NOTE:

I do not make, sell, or traffic in bootleg/recast dolls or any other product.

I do not provide information on where or how to buy them.

Any recast information on this blog is for information purposes only, for identifying recast products on the second hand market.


Monday, September 19, 2016

Daughters and Dolls

My daughter is turning two years old in December. She's a very smart little thing, very verbal. One of her first words was "dollie". She'd lay there, staring at the doll cabinet saying, "Hi Dollie. Pretty dollie. Hi!"

My desire is to have her choose her own way of being. I do not want to pressure her to be more girly or less girly, and honestly, she's chosen to be pretty darn girly. She likes having her hair done, and pretends to put make up on (which is sad because I literally cannot style hair at all haha).

She'll play with her brother's trucks and likes zombies and Pokemon (She says "poke-mon" and "Pi-chu" for Pikachu), but in the end she loves her baby dolls.

For my own nostalgia, I wanted to get her an American Girl doll or two, but in the end with the way she loves my dolls and how gentle she is with them, a BJD was definitely the way to go. After chatting with my bestie, I decided to go the ABS route, and if she does well with this, we will consider a resin girl when she's a little older, or possibly a Hujoo Dana.

Having done commissions on Hujoo Freya and Nano Freya, I feel confident I've made the right choice and can paint her little kitty to be a wonderful dollie for my daughter. I  think this will help teach her responsibility and to take good care of her toys and special things, and this little kitty can be a good friend to her for many years. I hope it inspires her to be creative, to tell stories, to be artistic, and I hope it will help us bond and play together.

My plan is to make her very pink and glittery, just like Emmy always likes.

I've been working on customizing Disney toddler dolls and such (I get them for super cheap at my local thrift shops, touch up their paint and hair, make them simple dresses and voila, she's got a huge collection). I'm working on one now that will end being a Princess Leia doll, haha.

Here's to our future doll collectors. <3

I'll be doing a review of this doll when she arrives, as well as a clothing and a posing post, with plenty of help from Emmy. 

(And just an aside here, my son has zero interest in dolls of any kind. I've tried, even offering to buy him one of his own, and he just laughed and, "No mom, I like zombies." He occasionally plays with my dragons, but quickly grows bored and goes back to zombies and minecraft.)

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Scammer Warning and a Note on Scams

So this message has been circling around, and seemingly only to European collectors. There may have been some non-Europeans that have gotten the message, but so far this is all I've seen.

Screen shot from Etsy, via Issy BJD

This is a good opportunity to discuss warning signs of scammers, especially because some of them are far less obvious than this. I've discussed Safe Buying and Selling practices many times on this blog, so I won't go into that, but you can read the posts relevant to this topic here.

Name Dropping: The scammer tries to associate themselves with someone with high popularity, followers, or fame. This could be a company (such as claiming to be a representative or employee) or a person (claiming to be a famous collector or in collaboration with a famous collector). This is to ease you into comfort with a name fo someone you "know" or are familiar with. It gives the scammer an air of legitimacy.

Monetary Reward: Offers an unrealistic amount of money for the object they're desiring. In this case, they're asking to "rent" a bjd for $100 plus more if you send extra things. They can purchase their own BJD for around $100, to be frank, so they've no business renting yours. They may offer a deposit of a ridiculous sum of money, but be unwilling to send it "Friends and Family" or only want to send you money after you send your portion.

Method of Contact: If they've contacted you on an account not openly related to BJDs, like your personal facebook or Etsy, find out how they got the information. Never give out your real life name or address to these people. If they are claiming to be from a company or a specific person, forward their message onto that company or person and see what they have to say.

Google them. Google any names or information they've used in their message. See if anything pops up. the vlogger mentioned in this message is demonstrably mentally troubled (no offense is meant by this, and I wasn't sure of a more delicate way to address this. My mother is mentally unsound as well, so I have nothing but empathy and compassion for this person), but may not even be aware this person is using her name.

This person will prey upon the desperate and the new, and hopefully no one actually thinks this is legit. Pass this information around. Protect your community! Safe collecting everyone.