I thought I should make this information post because I haven’t seen anyone mention this before.
I used to buy a lot of Soom eyes in the years 2008-2011 because I also bought their dolls. Then, I had a pause and only ordered some pairs occasionally (through Safrin doll because of the manageable shipping).
At around 2013 I decided I needed to order Seere a new pair of Zinnias because hers had gotten a little dull and wouldn’t reflect light well anymore. When I received them, I noticed that Soom had suddenly completely changed the way they make their eyes: the irises sit way deeper in the eye and they have a new printer. The fact that the printed irises are deep in the hole causes the rims to disappear and the pupils get really weird red reflections from the light. As a result the new Zinnias looked like completely different eyes.
I complained to Soom and they sent me another pair: only for me to discover that they were just as crappy AND the other one had a wonky pupil. I did see that they had tried to make the rim more visible, but it wasn’t nearly as good. I told them that they were not even close again, so they said they’d make me a third pair and would make sure there are no wonky pupils. About a month later I received the third pair and they still weren’t any better. None of the eyes I received looked anything like the original pair and at that point they apologized and said that they can’t make them like they used to anymore. So, no new eyes for Seere because they look so different that her whole expression changes:
Later that same year I ordered some more Soom eyes from Safrin doll to test their blue eyes for some of my dolls. Some of the eyes were the old style (they’d been in storage) and some were newly stocked and made with the new style. There’s a clear difference between the old and new types so it’s not hard to recognize them.
The far right one is the new type, you can see from the shadows and the pupil reflection.
I also ordered a pair of the Cinderella Star Light Blue limited eyes (the eyes they just recently sold again with some other limited, beware!) in 2014 despite how they were made. I didn’t mind that the rim disappears because they were pictured in a doll, so I knew what I was getting. I put them in my Siren because they’re a lovely bright blue colour. ♥
Or were. The reason I’m writing this entry is that a few months ago I looked at my Siren (took her out of storage) and noticed that she was wearing green eyes. Wtf?? I took them out and examined them and yup, they had yellowed like crazy. They’re less than two years old. And the doll that’s been wearing them has been in storage most of the time I’ve had her. When I noticed the yellowing, I immediately dug up my Soom eyes from storage and examined them. True enough: all the new type blue eyes were more or less green. I have two pairs of bluemarbles left, so you can see the difference in their colour clearly.
I’d recommend to not buy new Soom eyes (especially blues) unless you don’t want them to yellow like crazy, because this is just horrible. All my older type Soom eyes are fine. None of them have yellowed like this -and they’ve been in a doll that’s on display 24/7 364 days a year and get natural light. Mostly it’s the white parts that have gotten slightly yellow and some parts of the colour maybe (like in the above zinnias) but they’re not a completely different colour. Their domes don’t turn yellow in a year. =__= This pisses me off so bad because Soom eyes are not cheap, and yet they’re made like crap nowadays.
I am now wondering where to get the right colour eyes for some of my dolls to replace their old good quality (but dulled) Soom eyes. -__-;; And where the hell will I get young!Kilbas nice eyes since Yami stole his.
