u/happyramiel

No offense or disrespect intended, but the main photo used for that video (1:23) has a creepy backstory. The young man's adoptive family exploited him for photos like this one in a shrewd attempt to get attention on social media. They allegedly starved and mistreated him, and made him stand around at events holding a "free hugs" sign. Might want to change the photo, or provide context:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kid-hugging-cop-in-viral-protest-photo-family-car-plunge_n_5abccd69e4b06409775d9a2e

I'm happy to delete my comment if needed.

This is the worst thing they could imagine...?

A conventionally attractive virgin-birth daughter who has cute hair, likes cats, has consensual sex, and doesn't seem interested in raping/killing people? She seems kind of fun to hang out with?

Am I missing something here?

I can empathize with that. I live in a farming town, and there used to be more doll activity than there is now. I now get my BJD-related talk/news/goods online (Instagram is very active, and has a great tags like #bjdsale. Flickr is good, too. Tumblr used to be good, but I don't rec going there now... heh.) Just my opinion, of course!

WELCOME!!! :D

One thing I've noticed about older BJDs is that they are a lot sturdier than they look.

As for changing her look:

• @adorabloodthirstea is right about eyelashes. Elmer's is water-soluable and safe to use on resin-- if you make a mistake, a little water would fix it. Super glue, on the other hand, is HORRIBLE... Elmer's all the way! Also worth mentioning: Elmer's does not contain ANY animal parts (no horses or bunnies are harmed in the making of this glue. So if you love horses as much as I do, you don't need to worry about that.)
• New clothes might be fun. TTYA and a few other shops sell BJD clothes that open in the back (via snaps, not velcro.) Some people don't like that because they think it detracts from realism, but it makes it SO MUCH EASIER to switch clothes without risking faceup damage. Otherwise, I need to remove my dolls' heads every time I change their outfit (although some people swear by plastic bags over the face, this can still chip the faceup, especially with older dolls who have toothier resin and aging sealant. All my old boys wear TTYA now, lol.)
• Changing her wig is an option. If you're worried about scuffs or staining, silicone wig caps work wonders. I use the generic type for regular sized heads, and the Laura Belle ones for uncommonly sized/asymmetrical heads (i.e. most older BJDs)
• New accessories - Doll necklaces, jewelry, bags, etc. can work wonders.
• New faceup-- your doll's faceup looks good, but I've commissioned faceups to make older dolls look newer and more vibrant. Yours looks fine, though!

Hope this helps :)

Made a small edit... this body ships for free in the USA. I cannot currently ship him outside of the country because I do not have the means to. Thank you for understanding!

Mandarake, Parabox and DOLK are good places to start, since they specialize in anime-style dolls. But since many anime-style dolls are sold cheaper at non-specialized stores/secondhand, so you may want to look for doll brands instead of doll sites. Searching by brand narrows things down, and also makes it easier to find anime style dolls without looking through hundreds of non-anime ones:

Some brands with anime-style dolls that I'm familiar with:

• 2D Doll (Resin)
• Obitsu (Vinyl)
• Doll Family A (their Anthony sculpt) (Resin)
• Volks (Dollfie Dream, etc.)
• Angel Philia/VMF (Vinyl) (NSFW and not for minors!)
• IOS (Resin) (more realistic, bishonen-y guys)

Hope this helps! :)

First off, WELCOME :)!!! Always nice to see more people appreciating these BJDs.

In the 5+ years I've spent collecting BJDs, I found these words most relevant:

• recast - counterfeit BJDs made without permission from the original artists. These hurt artists, but also buyers! Some secondhand sellers are tricking new collectors into buying these by misrepresenting a recast as a "re-release." But a re-release is authorized by the artist-- a recast is never authorized and does not give royalties to the artist who made the doll. Thankfully, there are many affordable and legitimate BJDs you can buy to support artists (i.e. Mirodoll, ResinSoul, Mystic Kids, Magical Angel, FantasyDoll!)
• restringing - stringing the limbs of a BJD together with elastic string. Learning this can save you money, because unstrung dolls cost a LOT less than fully assembled ones.
• double jointed - dolls or figures with knees and elbows that bend past 90 degrees.
• material-related words (i.e. resin, vinyl, ABS plastic) - Knowing what a doll is made of affects which supplies can be used to paint and seal it. Also useful if you're looking for replacement parts if something breaks.
• CoA - Certificate of Authenticity
• moderation - A very good idea in every aspect of this hobby, haha. Someone should have told me this when I started.

This might help... I wrote about how to 3D sculpt and print a BJD a few years ago-- the references on this list can also be used for hand-sculpting a doll:

http://happyramiel.tumblr.com/post/105243007204/so-you-wanna-make-a-3d-printed-doll-bjd-or

I no longer update my blog, but this should be enough to get you started ^! I used the things on that list to 3D print my own prototype, and am now saving up to get it cast in resin. You could use this list to 3D print joints and insert these into a hand-sculpted doll.

The above references also work if you prefer another medium, such as paperclay ("LaDoll" and "Creative" are both good brands. Don't use Sculpey or regular polymer clay because it's not great for casting.)

