BJDs and Yellowing/Mellowing

Note: I plan to update this post when I can with some examples of yellowing from my personal collection.

You can't reverse yellowing. The good news is that yellowing is very, very gradual. You're not going to see severe yellowing in your doll just from walking to your car and back. They may mellow within a year or so, but you will not see severe yellowing for the most part until after many years of love and play.

Most people find they barely notice the yellowing, because it is something that happens so slowly you often don't notice until you compare the inside of a doll's headcap or a newer doll from the same company to an older one.

Is Yellowing Damage?

In most cases, yellowing should not constitute damage. What yellowing can indicate in a newer doll is a lack of care and preservation for the doll itself. Blotchy yellowing, or the yellowing equivalent of a farmer's tan could be considered damage in most cases. You're obligated as an honest seller to disclose any yellowing. Personally, any doll at least a year or more I always note that it probably has some yellowing.

BJD Photography Tips and Tricks Part 1: Basics

Upcoming:

Part 2: Editing Photos

Part 3: Working with a Cell Phone Camera

My photography has improved over the years I've been in this hobby. Witness this monstrosity from early in my doll collecting career vs this more recent photo:

On the left is a photo of my first doll, Poe. On the right is Peregrine, who I acquired last year.

So what improved? How can you kick your photography up a notch? What if you only have a cell phone to work with?

Well, read below for help editing photos in general. A follow up post regarding tips and tricks for cell phone photography is upcoming.

Rrabbit Clothing Review

[Note: At the time I took pics, I wasn't planning on a review so they're pretty bad quality, lol. Since then, everything has been mixed up in my doll stuff boxes, so eventually I'll take better pictures. You'll have to deal with these for now. XD I'm also having major format issues with Blogger today, so if anything's weird I apologize. ]

English Site: http://rrabit.com/rrabitstore/rrabitshop/

I ordered during Chinese New Year, so I'm a little shocked this shipped when it did. Here are a few pics of the items I ordered:

The Dangerous Decline of the Secondhand Market- What that means for the future of the hobby.

There has been a decided decrease in the purchasing power of the average BJD hobbyist thanks to the decline of the secondhand market. We can no longer purchase a doll knowing we cannot recoup most of our costs and turn around and reinvest the money from that doll back into the market.

The large majority of doll collectors, I'd wager, do not have the financial freedom to just purchase full cost dolls willy-nilly. Sure there are some people, perhaps those with large incomes and/or no dependents to care for who can buy several full-price mid or high range dolls a month, but they're uncommon. I'm not qualifying this or saying those with more purchasing power are better or worse than someone with less.  It's simply a fact. It's a fact that most of the doll collectors I know depend on their ability to sell a doll to buy a new doll. I know only 3 doll collectors on a personal basis that do NOT have to sell to buy. They may choose to do so, but they're not required to do it. The point is they're honestly a minority. This piece is concerned with the purchasing power of the average doll collector and what the reduction of that power is doing to the market and thus the future of the hobby.

There is this sense of haggling and deal making in this hobby that has gone beyond respectable. People are wanting top of the line dolls for Walmart prices- and they're wanting them now. No one wants to pay $450 for a minifee, so they begin to search secondhand. They hope that they can snag a good deal- maybe $350 with no long wait time….. then they begin to search for one for $250 because it's not mint in it's box… because another human touched it…. because how dare the original owner hope to get $400 for that minifee?

A Short Review: Vings Eyes

Unedited Vings in my kitchen they day they arrived! <3

Let me preface this with the fact I completely forgot to write this post last year. I even looked to see if I could find an older draft, and nothing. That said, I won't be able to get into details about arrival times and stuff because it's been so long. I'm also not sure exactly which shade of green I ordered either. I know they were about 18mm and teal.

Around the time I ordered, Vings was having issue after issue. A lot seemed like they were just making stuff up, but for you dear readers, I elected not to get a refund and waited something like 6-8 months? for them to arrive so I could review them for you.

We ordered from their taobao to save a little money (the pricing difference on the large eyes was enough we decided to go with that instead of their direct site). I believe my eyes were approximately $60 + shipping. I paid more than average because I had to get giant eyes because Soony has giant eyes.

Anyone who has been following my posts and photography will have seen them, as Junko generally wears them.

These eyes are gorgeous. They are my favorite urethane eyes that I own. The color is crisp, bright, and very accurate to their sample photo. They are even with no bubbling, irises and pupils are the same size.

