What is an Ai Doll? An Ai Doll is a small plastic bjd or ball-jointed doll that was released by Groove. Since they are plastic and not resin they are considered off-topic on Den of Angels. They are slightly less than five inches tall.
My intention had been to buy one and only one Ai Doll for comparison purposes. I was curious about their size and if their adorable clothing would fit my Fairyland Pukipukis or Latidoll Lati Yellows/Fairyland Pukifees. While their clothing was not compatible with my tiny bjds somehow I still ended up with more than one of them…
A jester, a cardinal, a devil and a cowgirl; what a fun mix!
Ai Dolls come in a white box, the doll is tied down to a satin pillow. They come already fully dressed (so far I have not noticing any staining as a problem though I kind of half anticipated with Gloxinia’s red and black outfit), some releases come with shoes but some don’t. If the doll is an open eye mold they come with what appears to be a small shoe box (can be seen in the above photo, the lid says Ai) but actually contains putty to fix the Ai Doll’s eyes in place. There is a device inside of the opened eyed Ai Doll’s head that holds the eyes where they are, do not remove it unless you plan to putty the eyes in as it is next to impossible to get it back in with eyes looking right.
Comparison with some of my other tiny bjds: Fairyland Pukipuki Flora Wink, Ai Doll Gloxinia, Fairyland Pukifee Mio and Latidoll Lati Yellow Bat Child Lumi. Ai Doll is kind of add size, she’s bigger than a Pukipuki but smaller than a Pukifee so Ai’s clothes don’t really share well with either doll. Her body is most similar to the Lati Yellow body. Posing? Posing tiny bjds can be frustrating in general but Ai didn’t pose as nicely as either of the Fairyland dolls or the Latidoll. As far as price goes Ai Doll is the most reasonably priced considering the fact that they come with a wig, eyes and clothing.
I’m not sure if all Ai Dolls are female or if I just happened to get four releases that happened to be girls but I have only seen them gendered as female even in other people’s owner photos.
Ai Dolls were all released with one of three different face molds, a slightly frowny face mold, a closed eye face mold that appears to be the same as the frowny face mold except for the eyes and a smiley face mold.
I originally intended on not buying a closed eye mold at all as I tend to find closed eye molds pretty limited photography-wise but I had the devilish Gloxinia already and I thought the devout Madonna Lily would make a good foil for her.
Gloxinia was my first Ai Doll, I chose her because I really loved her design and I was curious about her wings. Of course, her wings just snap unto her dress >_< . I was so enthralled with her that I decided to get a second one just for comparison purposes as with one you can never be sure…
Dal Sentimental Noon & Ai Doll Red Poppy
I ended up buying Red Poppy as my second Ai Doll as I love clowns/jesters and I already had a the perfect counterpart for her, Sentimental Noon. Red and white jesters seem to be a popular theme for Groove, not only have they released Ai Doll Red Poppy and Dal Sentimental Noon but they also have recently released a matching Pang-ju Pome-Pang (who is now on the top of my wishlist because I love matching dolls).
I think what really attracted me to Ai Dolls is the releases tend to be very creative, the themes chosen for some of the releases are out of this world ranging from everything to a little astronaut girl to a matador. Just in my own small eclectic group I have a devil, a cardinal, a jester and a cowgirl it’s almost impossible to choose the next one do I go for the pilot, the chef or maybe the luchador? I’ve compiled an Ai Doll release list so everyone can see all the different releases. Some additional photos of my Ai Dolls are available on my flickr.
Ginger
Happy Trails ::rides off into the sunset::
Pullips and Junk 
I’m pretty sure some of them are supposed to be boys. Surely King Protea for example!
Groove could just be choosing not to show us the bits but there seems to be a defined erm split indicating female. Some of them definitely seem like they are supposed to be boys like the king and the Mexican wrestler. I thought for sure when I got my Madonna Lily who is wearing a cardinal’s outfit would be a boy or at least have an ungendered torso but he was just like all of my definite girls.
I’m personally not fond of bits on tiny dolls but I figured I should make a note of it as I know some people feel very strongly that bjds even the tinies should have bits. I’m actually very happy I didn’t find any surprises lurking beneath the cardinal outfit yet I still consider him to be a boy.
I’m starting to like them because of your post xD They do have creative releases!
And quite some have matches with the Groove Pullip and Friends line – Freesia with Coral & Aquel, Kangaroo Paw with Romantic Alice Blue, Black Baccara with Seila, Vinca with Yona(?), Strawberry Candle with LRRH. Black Berry with Isul Jimmy.. I think I’ve gone overkill haha.
And ooh, I really want Zinnia! =]
I think the only thing stopping me from having got them sooner was that they were no owner photos of them, I had no idea there were even so many released until I made up the release list. Groove definitely likes to make matching themed releases.
Zinnia is really cute.
I started buying them too. They are so cute and like their outfits! I hope Groove will release more of them!