Honestly, we wouldn't have dolls without male artists-- over 50% of dolls were sculpted and designed by men, including Barbie (copied from Bild Lilli) and most BJDs (including Volks and SOOM! Where would we be without those trailblazers??)

Speaking as a woman, men are a wonderful creative force in the world of doll collectors. The "male creep who likes dolls" is a sexist stereotype that is countered every day by amazing talents such as Jason Wu, Rainman and Crocus Lee. Every house that has dolls has at least one doll made by a guy, and the dolls we love today wouldn't exist if men didn't also play with dolls.

Again, I say this as someone who is super excited every time I meet a fellow doll sculptor who is also a woman-- there aren't that many of us (though there are more of us in the BJD community than, say, the fashion doll community.)

Anyway, I think the weird feeling that you described will die down, eventually. It's not easy to unlearn horrible sexist conditioning like "men don't play with dolls" when it's in so many movies, books, films, etc.

Everyone here gave solid recs-- I'd like to add:

• TTYA (sells on Etsy. They make the best jeans and casual wear that I've ever seen!)

• 9Style - great shirts and jackets

• Freedom Teller (suits and well-sewn, preppy casual wear)

• Galejoy (for detailed commissions-- very detailed, some of the best stitching I've ever seen)

• Dolline - sweaters and casual wear. Very well-made collars

• In Texas, the BJD store Treasure Dolls has an in-house line of basic BJD t-shirts and doll underpants. The fabric and stitching is on-scale (not the flimsy too thin or too thick stuff you sometimes see on Etsy. They sell snaps as default, but might have no-snap options too. Ask them if they ship out.)

• Volks clothes. Good quality fabrics, real pockets and tiny, skilled stitching :)

Practice heads often have simpler, more exaggerated features than regular heads-- and some might be a little rougher than premium heads-- but not typically.

For example, I did not see any quality differences between regular Doll Family heads and their practice heads.

And I've seen some Volks School heads that were of higher quality than regular some Volks heads (they're made so well that I don't think anyone seriously uses them as a practice heads.)

Though, if you compared a $25 Doll Family head to a standard Volks head, you'd see quality differences for sure! They're both good heads, but you can't expect a $25 head to compete with a $200 head (i.e. it might have a more detailed septum/lip ridge/nostrils/eyewells, more matte resin, etc. Cheaper dolls typically cut back in those areas, because you get what you pay for.) Perhaps people made those comparisons, and practice heads got a bad rep-- sadly, people don't always compare doll heads to other heads within the same brand :)! If they did, they'd probably appreciate what a good deal $25 is for a well-made doll head XD

My opinion is "NEVER TOUCH THE FACE."

Accidental touches cannot be prevented, but any sort of touching should be avoided.

Skin has oils on it, and the oils transfer to the resin (no matter how dry our skin might look.) These oils damage acrylic paint and sealant-- and WORST OF ALL, oils can stay on the resin long after you stop touching it... doing damage invisibly (it can even cause some resin to turn green.)

Some alternatives to touching faces: A clean, never-before-used paint brush to brush unruly bangs or dirt/dust. A q-tip lightly misted (not soaked/wet) with water to remove stubborn dirt (still risks damaging sealant, but at least won't add oil.) Gloves (too much work for me, but a good idea!)

Touching -unpainted- areas with clean hands is fine (i.e. wash hands before handling, wait until any hand creams/pained nails dry first, etc.)

But with painted resin, it's best to treat it like a canvas-- avoid touching, but don't beat yourself up over accidental touches :)!

Congrats on your new doll! :)

What helped me:

1. Store all certificates of authenticity (CoA), box opening photos, or proof of purchase in case you decide to resell your doll. Hopefully you won't want to, but it's always helpful to keep your doll's authentication documents handy :)

2. Store in a darkened room. Even a little bit of sunlight or room light can cause a lot of damage :(! Most of my dolls are from owners who resold them to me at a discount because of uneven or premature yellowing. This can be avoided :)!

3. Store wigs on wig stands, or wrapped in wig hairnets in individual boxes. Store in a cool, dry place-- like a box in the closet. Style with a metal "wig brush," NEVER with human comb/brush-- or worse, a used human hairbrush (it transfers human hair oils to the doll wig, making it greasy and dirty)

4. To dye or dremel your doll is a process of trial and extreme error. I don't recommend it, no offense intended (some people are good at modding. Many of us aren't.)

5. Do not touch the face-up. The oils from your skin stay indefinitely on the doll head and slowly eat the acrylic paint. If you accidentally touch it once or twice, fine. But avoid it :O! This is the best tip I ever got from a professional doll artist.

6. If you think premium doll eyes and wigs are expensive, wait until you go through multiple pairs of cheap ones! I'm not saying you should spend a fortune, but you should buy the ones that you actually like-- and are of respectable quality. For eyes, I always recommend Captured in Glass, KoK Collection, or, at cheapest, Sweet Girl Doll Shop. Faux fur wigs are inexpensive and fun, and there are several good Etsy sellers for those. For fiber wigs, ForMyDoll, Monique Gold (a little bit Fashion Doll-ish, but good), Moonlight BJD (now defunct) and FStyler are good lower-price options-- Crobidoll and Licht 2.5D are amazing but pricey.