The catch the light in an absolutely magical way, and rarely require any editing at all, unless it's in low-light conditions.

Vings are definitely worth the money. They've aged well in the year or two that I've had them, as in, no noticeable  yellowing or anything as I've heard urethane eyes can do overtime, just like the dolls themselves.

So basically, if you're on the fence about them, get them.

Here are some pics for you so you can judge yourself. I've noted where I've used editing and to what extent.

Thanks for reading as always, and happy collecting!

Very, very little editing.

Brightened a bit because of the severe lowlight.

All I did here was edit the eye shine and desaturate the image.

Pokémon Syndrome: Acquisition Disorder, Recasts, and the Doll Hobby

All Teh Dolls.

All instances of you* in this piece refer to general “you”, not anyone specific. Also, there is nothing wrong with buying or selling. Even buying or selling a lot. This is not meant as a critique or criticism of anyone or anything in particular, but rather a cautionary tale to explore your own motivations for doing so.

“Gamers have a term for this madness.  It’s “acquisition disorder.”  It’s when you have to have the new shiny.”- Click for Source

The problem with collecting hobbies is what I call Pokemon syndrome: Gotta catch ‘em all! Meaning that the compulsion to buy and buy and buy often overrides need and good sense. For some people, it gets dangerous. They obsessively buy everything they can pertaining themselves to their hobbies, shop out of their budgets, don’t live within their means, and can even rack up massive amounts of debt. (Have you seen the Star Wars documentary on Netflix where they talk about their obsession with buying and collecting? Watch that shit. Then come back here.) It’s not quite the same as a shopping addiction, which is a whole entire other issue that can be aggravated by Pokémon Syndrome, but it’s a very, very real thing. If you have a shopping addiction, like any other addiction, and you feel it’s a problem or becoming a problem, then please seek help.

Buying becomes a panacea. You’re feeling stuck, uninspired, sad, or whatever, and shopping takes over. You buy a new doll because you’re bored with the old ones or simply “not feeling” it anymore. A new outfit brings the spark back: the excitement of shopping, of comparing, of imagining, then the excitement and joyful, satisfying anxiety of waiting and checking tracking, and then the climax of arrival. You open the item, gush, glee, take a few pictures, post on social and media- and then the high is gone. So you move on to the next quest.

Kemper Wigs Review

Another belated review!

The Raven wig in black on a Delf Soony.

Note: According to a friend of mine, Kemper prices fluctuate based on the cost of mohair at any given time. If the price seems high, wait a bit to see if they drop.

Site: Kemper Dolls
Price Range: Varies, usually $5+

Communication: 5/5. Typical, nothing bad, nothing extraordinary either.

Ease of Paying: 5/5. Just used Paypal.

Speed: 5/5. Shipped really quickly and packed well.


Like the picture: BETTER. Seriously. The pictures on the site do not do these wigs justice.

Quality:4/5. These wigs are great for the price, but they do take elbow grease to make them pretty. Don't expect something flawless right out of the package. Pet them. Style them. Love them.

I ordered a black Raven mohair wig in 8-9. It has this great little velcro dohicky to make the wig stay on tighter. I only paid about $9 give or take for this one (it may have been more). As you can see, it's fluffy. The bangs were awful when I got it. I just flat-ironed it and styled it and now it just looks like messy black hair. You can do more with it if you try.



This was a random fluke. I needed a teal wig and I found one on the site, not mohair, for $5. So I bought it. When it arrived it looked like a Halloween costume wig. Shiny, gross, blech. It had potential though, so I used hairspray and baby powder to remove the shine. voila! Pretty, cheap, tough teal wig. I traded this away with a doll, but I'd like to order it again.



I have plans to order a carrot wig and some others from them when the current prices drop. If you're willing to work at it, these wigs are nice, and I can't recommend them enough. Because of the effort it takes with these I can't say that they're worth more than about $15 a piece though.

In a nutshell, give them a try and don't get frustrated as you work with them. They do take some effort, but they're soft and look really realistic.


Thanks for reading and happy collecting!

Video Tutorial: Restringing a Fairyland Feeple 60 Doll

Sorry for all the delays! Life has been really crazy with two kids now. Anywho, I attempted to make a restringing tutorial video for Feeple 60s. You can find the video here . You can also find the phototutorial for this here.

Now I'm off to respond to comments and emails. Sorry for all the delays!

Thanks for reading and happy collecting!

Juri 12 vs Juri 08

(Apologies in advance for the crap unedited cellphone pics. Any weird formatting is because I'm on mobile writing this.)

