How to Care for a BJD Wig- WIP

I'll update this as I get more photos and tutorials together, so I'm marking this as a WIP for my own memory. 

Products

Generally speaking, be cautious about what products you put on a wig. You'll want to know whether the fibers are natural or synthetic, and what products will work and won't work on the wig.

• Volks makes a neutral wig wax here.
• Dollmore has a nice wig spray here.
• I've personally used a little human hair gel and a few other products to tame wild hairs.
• Don't wash a bjd wig unless you know that it has been sewn and not glued. If you wash a glued wig it can fall apart!
• Store your wigs in a wig net when not in use; this will protect them from damage.
• Keep a ball of tissue or other paper inside the wig to help it hold its shape.  
• Be careful to avoid products with oils in them that might sit for too long on the doll's resin and stain or ruin that area.

Heat Styling

• You can boil heat resistant fibers and scrunch them into curls. Don't use this method on non heat resistant synthetic fibers or on glued wigs. I've used this method on vinyl dolls and for Ginny Doll restoration and had great results.
  
• Flat Irons/Curling Irons should only be used on heat resistant fibers. You can use these on most natural fibers as well, but be sure to test all wigs underneathe where any damage won't be seen just in case.

Wet Styling

• For most wigs, you can use a spray bottle to lightly wet the fibers of the wig and then wrap the sections around a tool, like a pencil or straw. When the hair dries you'll have a curl.
  
• You can use this to set most styles, not just curls.

Reminder though, if the hair is glued, be sure not to get the wig cap wet!

Combing

• Don't brush curly wigs! You'll end up causing the curls to separate and end up with a fuzzy mess like this:
  
• If you must tidy a curly wig, boil the wig and scrunch the hair back up, or manually redo each section of curl with a wet styling method.
  
• Long wigs will tangle even when just sitting pretty. Comb them very gently with a wig comb, wire doll hair brush, or your fingers. Start at the ends and work your way up. Be as gentle as possible to minimize the loss of fibers.

Removing Sheen

Got a synthetic wig with too much shine? Never fear! Follow these steps to reduce the shine and give it a more natural, and expensive look.

• First, get yourself some hair spray. (I've been lazy and used MSC, but I don't recommend this as it's expensive. If you do use it, wear a respirator.)
  
• Remove the doll's wig and place it on something else, like a soda bottle.
  
• Spray the hair with a light mist of hair spray and sprinkle baby powder or talc on top. Comb it through gently. Comb and shake the wig to remove excess baby powder.
  
• Repeat as needed.
  
• The baby powder will stick to the fibers of the wig and reduce the shine.

This technique took this wig from Kemper:

http://kemperdolls.com/wigs/modacrylic-wigs/althea-turquoise-modern-wig.html

And turned it into this:

I hope this basic little guide is handy. If you want any more info or have any more questions about wigs, rooted hairs, or fibers, feel free to ask in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

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?

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.

Face Up Tips: Lips

As you know, I'm still working on improving my techniques so I thought I'd share what I've learned. Here is my trick for lips.

I'm addicted to shimmer powders.

A little background on this head: She's a recast Volks SD16 Kira. Her original owner tried to blush her to match a yellow skin body, and despite all my scrubbing, I can't completely remove it. [Edit: I have since removed it and redone the faceup.] So, this is making one eyebrow look really goofy. Please ignore that for the sake of the tutorial.



 

1. Block out the face up colors. On the lips, dab some color in the middle on the bottom and on the sides of the upper lips. (For a more solid lip, dab color over the whole thing).

Face Up Tips: Eyebrows

I'm still learning and improving my face up techniques. I'm not the best or anything, but I have figured out some things that help me with my face ups.

I <3 shimmer powders!!!

A little background on this head: She's a recast Volks SD16 Kira. Her original owner tried to blush her to match a yellow skin body, and despite all my scrubbing, I can't completely remove it all [edit: I finally got it off and redid her faceup]. So, this is making one eyebrow look really goofy. Please ignore that for the sake of the tutorial.

Here's my technique for eyebrows. Update: Scroll to the bottom of the post to see recent eyebrows done with this method!

Friday Fluff: Head Size Comparison

 

Here is a random pic to show the differences between head sizes (all those pictured happen to be recasts for no other reason than that's simply what I was working with at the time). From left to right the heads are:

• Recast Volks Lorina (SD or 1/3 size, 9"-10" wig)
• Recast Minifee Rheia (MSD or 1/4 size, 6"-7" or 7"-8" wig)
• Recast Soom Aloa (YoSD or 1/6 size, 6"-7" wig)
• Recast Pukifee Pongpong (Tiny or 1/8 size, 5"-6" wig)

As you can see, the minifee heads run pretty small. It's usually a toss up as to which size they wear best, whether 7"-8" or 6"-7". It depends on the specific sculpt as well as the brand of the wig, and you can honestly go either way. I prefer 7"-8" for fullness. With a wig cap they fit great. 

