Retro Review, Alice's Collections: not the place to go for hard-to-clothe slim minis

In this review, I want to go over some of the many items I've purchased from Alice's Collections.

Speed: 4/5; my previous orders from them were all very quick, maybe a week or two at most. Unsure of current shipping times.
Communication: 5/5
Quality: 3/5 (most items don't fit well, but are sewn well from decent fabrics)
Ease of payment: Super easy.

Overview:

I'm very particular about the clothing my dolls wear these days. I would rather pay more, sometimes a lot more, for an item that looks like a miniature version of the things I would wear than pay less for something that doesn't quite achieve that. A lot of doll clothes don't quite achieve the level of realism I prefer. Some things are realistic, some aren't exactly perfect. Many of the clothes that came from this store have over-sized, out of scale buttons and cheaper cuts. Not all of them are this way, however.

I don't mean to insult anyone, and if you like Alice's Collections clothes that is all that matters.


There are quite a few things I can't wait to try on my dolls, since they weren't available when I placed my first orders a couple years ago. However, I'll be getting most of those items on taobao to save money. This brings me to the next important point....

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

Classy Doll Body Review

Summary: This body's redeeming quality is that it is better sculpted and better looking than most cheap alternatives out there, but the posing is not the best.  I'd say it's a bit overpriced for the problems with the legs/knees, unless you get it during one of their sale periods (I think right now they're only like $200). It had a pretty strong resin smell upon opening, and there was a great deal of flashing in the fingers/toes/knee joints, etc. The string channels in the legs are not drilled super perfect, but that's alright and it didn't make posing worse. I'll try to post lots of pics in this post, and then post a body comparison post next. 

Overall: 3.5-4/5- The legs kill an otherwise cute, functional body.

Link to web: http://www.classydoll.com/index.php
 

Shipping Speed: 5/5, Though they said it would be a week it was still around a month. That's crazy fast for a doll company.

Resin quality: 4/5 It's shiny, moderately hefty, kind of smooth textured. It feels a bit like the quality of recast resin. I prefer toothier resin like that on some of my other dolls.

Sculpting: 4/5, Very pretty to look at, especially from the waist up.

Posing: 2.5/5, Half the body is basically useless. From the waist up it's a great poser, especially with the arms and head movement.

Ease of Ordering: 5/5 simple, just paid via paypal.

BJD Scale Handbags, Backpacks, and Where to Find Them

For some reason, purses and handbags have always been hard for to find on taobao, at least ones that are good scale and look realistic. So, I went on the hunt for you. I thought I'd share a few links I found. I'll update this when I find more good, realistic ones. I swear, I had a ton more links and such from searching the other day, but of course can't find ANY of those today. Got a good link? Want to share the wealth? Comment below!

These are for purses MSD size and bigger. It's easy to find Blythe and other tiny doll purses, not so much for MSDs.

Oh, and I'm too lazy to bother with pics and direct links. Blame Calculus. It's eaten my brain this summer. T______T

Here are a few terms I used:

bjd 手提包- This also seems to pull up a lot of bags for carrying the dolls themselves in.
bjd 书包- This pulls up lots of backpacks (I didn't link them all, just search and check it out)
Bjd 提包- Pulls up different, but fewer purses

Little backpack/shoulder bags:

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.113.aBsrm2&id=9897561669

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.1.GyChy1&id=36920210367

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.60.WrbGSc&id=18916618857

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.11.FzqAOJ&id=1922842719

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.51.FzqAOJ&id=20529123689

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1.w4004-2358164779.11.Tqz7b9&id=36393345746

Small little handbags
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1.w5003-4891841838.3.UqBGn9&id=18069471976&scene=taobao_shop

Sunny's World (unable to order with using an agent)
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.123.aBsrm2&id=36993379274

Time Castle
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.139.aBsrm2&id=21985979571

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.5.w4002-4357951441.82.vuGBQb&id=20390856600

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.5.w4002-4357951441.16.L3gLFQ&id=26992988074

Really cute purse, sold out on this link but I've found it elsewhere on taobao before.
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=25282716528&spm=2014.12001318.0.0

Brief Case (not really sure how I found this):

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.286.CktY1C&id=23751992383


Thanks for reading and happy taobao hunting!

Clarification!

Ok just to clarify a few things.

This blog does not support recasts.

It does not tell you how to buy them.

It doesn't judge people, but it doesn't praise either.

I ask that if anyone has a concern about an image used here on this site to please email me or comment on the post, and I will do my best to oblige all copyright holdings and remove any photos that you own at your request. I do have some company photos on here for reference purposes, which I can remove if they request it.

Some dolls depicted here are recasts. At one point I collected recasts. Most of these are long gone, and eventually many of the posts will be redone with legit dolls. If you have a question or concern, feel free to message me.

You can reach me at amaranth886@yahoo.com

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.

Should you get a recast as your first doll?

Probably the last post for a bit. My baby is due in a couple weeks so I might not have the time or energy to put into any useful posts for the next month or two.

There's a few things you will want to consider before deciding on a recast as your first. My answer has always been no, even when I was a pro-recast supporter. Here are a few things I thought of when I was into recasts and a few thoughts after I left that part of the hobby. This is just my opinion, it's not gospel, and I'm not billing it as anything other than my opinion and experience. Your mileage may very of course. Yes I'd like to sway you towards buying legit instead, but I'm also objective enough to see the good points of recasts.

I'll probably update this as I come up with more ideas or change opinions on things. XD

Reasons you might want a recast for your first:

Reason #1: I just want a cheap doll to test out the hobby.

There are some absolutely adorable, cheap (sometimes cheaper than recast) dolls out there to buy, and I'm not even talking about Resinsoul or Bobobie. You may need to do a little research or check out the following list of dolls under $300.

