ABJD FAQ

ABJD FAQ

What does ABJD stand for?
ABJD – Asian Ball Jointed doll

What is an ABJD?
An ABJD is a ball jointed doll that comes from Japan or Korea, they come if different sizes and all have different looks, they range from adults to toddlers the tallest being the adults and the smallest being the toddlers. The female dolls are always slightly shorter then the male dolls over all the sizes. They are highly poseable because of the way they are constructed. Their bodies move the same as ours with a bit of jiggling. These dolls are also anatomically correct this is something to take into consideration it can be a little shocking if you not expecting it when you open the box and see you naked BJD. All BJD’s a shipped naked even if they some with clothes.

Some are from Japan some are from Korea what’s the difference?
There is almost no difference in the Korean and Japanese BJD in the way they are made and put together, the Resins over all the companies vary slightly to each other whether they are from Japan or Korea. BJD’s started out in Japan by a company called Volks which make the popular and probably most heard of brand Dollfie, and the other companies are a spin off of that. But just because it isn’t a Volks doesn’t mean that it is less in quality in anyway or that it is a copy of the Volks dolls, copies rarely happen and when they do the offending companies get sewed thanks to some vigilant fans and the company themselves keeping an eye on the competition.

Where do I buy these dolls?
There are many different companies that sell BJD now and they are getting more and more accessible to English customers. They have web-sites in English and the company employees themselves speak very good English to help you with any queries you might have. I have composed a list of sites where you can purchase the dolls please see the Doll Artist and Retailer thread on the forum for the list.

Why are these dolls so expensive?
If you are asking yourself this I think it’s safe to say these dolls are not for you. The cost depends on a lot of different factors, the most obvious of these of course is the cost of the materials, the manufacture of the dolls and the time that goes into each doll. Also keep in mind that these dolls are sculpted by hand, when the parts are freed from the original mold they are handed to a doll artist to sculpt, refine, sand, paint and finish by hand.

How do they work?
‘S’ hooks, elasticated stringing and ball joints in the most basic of dolls mostly the MSD’s the Larger dolls tend to have extra joints to make them even more poseable. Basically the dolls parts are held together with string, the hands, feet and head (the head on some dolls not all it depends on the body type) are attached to the ‘s’ hooks and then to the stringing inside the doll. On some doll body types the stringing is all pulled up into the head and held there with a ‘s’ hook and on others the stringing in held in the neck.

Large, MSD, and Tiny? What’s that?
These are the different sizes that the dolls come in, Large (adult) males 60.5cm ~ 71cms females 57cm ~ 60cm
SD + MDS – (SD- super dollfie/ MSDMiniatures – teenage) males 43.5cm ~ 45cm females 37cm ~ 44 cm
Tiny – (kids, toddlers) 30cms down

What are the different body types?
Good question and a bit of a pain to answer I must see if I can get pictures to aid my explanations for some of these sections.
Okay the main differences seem to be in the torso, the dolls were split where the rib cage would end and fitted slightly over the belly part of the torso and the other is where the torso is split across the hip line, which sits over the belly slightly. Other then that there are small differences in the joints and the ball joint but as explained above these are mostly over the sizes rather then the body types. Sometimes on a site when you buy a doll they give you the choice for the ‘old’ body type or the ‘new’ body type depending on the store depends on what this means but mostly it is where the torso it split most old dolls have them split at the ribs and the newer dolls have them split at the hips.

Why are there new type and old type bodies?
Basically the doll artists just like other are adapting and improving their dolls all the time to make them move better pose better and look better, it’s all a learning curve.

