Analysis of Living Dead Dolls

Living Dead Dolls are probably one of the most successful cult collectors toy series.

First beginning in 1998, horror fans Ed Long and Damien Glonek started making handmade plastic dolls to sell at collectors conventions. In 2000 American toy manufactures Mezco invited Long and Glonek to sign a contract with the company to begin producing the dolls. 
The interesting exception however is that the company did not take all rights of the dolls away and insisted that Long and Glonek stayed to design the dolls.

The first series of dolls manufactured by Mezco were distributed in 2001 and since then Long and Glonek have designed currently 23 series (Series 24 due end of 2012). This totals to 115 dolls designed in the standard series alone!

Opinion, the best and the worst...

Best designed:

'The Lost' is from Series 8 (released 2004)

This is probably my favourite Living Dead Doll because her simplicity makes her one of the most eerie. She came with a incomplete Death Certificate because as her name suggests, she is a lost soul so no one knows her name and when she died. The added rag-dolly adds to the eeriness as she does look like a simple child. However her expression is so blank and her eyes seem hollow with black, there is no telling on what this creature really is and what she is capable of.

'Hollow' is from Series 8 (released 2004)

Like 'The Lost', 'Hollow' seems like a cute little girl. However in this case there is a sense that she isn't as sweet as she is dressed. She looks spiteful and cunning, maybe even as if she may not be entirely herself and there is a deeper power controlling her emotions. I think what attracts me is to this doll is her costume as it reminds me of stories such as 'The crucible', 'American Gothic' and 'Sleepy Hollow'.

'Walpurgis' is a limited edition exclusive (released 2003)

This is the depicted myth of 'Walpurgis Night', particularly the German interpretation 'Walpurgisnacht'. This night is exactly six months away from All Hallow's Eve and in Germany it was the night where witches, demons and spirits of the dead join to celebrate around fire. The main witch's name is Walpurgis who originates from the English missionary 'Saint Walpurga'. European countries believed her to be a witch as the church cannonised her on May Day, the day already assumed to be sacred to witchcraft.

I love this doll because the design to me is spot on. She looks like a head witch, her face appears to be haunted by magic and her hair symbolises age yet the smooth complexion assumes youth, a common 'sign' that a woman is a witch because her beauty or youth does not appear natural. My personal interest into the history of witchcraft also heightens my admiration for this doll. 

'Maggot' is from Series 11 (released 2006)

Maggot definitely has the twisted 'cute factor'. Her story describes her as being the youngest and weakest child in a family, always suffering from disease that she was too young to overcome. Her dress and hairstyle signifies her young age, like her mother had dressed her up to appear adorable and presentable. This however is a stark contrast to the spots and sores that cover her body and you feel sympathetic towards her as it does look horrific and painful. Her big eyes do look cute yet there seems to be a hint of pain and weakness, she looks frail and personally, I feel like I now need to care for her.

Detail of sores on arms and legs

'Lilith' is from Series 3 (released 2002)

Lilith was rather a rather unusual doll. Not only was she the first vampire in a Living Dead Doll series, she was also the first doll to have a completely new style of head. Where all other dolls have a plain expression with closed lips, 'Lilith' has a gaping mouth exposing tongue and teeth. This style of face has been used on a few more occasions in later series and it does add more uncertainty to the dolls as they appear more animated and possibly ALIVE!

'Purdy' is from Series 9 (released 2005)

'Purdy' like 'Lilith' was a revolutionary doll. Her story tells of her falling down and the doctors having to operate on her head to try and save her swollen brain. Long and Glonek made a very clever decision to change the doll and I think it would have been hard to make a conventional doll work with that particular storyline. It is gorey and along with 'Dawn' (the first zombie, also from series 9) it had the most complaints. But nether-the-less I still think she is wonderful.

Worst Designed:

'Morgana' is from Series 13 (released 2007)

Morgana's death involved her being killed with an umbrella as she brought bad luck upon herself by shading herself from all sunlight indoors with an umbrella. I think that she is just too generic of the apparent gothic style. The umbrella is a touch needed to reinforce the character but apart from that i think the dress is poorly designed and much more could have been done to make the character stand out.

'The Hook' is from Series 17 (released 2009)

The story behind 'The Hook' seems to be a modified version of the film 'Hitcher'. For an apparent maniac who attacks people in stationary cars, this character just doesn't look fitting in my opinion. I think what detracts me the most is the unnatural, unpleasant green hair. It does not match the personality or the rest of the costume and it makes the doll look cheap.

