UK Love Doll Forums - My Lucid "Embraceable" experience (bad)

Good morning everyone. Having quietly browsed this excellent forum for many years (and several mislaid usernames), I recently took the plunge and purchased a doll. I settled on a low-weight option, the 150 Silicone Akira from the Lucid 'Embraceable' range (aka Piper Doll). This was sold as a Lucid "imperfect" because, as the sale page stated, "There are scars on the left and right feet and mark above the navel".

https://i.ibb.co/qd5QjTK/Screenshot-...Doll-White.png

I was reluctant to order from Lucid, having noted their oddly worded, entirely 5 star product reviews before, but there are seemingly no alternatives for fast UK delivery, and others on here seem to have had a positive experience. With those positive experiences in mind, I thought I'd cast my doubts aside and give it a try. Perhaps all the five star reviews really were real?

I ordered early on Friday morning, and paid for Saturday delivery, then spent the rest of Friday shopping for clothes. After purchase, a QR code was displayed for me to download the Shopify "Shop" app, where I could track the progress of my order. I did so until it was out for delivery with DPD. The driver arrived at my house after having tried to deliver the doll to the wrong street, and cursing his satellite navigation. I don't fancy my chances of ever seeing the doll or my money again had he not knocked on an honest persons door. Yikes. He was however, helpful, polite and apologetic and this was a DPD problem, not Lucid.

First things first, the box was enormous. I don't know what I'd been expecting, but at 165x40x25 I could easily recycle it as an environmentally friendly coffin for when I pop my clogs. I suppose this is necessary for a doll with a seamless, permanent head. It was also the most cumbersome thing I've ever lugged up the stairs. After reading all the stories of heavyweight dolls on here, I was glad I went for a lighter option, but still surprised at just how heavy a "light" doll is. Turns out I am definitely not as fit as I thought.

https://i.ibb.co/4KDy64H/box.jpg
Don't worry - I did keep it flat until the doll was out!

Akira was at first appearances packaged well, this transpired to be too well. In addition to the listed and pictured faults on the Lucid sales page, both wrists have warping from just how tightly taped around them the hand protection was. Not a great start - I had hoped that the arms were fine as any potential fault with them was not mentioned at all at the point of purchase. It's difficult to see on camera.

https://i.ibb.co/8zLTdg2/wrist-warp-2.jpg

OK, I can live with that as she will likely be wearing clothes and the marks are not particularly visible from a distance. The wig inside the box was short, again not as pictured on the sales page but another thing I can live with. The top of the head had strange small holes in it, something I presumed was normal.

https://i.ibb.co/2d8fJRg/head-2.jpg

There was also a dent in the forehead.

https://i.ibb.co/KcnR4sN/head-dent.jpg

After reading the instructions, I picked her up carefully, placed her on the bed and practiced moving the skeleton. When I stretched the legs apart to their widest point, the silicone around the rear hole tore. This is something that I've since learned is a problem with Piper soft silicone dolls. The tear seems to have settled at a natural point that it needed to be, and has gotten no worse since. I am not certain as to whether it's better to use Permatex with this or simply paint it pink to match the rest of the area and allow it to form part of the orifice, but that's a problem for another day.

https://i.ibb.co/vQPMhpL/PMJN7063-001.jpg

Having frustratingly damaged the doll while simply testing the flexibility, I attempted to stand her up. This became a little trying, and I couldn't understand what I was doing wrong. I watched an instructional video on how to stand your doll, to no avail. I checked the sales page again: Is this the standing option? Yes. Shrugging: Yes.

https://i.ibb.co/YRQsdbz/Screenshot-...Doll-White.png

I felt the feet, to find no bolts and nothing that would make me think this doll capable of standing without leaning against something. I'm not an expert on dolls with this being my first, but having done further research I'm 99% certain that this is not a standing model as advertised and sold by Lucid. I then tried to shrug the shoulders. Not a chance. Everything else moves, the shoulders do not. Not a shrugging model. At this point I was contemplating a return, but as the small print states, no returns if damaged. Very, very annoying.

Let's get the clothes on! Nothing can go wrong here, or can it? As it turns out, the clothes that I had bought in excitement the day prior to the arrival of the doll did not fit, as the listed measurements and sizes on the Lucid sale page (and above) were incorrect. The bust of 72.4cm is actually 79.5cm, the waist of 51.8cm is actually 59cm, the hips of 85.7 are actually 92cm. The feet size of 18.8cm are actually 22.4cm.

https://i.ibb.co/b3YFxZ0/bust-79-5-2.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/PcGfs0h/waist-59-2.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/z5vjnYK/hip-92-2.jpg

While this measurement of 79-59-92 does lend itself to giving her a more realistic, desirable and adult figure (her face also looks more adult in person - a positive), I would like to have actually known this prior to purchase so that I didn't lose £80 on clothes that I can't return having confidently (stupidly) thrown away the labels and receipts. Being a total of around 23cm off the actual stated sizes is a hell of a lot. While trying on the clothes, I found a few more faults, small holes in the silicone around the neck, and what almost looks like a blister on the back. Bizarrely there is no sign of the stated "mark above the navel". Unless the people at Lucid think the navel is part of the spine.

https://i.ibb.co/T2t4560/back-blister-2.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/GncCwVk/holes-in-neck-2.jpg

So, all in all my Lucid experience was very poor. The pictures on the page did not reflect the product and as I later discovered in another thread here, are of the "TPE" model. The pictures did not reflect the wig provided. The measurements did not reflect the figure. The weight stated did not reflect the weight. The "standing" doll does not stand. The "shrugging" doll does not shrug. Nothing reflected reality except the Google Drive album photos of the legs. She's still a work of art and very attractive, but I'm now facing a £1400 credit card bill for something that I didn't pay for. That's a lot of money that I did not think would result in a gamble. My review has not been posted on the Lucid store, presumably because it isn't five stars. My email has not received a reply, presumably because they already have the payment.

As first doll experiences go, this one has been somewhat meh, and I believe I'll be putting her up for sale here shortly. She looks the part, is likely fully functional and 97% intact but I can't help feeling conned. I will try another email to Lucid and see what they say, if anything at all. Hope this helps anyone else considering a purchase.