Miniature D&D Books

There is a great thread on DoA regarding this, but I ended up making my own miniature books before I found that one. I will update this with some better pictures as soon as I can. There are some rare, amazing miniature D&D books out there, but those can go for $100+ a set, which I just don't have the funds for. *sigh* So, I make do with these.

Why YOU should purchase legit

Note: I've avoided posting this because I didn't want to offend some friends, but it's come to a point where I can't not post it. This was before I'd done a lot of thinking about recasts, so it doesn't express my full current understanding/view point. I'll do a more in depth, updated one soon ish.

Let's face it, recasts are pretty great. They give you access to expensive, high-end toys at a fraction of the cost, in colors your otherwise could never get, and often molds that are long-since sold out. I was pro-recast, but have since changed to recast-neutral. My intention is to get you to consider the importance of supporting the companies you love.

This is only my opinion, so take this for what it is worth.

There are so many discussions about whether BJD companies are small-time artists, companies, factories, etc. To me, this is irrelevant. I think of it in only one term: shrinkage.

A company, whether it be Walmart or the mom-and-pop quilt store down the street, measures the loss of product as shrinkage. Loss of product can be translated as loss of profit: e.g. loss of a sale or opportunity to make money off a product. When a shoplifter takes the sneakers, that's shrinkage. When the worker accidentally drops a crate of milk and the gallons burst, that loss of product is also shrinkage. When a person purchases the recast doll, the company sees that as a potential lost sale as shrinkage.

Recasts are shrinkage, and eventually they will take their toll on the larger company. The more people steal sneakers and shopping carts, the higher prices will rise to compensate for this lost sales potential and excess expenditure. They will also cease producing new product if the sales potential is not there.

Many argue that they would have never purchased from the company in the first place, so that by purchasing a recast they are not in this category. The company will not see it that way.

Prices rise and employee pay, hours, and benefits plummet to compensate for shrinkage.

I'm not an economist, so my understanding here could be a bit flawed, and I'm totally up for entertaining more opinions and ideas. Many see recasts as a way to put pressure on the doll market. We are not the doll market's primary customers. People in their respective countries are. We Westerners are an after thought, an extra market. In our home markets we have ways of putting pressure on businesses to indicate the need for higher or lower prices and more or less of a product. We don't have the ability to do that in foreign markets. DoA is the only way I personally can think of to affect these foreign markets, other than purchasing recasts.

I do believe that companies do not see it as, "Oh, they bought a recast because our basic is too expensive! Maybe we should reconsider our prices!" Instead they get offended and sometimes aggressive (like my personal encounter with Souldoll). It is my hope they will eventually understand why recasts are purchased when basics are available. It seems to be cultural differences regarding finances and economics that get in the way. Methods that work in one country just offend those in the other. I think this is improving as time passes and think that it will continue to do so, maybe even to the point where we have mutual understanding.

So when you can, when it is an option, try to save and purchase from legitimate companies. This means if you love Fairyland, buy from Fairyland. You will help keep prices in check and your favorite companies producing new dolls to love.

Don't worry: I'm no hypocrite. I had the funds and the opportunity to purchase from my favorite company. I did. I could have purchased an army of recasts, but I supported my favorite company to show them I do appreciate their work…even if I do own a couple knock-offs too. 

This post was originally written last year, before most of the drama regarding recasts happened. It seems even then I understood the risk of recasts. Since then, I've been selling off most of my recasts (at this time I have four recast anthros). If I hadn't modded these guys and made them so special, I'd be replacing all of them with legits too. I can't do that, so I'll be buying only legits from here on out. 

My next post will dive deeper into this.

And if this article doesn't have an impact on you, read this article here.

http://www.greenheartgames.com/2013/04/29/what-happens-when-pirates-play-a-game-development-simulator-and-then-go-bankrupt-because-of-piracy/

I really hope this hasn't offended anyone...

Thank you for reading, and happy collecting.

When Dye Jobs Go Wrong

Sometimes it happens. For the first time, it happened to me! I have a few theories about why this one went bad:

• My pan may not have been perfectly clean
• There may have been sealant residue or residue from the cleaning product used to remove the face up
• Mold release/odd sanding (as this has kinda happened on my other dragons)

Darker colors seems to be  more difficult to dye correctly. I want to test a few more pieces out with darker colors to see what happens. *goes on the hunt for recast spare parts*

I had little to no issue with the pinks and even the dark, dark purple on Grim's parts, so it has to be something more than just the dye itself. In any case, I'm not too worried. The only reason I dyed it as a base was because I didn't want to have to struggle to airbrush the super tiny parts on Penny. It'll be much easier now that they're dyed.

A Summary of the Issues:

1. This weird splotchy part on the face
2. This cool scale-like pattern on both legs (I'll be incorporating this because it looks cool)
3. Weird, brown stain, only on the belly. Wondering if it burnt slightly? Not a clue on this one.
4. Uneven coloring, common along seam lines, sanded areas, and areas with mold release. 

To fix this dye job, I'm going to be airbrush it!

If you don't have an airbrush, I'd suggest going the My Little Pony customizing route and begin layering thinned acrylic over the top. Use light layers and let them dry thoroughly in order to avoid streaking. Seal it well (one to coats of mod podge and Army Painter), and then blush and add details as normal. You could also attempt to remove the dye with a good soak in a cleaner or scrub it down and try it again.

I can see how someone who didn't know what to expect or encountered this on their first try would be pretty upset. I'm not upset at all, but then I have the tool to easily fix it. My suggestion is that if this happens to you, be in good spirits about it. How can you incorporate the weird parts into your overall design? What can you do to cover it? Take everything in stride, and just relax. It's all mostly fixable!

