean these are the exact bodies or that the end result will look much like that.

I'm really *hoping* things get fixed up, because I have plans for a Cocoa Bean. But right now I figure the best thing to do is take a few steps back, enjoy the ones I have, and wait and see what comes out in the wash. 

I'm usually cynical, but I doubt they'll go overnight from selling a product we love and have been supporting to "screw you, we're just going to run off with your money and mock you with mismatched parts".

From the official Twitter. 



Wouldn't that be great? then everyone's happy! I think they're quite in touch with their customer base. Hopefully this will happen.

Aww they tweeted my picture! (I don't tweet, so this is news to me lol).

But seriously, it would be such a relief to have separate 3dp body option. I just know that resources have been spread thin for them, and i must prepare for the "at some point" to take a while if at all. They do hear us though.

^^ Thank goodness!!!
I was thinking a few days ago about how there's this one boy Makie that I should have ordered in white so that I could have dyed him a tanned color. Because the way things are now the cocoa is too dark and the caramel is way too light. But even if I get him in caramel and try to darken his face, there's no way to darken his IM body -__-' I do want to get all the main characters from his story so I'm willing to pay a little extra for a 3DP body that suits him.
Though I'm also regretting not having gotten my one white makie T.T He still works out fine in strawberry so long as it's pale, but still. I just wasn't ready to take the plunge in ordering a boy... Big mistake.

That would be wonderful if they make the 3DP body available to us again. I've got plenty more in the Makie creator that I will eventually buy if I can get them on a 3DP body. I've also got friends with, and without, children who would be interested in them too.

I loved the 3d printed bodies haha, their texture is SO soothing for me.

I am delighted to see this. It means they are acknowledging us loud older fans and our offers to throw money at them hahaha.
It might take a while to work out the logistics, but it'd be great to have the price tier options yessss. I mean, the IM ones would be great as a first makie or for a kid, but the 3dp body has advantages too, so having the choice means we can continue to dye and mod and do all those things yaaaay.

I think the IM body will be easier to sand, cut into etc so for drastic mods might be a good option.

[I don't know if this has been asked already] Will they match the old ones? Or will they look like a totally different doll?
Thanks!

I seriously think I'm going to cry, i wanted to buy a boy Makie with a 3d printed body.
and now felicity will never look good again, Now i cant buy her the pieces she is missing. i am very sorry but i strongly disagree with this decision and i honestly think this is the worst choice you could have made. I will not be buying more makies do to the fact they will not be fully 3d printed.

For Ozma06:

The new body should look pretty similar in shape and size and the faces will be the same, so they should look like the same dolls in general. I imagine that they will be able to share all clothes.

There will be a texture difference with the new bodies (but not faces) and the balls that form the ankle joints and wrist joints will likely be slightly different. Jen has said that you will still be able to buy shoes for your older Makies, but any of the old boots and sneakers you already have in the style that replace their feet won't be compatible with the new body. New boots and sneakers, etc are supposed to work for the older dolls.

jupiternames wrote:The new body should look pretty similar in shape and size and the faces will be the same, so they should look like the same dolls in general. I imagine that they will be able to share all clothes.

There will be a texture difference with the new bodies (but not faces) and the balls that form the ankle joints and wrist joints will likely be slightly different. Jen has said that you will still be able to buy shoes for your older Makies, but any of the old boots and sneakers you already have in the style that replace their feet won't be compatible with the new body. New boots and sneakers, etc are supposed to work for the older dolls.

Okay, that's cool. Glad to hear that they wont look weird next to my old ones.
 Thanks!

I am sorry about freaking out im just really upset. makies are kind of ruined for me now...

Bosayshi wrote:I seriously think I'm going to cry, i wanted to buy a boy Makie with a 3d printed body.
and now felicity will never look good again, Now i cant buy her the pieces she is missing. i am very sorry but i strongly disagree with this decision and i honestly think this is the worst choice you could have made. I will not be buying more makies do to the fact they will not be fully 3d printed.

I think it might be worth contacting support to see if they have any hands or feet left. Frankly, I'm not confident that the lab monitor this site regularly, since we are a fan-run unofficial forum so I'm not sure they will hear your complaint here.

Also, this:

@Ozma06 @jupiternames Apparently there's slight improvement to the joints too? I'm not sure exactly how, but Sioux said on instagram that there's a larger range of movement/posability in the elbows (and also knees) again. I'm guessing that maybe means it's a bit more like a classic v1 body there (but without the balance issues)?
I think we'll have to wait and see, and I might have misunderstood exactly what's changed, but yeah. From the promo picture, they do seem to perhaps have a bit more elbow range.