'Spider Bite' is from Series 17 (released 2009)

'Spider Bite' was subjected to being bitten by a spider and having spider eggs unknowingly planted in the flesh of her cheek. Again, the poor choice of hair colour let's this doll's story down because along with the odd haircut it makes the doll once more look ill-prepared and cheap. I understand the plain costume is used to attract the attention to the face, I personally more could have been done on the paint and face up to emphasise the spiders eggs. It has just been painted on and if more 3D effects were used like on Faith (Series 8) and Dahlia (Series 5), it would have given the wound more of a shock impact.

'Roxie' is from Series 22 (released 2011)

Series 22 is the zombie series. Following the current zombie apocalypse craze, Long and Glonek succeeded in creating some really gory and horrific effects. Roxie is the individual who appears to look less like a zombie. This is a nice change compared to the rotting flesh, missing eyes and numerous wounds on the others, but I don't think that the rest of the costume or story is strong enough to hold her 'freshly bitten' image.

'Romeo and Juliet' are a limited edition pair (released 2007)

With these it is clear to see the Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen influence. Although it is nice to interpret the age-old tragic love story with a darker, more modern upbeat, the Sid and Nancy turmoil is just too well understood and with such an extensive meaning behind Romeo and Juliet, more could have been explored.

My Living Dead Doll Collection:

These are my collection of standard and mini Living Dead Dolls.

10" Dolls (Series Ascending):

Faith- Series 8 (released 2004)

Faith is rather unusual because her skin is coated with a gloss. This makes the plastic more rigid and shiny. It's to add to the effect of her death. Faith was swimming and got cramp but she was too tired and cowardly to brave swimming back to shore so let herself drown. This is also why there are raised lumps on her skin to show her flesh decomposing in water and her veins are showing due to the body reacting with the cold water.

Arachne- Series 10 (released 2005)

Arachne was the first Living Dead Doll I bought. I thought her story of accidentally hanging herself from one of her webs was rather unnerving yet the thought of such a bizarre narrative being portrayed through a doll fascinated me. At the time I was beginning to become more interested in different alternative genres and I thought her 50's/Rockabilly costume was adorable. I also found the spider hanging from her eye rather quirky.

Maggot- Series 11 (released 2006)

Maggot is my favourite. She was a present from my mum who, although she thinks their stories are sad or horrible, thought that Maggot was adorable. The main reason why I love her is her big eyes and I must say i am rather envious of her lolita-influenced sailor dress.

Mishka- Series 16 (released 2008)

I was attracted to Mishka because I thought she was the most interesting out of the Halloween inspired Series 16. I like the effect of her sharp wolf teeth seeming as if she is baring them at you where they have actually been delicately painted on. Though her costume is the plainest and seems normal in comparison to the other dolls in the series, I think it fits her werewolf being very well. However, I am guessing this costume was influenced by the werewolf family that are in the Twilight films as they seem to don denim and lumberjack shirts. This I don't like because of my negative personal views of the  Twilight stories.

2" dolls (Series Ascending):

Dr. Dedwin- Series 4 (released 2004)

Dr. Dedwin is the miniature of one of the dolls in the exclusive 2003 'Dr. Dedwin and nurse Necro' pair. He's not particulary my favourite but he came free with Arachne and I find the bloody hand print on his scrubs rather quirky.

Inferno- Series 5 (released 2004)

I prefer the mini version of Inferno to her Series 4 (released 2004) 10" original. I think her more childish face is a better twist with the fiery demon image and her fold out wings look sweet instead of threatening.

Ms. Eerie- Series 5 (released 2004)

My reasons for preferring the 2" version to her 10" original are the same as why I like Inferno. She looks more like a child playing dress-up, yet once you look under her funeral veil you realise she probably isn't playing dress-up for fun!

Original Ms. Eerie is from the 10" Series 4 (released 2004).

Ragdoll:

Moana

I found Moana in a shop where they didn't know what she was and what her significance was. She didn't come with her label and chipboard poem meaning, if I was to sell her, she would be incredibly reduced in value.

What was interesting about the ragdoll series was that the characters were creating especially for the series and apart from one (Orchid) has been manufactured into a 10" or 2" doll (orchid appears in Series 19- released 2010).

Porcelain 18" doll:

Posey (released 2003)

Posey is the most recent addition to my collection. Only 4000 were made of here and even less were made of 'Abigail crane', the other 18" porcelain they released.

Posey was one of the very first Living Dead Dolls that Ed Lond and Damien Glonek designed back in 1998 when they first started hand making the dolls.

In keeping with the handmade traditions, Posey is completely hand painted and although this is done very well, there is evidence of hand painting if you look closely.




