Sunday 29 April 2018

Interview with Aileendoll KR & EU

Back in 2014 I interviewed Aileendoll. You can read that original interview here. But lately, I've been doing all of the Plapico videos and posts... and in one of them, I asked about making a second interview, focused on the Plapicos. Guess what? This is it! And it comes with a plus!

Therefore, today I'm happily sharing with you an interview with Mr. Kim from Aileendoll Korea, with info, questions and special announcements about the Plamodel Pico dragons! And also, I made the very first podcast interview video with Judit from Aileendoll Europe! As we did this online, and it was my first time, please be a little kind about the audio.

So! This is how this interview is organized.

  • Judit's interview is here before the cut on the video. It has English and Spanish subtitles. All the footage and photos on the video were supplied by her, and used with permission.
  • Mr. Kim (Aileendoll KR) interview is under the cut. It is a traditional written interview in English and Spanish, with the photos provided by them. They are used with permission.
I hope you will enjoy this, so let's get started!




Hi there! Thank you so, so much for agreeing to the interview! Will you introduce yourself to the readers?
Hello! Thank you for requesting the interview! I am Beomsoo Kim, CEO of Aileen Doll; and I am really happy to have this second interview with you. The last one was June 2014, wasn’t it? Our company formal name is ARTTOY and we are in South Korea. Aileen Doll is the brand name of ARTTOY.
¡Hola! ¡Muchas, muchas gracias por aceptar la entrevista! ¿Te introducirías a los lectores?
¡Hola! ¡Gracias por solicitar la entrevista! Soy Beomsoo Kim, CEO de Aileendoll, y estoy muy contento de tener esta segunda entrevista contigo. La primera fue en Junio de 2014 ¿verdad? El nombre formal de nuestra compañía es ARTTOY y estamos en Korea del Sur. Aileendoll es una marca de ARTTOY.



How did you came out with the idea of making the dragons as scale models?
In the past we focused mainly on creating Ball Jointed Dolls. As an artist, for my work, I created BJD. But I also have a hobby… I am a Gundam fan! I make my own (I will show you a photo of my collection). This sparked the idea of making the scale model kits of Pico Dragons that we have been releasing since last year. Their official name is Plastic Model Pico Dragon, but we also call them PlaPico as a short nickname.
Building my Gundam, I started thinking how I could join the ideas of Ball Jointed Doll and Plastic Model (plamodel) on a single doll. Dragons are the most popular model among our products and we knew many people would like to own one. However, since BJD are handmade and the resin is an expensive material their price is high. I wanted to share the charm of BJD by popularizing them at a lower price so everyone could own one! And I also wanted to give many people the opportunity to assemble, paint and decorate their own dragon.
¿Cómo llegaste a la idea de crear los dragones como modelos en escala?
En el pasado nos concentramos en hacer BJDs. Como artista, para mi trabajo, creaba BJDs. Pero tengo un hobby… ¡soy un fan de los Gundam! Hago los míos propios (les mostraré una foto de mi colección). Esto desató la idea de hacer modelos a escala de los Dragones Pico que hemos estado liberando desde hace un año. Su nombre oficial es Modelos Plásticos Pico Dragon, pero los llamamos PlaPico como apodo.
Armando mis Gundam, comencé a pensar cómo podría unir las BJDs y los Modelos Plásticos (plamodel) en una sóla muñeca. Los dragones son el modelo más popular entre nuestros productos, y sabíamos que muchos querían tener uno. Sin embargo, dado que las BJDs son hechas a mano y la resina es cara, su precio es alto. Quería compartir el encanto de las BJDs ¡y popularizarlas a un precio bajo para que todos pudieran tener uno! También quería darle a todos la oportunidad de ensamblar, pintar y decorar sus propios dragones.



How do you sculpt these models? Is the design based on the classic resin dragons?
Yes, their design is based on the resin Pico Dragon series! Not only the body, their faces and colours are inspired in their resin counterparts. Our resin Ball Jointed Doll are made by sculpting the original doll by hand, making a silicone mold of it and pouring urethane resin to make the final products. Usually, we can make from 10 to 15 dolls for each silicone mold. After that we have to make a new one.
The Plastic Model Pico Dragon has a completely different process. We use 3D scan and 3D modeling to create the model and then translate it into a mold design. The mold is made of metal and the ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin) is injected into it to make the final plastic model kit. The investment cost is very high because cost of the metal mold production is high. However, unlike with resin, mass production is possible. A mold can produce thousands to tens of thousands at a time!
¿Cómo crean estos modelos? ¿El diseño está basado en los dragones de resina?
¡Sí, su diseño está basado en los Dragones Pico! No solo el cuerpo, sino la carita y los colores están inspirados en sus contrapartes de resina. Nuestras BJDs de resina están modeladas a mano, haciendo los moldes de silicona, y luego echando la resina de uretano para hacer la muñeca final. Usualmente hacemos de 10 a 15 muñecas por cada molde de silicona. Y luego tenemos que hacer uno nuevo.
Los Modelos Plásticos Pico Dragon tienen un proceso completamente diferente. Usamos un escaneo 3D y modelado 3D para crear el modelo, y traducirlo a un diseño de molde. El molde se hace de metal, y el ABS (resina acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) se inyecta para hacer el kit plástico final. La inversión es muy alta porque el costo del molde de metal es alto. Pero, a diferencia de las BJDs, la producción en masa es posible. ¡Un molde puede producir miles al mismo tiempo!