I'll update after I've finished the airbrushing. Stay tuned!

Eyeco Eye Review

(There is a post coming soon that is a photo comparison of various types of eyes.) Eye Comparison and Info Post

The models are Jack and Jill, my legit feeple 60s. I have 13mm eyecos in Jack (Mirwen), and I think I'll be going smaller. Jill (Chloe) is wearing 15mm, which may be a tad too small for her.

Items: Soft platinum glass dreamy blue in 13mm and forest in 15mm

Price range: $15 on up (The price increases for quality of the eye and size; the "fantasy" colors range a bit on the higher side.)

Speed of order: Pretty good. They shipped out about a week after I ordered and took only a few days to arrive (they're in the US and so am I so it didn't take too long).

Communication: Good. They sent me an email order confirmation, but no tracking number or anything like that.

Ease of ordering: Easy. I just used their website and paid via paypal.

Range of colors: Not a super wide range of colors to choose from, as Eyeco tends to focus on very realistic colors and styles. You'll find a range of blues, greens, and browns, with the less common grays and a few purple shades.

Accuracy of color to website: Close. The greens are definitely paler than the site would suggest, even in different lights. The blue eyes are very close!

Quality: 9/10- only dinging them because they don't pack the eyes real well when they ship them, so one pair of my eyes had a little knick in the white part.

Notes:

• You don't want the polyglass eyes. Those are a bit cheaper and are made for reborn dolls and other dolls like that.
• The sizes tend to run a tad small, imo, but that's good. If you want a softer look, order a bigger size.
• Where most eyes are in even numbers for sizing (8mm, 10mm, 12mm, etc), eyeco eyes are odd  numbered (11 mm, 13mm, 15mm, etc).

Where to buy: https://eyecoltd.com/

My Dye Removal Experience

So I finally have an experience with removing dye. This isn't exactly an experiment, and I have no immediate plans to replicate this any time soon, so your mileage may very.

Additional note: Grim is a recast. He among the last I own (only my dragons and him remain). Please don't share this where they aren't welcome.

Grim here was really looking rough. He was my first dye experiment (click here for how I did it then, and then here for an updated dyeing tutorial), and one of my early attempts at body blushing. I didn't have an airbrush then, and overall I'm still pretty proud of the work I did with only pastels.

He has two eyes here to show different sizes. 16mm green mako, and 18mm MoC blue glass.

Acrylic Paint Review

I am not a professional artist, but I've been at this for awhile so I thought I'd share my opinions on some acrylic paints that I've tried. I don't have an airbrush, so I can't address these types of paints.

Games Workshop Paints:

I bought this at my local hobby shop. It comes in a little bitty bottle for a hefty price (I want to say this was like $3-$4, a lot for so small an amount). It doesn't dry quickly, which is a plus for eyelashes, and it has a nice, thick quality to it. It is important to thin it because it is so thick. I find the pigments to be really strong, and I like to use this one for eye liner. I don't use it for super fine lines because it takes a lot of thinner to be useful for that.

I give them a 4/5 for vibrant colors, but it loses a point due to price point.

Walmart brand cheap paints (Folkart and others):

These things are great starter paints. They are mostly water, so if you thin them too much they lose their color. They dry very quickly. I use a little retarder to make them last longer. I liked to use these for most applications until I got an upgrade to acrylics with better pigment.

I give them a 2.5/5. Great starter paint, but you will notice the difference when you upgrade.

Martha Stewart acrylics:

These are surprisingly good. Not too thick, not too thin, so they are good for various applications depending on how much thinner you want to use. These are my default paints, and I like to use them on my pony repaints. They have good color and don't dry too fast.

I give these a 3/5. They are a step above the Folkart paints, but for the price you may as well save up a little bit more and go for an artist grade paint. They are definitely better quality than the folkart paints.

JoAnn Fabrics brand paints:

Not terrible. Slightly better than Walmart brand paints, so you get what you pay for. This brand does make an awesome affordable gloss, which I highly recommend. 

2.5/5 for the acrylics, 4/5 for the gloss (it takes a couple coats for maximum effect)

Prismacolor:

These are artist-grade paints. They are perfect. They do require a lot more thinner than the cheaper acrylics because they are thicker, but I really can't complain. The colors are more vibrant even when thinned. They were more than worth the funds. I haven't done a whole lot with them beyond some pony repaints for practice, but I'm looking forward to working with them on a face up.

So far, these babies get a 5/5.

Paints to avoid:

Spray paint- This shit is permanent (mostly, and I assume you can remove it if you really try and/or seal really well before you spray) and can damage resin. I've heard good and bad lately, but it's not a risk I'm willing to take.

Nail polishes- Same as with spray paint. I've heard too many horror stories to even chance this.

Paints with thick glitter in them- They won't look right on the doll, and the glitter will be way out of scale on the tiny area you're working on. They can also clump and look cheap. Avoid.

So there you have my little paint review. I hope it's helpful. ^_^

BJD 101- Overall, Basic Care

There are always a lot of questions from newcomers to the hobby about how to care for their dolls, so I made a basic outline of some general tips and tricks. Hope you find it useful!

FAQ's and BJD 101 Stuff contains links to all forthcoming or written BJD 101 posts on this blog.

Face ups:

You can find an FAQ and other information about face ups here . Caring for your doll’s face is easy.

·         Don’t touch it directly with your hands.

o        The oils from your hands can damage the sealant and the paint.

o        Remove the head when dressing or undressing the doll, as your hands and the clothes can rub or damage the sealant and the face up underneath.

