Saturday, 30 November 2013

My doll head and wig arrived :)

Today, my package has arrived and quite shockingly, it was two instead of one. I thought that the wig will arrived first but this is better since I can plan what to do with both.
Here is the mail :)

Inside the package
Obitsu Head
This package that contain the head come from Japan. It was quite okay, they're taking a lot of time before sending the package but it still arrived under one month so I'm still okay with it.


Side View
Front View



 I really like the anime style sculpt. Although her eye hole is a bit smaller than what I want, I can mod it easily later.
This Obitsu White is not paper white, under some light, a bit yellowish tint tone can be see. 



Code for Obitsu Designer Head
Code in head is usually used for authenticity or to know what kind of head sculpt it is. Some company even used metal plate for the code (and some is used to avoid recast).

Inside Headcap
The hole inside is used to attach with the neck. If you have closed eye head like mine, you can cut the eye hole and insert eye from the inside. Some
small head may not come with headcap so some people cut the head wig line themselves. 


Overall, I'm quite satisfied with this head, quality is great, like skin color and the sculpt is pretty great. I buy from one of the Amazon.com store seller, the head price become twice the original price (USD17.86 + shipping USD11.13 from Japan) (original 1050 yen = USD10.25) , but since I used gift card, I don't use my money, but if you're going to buy one, I suggest to buy somewhere out there with reasonable price. (It just that there is no BJD store around me and so I'm forced to buy from Amazon.com)

Light Brown Wig

From the picture, you can tell that it is actually a human wig. Why I'm buying human wig instead of BJD wig? Because it is cheaper this way! I wanted to make my doll character have a long, beautiful brown hear, around her waist or more and to find a quality wig for BJD expensive, the cheapest I have seen is $15 from faux fur and I don't like it so much.


Wig and Head
Not only that, if your doll head is quite irregular in size, you can make one that will fit perfectly with your doll head. Or maybe you can make a style or wig color that is rarely sold in BJD shop.
But if you want hassle-free, buying a ready BJD wig option is good too.



I get this wig for USD6.86 including shipping and it was long light brown synthetic hair. The wig have a bit reddish tone for a light brown hair but I can still tolerate it. My only complain is some hair has fallen of the wig and I shouldn't comb it frequently. I'm not sure where this wig come from, when I bought it, Amazon said the seller is from China but the mail is from Singapore. Either way, this is a great purchase for the price and quality.


And that's it. Overall, I'm so happy and I just can't wait to finish my first BJD soon. But all of this project, faceup, resizing wig, etc have to wait till around late December since I have lot of work and test to do. Meanwhile, I will write other information and if other items arrive, I will write about it.

Sunday, 17 November 2013

Reason to buy and collect BJD

Why buy BJD?

If you have do your research, BJD is an expensive hobby but not investment. Then why people collect BJD? Here is some reason that encourage me to enter BJD world:

1. Figma/Figurine/Nendroid,etc replacement
 Do you like to collect figure of some favorite character? Then BJD can be a replacement for it. You can make it pose more, changing eye color and more. You can make it wear lot of clothes that not avaible in figma part and make it have a lot of hairstyle with different wig color. It is a lot more creative process but then this is just my opinion.
Or maybe you can think BJD as a upgraded version of figma and figures. Whatever works with you :)

2.  Upgraded version of fashion doll
Similar with the reason of figurine. Although fashion doll is quite similar with BJD, can wear clothes, do some poses, BJD is more superior than your regular barbie and other fashion doll. Because of the articulated ball joint, it can posed better and more customizable to become your desired character. Not only that, BJD have more expression and beautiful  face rather than the flat, smile Barbie face :D

3. Imaginative character with background
Well, if you like to make a new character that isn't available in figurines, you can make one yourself with BJD. A Vampire, Magician or anything, everything is up to you. You can make a character based on novel or maybe entirely new from your own story. With this, this doll become a unique and special to you.

4. Develop crafting and sewing skill
Once you have BJD, you have the urge to get him/her a furniture, clothes, bed and many other things. Not all of us can afford it after spending in a quite expensive doll, but we can still make it ourselves. Find used clothes and sew it for your doll. Find some wooden board and you can make a wardrobe. Who knows that if your skill become better, you can sell all of this in marketplace for decent price?

5. Drawing art and photography model
BJD can be a great mannequin that wear clothes and have hair. You can make it become a model and better is you can carry it everywhere you want without paying for model fee (but you have to paid for the doll first!). If you like drawing, you can also make the doll poses like manequin and you can draw with correct posture without being weird.

6. Become your friend (?)
I don't recommend you to become an introvert person but some people do like to talk with their doll, like friend or daughter/son. Mind you that they're not crazy but it similar to a kid talking her teddy and something like that. Also if you join in forum, who knows you will get a new friend who understand you more than person who already know you for several years.
I read that some people even get job or going out/married with people they meet in BJD hobby, so don't think you're weird for collecting BJD as there are lot of people who have same hobbies like you.


