Providing rare insight into the world of sex doll production, Matt McMullen of RealDoll in California reveals the detailed process of creating full body silicon sex toys.
McMullen started the business in 1996 after designing a half-scale doll as an art piece. He posted photographs on the Internet, which generated lots of attention.
Debra Newsom, operations manager for Abyss Creations who make the dolls, said: "Someone saw the pictures and wanted the doll in full human scale.
"Matt said he could make one, more as a joke than anything, and decided to develop a “funky art piece” like a sexy sculpture of a woman. The person who bought the first doll wanted it to have sexual function which Matt included with the doll.
"Since that time the dolls have been sex items as well as art pieces."
Over two decades since the first doll was created, the company has produced over 8,000 dolls and processes between 300 and 4,000 orders a year – producing approximately one a day in their San Marcos factory.
The entire doll production takes 80 hours, from the initial design (still done by McMullen himself) to the finishing touches – adding a “seasonal” outfit before being shipped.
The dolls are all made of silicone and have fully poseable skeletons, meaning they cannot support their own weight, but they can hold positions that they are put into.
Each doll is approximately 75 - 115lb but each has a unique body shape, along with personalised hair colour, eye colour, skin tone, nail polish colour, type of make up, and even custom pubic hair.
These features are selected by the customer during the design process – which can be a lengthy consultation both with the RealDolls advisers and other members of the sex doll community in anonymous forums.
Newsom says: “Some of them have formed an online community where they will discuss their dolls including the functionality, pros and cons of doll ownership, assisting one another in product selection, and sharing photographs and stories.”
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Newsom said: "We have had customers marry their dolls, say that we had saved their lives because they felt like they had nothing to live for after the death of a spouse or the end of a relationship."
The most popular order is a classic body with face shape 14 (a young looking Asian woman) with blonde hair, blue or brown eyes and medium to tanned skin.
Clients are also able to make custom requests, such as having elf ears or fangs on their doll, or a transgender doll.
The only specifics that McMullen won’t produce are dolls that are made to look like a child (small torso or no make up) and amputee dolls that have limbs missing.
The current waiting list for a doll, which can retail up to $50,000 for a custom face and body made to look like someone you know, is twelve weeks.
The majority of the sales are within America, to California, Florida and Texas. Outside of the USA, Germany and the United Kingdom are the second and third most frequent buyers.