In its January/February issue, men’s magazine Details profiles Slade Fierro a Davis, Calif. resident that specializes in repairing RealDolls, the expensive lifelike brand of sex dolls.
“Painstakingly sculpted in silicone and hand-painted to feel and look like a real woman — or at least real centerfold models — the dolls have become a cultural phenomenon,” Details’ Jeff Gordinier wrote of the dolls, which cost $6,500 for a standard model and up to $50,000 for a customized one.
After paying that kind of money for a silicone companion, it’s easy to see why RealDoll owners would hire Fierro to repair their inanimate loved ones.
Fierro, described as a part-time tattooist and art collector, has created his own system for cleaning, repairing and altering RealDolls.
“Slade has a very important place in the doll world,” photographer Elena Dorfman told Details. “People are sending him their beloved — or at least a sex partner that they paid a lot of money for. They’re trusting him to fix her. It’s like sending someone you love to the doctor and hoping they’ll come out all right.”
Abyss Creations, formed by entrepreneur Matt McMullen in 1996, created the RealDoll. The company sells around 300 dolls per year.
Fierro hooked up with McMullen in the late 1990s because of the company’s policy not to accept returns. Abyss would sell Fierro dolls that were damaged at the factory for a bargain, he’d fix them and then sell them on eBay for a profit. He’s been repairing RealDolls ever since.
So has being around RealDolls for a decade enticed Fierro to have intercourse with them? Only once, he said.
“I’m not going to be fucking dolls and shipping them to other people,” he told Details. “That’s fuckin’ rude. What kind of businessman would I be if I did that?”