In the next post, I'm going to discuss how to buy your first BJD from my experience so you who have make up your mind to buy one can get some guide to buy your very first special doll.



Tuesday, 12 November 2013

Resin vs Vinyl doll

As I have write in the previous post, there is a doll that have similar characteristic than a resin BJD have, but not all people considered it as BJD. If you decided to have your first doll, it's better to know this information first.
Now, we're going to talk what is the advantage of having vinyl than resin and also the disadvantage.

The advantage:
a) Vinyl poses a lot better than resin
Vinyl doll have a hard plastic inside frame instead of elastic string, so it can make a lot of pose in longer time than regular resin BJD doll.

b) Vinyls is more lighter than resin
If you like to bring your doll everywhere, especially in MSD and SD size, a lighter doll will be better than a heavier one.

c) Vinyl resemble more anime and game character than resin
Especially dollfie dream and obitsu that usually have a doll with large eye hole and small nose just like a anime character, but you can make a hybrid doll like mine, vinyl head, resin body. Also, there is a company like SQ Labs where their resin head had anime style one

d) Vinyls sometime cheaper than resin
A resin head may cost USD60++ while vinyl is USD30++ (I'm talking for standard edition, not limited one)

e) Vinyls doesn't get yellow like resin
Every resin doll owner know that their doll will yellowing no matter what they do, the only way they can is prevent it from yellowing faster, but there is not much case for vinyl to yellowing.

The disadvantage:
a) Vinyl is prone to get stain and dirt than resin
While magic eraser can fix most dirt and stain in resin, not all vinyl stain and dirt can be cleaned. Not only that, vinyl can get stain more easily than resin

b) Resin have realistic face than Vinyl
Well, if you like a more realistic face, resin have a lot option for it although some company also have realistic vinyl head, but the choice is more limited than resin.

c) Resin is more stronger than vinyl
Vinyl is more softer than resin but still, if you don't handle your resin BJD carefully, it will still break but maybe not as bad as vinyl doll.

d) Resin doll have more variety than vinyl
The most known vinyl doll company is Volks and Obitsu. While they have lot of body and head options, resin have a lot more variety than vinyl because it produced in a lot of companies from South Korea, China and Japan too while the vinyls one is mostly from Japan.

Every people have difference taste too. Some prefer the sturdy and resin smooth skin, while some prefer the lightweight but durable DD and Obitsu. Each have their own advantages and disadvantages, nothing is perfect so it better if you buy something that suit your liking and whether it can be called as a BJD or not, it is your doll.
But since I don't have any vinyl doll except the head, I won't discuss this matter more than this because I'm afraid that I can't provide accurate information since I don't have any. Maybe something that related with my Obitsu head but no information about vinyl body.

Next post will be the reason that why BJD is popular and lot of people collecting it. This may help to encourage why you loved to have one.

Saturday, 9 November 2013

Introductions to BJD World

A ball-jointed doll is any doll that is articulated with ball and socket joints, This enables the doll to mimic human mobility, such as the bending of the elbows and knees. 
The most popular BJD right now is ABJD : Asian Ball Jointed Doll (produced in Asia, mostly from Japan, South Korea and China)
 
Although there is doll that have ball joints for example dollfie dream and obitsu, some people won't recognize it as BJD since the common requirement of BJD is:
- Cast from resin
- strung with elastic string and S-hook

But actually, obitsu and dollfie dream have their own advantage so don't worry if you decided to buy it, it is the thoughts that count. I will discuss the advantage and disadvantage in other post, just remember not to place it in BJD category in some forums.

Also, there's a lot of abbreviations and acronyms that only used in BJD world, here is the list of the most common words:

-  Faceup : makeup on BJD face

- Body blushing : blushing BJD body so it looks more naturally than the skin tone alone

- Recast : an copy of company doll without permission, considered illegal and taboo by most people

- Hybrid : a doll that have different body parts from different company

- Size: 
Tiny/Tinies - 20cm and smaller 1 /8 or 1/12
YoSD - 27cm (give or take a few cm) 1/6
MSD - 40cm range, considered 1/4
SD - 55-60cm, considered 1 /3
Uncle - 70cm

Size is a big factor in BJD price, the bigger it is, the higher the price. BJD price is almost a taboo subject since everyone who collect it know how much does one have to spend in order to get BJD, even the YoSD. If you decided to start collecting BJD, please keep it mind that this is an expensive hobby.
Not trying to discourage but make sure you can afford living expense first, no one want to hear you can't pay bills and such because buying doll, cloth, accessories, etc.

There still a lot topic but I will talk about others when I make a post that involved with it.





Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...