While the head and hands will be vinyl - you have a choice of two different types of body - one is referred to as Cortex and the other as Vinyl. Both body types are pre-built.Designer Con (Birmingham) 2025
Smart Doll will be exhibiting at DesignerCon UK (also known as DCon), held at the NEC in Birmingham this June. The event runs from June 14th–15th, but due to unforeseen circumstances in Smart Doll Land, our Japan team won’t be able to attend. This is a first for us, but it overlaps with critical production milestones that require our presence in Japan. That said, we’re not cancelling the booth—Smart Doll Creator Mikela Frost will be representing us at the event.
We chose Mikela for this opportunity because she’s consistently shown creativity and dedication to Smart Doll—not just through her apparel work, but also through 3D modeling accessories and, more recently, experimenting with electronics in Cyber Shell Cortex. These qualities align perfectly with our vision of empowering creators. Over the years, our team has spent significant time with Mikela during trips to London, and we’ve been truly humbled by her focus and passion for Smart Doll.
We’ll be covering various expenses, and in addition to compensating Mikela for her efforts, she’ll receive a Smart Doll Plus (200%) to prepare apparel and accessories ahead of its release. We’ll also supply her with a few Cyber Shell Cortex kits for her to assemble and customize for sale—without any fees due to us. While it’s unfortunate that we can’t attend this time, it feels fitting that Mikela will be the first to bring this vision of collaborative creativity to life. From the learnings of this event, we plan to extend similar opportunities to other Smart Doll creators worldwide.
In the long term, we plan to offer creators who join this retailer program a creator-retailer discount for Smart Doll Plus and Cyber Shell Cortex kits. However, given the tight timing of this sudden change—and as an additional way to compensate Mikela for her time—we’re offering these to her free of charge.
As usual, the booth’s main purpose will be to introduce Smart Doll to the Toy Art community that Designer Con attracts, rather than focusing on driving sales. Mikela will be showcasing her diverse collection of Smart Dolls and is free to sell any of them or related accessories at the booth. However, we’re not sending Mikela items to sell at the event. While the Cortex kits we’re providing her were originally planned for event sales, due to the sudden timing, Mikela has decided to take more time after the event to focus on her Cyber Shell creations before offering them for purchase.
If you’re attending Designer Con, feel free to drop by the booth to meet Mikela, connect with other Smart Doll owners, and even display your own Smart Dolls.
We’re excited to work alongside Mikela—and we see this as a meaningful first step in building a framework that will extend to other creators around the world.