·         Sealants

o        You don’t need to spray your deal with any kind of sealant if it has a face             up from a professional or directly from the company. It’s already been sprayed.

o        If you aren’t sure if the face up has been sealed when buying second hand, ask.

o        You can spray the body with sealant if it isn’t been blushed if you want. Sealant will wear away pretty much no matter what you do on the joints and other places of frequent movement or handling, but some people like spray with MSC UV Cut to protect from sun damage.

Updates, plus a new page full of useful stuff

Working on some new stuff for the blog and trying to find time to get it all worked out. Not much time with working and my new single-mom-hood, lol, so I'm doing my best. Thank you to everyone who continues to read and enjoys what I post!

I did take a couple hours off of working today to make a new page for you all, a list of Vampire and Vampire-like bjds. It's a WIP, but since so many people ask the question, it should be useful! Feel free to link it, share it (but don't steal it please!). If you see it needs updates or I'm missing a sculpt, comment below the page, and I'll get it added when I can.

To find the page, look on the left-hand side of the blog and click The HandyDandy Guide to BJDs with Fangs: WIP.

Stay positive everyone.

Short Review: Illusion Spirit SD Girl Hands From AC

Instead of buying a bunch of expression hands for my dolls, I decided to just buy some jointed hands for the same price, essentially.

They were on sale through Alice's Collections and qualified for free airmail shipping.

They fit her perfectly. The scale is correct, they fit in the wrist well. This means they should theoretically work on Feeple 60s and SDgr girls, since all their wrists are pretty close in measurements. I'll test them out on my F60 girl later.

The color match is way off to the old Delf resin, but my girl is pretty old so she's yellowed a lot. The color is quite close, maybe slightly pinker, than my FL dolls.
                             
The fingers are sculpted wonderfully, and they have cute little nails sculpted in. They don't look creepy or have the sausage fingers that some jointed hands seem to have.

Where to buy: http://www.acbjd.com/is-13-female-jointed-hands-p-2961.html?cPath=4_134
Price: $80 (I got them during a promotion for a discount.)
Communication: 10/10 AC answered questions quickly and kept me updated.

Thanks for reading and happy collecting~!

Repost: Some updates and New Thoughts on Recasts

NOTE: Doing some minor grammatical and subject edits, blogger on my mobile ate this post. If you want to know more or have questions about this post, do let me know. 

To preface this, my change of heart began several months ago. I wasn't prepared to deal with my feelings on it, but after some drama happened I couldn't ignore it anymore.

I still do not believe that recasts are illegal to buy or own for personal use. I did believe that we were at risk of harassment and other issues for running the Underground, and I simply was not prepared for nor willing to deal with that. [Edit for November 2014] With the Haven shut down, I'm very glad I left it when I did. The owner of that group and I had a falling out, and she said some quite hateful things about me to other people and accusatory things to me in the past. So to me? No loss there, and karma is a bitch I guess. I had nothing to do with its closing. I've got too much drama on my plate already to worry about causing some for others. [end edit note]

Most importantly, however, I've had a change of heart regarding recasts. I'm sure the anti-crowd will take this as a success or a victory, but it is not due to the crazy, inflammatory, hateful behavior of the extremists that affected my views. It was not due to bans or blocks. It was, in part, due to an article I had written early last year and recently found again. It was an article about why you should purchase legits, and not recasts. I had decided not to post it at the time because I didn't want to offend a few close friends, and because I'd set myself up as solidly pro-recast, with no room for change. It didn't fit the mission of my blog. Additionally, the few calm, well-thought out anti-recast or neutral arguments finally started to make sense to me. I reevaluated my position, addressed my frustrations with the recast community, and changed my position. As someone with an open mind, or at least I like to think of myself as mostly this way, I am able to change my opinions as fact and information are made available to me.

Please read on.

Amaranth's Doll Etiquette: Tagging and Groups

Here's a fun offensive post for you, since some people may need the reminder

Okay…. first let's go over the purpose of a tag.

A tag is a tool for finding specific things online. Things are tagged very specifically to help people find what they are looking for. Tags are not some elitist special club where your item doesn't belong because it's not good enough. If your item doesn't fit the flipping tag, don't flipping tag it like that.

Examples:

Tag: Poodle

Unacceptable things to tag as poodle: a Labrador, a cat, a pair of sneakers

Tag: Pullip

Unacceptable things to tag as Pullip: A horse, your selfie, a Monster High doll

Tag: Minifee

Unacceptable things to tag as minifee: A personal selfie, a Volks doll, a Blythe

Delays

Hi all! I'm currently struggling to get through my divorce (completely unexpected and it's been difficult).

There is a lot of work in progress on the blog, including posts needing edits, pictures needing changed/replaced, and so you're going to see lots of broken links and some dead picture links for awhile. It will be a month or two before I can get around to fixing these due to the issues in my personal life.

Replies to PMs, comments, and emails will be very, very slow during this difficult time. Thanks for understanding! I promise I'm not ignoring you.

Thank you for reading as always, and I've got plenty of scheduled posts that should pop up over the next few months (this is why preparation and planning is good!).

Lots of love,
Amaranth

Endless BJD Store Review

Site: http://endlessbjd.taobao.com/

Style: Casual/mori girl, with some things for boys

Size Range: yo-sd to SD

Communication: n/a (use an agent)

Quality: 5/5

Ease of Payment: n/a (use an agent)

Monique Wigs Review, Pics, and Ordering Info

Site: http://www.monique.com/MoniqueGoldCollection.html (click the doll wigs option on the left bar to see all wig options)

Style: Literally dozens, if not hundreds, of wigs in various sizes, styles and colors.