(Left: Paint can be seen on the edge of the cotton stuffing)

    
(Below: Paint picks up lumps in the porcelain)

Body improvement between Series 8 and Series 9 and hand alternatives:

Between Series 8 and 9(2004-2005), the 10" doll body went under a redesign. The manufactures changed the simple swing joints in the neck, arms and legs to restricted ball joints. This did not alter any of the proportions of the doll but the possibility of new balance centre points meant the plastic used to make the dolls needed to be lighter and more flexible. This meant that it was now easier to pose the doll, making it feel more like a toy to play with than just a figurine.

However, the new ball joints to cause a few problems. Like with all ball jointed dolls, the friction between the ball and the joints wears down the material after extensive movement. Though this is more common with porcelain and resin dolls, the new plastic used in the Living Dead Dolls from series 9 to date was softer meaning it cause more friction in the joints. This means if the joint hardly moves then the flexible plastic settles and becomes stiff in the joint. Extensive movement weakens the plastic meaning the pose will not hold.

Swing joint. Joint goes one way or the other. Simple and rigid

Ball joint. Gives more freedom of movement however the type of plastic results in joint sticking thus wearing quicker.

Video demonstrating joints

Certain dolls from all sorts of series have individual qualities like in the first Lilith and Purdy. However for Series 16, each Halloween doll came with a trick o' treat pumpkin candy bucket. Because the normal doll hand is a flat palm with fingers spread, this would've meant a bucket could not a fit securely in the hand. So the right hand of each doll was redesigned so that it could firmly hold the handle of the bucket.

Mishka's right hand is posed to accommodate the pumpkin bucket that every doll for Series 16 came with.

 Morbid quirks:

As guessed by the name 'Living Dead Dolls', the ethos of the franchise had a very dark and morbid sense to it. Each doll is seen as a deceased child, meaning that they all experienced different deaths. 

 Packaging:
The packaging for each doll is a coffin with tissue lining. Because of their posture they do appear to be dead. A doll is sold with a clear window front for display presentation but a proper coffin lid slotted onto the back, this is so then you can either keep the lid on to preserve the colour of the doll or (like me) it is easier to store the boxes away as they neatly fit on top of one another.

My four coffin boxes with coffin lids on.

Lids with clear window inside propped up. Each series tends to have a different colour tissue inside.
Box belonging to doll (Left to right): Arachne, Maggot, Faith, Mishka.

Where most of the early coffins had comic styled bat-winged handles printed on each side of the coffin, they seemed to get rid of this on series 9. Instead, they improved the allover pattern on the box so instead of it just being plain black, it now had the faint pattern which resembled wooden planks and hints of green moss or mould forming on corners and sides.

One thing which never changes about the box however is the inside of the main coffin lid. Everyone has the eerie light grey illustrations of the complete Series 1 first produced my Mezco appart from 'Eggzorcist'.

Bat coffin handle motif on the side of Faith's coffin

Slight difference. Lower box lid is plain black where the pattern and green is visible on the upper  box lid.

The inside of the lid. Characters (top to bottom):  Sin, Sadie, Posey, Damien

Death Certificates and 'Chipboard Poems':

Each 10" doll comes with a chipboard poem on the front of the box and a death certificate scroll inside the coffin next to the doll. These are probably my favourite parts of the a doll's attire because both give indication to what type of person they were and how they met their end. If not told, the notion given is that all of these poor children end up in hell, either for being evil, being foolish or spawning from hell in the first place. The death certificate signifies that they were 'alive' at some point and that this is the last note of their existence before buried and their soul gets sent to hell. 

Usually you can guess how each doll died by their costume but for some of the plainer dressed, the chipboards and death certificates help in identifying each doll.

Death certificat for each doll (Mishka's is still in packaging)

Arachne's Death Certificate. This is the only one that I have unrolled from it's ribbon tie

Mishka's chipboard still attached to inside of the box

Noose key rings:

Exclusive to each doll in the 2" doll series is the hangman's noose. Because none of these characters are new, they need no introduction as their 10" originals hold that information. The minitures still come in coffin shaped boxes but to add to their dark, twisted use, the noose is 'buried' with them so that you may wish to hang them from it for display or to attach onto bags, clothing etc.

The three noose key rings for each Living Dead Doll Mini

Example of how they attach

Ms. Eerie hanging from her noose

What has this research helped me gain?

After exploring more into the design, reasoning and ethos behind the Living Dead Doll franchise, I feel like I can confidently review any characters I create to identify what makes them interesting, if they have a strong enough personality and if this personality is expressed properly through the aesthetics of the character.

It has also helped me to decide a firmer course for the rest of my research project.

I would like to explore the growth and portrayal of character, with a view to express personality through how that character may look. At this early stage I would like this research to lead me into hopefully creating a 3D model of a character, like a doll or a model used in stop motion.

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