Can I change the way My ABJD looks?
To put it simply yes you can but to elaborate:-
There are many different things you can to with your BJD to make it look different as you have probably seen looking around rarely two dolls of the same sculpt look alike.
There are many things you can change on you doll to make it look just the way you want it. You can change, the body, the head, the eyes, eyelashes, the wig, the face-up, body blushing, the hands and even the feet.
· Heads and Bodies
You can buy a head or a body or you can buy a full and complete doll. Sometimes you see a head you like but it comes on a female body but you want it as a boy so you can just buy the head and buy a separate male body and vise-versa. And sometimes you see a full doll so you can just get that. A lot of times you see a seller saying ‘want to split’ basically this means that they have brought a doll and they want say the head and the wig so they want to sell the body or the body and the outfit separately (if the doll comes with an outfit) this happens a lot on limited edition dolls as the outfit can reach the same if not more then the body or head alone.
· Hands and Feet
As Explained above the hands and feet are attached to the inner stringing via ‘s’ hooks which means you can change the hands and feet, although the feet are usually changed because of breaks when separating the toes (which some BJD’s owner deicde to do to add to the realism) and so on the hands are usually changed for cosmetic reasons, there are many different pairs of hand you can by to make you BJD do something different with them, you can get fists, victory ‘v’ or peace, waves and many others.
· Eyes and Eyelashes
Yes you can change the eyes, there is an array of eyes for offer, different colors from basics like blue and brown to violets and silvers, there are also patterned eyes with some sort of design in, eyes with different shaped pupils, blind eyes and lots more there really are so many different eyes your dolls could have. It has become quite popular to have your doll with two different eyes. The eyes are held into the head with a substance simply called ‘eye putty’ it looks like blue tack (and some dolls have had their eyes stuck in with blue tack for lack of eye putty not by the doll artists though) but it is always slightly oily so that you can change the dolls eyes every few seconds if you wanted to.
Eyelashes also come in many different styles and colors, from short eyelashes to extremely long over the top eyelashes and from blacks to pinks. The eyelashes are help in against the eyes and the roof of the top eyelid or stuck to the top eyelid. These are also easily changeable like the eyes and adding something so simple really can change the look of the dolls eyes. The eyes come in different sizes depending on the size of your doll.
· Wig
A wig is a wig if you’re used to dolls especially you reborners then it’s the same thing, the wigs come in to many different styles and colors to count! There are so many to choose from, the two main types are fur wigs and acrylic type wigs. The wigs come in different sizes depending on the size of you doll. These wigs can be brushed and put up and played with just like any other wig. Some dolls are smaller then the average size for their category size wigs(namely DOD’s MSD) this makes the wig loose and it falls all over the place like a bad toupee! There is a simple solution velcro ! I kid you not, stick velcro on the top of you dolls head and then put the wig on that and it holds it in place a treat. Make sure not to put it over the cut in you dolls head though you don’t want to be replacing the velcro everytime you change the eyes or play with the stringing. If you don’t like that idea you can also get a head cap it’s a flesh colored cap that fits over the head and helps the wig stay in place. Also black and dark colored wigs can stain your dolls head (I will explain more in another part of the FAQ).
· Face-up
Firstly a face-up is the paint on the BJD’s face that helps to give it, it’s unique look. The face up can be changed quite easily by removing the face-up which is on the doll (if it has one) and painting your own or having someone paint it for you. (I need to find out what you use to remove the face up that’s already there) Warning! Do not use acetone the chemical used when reborning, although you may not see it the BJD’s have a special skin tone placed only on the face as an under coat for the face-up, it you use acetone it will remove the BJD’s base coat and you will end up with patches where the lighter original color underneath pears through, it also makes the face tacky so it feels like it’s melting your doll.
A face up is painted using the same paints commonly used in reborning acrylics and pastels, even if your purchase the paints from the doll makers web site they are still acrylics. The face-up is then sealed with a chemical called Mr. Super Clean, if you can’t get your hands on MSC then don’t worry to much the paint stays on the face very well with out it and wouldn’t need touching up for a very long time. Face and body tattoos are done in exactly the same way and so is the body blushing, which is explained below. When doing a face-up for yourself all you really need is a steady hand and some inspiration and you’ll end up with a beautiful looking doll.
· Body Blushing
Body blushing is just want is sounds like you are blushing up the body to make it look more realistic, the same as you would paint in the hands, feet, and creases on a baby reborn, it’s the same principle just on a different style doll, rather then creases you paint the collar bone, shoulder blades, ribs, bellybutton etc. Again this is painted with acrylics or pastels and sealed with MSC and again if you don’t have MSC it doesn’t really matter.