For a good color chart, I found this one here: 
http://winddoll.creezvotreboutique.com/infos.php?info_id=5&language=en&osCsid=7739f8bda7a2b93bf0b9a35225826e54

It's pretty accurate to the colors I have in real life. Note that not all wigs are available in all colors.

Size Range: tiny/fashion doll to larger baby dolls.

Communication: For this recent order, I give them a 1/5. I will explain below in the overview.

Quality: This time? 3/5 (Usually at least 4/5)

Ease of Payment:  Fine, used credit card.

5-6 Pretty Girl in blonde
You can see the back is cut strangely, and doesn't blend together right.
My larger wig in this size doesn't have this issue.

Read on!

Delf, FDoll (Fantasy Doll), and Feeple 60 Comparison

Note: Though I haven't posted the details yet, I should note that I don't own recasts anymore, beyond my dragons, one cheshire cat, and a second-hand littlefee head. I consider myself pro-owner, recast neutral. I do not and have not ever posted recasts to DoA and will not do so in the future. An upcoming post will explain my position and a few other things. All dolls in this post are legit.

Onto the post!

For detailed posing for the Fdoll, see this post HERE

For detailed posing for the Feeple 60 and SDgr, as well as other posing comparison, check out this page with links HERE.

About the bodies:

Delf Type 1: Single jointed body, discontinued. It was upgraded to the Type 2 and discontinued, then to a Luts version which basically amounts to a girl Type 3. Feeple 60 is an upgraded Type 2 Delf body.

My Delf Type 1 girl is a Soony.

Feeple 60: Medium bust Feeple 60 body; the head on this body is a Feeple 60 Nanuri A.

Fdoll: Double jointed; my discontinued Delf If is on this body. 

Recast note: None of these sculpts or bodies are available recast. The F60 body is found recast, but only with the large bust and pointy finger hand.  

Fantasy Doll (FDoll) Information, Posing, and Body Review

Note: Though I haven't posted the details yet, I should note that I don't own recasts anymore, beyond my dragons, one cheshire cat, and a second-hand littlefee head. I consider myself pro-owner, recast neutral. I do not and have not ever posted recasts to DoA and will not do so in the future. An upcoming post will explain my position and a few other things.

All the dolls in this post are legit.

Onto the post!

I am utterly shocked and impressed with Fdoll's (Fantasy Doll company) 60cm girl body. You'll see soon through the pics that she beats my other girls in posing. There's a few more acrobatic things she simply can't do because her body lacks a latching system, but with sueding and possibly wiring she'd definitely be the best in my collection.

For comparison pics between Delf Type 1, Feeple 60, and FDoll, see this post HERE. 

Note: In these pics she's wearing Delf option hands, not the default FDoll hands.

There isn't much info available on this company that I could find, so I thought I'd start compiling some information.

Site: http://www.fdoll.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=34

Price: $218 for the full girl, $178 for her body.

Quality: Her resin is heavy and her jointing is well done. Definitely not bad aesthetically for a cheap body.

Snake Eye BJD Store Review

Jill modeling Snake Eye Heels

Site: snake-eye.taobao.com/‎

Style: No specific style, very random

Size Range: Yo to SD (most options for SD13 girls)



Communication: n/a (use an agent)

Quality: 5/5

Ease of Payment:  n/a (use an agent)


Overview:

I have ordered several items from Snake Eye, and I've been satisfied with everything.

The items have all been perfect scale and perfectly executed. I own two pairs of Snake Eyes heels, a pair of glasses, and an MP3 player. The only downside to Snake Eye is that they don't restock often and they don't have a wide variety of items.

A Latiyellow-Sized Taobao Order!!

My latest Taobao order arrived. I thinned out my collection some more and used the funds to spoil my favorite dolls. :3 As always I like to share the wealth, so here's the info! (The first part is all stuff from the same shop. The second half will show where I got the other things in my order.) I also ordered a few lati-sized things off etsy. I'll add those to this post when they get here instead of doing an entirely different post. XD Enjoy!

Most of this stuff can be found on these three sites (links to specific items will follow below):

Taobao store: http://shop34137741.taobao.com
Etsy store (waaaaaay overpriced): (Can't find it of course, now that I'm looking so link is forthcoming)
English Site (more expensive than taobao): http://www.clear-lan.com/

Shipping time: A little over a month. Everything in the shop is made to order. They don't keep things in stock. Add a few extra days to the expected wait time if you're using the Taobao site and an agent. Taobao Trends declared the full value on my package as requested.

Quality: 5/5 everything is sewn amazingly well, velcro is thin and doesn't look cheesy. The fit is spot on and everything exactly like the pictures.

Style: Cutesy, Mori girl type stuff (not much for boys)

Size Range: lati yellow, pukifee, blythe

Ease of payment: 5/5, easy, used paypal with Taobao Trends like usual.

Communication: Communication with Taobao Trends went perfect as usual, so 5/5 for that.

MVS Store Review

Roselynn modeling MVS Tights

Site: http://abbanadph.taobao.com/

Style: Mostly Casual/Mori Girl

Size Range: Yo to SD (most options for SD13 girls)

Communication: n/a (use an agent)

Quality: 5/5

Ease of Payment:  n/a (use an agent)

Some Taobao Terms

There are TONS of places to find taobao search terms, but I put together some random terms anyway. I believe the Resin Haven on Facebook still has the files available with these key words. Den of Demons also had (?) an amazing list of taobao terms.

Remember, Google Translate is amazingly helpful. Just put in random English words for things and see what pops up. Copy and paste the Chinese characters into taoabo and see what you find.