So I decided to reshell my Juri 08 into an SD, and I thought Juri 12 (the updated version of Juri 05 back in CP's Luts days) was the closest. I'm not brave enough to mod Juri 12's eyes to be more narrow, but I did mod her mouth. Here are some pictures of 12 vs 08 before the mods on Juri 12:

As you can see they are basically identical, except for Juri 12s eyes being less narrow. A brave modder could easily make a Juri 08 clone with her. 

And for kicks and giggles, here is Juri 12 with a slight mouth mod and the face up in progress. (I'll update when she's done. )

Fairyland Tan Skin Review

 

Ease of ordering: 5/5, easy just paid with paypal.

Site: http://dollfairyland.com/index.php

Time to ship: Ordered in July, part of order shipped in November, other part shipped in January. (Will explain below.)

Communication: 5/5

Quality: 4/5

Firstly, they claimed they were having problems with white skin, so it would be an additional two weeks for my blank tan girl to ship. I had one pair of WS option hands in my order. I asked if they could ship everything else out first, and the white hands when they were ready. My order shipped in November sometime, and the white skin hands barely arrived last week. That's pretty ridiculous, but I appreciate them working with me. They didn't even charge me extra for shipping! (They send a pair of acrylic eyes with each doll now instead of glass, but to be honest I have no idea where the ones they sent me are or if I got any at all, so I cannot comment on the eyes.)

The tan color is absolutely gorgeous. It's got a reddish hue to it, without looking sunburned. It's very natural.

My biggest issue with the finishing on the dolls.

Super Quick Body Comparison

Here's some super quick comparison pics between the Classy Doll 54cm girl body (I think, I may have ordered the 60cm but never got a confirmation so I have no idea) with the medium bust, the Feeple 60 Moe body, and the Feeple 60 body with medium bust. I have plans to do a more intensive post later with my Fdoll girl body in the near future.

All three girls are in heels of approximately the same heights. The Classy Doll body falls right in between the two F60 bodies height-wise. She's quite petite. Her waist is slimmer, as are her shoulders. Her hips seem about the same. Her bust and bottom are more voluptuous, and she has more tummy definition and more detailed sculpting on her hands.

In my opinion, the Moe and Classy Doll bodies are cuter than the basic F60 body (the dimples on the Moe butt just kill me; they're so cute). The Moe body is the sturdiest and heaviest.


Standing:

Sorry for the weird angle. My belly is HUGE (39 weeks pregnant today, yay) so I can't get down on the ground to take better ones. XD

Left to right: Feeple 60, Classy Doll, Moe Feeple 60

Feeple 60 Moe Girl Shoe Post

Here's some of the shoes I've tried on my girl and the brands if I know them. I'll also note whether or not she can stand in them! I have a few more pairs still to try, so I'll update when I get around to testing those. I have a pair of nine9 style boots to try next as well. I'll be posting this pic on flickr and DoA as well.

1. D Tale white heels: cute enough, and fit with tissue in the toe. Can stand in them.
2. Angel Studio pink heels: They fit okay. With some stuffing in the toes they'd fit fine, imo. Not enough to be super picky about. Stands solidly in them.
3. Snake Eye heels: Her toes don't quite come to the end of the shoe, but I still think they look really cute. She can stand in both pairs of these shoes I have (I have these pink and white ones and a black pair).
4. MVS SD16 heels: These are pretty much perfect. There is a teensy bit of gapping at the toe, but they look good. Stands comfortably in them, more than in a lot of the other shoes I tried.
5. TWTell Floral Heels- There is a bit of space at the toe,  but they don't really fit anybody around here. She can stand in them (none of my other girls can).
6. D Tale black heels: These are a bit too big. In order to get them to fit, you'd definitely have to put tissue in the toe. It's quite noticeable they have some gapping. Can stand in them.
7. Dollheart Flat Shoes: I tried these on her flat feet and they are waaaaay too big.
8. Unknown purple heels- Definitely too big. Lots of gapping, and even tissue wouldn't make them look quite right.
9. Unknown black flats: HUGE. Definitely don't fit.
10. Unknown red heels- Definitely too big. Lots of gapping, and even tissue wouldn't make them look quite right. 
11. Black Dollheart Flats: No pic yet, but these fit and she can stand in them in her flat feet.

Video Tutorial: Restringing a Minifee

I have finally started working on video tutorials, so here's my latest, totally crappy restringing tutorial: a video guide to restringing a minifee.