Skin Tones
When you are purchasing a doll from a site you sometimes have the option to have the dolls skin a different color there are three main types: White, Normal, and Tan. Even though all artist work with these three basics for skin tone a white from one company is often different from a white from another company and the same goes for normal and tan, some are lighter some a darker this all depends on the artist’s style.

What’s the difference between limited, full package and basic dolls?
Limited – these are just that, they are limited in number meaning they will make a certain amount and then will not make the doll again. The limited’s come exactly how you see them on the site they come with everything you see them with, eyes, wig, face-up, clothes and often a special item.
Full package - is where you get the doll, aswell as the face-up as seen on the site and the outfit that the dolls has on in the pictures (this does not usually include the shoes unless it is a limited or stated otherwise). Basically as you see it is how you get it minus the shoes. Sometimes the eyes and wig are random so even though the face-up will be the same the eyes and wig won’t if they are random it will stated so.
Basic – is where you get the doll and the doll alone, no clothes, no face-up, a random eye color, and sometimes wigless aswell it is always stated whether the basic doll will come with out without a wig, if a wig is included and you are lucky if it is then it will be a random wig.

Ooak BJD?
Almost every BJD is an ooak in it’s own right but not in the sense that most of you know it as. Ooak dolls for most of you are the clay molds the casting the mass produceds’ came from where as for BJD’s the mold is never sold, when something is called a BJD ooak it means that the face-up is one of a kind and anyone who paints a face-up themselves makes an ooak as they won’t do that face-up again. Beware of a ooak BJD sometimes the price is hiked right up because they call it ooak and hope that some unsuspecting new person to the BJD world will take the bait. If your not sure that the price is right go to the site of the doll artist and see what price the doll is to buy first hand with and without a face-up and see for yourself if the doll is worth it.

Do the dolls come with anything else?
Yes they do you will often receive a free gift from the doll shop with your order, they also send the dolls with large cushions just bigger then the doll which double up as a great bed and some doll shops will even send you a carry case with your doll for free. If there is anything included like cushions or a carry case it is always started on the site, free gifts are a surprise so you just have to open the box and see.

What are they made out of?
Simply they are made out of a hardy resin, it’s a mix between La Doll resin and Premiere resin. Together these two resins create a very hard during resin which doesn’t break easily, the dolls are incredibly durable but of course this confidence comes with playing with your own doll and you always treat your first very delicately until you get more used to it and drop it a few times by accident.

I have seen something on ebay called an Obitsu what’s that and how if it different from an ABJD from a store?
An Obitsu isn’t necessarily any less of an ABJD although a lot of people buy them to practice body blushing, face-ups and other things like piercing the ears before they commit to a BJD from an artist. Obitsu’s tend to be made of vinyl which makes them lighter then the resin BJD’s which can be quite heavy especially the large dolls. Most Obitsu’s have a soft vinyl shell covering the harder vinyl interior, making them soft to touch, they often have a better poseability then the resins aswell. The Obitus are cheaper to buy as they are machine-mass produced. The obitsu’s come if different sizes like the resins, and some come without eye holes cut out so you can do it yourself. The Obitsu’s come with nothing but the body and head or just the body or just the head.

Staining? I’ve heard something about the heads getting stained why is that?
Staining although sometimes can look serious really isn’t it just takes warm soapy water and elbow grease, it takes a good rubbing but comes off eventually. White and light normal skin dolls tend to stain more then others and the staining is usually from black or dark wigs. Which isn’t really a problem worth worrying about since any wig you put on the doll will cover up any staining there. It only becomes a problem if you want you BJD to be bald. Also some materials in black can stain the body of the doll pretty much regardless of the skin color but this comes off even easier then on the head you just need to use the same method as on the head. I just wanted to make a quick note about the stringing of the dolls, it gets loose over time so you will need to tighten it up now and again.