A Few Useful Shops (not mentioned in my reviews I don't think)
 http://licht-bjdwig.taobao.com/

http://formydoll.taobao.com 

http://yymao.taobao.com

http://idollzoo.taobao.com/

http://miyawork.taobao.com/

http://sunflowerdoll.taobao.com/?spm=a1z10.3.0.27.y32Eqh

http://shop34088410.taobao.com/

http://m3bjd.taobao.com/

http://shop33606846.taobao.com/

http://m7doll.taobao.com/?spm=2013.1.1000126.3.GxxSiP

Start EVERY search with BJD. You can refine the search by adding the words for male or female, or different sizes. Here are a few random, common search terms. You can use google translate to find your own search terms.

女 = Girl

男 = Boy

3分 = 1/3 SD (or just type 1/3)

4分 = 1/4 MSD (or just type 1/4)

6分 = 1/6 Yo-SD (or just type 1/6)

Lati = lati yellow stuff (you can also type 1/8 or 1/12 to find things)

鞋 = Shoes

假发 = Wig

外套 = coat

夹克 = jacket

裙子 = skirt

制服 = uniform

耳机 = headphone       

连衣裙 = dress

裤子 = pants

眼 = eye
背景  = really cool backdrops

咖啡 = coffee and coffee colored things XD

手机 = cute cellphones

拉面 = cute noodle bowls and stuff

头带 = hair bands and hair accessories (there's a seller on esty selling some of these for double what they are on taobao)

           

A Visual Guide to Taobao

Originally, this was meant to be posted on the Haven site, but with the situation as it is I'm not sure what's happening with it so it'll be posted here. (Hopefully that doesn't cause drama or offend anyone. Oi.)

There is an excellent set of documents floating around various places on the internet to find terms and such to search for. Some people are still having difficulty, even with the Haven's helpful materials, so I thought I'd pitch in and make a tutorial using screen shots of one of my taobao orders. 

Brief overview: Taobao uses Chinese yuan, not yen. I usually use google or paypal's currency converter while I'm browsing.$1 USD is about 6.25 yuan (or 1 yuan is .16 $). As you're shopping, taobao trends will provide the CNY cost, their agent fees, and the USD value of what you're buying, all at the bottom of your cart.

I don't use a browser that automatically translates, as things just start to seem weird. If I need to know what the text says on a particular listing, I copy that text into google translate to get the gist of what's going on. Options are often weird. Some are intuitive: "coffee" usually refers to light brown color, but others make zero sense. There are lots of amusing taobao translations out there. XD

On this blog, under the reviews tab, you will find lots of my favorite taobao stores, so I'm not going to do a separate post just for those.

Alright, onto the tutorial!

The Big Eyes Photo Comparison Post

LONG POST IS LONG.

The photos of the dolls wearing eyes in this post have minor editing in photoshop, but the others will have no editing unless noted. I've used mostly blue eyes for the comparisons, since that's the majority of my collection and because blue tends to capture a lot of light when photographed.

I'll update this with more pics as I get around to it, and hopefully compare company pics to my own photos at some point too. I will also update when my Vings urethane eyes get here later this summer and as I buy more eyes in different varieties. Next on my list are some Enchanted Doll, Dollflowers, Gum Drops, and Ersa Flora. As a note, if you like a pair of eyes, get it. Photoshop can make any pair of eyes beautiful, so don't rule it out as an option if you can't afford higher end eyes or simply don't want to spend a great deal on eyes.

Personally, I feel that eyes make or a break a doll, especially on larger eyed dolls (like Delf Soony for example). I like to spoil my rarer, higher end dolls with stupidly expensive eyes lately. My grandpa once told me (granted he was talking about drawing, but the point holds) that eyes are the most important feature. They give expression, they give life. A good eye gives your doll a sense of life and that special spark. And when you can't or don't use top of the line eyes, a little photo editing goes a long way. ;) (Hey I've done it, and I'm not ashamed. I know a couple popular doll owners personally who do the same thing.)

After all of this, I can say urethane and glass eyes are my favorite. Urethanes and glass photograph the best and most vividly, and have the most depth and life to them. Granted, I'll need to use acrylics to get the right dragon-pupil eyes for my dragons eventually, but that's okay. I don't use anything other than glass, silicone, or urethanes in my dolls' eyes anymore.

Before the pictures I will do a table summary of the pros and cons of each kind of eye in my personal experience (yours may differ of course). Pictures will follow!

Again, this is all just my opinion and experience and your mileage may vary.

Posts on this blog about eyes:
Eye positioning
Eye Company Reviews
Types of Eyes and How to Care For Them (forthcoming)

DoA threads with great info on eyes:
http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?609940-Best-Eyes-Ever!
http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?388342-Eyeco-eyes-deteriorating-over-time

Flickr pools dedicated to eyes (tons out there, just search for them, especially specific brands)
https://www.flickr.com/groups/urethane-eyes/
https://www.flickr.com/groups/762488@N24/

Review: Mako Eyes (urethane)

Mako Eyes Review

Juri 08 (legit) wearing 12mm Makos

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

Size Range: 12mm to 22mm

Items: AM-006 (x2), DAN-009, AM-019, IB-017, AM-020

Price: $25 per pair; shipping is affordable. They offer very, very cheap airmail, and ems is affordable if you're doing a group order.

Communication: 2/5- They never replied to emails (I sent a total of 2 emails when the estimated shipping date had passed), and only responded on their Q&A board about four days after I asked there. I did receive an order confirmation and a shipping notice with tracking info.

Quality: 5/5- These eyes are bloody gorgeous, and for the price, way, way worth it. The colors are sharp and crisp, the irises are even.

Shipping speed: 3/5-While the initial estimate was a month, they actually shipped about a month and half (maybe a little less) after that. I was given a second estimate of 4/18, but they didn't actually ship until 4/21. They arrived three days later on 4/24.