It’s been just about a year since the last one was released and since they started showing up at discount prices it’s unlikely more will be released unfortunately
Thank you for sharing this info and taking the time to make that list of releases! I saw a few on these on amazon and they’re quite cute. Where did you buy the ones you have? Is there any official seller like PullipStyle or something? Thanks again~ (sorry if this posts twice, my internet froze while sending)
Just spreading the Ai Doll love 😀
Pullipstyle used to stock them but don’t anymore, they don’t seem to have been very popular in the US community at least. Two of mine came from eBay and the other two were gifts so I’m not quite sure where they came from ^^;
Cute
Thanks ^_^
crazy crazy question: I got a coveted and desired doll from PS who is a great dealer and noticed whe I got her she has a slightly green tinge, I thought I was being kinda picky, didn’t contact him and then broke down and stripped her down and compared her to other dolls and yes definately different coloring. I keep tellng myself it desn’t matter but it does bug me, not with hi but how it could hae happened in the first place as I feel it was the very plastic or it’s reaction to something when she was made. Am kinda looking for a face dup to change her out as she almost went to a friend that has a Soul mermaid just because she has that aquatic tint. Have you ever seen this before with any Pullips? I have seen the hint f the same color on Tangyangs but thought it ws the monitor
Which model out of curiosity? Plastic can change color over time, Pullips have a tendency to yellow over time especially if they have had a lot of exposure to sunlight, I know it’s common for resin bjds as well. I know some tan and white skin bjds can develop a greenish tinge over time, I know a lot of people refer to early Luts white skin dolls as beauty green now. I haven’t really heard of it happening to specifically to an Ai Doll before, it is something that happens to basically all plastic over time.
It was a Moss Rose and she looked like she was never taken out of the box. I know, weird, huh? I was tempted to contact him but thought I was just being weird, but every time I take her out and look at her under every single lighting it is more noticeable to me, not necessarily that it is getting worse but I’m finally believing myself that it is an issue. I knew it was immediately but thought I was making mire of it as I can do that with color: someone once said that I seemed to have a more vivid perception of color and I probably do. I know you have seen more Pullips that anyone I know and wondered if you had ever encountered that before with their dolls. I had taken her out today to use her as a model to make something for someone else doll even though she is smaller and it just bugs me. I have kept her nekkid since I got her and need to just get another Ai of that faceup and gve her to my friend with the mermaid. I have resins as well as plastics and take care of them and keep them in darker areas unless messing with them so I haven’t had any majr skin change like some esecially the chocolate or tan dolls.
That’s such a pity! She is one I definitely regret skipping.
I know someone who acquired an extremely yellow NRFB early Pullip so it can happen, I theorize that it seems to happen quicker in more humid climates but that’s based off of my own observations I’m not sure where or how the dolls were stored before Pullipstyle received them (I know they were in a Groove warehouse but not sure what storage conditions were like). You can mention it to Pullipstyle but I’m not really sure how much they can do about it because it isn’t really something they can control and I don’t think they have Moss Rose anymore. Really thinking about it maybe Madonna Lily had a little more of an olive skin tone than my other Ai Dolls but it wasn’t really something I noticed until I took photos of him with others, it was just more of a huh moment than anything else for me. I’m sorry she was more colorful than expected 😦 I hope you are able to find a replacement.
I was really happy to get her and still am. I figured it happened before he got the doll as this wouldnt be something that happened that he coud have anythng to do with it [other than a baby wicked witch nekkid that had been switched, lol] I am actually going to turn her into a little WOO WWOTW when I get another to wear her clothes and make her a little outft i have decided over the last hour looking at her!
P.S. looking at your comparison puc of dolls in a new light, lol, do you think the Ai neck is the same size as the lati yellow?
I’m honestly not sure, I can try to take a comparison photo for you soon though might be a few days as I’m still a bit shaky on the stairs.
geez, don’t do the stairs I didn’t want you to exert yourself, how are you feeling now?
I can get around reasonably well in the house, there is still a noticeable limp but that’ll be with me for a while still. Stairs are still my biggest challenge, I’ve been getting downstairs to my doll studio for a couple of weeks depending on how bad the pain is on a given day I still haven’t made it back up to my bedroom yet ^^; . In theory I probably could but it would hurt and I’m significantly less confident in the railing/bannister going upstairs to my bedroom, I have a fear I’ll make it up there and not be able to get back down doesn’t help that there is a window at the bottom of the steps going to the bedroom so if I do manage to fall on my way back down it has the potential to end very, very badly (down the stairs then a one story drop directly into the rose bushes).
My husband is currently away for military stuff but will be returning in a few weeks, I may wait for his return before making an attempt to go upstairs just so like he can kind of help me with it until I’m a bit more confident. On the bright side, when he does make his return it’ll be in Pumpkin’s replacement Gir https://www.flickr.com/photos/pullip_junk/28024679383/in/photolist-JGrNPi-dvjoX7-dvdNHK-dvdNiD-a5CKaS-8G1bJZ
wait til he get back and enjoy the limoble