 And in case embedding doesn't work you can find it here.

Amaranth's Guide to Fairyland (under construction)

*Updated 1/19*

Some of the information about Fairyland is just plain confusing, and it was confusing as hell for me when I first got into dolls too. Some of you may have even tried finding this info on FL's site, but found it too overwhelming.
 

I've put in as much information as I can recall off the top of my head, and I will update as I find out more.

I do not know much about the smaller sizes. I'm more versed in Minifee and Feeple 60, since I own both. 

To find a specific section, either search the blog or click Ctrl/CMD+F and type in one of these keywords: Wigs, Eyes, Clothes, Hybrids, Tiny, MSD, YoSD, SD. You can also search the specific sculpt or size you are looking for (example: Chloe or Minifee).

I hope this helps. It'll still probably be a TL;DR situation, but it should at least help newbies get a better handle on the information out there about Fairyland. It can definitely be intimidating!

Edit: Do not ask me how much these dolls go for or where or how to buy them. This is to help doll collectors be aware of what is and is not available recast currently. It is also to help the new fairyland fan find their way around this amazing company.

Doll Chateau Alberta/ Mnf Chloe Hybrid - old recast I no longer own

So I took some pics for a lovely gal on the Haven, and my Rose stole herself a body…a DC Alberta body. In the process, one of Alberta's feet hooks broke, so I'm restringing the body to fit the neck piece, mnf hands, and mnf heeled feet.

My eventual plan is to get another pair of white skin minifee legs and replace the DC legs with the mnf legs. This will make her a little shorter and increase her posing ability. I will update when I get around to doing that.

First, I have to mod the neck wider to fit the neck ball. I get out my handy dremel tool and get to work.

1. I place the ball on the neck to see how much I need to remove.

2. I wear proper face protection, and start to remove resin, testing the ball now and then.

Restringing a Feeple 60

This tutorial is to show you how to string a Feeple 60 the way Fairyland does it. You could probably string them the normal way, but I prefer the FL way. I'm going to rehash some stuff from the F60/SDgr hybrid tutorial post, so if you read that don't be surprised to see some of the same stuff here. On we go!

Ok first of all, this is a pain in the ass. Probably a bigger pain in the ass than restringing a pukifee, no joke. You WILL want help for this, or else you be looking like a dork like I was doing this.

You will need two lengths of elastic for the body, both about 2ft 4 inches.

Each piece should be around 2 ft 4in.

Unstringing the body:

This was a surprise. F60s need two lengths of elastic, one for each side of the body. To remove the neckpiece, first remove the feet.

Feeple 60/Volks Lorina Hybrid

Ok first of all, this is a pain in the ass. You WILL want help for this, or else you'll be looking like a dork like I was doing this.

This first tutorial is to show how to remove the neckpiece on the F60 body and restring it so you can use it with another head.

Note the First: You will want help for this.

Note the Second: Also, I kinda messed up on this leg. You will actually want to tie the knot and leave it towards the torso. DO NOT untie it like I did or hold the knot at the bottom. It makes things seriously difficult.

Photostory thingy: mature content

Alora's Dream

Alora has long dreamt of seducing the famous hero, Jack. She slept one hundred years in a castle surrounded by roses, cursed, dreaming of him.

He awoke her from her slumber, but he had another love: his childhood sweetheart, Jill. So Alora weeps, waits, plots, and often dreams...

 

Restringing a Pukifee- My Technique

There is pretty much no information available on how to restring these little buggers, so I put together what I could find and took mine apart. I do not have a legit to compare to, so I'm just going off what few tutorials did exist and what owners of legit ones have said. This method I'm going to show you works really well for me, as you'll be able to see in the pictures, so hopefully it works for you too.

(Pardon for the messy background. That's my painting table so paint is everywhere.)

My victim is Rumpelstiltskin ('Stilts), a Cheshire Cat Minion. Before this, he could barely sit upright. I'm not happy with the results of this restringing, but my fingers hurt too damn bad to do it again for awhile.

Stilts is a recast pukifee Pongpong from Steven.

NOTE: Make sure you keep the knot in the legs either in the shin or up in the hip area. DO NOT let it get stuck in the knee, like mine did. This will really make it a pain in the neck to pose.

Pukifee Poses!!!

Click here for the pukifee restringing tutorial!

Note: After these, my knot got stuck up in Stilts' leg, so I couldn't do any cool one-legged pose. Those will be tried eventually! Enjoy for now~!