Packing: 5/5-They arrived in this huge box, and my first thought was, "Uh, how many eyes did they send me?!" Turns out they were just packaged really, really well. Better than some dolls I've ordered.

Ease of Payment:  5/5- It was easy, just paid with paypal.


Overview:

Mako eyes are made from urethane, the same stuff your resin bjd is made of. Urethanes can take a long time to make overall, sometimes as long as 9 months or longer. Mako cuts the time to a couple months at most. They are also more affordable than most urethane eyes (compare $25 Makos to $50 Vings, for example).

The eyes are gorgeous. They're pretty low dome, with flat backs. They're a bit difficult to position, but look gorgeous and photograph well. (I'll be doing an eye comparison post soon to show you the differences between urethanes, acrylics, and glass eyes.)

I can confidently say I will be ordering again. The range of colors is wonderful, from realistic to more fantasy colors. I wish they had smaller than 12mm sizing, as I have dolls that I prefer 8mm or 10mm, but it seems to be quite hard to find urethane eyes in those sizes. 

Outdoors with no flash

Indoors with flash

Hope this review was helpful. ^_^ Thanks for reading and happy collecting!

Licht Bjd Review!

I recently hosted a GO for Licht wigs and decided to do a review!

Communication: 6/10 They were good about communicating, letting me know things were out of stock and such. However, they never gave me the tracking number nor let me know they'd even shipped it. It showed up quite the surprise lol!

Quality: 8/10 The wigs don't look anything like the pics in many cases, and the two I bought and opened had a great deal of frizzies. I was disappointed by this. It's going to take a lot of styling to make them look like the pictures. You can see thin spots in a couple places on the wigs as well. However, the colors are beautiful and rich, and the fibers are soft and easy to work with.

Stock: 6/10 It seems like nearly a lot of things on the site were out of stock but not necessarily marked out of stock. We were then messaged about a few things that were no longer in stock.

Extras: We qualified for a free wig but they did not send it. I'm not too worried about this since I was planning on ordering even before I knew there was an event going on. Extras and freebies like this are always nice, and I don't judge a company for not including them.

Shipping: No airmail shipping option, and EMS for this order was insane. It was nearly $48 usd to ship this to us. I've paid less for larger Dollmore and Taobao orders. That's about the cost of shipping one minifee from Fairyland….. 0.o

Over all, they're really cute and affordable wigs, and hands down better than any of the Happy Camille wigs I have gotten in the past. Overall I'd order again.

Hope this is helpful! Here are pics of the two wigs I ordered (I didn't open anyone else's items):

the first one is L-435 in Rose Gold, size 7-8

 The second wig is Licht #L-382 in Vanilla, size 7-8

This wig looks much better after styling. These pics are before I styled it. It's still very cute!
The proportion is large enough I think I could have gone with a 6-7 on her and been fine, though
ordinarily I HATE 6-7 wigs on my minifees.

Big Changes

I've stepped down from admin-ing the Underground group on facebook. My reasons for this are fairly complicated, and I'll be going more into detail about that in a couple of weeks.

Essentially, it boils down to the fact that I'm expecting kiddo #2 and going back to school. I don't have the time to dedicate to a group of that nature and size whilst maintaining my own household and sanity. XD

Other reasons, which I'll summarize here for the time being, are essentially that my position regarding recasts is changing. I've been thinking about it for a long time, and I'm not quite sure what my position is. When I figure it out I'll let you wonderful people know. I'm sure the rumor mill has been busy discussing the latest development on the recast issue, and I'm not prepared to discuss that yet.

That said, this blog needs to take a new direction.

I'm going to focus mostly on reviews for things I buy, and posting will likely slow down towards the end of the year. I don't know if I'm going to let this blog die or not- I haven't decided for certain.

I need to spend some time in my garden and reconnecting with my own dolls for awhile.

Until the next post, happy collecting and thank you for reading. <3

Short Review: Eyelashes from Nomyens

Nomyens Strong Black modeled on Legit CP Soony

Item: I ordered 1 pair of Strong Black, and two pairs of Strong Cocoa Brown. (I'm wishing I would have been able to get more.

Price Range: $3.60-$6.00, $6 for the stronger colors/fuller lashes. Shipping is a tad pricey, but it is registered airmail. I had to sign for mine.

Communication: Good! She let me know when the items were going to ship and requested I leave feedback, which I did. 

I have lots of eyelashes from different companies, DDE, random ebay ones, and then a ton from taobao in different thicknesses and colors. A friend suggested I try Nomyens lashes, and I couldn't be more pleased.

They taper beautifully, are sturdy, and they're very full in a classy way. They have a very elegant effect compared to other eyelashes I've used.

I just used regular glue to attach them, but I believe she sells a special eyelash glue in her shop.I've never used this so I can't say whether it's good or not.

As a note, if you have a doll with very large eyes, like Soony in my example below, you may want two pairs of lashes to use on each eye. These were too small for her eyes, but I made do and they still look lovely.

Where to buy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Nomyen

I will definitely be buying again!

Note

With more drama on the horizon, let me just restate a few things:

• I do not recast or bootleg dolls or any other product.
• I do not send dolls to recasters.
• I do not distribute bootleg dolls.
• I have no ties to recasters. I don't talk to them, I don't know what dolls they're getting. I don't know how they get them or when they get them. 
• The purpose of this blog is not to provide a venue for bootleg sales, but rather to provide information on bootlegs and how to tell the difference between bootleg and legitimate dolls.
• I do not benefit financially from running this blog, especially concerning bootleg products.
• I do not tell people how to contact recasters.
• I do not contact recasters on behalf of others.
• I do not buy recast dolls on behalf of others.

No matter what your stance, remember bullying is never the answer.