Additional Information: I am selling a 60cm “SD sized” Doll in Mind male BJD for $180 with FREE USA SHIPPING. All trade offers will be considered! :)

This doll has a single-jointed body is from 2007-2008 and the head is from 2009-- the resin colors do not match. The resin color might be NS, and I am not sure whether he has yellowed.

His neck circumference is ~10 or 10.5cm max. Foot size is 8cm– he wears regular SD boy shoes. Finally, his head wears a 9-10 size wig.

The body has seamlines and might have yellowed due to age. The head is of worse quality than the body: it has unevenly beveled eyes, rough resin inside the head, and faceup staining.

This BJD has been stored on a high shelf in a smoke-free, pet-friendly home. I do not have his CoA, but will include his limited edition “middle-finger hands” as proof of his authenticity (this sculpt isn’t on any recast list, and I am pro-artist/anti-recast.)

All trade offers will be considered. Things that I like include: SD clothes (TTYA, etc.), SD Male Bodies (Chinese, Korean, all sorts), Doll Family, April Story/ClassyDoll, Illusion Spirit, BBB/RS, CustomHouse/LUTS (All Sizes) and all sorts of YoSD!

Thank you for reading this :)! He is a good doll, but my collector tastes have changed.

Tumblr has these tags that you could post under: * bjdforsale * bjd * bobobie * resinsoul

Also, it might help to advertise that he's ResinSoul instead of Bobobie. The terms are used interchangeably, but ResinSoul's sculpts are much more detailed AND have more joints than Bobobie's models. Typically, their joints work better (the feet and wrists bend further, and can hold positions, for one. The slouch joint also bends slightly more-- in all directions.) This makes a difference, imo-- when I bought my first BJD, I picked a ResinSoul over a Bobobie because of the above reasons.

That said, I eventually realized Bobobie have GREAT FREAKING FACE SCULPTS, and now have dolls from both companies. In any case, both companies also have a large collector/fan base-- so I wouldn't be surprised if someone snaps him up :)!

Thank you very much!! I just read this now, and this advice helped save me a major headache/hassle. I upvoted the posts in your post history... hope that's okay. Thanks again!

Posting this here to elaborate on the link I posted above...

I'm trading/selling a large part of my BJD inventory! :)

All trades are welcome. I'm interested in SD or YoSD sized wigs, clothes, and glass eyes (16mm/18mm). I also like BJD accessories (jewelry, flower crowns, antlers, ears, etc.)

If you prefer to pay, every item is $5 (except for the doll head). The sale includes:

• D.I.M. Event Head (SD size) ($40, shipping included)
• Glass Eyes (16mm and 18mm) ($5 each)
• SD Wigs (both fur and fiber) ($5 each)
• SD sized clothes (shirts, pants, leggings) ($5 each)

I'll answer any questions below :)

Sorry for the slow reply!!

I definitely have pics! The box opening was "memorable," but his flaws don't bug me anymore. Also, a better doll wig, learning about lighting and a asking my faceup artist to use colors that play down the yellow helped. He looks yellower IRL, but photographs well now, I think:

http://36.media.tumblr.com/87c0229af11fba2181541f6ceca8f307/tumblr_ngsvqhExE31tp8x3po1_1280.jpg

http://40.media.tumblr.com/4a1d32dd39991b335fea5930aea45bf1/tumblr_inline_np3fqnMo0u1swlcvs_1280.png

THANK YOU! And sorry for the slow reply. I am a slow replier, but not an unenthusiastic one XD (seriously, it's taken me a day to write a post sometimes)!

I don't have DoA access, either. I am trying to post submissions from the DoA marketplace if they have a non-DoA way of contact. A lot do, but I definitely can't see any DoA marketplace details myself. So far, I've checked Tumblr (mostly the "BJD for sale" tag, Mandarake, Etsy, Ebay, DeviantArt, and Flickr. There are probably others, though.

Thank you! I'm glad it's at useful XD!

HAHA-- my first and favorite doll was a complete disappointment.

When I was new to the hobby, the first doll I purchased was an overpriced secondhand Bobobie Weylin. I should have purchased him directly from Bobobie, because this secondhand doll arrived in a dirty box-- butter yellow, stained, scratched, and with dusty glue stains all over the headcap. None of this was in the description, and although he cost more than a new Bobobie Weylin, I was so inexperienced that I only asked for a tiny partial refund. The seller acted nice about it, but badmouthed me online.

I was furious.

I plopped him down next to his box and prepared to return him to sender. But then my mom saw him sitting sadly next to his box and told me, "You can't send him back! He needs us!"

And so he stayed.

It took over a year to disassemble, clean, restring, put in glass eyes, get him a new faceup, proper clothes, and all the accessories to make him look presentable.

But in the process, he became my favorite doll.