You have several dragons on your Plamodel Pico line! Are there plans for new releases?
So far we have produced three Plamodel versions or our resin Pico Dragons: PlaPico Violet, PlaPico Ashes, and PlaPico Rot. We are currently working on the next one: PlaPico Seed. We are in the mold design stage. And we are studying the possibility of turning Pico Lapis into a PlaPico, which will be a bit challenging, because the implementation of the ear fin is a bit complicated.
¡Tienen varios dragones en la línea Plamodel Pico! ¿Hay planes para una nueva edición?
Por ahora hemos producido tres versiones de nuestros dragones Pico de resina: PlaPico Violet, PlaPico Ashes y PlaPico Rot. Estamos trabajando en el siguiente: PlaPico Seed. Estamos en la fase de crear el diseño del molde. Y estamos estudiando la posibilidad de convertir a Pico Lapis en un PlaPico, lo que será un tanto desafiante, dado que la implementación de la aleta de la oreja es un tanto complicada.


Do you produce the Plamodels yourself? Or do you outsource the production?
We do not have a metal mold making and injection system. So, in our office, we only work on the 3D scan, 3D modeling and mold design. The creation of the metal mold and the injection and manufacturing of the final product is done by an outsourced professional company. Since our Plastic models are made of the same material as Gundam, their quality is excellent. Creating a Plastic model is a sophisticated operation and requires a lot of testing because the parts must perfectly engage with each other.
¿Producen los Plamodel ustedes mismos? ¿O tienen que tercerizar la producción?
No tenemos un sistema para crear el molde de metal e inyectar el plástico. Así que en nuestra oficina sólo hacemos el escaneo 3D, el modelado 3D y el diseño del molde. La creación del molde de metal y la inyección, junto con la producción, se hacen en una compañía profesional tercerizada. Dado que nuestros modelos están hechos del mismo material que los Gundam, su calidad es excelente. Crear un modelo plástico es una operación sofisticada, y requiere muestra prueba y error, ya que las partes tienen que acoplarse perfectamente entre ellas.



Anything else you want to share with us? Thank you very much for doing this additional interview! :D
I wish to make as many PlaModel lines as I can! We are a small company. I do not know if it is possible for us to become a famous company like Gundam, but if we spread the love for our dragons to many people we might. That would be amazing, hahaha! We deeply love our dolls. They are not only dolls to us, but alive characters, each with their own personality and history! Our European partner, Judit Elias, is working on the novel “Hill of Sidh” that serves as a backstory for our dolls (it can be read at www.hillofsidh.com). Someday, I would love to be able to make short animated films with our characters and to publish the novel as paper books. I hope many people will come to know the charm of Ball Jointed Dolls and Plastic Model and enjoy our dolls together with us. It is so rewarding to watch the videos and pictures people post when decorating and playing with their PlaPico! It makes me truly happy! I want to thank all our customers for your support, your continued encouragement and love. I am looking forward to the future we can build together.
¿Algo más que quieras compartir con nosotros? ¡Muchas gracias por hacer esta entrevista adicional! :D
¡Deseo hacer tantas líneas de PlaModel como pueda! Somos una pequeña compañía. No sé si es posible convertirnos en una marca famosa como Gundam, pero si esparcimos el amor por nuestros dragones a muchas personas, quizás podamos. ¡Eso sería increíble, jajajaja! Amamos mucho a nuestras muñecas. Ellos no son sólo muñecos ¡cada uno tiene su propia personalidad e historia! Nuestra colega Europea, Judit Elias, está trabajando en la novela “Colina de Sidh” que sirve como trasfondo a nuestros muñecos (se puede leer en www.hillofsidh.com). Algún día me encantaría poder ser capaz de hacer pequeños cortos animados con nuestros personajes y publicar la novela como libros. Espero que muchas personas lleguen a conocer el encanto de las BJDs y de los modelos plásticos, y disfrutar nuestras muñecas juntos. ¡Es muy lindo ver los videos y fotos que la gente comparte cuando decoran y juegan con sus PlaPico! ¡Realmente me hace muy feliz! Y quiero agradecerles a todos nuestros clientes por su apoyo su continua fuerza y cariño. Estoy ansioso por el futuro que podemos construir juntos.




So, this is all for this month's interview! It actually took us several months to prepare and organize everything, so I want to send a special thank you to Judit and Mr. Kim for preparing everything, sharing footage and photos, and all! If you want, feel free to share the interview, but do not repost it! A lot of work goes on each interview.

And as always, here are the links to find these stores:
And that is all! Thank you for reading, and I hope you have enjoyed this! Have a great weekend!

10 comments :

  1. Great interview! It makes me want to run and order all the plaModel dragons.

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    1. Thank you!! And you definitely should!! :D

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  2. Finally I found the time to read your interview!
    Judit sounds like a genuine passionated woman. I look forward to buying some Plapicos from her someday.
    Beomsoo Kim also sounds like he is truly passionated about his company. Makes me feel all warm and fussy :D
    Great interview! Lovely to read about Aileendoll again :3 Thanks for posting it!

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    1. Happy you liked it!! I think she is, and I loved the story of she met Aileendoll.

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  3. Wonderful interviews and a great way to do an interview, as you did through podcast! Enjoyed it a lot. Thank you for sharing!
    And the yellow dragon, so cute!

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    1. Thank you!! I'm really happy that you liked it so much!!
      The yellow dragon is adorable, I know! <3

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  4. Awesome interview, thank you! I love Aileendoll creatures and it's always amazing to know more about them and their plans. I can't wait to see what else will they do in a future!

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    1. Thank you so much!! Indeed, they are, and I'm also eager to see what they'll bring! :D

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  5. Muchísimas gracias por esta entrevista tan genial y también por todo el esfuerzo y trabajo que estás haciendo con tu blog, apoyando a los artistas y dando información tanto en inglés como en español <3.

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    1. ¡Muchas gracias a tí por el comentario tan bonito, y el apoyo! :D
      Me alegro mucho que mi blog resulte útil e interesante.

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