Next week I will do a comparison between some different SD and MSD sized heads, both recast and legit. 

Thanks for viewing, and Happy Collecting!

SDgr vs Feeple 60 Comparison Part 2

I was able to do this sooner than I expected, since I had someone to help with the baby. I've got another pose-off in mind for later (Part 3, I guess) with trickier poses once I can find someone to be my dollie-catcher. For some of the poses the girls are standing on game boxes. This is just because I was having issues on the carpet for some poses and not for others. If you are posing your dolls and they seem finicky, try either switching to carpet or to something solid, like linoleum. When posing your dolls make sure they won't fall and break or have someone nearby to catch them.

Lorina has a really useful double-jointed knee that, when used right, makes her able to do a lot. Her mobility jint isn't useful in the way the Iplehouse mobility joint is; all Lorina's is good for is to twist the leg. You can't pop it out to make her hug her knees like with an Iple.

Note on standing with one leg: Both bodies can do this, but I couldn't snap a picture and play doll catcher at the same time. I'll try to get pics soon.

Note on crazy pics on the FL site: Obviously, Lorina couldn't pull all of these off, but neither could Chloe on some of them. With some sueding I'm sure Chloe could do all or most of the ones on the site.

Without further ado-

Let's begin!

Recasts and Fake Certificates or Headplates

Recasts sometimes come with fake certificates or headplates. The recasts that do, that I know of offhand, are Iplehouse, Soom, and Volks dolls. This is not a legal discussion, but just a helpful guide.

*new info added at the bottom of the post*

Volks are probably the number one recast doll, perhaps possibly tied with Soom. The recasters often include fake plates with Volks dolls. The metal plates can be determined as forgeries fairly easily (though I don't have access to a legit Volks for further detail this should help):

Plate reads: 1012/DP24

• Plate is ill-fitting
• Plate is of low quality
• Plate lists a Dollpa that never happened or won't happen until a future date
• Plate lists a Dollpa that does not correlate with the Volks doll (a year when the doll wasn't produced)

Here is a pic of my fake Volks' plate (I did not make this plate, nor do I even know how to find them).

Fluff with pics: Rain storm!

We are having a huge rain storm here. I love the rain. I find it soothing, romantic, uplifting...so I had to take a dollie out to go play in it. Didn't have time for too many photos, but I took a few of Roslynn, my Little Red Riding Hood. This is her new look (she's no longer my pretty little Lolita girl). I'll list the info about her outfit and hair and stuff at the end of the post. I'm a terrible photographer and queen of the unflattering angle, but thank you for humoring me; I hope you enjoy her. Oh, and a bit of shameless self-promoting: I've still got 14 free face up slots left in total, so if you want one, snatch it up!

60 cm Shoe Review!

60 cm Shoe Review! (For dolls such as SD16/SDgr heeled feet, SDgr flat feet, and Feeple 60)

I adore shoes. I love them in my size, and I love them miniature. I'm especially a sucker for adorable heels. I'm making a list of different shoes and brands that SDgr girl flat feet, Feeple 60 girls, and SDgr heeled feet. I will note where I got them and what I thought of them. I will update this as I get more shoes to review. Hey, I need an excuse to buy more right? Check back for updates.

Restringing an SDgr Girl

Hi all! Here is a photo-tutorial for how to restring a Volks Sdgr girl. For this tutorial I strung her with the heeled leg parts, but it's the same basic restringing principle. Our helper is Roslin, a recast SDgr Lorina, face up by me.

Tools:

For this tutorial, I used elastic, a thin cord to help guide the elastic through string channels, a hemostat, and s-hooks.

If you are restringing a recast, I suggest you get another set of s-hooks, as the ones the recasters send are not suitable and can limit movement (thanks to some bad hooks and too-thick string, one my girl's wrist balls snapped). I recommend going through Cool Cat on Ebay (I used D-sized and C-sized hooks in my Lorina). They were affordable and arrived relatively quickly.

Step 1: Unstring the Body

Here you will want to keep track of the pieces, especially which are the left and right sides. Volks marks the inside of most of the pieces with either an L or an R. Some pieces, like wrists and elbows, don't have markings. I haven't noticed a difference, so I assume there is no specific left or right versions and will work on either side.