DOLLS MAKING DOLLS

Dolls Makin’ Dolls

A safari trip to Abyss Creations

As reported by Mike Kelly

I tell ya - not often do I get to meet a woman with both stunning beauty and high intelligence as Bronwen. Bronwen also has allot of creativity too - as well as an ability to write

BOTH she and Matt K – The CEO at Abyss make quite a team. Bronwen is: Executive Assistant to Matt, Customer Service, Public & Media Relations, Purchasing, Convention/Event Planning, Doll Forum Liaison, Doll Wrangler etc. Yes, I was quite taken with her. I had the honor of buying a set of blue eyes for my Realdoll Kinsi from Bronwen which is one purchase I enjoyed making. Even though she is quite quick to put me in my place on the Doll Forum – but since I have a weakness for beautiful women, I gladly humble myself and bite my tongue. Just imagine working on art - which for a great artist like Matt K is a labor of love surrounded by BOTH beautiful dolls AND beautiful women! I want his job !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are some fun facts: Bronwen is originally from South Africa and has been here for 9 years or so (this explains why she is so pretty). Matt K was actually Matt’s boss at one time and helped him develop the first Realdoll – so he does indeed know dolls quite well.

TRUST ME - Realdolls are in good hands with these two fine people!

In addition to spending time talking dolls with these two fine people I went to the factory where surprise a hot blonde named Jessica was busy making dolls - a doll making dolls! It was her birthday, the day I visited and she asked me to try one of her cupcakes. How could I refuse? She was 28 years old that day but she does not look a day over 21 in my book. I’ve heard that Realdolls keep you young – does this mean that if I work at Abyss I’ll get younger everyday?

Bronwen: “Actually, the cupcakes were for everyone in the shop because it was Jessica's birthday. We make sure we celebrate special occasions at the shop so that everyone knows they are special and appreciated. We'll be closed for the entire week between Christmas and New Years. Matt K and Debra feel it's important for us all to enjoy life and work equally.”

Matt K took the time to show me his artwork he has done in the past. Excellent Bronze sculpture that looks like it would cost thousands of dollars. From the artwork I saw, Matt K is the perfect person to be heading up Abyss - he is one fine sculptor – simply stunning work. He was working on a new male doll when I was there. The good part is - Matt K and Bronwen love what they do and are new blood. They have great ideas and are implementing them.

Bronwen: “With regards to seeing some of Matt K's work - some of it's already out there. He did the smiling face 13, he worked on the face 15, he did the male flat back torso, the 2 fantasy dolls that appeared at the AVN in 2007, and he's currently working on a new smiling face and a new male face. Once the new male face is complete we'll post images and shortly thereafter Charlie (the male Realdoll) will be getting a complete makeover. Matt K has been a professional sculptor for 15 years working on major licenses like Lucas Films, Disney, and Warner Brothers etc so he definitely is an incredible sculptor
in fantasy, likenesses and fine art. It's very likely that you've seen some of his work from pre-RealDoll in stores and online. Other places you'll see his work include the atmosphere at Abyss, the newly assembled team, our new brochure, and also some of the new photos and the style of the new Realdoll website.”

While I was there, Matt K showed me some improved vaginas that are going to be standard on all Realdolls. Realdolls have always had a reputation for a very realistic feeling vagina but were a little lacking in the visual department. The new vaginas still have the fantastic feel of the old vagina with a much more realistic look. In addition, I saw the new Realdoll website which is much improved and watched Realdoll skeletons being assembled. With the recent strengthening they have received, I feel that the skeletons I saw being assembled are the best skeletons used in dolls on the market today period.

Bronwen: “Any quality improvements that are happening, including improved make up styles, have happened under Matt K's direction. He is an outstanding leader for us with so many ideas on how to push the company forward that it makes it easy to follow his lead and do good work. He also encourages all of us to think outside the box and present our own ideas for improvements. When any of the employees is required to work one-on-one with him to better their particular department they walk away feeling "we make a great team!”

Now – I have lots of factory experience and I know a high-energy team of people when I meet them. This is a high morale group of artists who make custom artwork – “Art You can Fuck” and love doing it. Matt K was curious about “Lean” manufacturing and how it applied to his company. The bottom line of that is the last thing I would ever want to apply lean
manufacturing to is a group of artists – Lean manufacturing is great for making cars, but some things should always be made by hand by a talented artist – and Realdolls are one of those things.

Bronwen: “Our current production is 6 to 8 dolls per week. Abyss is being run and grown by extremely capable people with plenty of appropriate experience and beneficial new ideas. Our production of dolls is continuing at a steady pace
despite the faltering economy and we have increased our sales of accessory product significantly in the past year. It is our objective to continue producing a high quality product and many steps are continually being taken to improve the product where possible while still advancing in the market.”

One thing that was a BIG improvement to me was the new doll clothes, wigs and eyes being used. On older Realdolls, the wigs were simply terrible and so was the outfit the doll shipped in. I used to take them off the doll and store them – unused. Now the dolls clothes are very high quality and change from time to time in a seasonal manner.

In addition, the wigs being used now are very high quality and are quite durable. The set of eyes I bought were very nice and well worth the money I paid. Abyss will be selling these items from their website and will be very easy to buy from. For many owners – this is a godsend because trying to find clothes to fit your doll can be a TRYING EXPERIENCE AT BEST. These outfits will fit your doll right out of the box and look great on your doll too. If this was not enough Matt K. also has a new doll stand for sale that is perfect for changing doll clothes on.

As one Realdoll fan stated: “RealDolls are not mass-produced by machines. They are hand-crafted (poured, make-up applied by hand, other features applied by hand...), which makes the process very labor intensive. Also, there is the cost of materials used in the dolls. It might drive the price (cost) down if the dolls were mass-produced (assembly-line fashion....), but you would lose the "unique-ness" of each doll made and they would start to look like carbon copy Barbie dolls. I'm sure a lot of people would be disappointed if that happened. You would also lose the "artistic" appeal that these dolls have too.

Sadly, my day at Abyss ended and I had to leave. I felt good about my little “safari” trip to Abyss and was glad to see that the home of our beloved Realdolls is in good hands. Matt K. and Bronwen love these dolls as much as we do and that really showed. The bottom line is – Abyss is a family – a family of gifted artists who put out the finest dolls money can buy.

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