A Crack oh my god my BJD has a crack!
Cracks can happen on the dolls, it’s a fact of life I’m afraid although I haven’t 100% figure out exactly what causes them as it hasn’t happen to my dolls I have heard of this problem, mostly from dropping the dolls from a great height. If you get a small crack I wouldn’t worry to much jut keep and eye on it and see if it grows, most are only flesh wounds a serious crack is one through and through which is growing. If you do have a crack and what it fixed unfortunately the only way I know is to send it back to the doll maker, as all doll makers use different resins only the original doll maker will be able to do it properly. Of course this will cost you money but it’s worth it. There are some circumstances when the shop you got your doll from will either replace or repair for free but this should be in their terms of service as most are different. Mostly it seems to be for breakages on arrival or if a crack appears shortly after getting the dolls (as they are made to your order.), for hand a feet breakages usually if it happens soon after the purchase or on arrival the shop will send you a pair of the broken parts free of charge. Of course you need to check with the doll companies first talking with them will help you get them on your side.

What can I get for my BJD?
The question is what can’t I get for my BJD?! There’s so much I think I’m going to go bankrupt and this is only my first! There really is almost nothing you can’t buy for a BJD from furniture to glasses, tea sets to playing cards, weaponry, jewelry you name it they have it.

Why are the clothes so expensive I could buy a whole new wardrobe from myself for less then that outfit!
More elaborate clothes do cost and arm and a leg but you can find some bargains in the BJD world aswell. The clothing and shoes are so expensive because there is no expense speared in making them, it is the same with anything made for a BJD, these are not Barbies who have cheap clothes and items, they are like little people and everything you can get for them is of the highest quality. They are not cheaper reproduction resembling something similar to something we have they are scaled replicas of the highest detail. This is something you can only realize from purchasing something for your new BJD yourself.

How do you pay for these dolls?
This depends on the site, I am very happy to announce that most sites in Korea and Volks of Japan have finally enabled you to pay via paypal but some are still relying on wire and bank balance transfers, the stores do everything they can to make their shops international friendly but after speaking to them personally I have found that paypal is very hard for them to obtain over there. The payment methods are always listed on the site and if they accept paypal it is usually displayed triumphantly under the options on the main page.

I love ‘insert doll and company name’ but I want this face-up ‘picture’ I can’t do it myself will the company I’m getting the doll from do it for me?
The answer to this is more often then not yes, this just takes a quick query to the boards and see, post the pictures of the face-up you want in the Q&A boards (you must be registered to do that) and tell them that you want ‘doll’ and you would like to know if they can do the face-up in the pic you posted they will get back to you and let you know if they can to it. This will cost extra usually round $50. If the doll you want is a full package or a limited (basically a doll that comes with a face-up as standard), even though it is still to be painted the company will usually still charge you extra for having your own style put on the doll instead.

Volks elitism?
Volks elitism or dollfie elitism is where people think the only ‘real’ ABJD’s are Volks and Dollfies. Basically any other brand of doll no matter how wonderfully crafted, beautiful and all the rest of it is inferior to Volks. The most inferior is usually seen as being the Korean dolls. This is not a dig at the elitists I’m happy for them to be the way they are I’m just warning other who don’t have or want a Volks.

I thought these were called dollfies not ABJD/ BJD’s
Dollfie is a line of ABJD’s made by a company called Volks because Volks and Dollfies were the originals everyone started calling them that as that was all there were, eventually other people jumped on the bang wagon making their own dolls and so they are called ABJD’s as there is now more then one company. Although even die hard veteran collectors still call the dollfies aswell.

Do these dolls hold their value?
Simply yes and sometimes you get more them what you paid it all depends on the doll and the company. All BJD’s hold their value there aren’t many people who will sell their doll for less then what they paid for it as they know someone will buy the doll for the original sale price if it is in good condition. Sometimes you get a barging because someone wants a quick sale, but the amount is only usually enough for you to think that it was cheaper then what the person brought it for not enough for you to think that the person mustn’t realize the value in there doll because they’re selling it so cheap. As always if a bargain looks to good to be true then it probably is there have been a lot of scammers for the BJD so keep your wits about you at all times. Limited’s often rise in value when they are sold out on the site, as people know the only way they will get that dolls is by getting it second hand. By far the most expensive dolls to get and Volks and Dollfies as they have been around for a long time a lot of their dolls are now discontinued adding even more to their value.

This was all I could think of for what you all might want to know, please let me know if there is anything else so I can update it

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