Peace,
Amaranth

30 Day BJD Meme: Day 30

Last day! This was a fun daily writing exercise. I might do more for character development or something. Most likely not though. XD

Have you ever been to a doll meetup?

Kinda. I have met a new real-life doll friend and we get together sometimes, but I've never been to a large meet. I'm kind of scared to, to be honest. It's easy to hide behind anonymity here on the internet. My local group is pretty much anti-recast. I'm a bit unsure of how to proceed. I guess we'll see what happens!

Hopefully we'll get a big meet together this summer.

30 Day BJD Meme: Day 29

Post a picture of your dolls exploring the outside world!

Not a doll but:

The creek at our ranch:

And Minion is done exploring and ready to go home:

30 Day BJD Meme: Day 28

Post a crazy/silly pose!


I've shared this one before but...



And this one...

30 Day BJD Meme: Day 27

Do you have a favourite out of your own dolls?

heh heh...yeah. It tends to change though from time to time. My favorite is whichever one I'm currently obsessing over/spoiling.

Minion is probably my all-time favorite though. How could he not be?

30 Day BJD Meme: Day 26

Done your own faceups?

Yup, I do all my own face ups. I'm too cheap to send them out to people with any real skill, so I make do. Generally I'm pretty satisfied with my work on my own dolls, but working on others' dolls really fills me with doubt. I still keep on keepin' on.

30 Day BJD Meme: Day 25

Have you ever modded a doll?

yup! I've done lots of eye openings, and I did my first elf ear and fang mod recently. I also made a steampunk dragon, which you've likely seen. :3

30 Day BJD Meme: Day 24

What about your favourite part of the hobby?

The photos! I could stare at doll photos all day. I LOVE seeing all the photos people take, no matter how artistic or, er, less artistic they are. I love sharing doll photos, liking doll photos, having my photos liked and favorited. I like to leave nice comments on people's work that don't have a lot, because I know how good it feels to receive a nice compliment.

I also enjoy rambling, blogging, and teaching others about dolls.

30 Day BJD Meme: Day 23, a Rambling, Whiney, Rant

Is there a part of the BJD hobby that you dislike? Yup, the self-depreciation that comes from it.

Yeah, there's a good chunk of the community I don't like. Sometimes I'm not as good at blocking those parts out as I'd like to be. It's not even the confession blogs that bother me so much as certain specific people and the weird fan clubs they seem to get for no reason. I'm not saying this out of jealousy, though it is petty (I'll be the first to admit that). I can respect skill and talent, even if I am jealous as hell of that talent. It's the people who don't have the skill yet act like they're muses' gift to the world that drive me crazy. And just to put it out there I can admire skill even if it's not in my style, so personal preference has little to do with observable, technical skill.

I am not a naturally talented artist, nor have I ever been.  I can paint a doll's face, but I'm nowhere near the skill of the artists I admire, like Delicate Reflections, Andreja, and others like them, and I probably never will be. I'm a Jack of All Trades, almost, passable at a great number of things but master of none. Except maybe writing. I'm totally fucking cocky about my writing.

I am the only "artist" in my family, and I've never had any lessons or classes. I use quotes because I don't really consider myself an artist, because I don't feel I have the skill to call myself one yet. At the same time, I'm old-ish. No one cares about an almost 30-year-old and their struggles. The community is obsessed with the teenage "prodigies" and ignores everyone else. But that's going to veer me into discussion of my inevitable, early midlife crises and the cult of youth that permeates our society.

Everything I can do now is the result of over a decade's worth of struggle, trial, and error. It is painful to see that go unrecognized sometimes. and it hurts my confidence when I see others not as skilled as I am at some things get more recognition then me, to see them whine and cry and get nothing but ass pats and support, when I'm barely functioning and keeping it all to myself- and that's TOTALLY FUCKING PETTY of me to feel like that. I shouldn't feel that way.

I HATE that about myself. 

It's something I'm working on. Please don't judge me. It's a flaw, I know. And it probably makes me a bad person or at least someone who places too much value in the opinions of others. I've blocked the main "offenders" and that seems to be helping somewhat. If the temptation to bitch at them or about them isn't there I can start moving forward.

I try to be as empathetic and supportive as I can, even if it's someone I dislike. I may bitch about it privately, but I'd NEVER want someone to feel for even an instant what I feel most of the time.

Anywho I'm sharing some of my deep, dark, anonymous internet-stranger secrets, so Ima wrap this up.

Oh yeah, I also hate how dolls suck up all my spare money and free time. I think we can agree there. I'm also fucking sick of the minifee hate. Don't like it? Don't look. Want to see more variety? post more instead of bitching.

30 Day BJD Meme: Day 22

Sorry for the pointlessness of this particular strain of posts on the blog. XD

What’s your favourite doll scale prop?


My tiny tarot cards and the spellbook I made, without a doubt!

30 Day BJD Meme: Day 21

One doll you love, but will never (probably) buy?

This girl.

She's a Peakswoods Vampire Goldie. I've wanted a Peakswoods since i got into the hobby, but something always stops me (perhaps because they don't suit my aesthetics or ideas for characters, I dunno though).... so I imagine unless I win the lottery, I'll just keep admiring them from afar.

30 Day BJD Meme: Day 20

What is your dream doll?

I have all my dream dolls. :3

My grails were/are: CP Soony, VE Chloe (nanuri '10), Juri '08, and my F60 Nanuri A

I need to get a pic of them all together once my Juri arrives. Nanuri still needs her own body at some point. I guess if I had a grail or another dream doll to save up for that's seemingly unobtainable for me, it'd be CP If and Latidoll Bat Children Noa.


My incoming Juri (her current owner's pic):

Target acquired!