A slightly sad thing is that I didn't post about Makie dolls here before they vanished into... America?? at the end of last year. I am gonna write down my knowledge of what happened for posterity and whatnot.
Juniper, my first Makie, arrived at the end of June 2015. She was a "Limited Edition" pre-designed Makie, but was soon joined by Willow, then Strawberry, Blossom, Jasmine and Ginger. Basically an overload of doll happened.
Mid-summer last year Makie Lab announced a (quite substantial) price-decrease, which went along with the phasing-out of 3D-printed bodies in favour of cheaper-to-produce injection-moulded plastic ones. There was a period of a couple of weeks where you could get a 3DP-bodied doll for the new price, leading to a rush of orders from the adult collectors. At the same time the pure white "frosting" skin colour (undyed printed bodies) went away because you can't dye the newer bodies anyway and they had never been as popular as skintones you might see on a human.
I think it's probably significant that the Makies you see most online belong to adult collectors who valued the dyeability (is that even a word?) of the frosting Makies. Because I had always got the impresion on the internet that white ones were really popular. But apparently not.
Anyway, the price-reduction didn't really seem to make them more plausible as presents for children (compare it to a Barbie, because that's what parents probably did, alas) and as things progressed it seems it didn't help the company make ends meet.
Fast-fowards to the Christmas season last year. After a "fake sale" on Black Friday (free shipping over £xx which was always there anyway), an actual sale on accessories followed allowing myself and others to get some wigs and shoes and glasses and so on for cheaper. Everything seemed more-or-less okay, with new staff being hired and promises of new wonders in the new year, and so Makie Labs closed for the holidays.
And never (to this date, at least) re-opened. Everything was being moved to America all of a sudden, the British staff were made redundant, vague promises were made about a return, but we're now a year later and nothing has been heard for some time.
Here is their Instagram page, behold the sinister abandonedness. The same lack of information continues through the rest of their social media accounts, and even the once-optimistic are starting to refer to Makies as forever gone.
I was not one of the ones left wanting more of these dolls, as I was fairly sure I had enough of them to be getting on with, but we were all left confused, befuddled, perplexed, etc, by the sudden vanishing and the lack of return "after the holidays." I don't know what we can learn from all this, probably some cliche about how nothing lasts forever.
So, that's what I know and remember. I hope this is of use to someone, anyone, somewhere.
