I'm a newbie: Can someone introduce me to the world of Super Dollfie?

[Teruchan]

I have tons of questions!

1) Super dollfie dolls are gorgeous! I really want one, but I don't know which ones to get! I like the bigger versions, and I want a boy. Any suggestions?

2) How do you assemble dolls? Is there a help guide for that?


3) Do people rp their dolls? This may sound strange, but any doll so beautiful that people spend so much time on must have a personality for them- I think rp is really fun, and I was just wondering if anyone did it....


4) Where's the best place to buy a Super Dollfie? And I'm a poor broke college freshman so please- $200 is probably the most I can afford right now and it's going to take me ages to save up- plus I was trying to buy photoshop too...

5) I love dolls ^^ I think I may be on my way to a new addiction and possible hobby :)


I think that's it for now- I am so impressed with these beautiful dolls- I really want to start getting into Dollfie!

[saraquill]

Poke around the entire forum, look at the pretty pictures, and spend lots of time premeditating before you make a decision on purchasing, especially since you say you do not have much money.

As a rule of thumb, Chinese made dolls are cheaper than Korean or Japanese made ones and 60cm or taller tends to cost more than the 45cm or smaller categories.

[Maverynthia]

$200 is not enough to get ANY Super Dollfie, however if your looking for other BJDs,
$200 can get you a 70cm Bobobie Long :3 For a little less you can get the 60cm Bobobie boys, and even less than that the 45s.
around $250 can get you a Fantasy Doll

For wigs I usually go with Monique Gold, they are affordable and soooo so soft X3

[Youkai]

junkyspot.com and denverdoll.com has a long list of BJDs that you can choose from. 200$ probably could get you an AoD super dollfie...depending on which one. AoD = Angel of Dream. But I'd save up some more. ^^;;

As for wigs, I usually get them at Denverdoll.com.

I RP my dolls all the time, but they have original characters already attached to them, so that helps.

And...assembling is decently easy. I forced myself to learn. Re-stringing is all. The S-hook in the head is where you can detach the elastic and everything pretty much goes limp...There are tutorials all around the internet.

[Cold.April.Sky]

Well, Super Dollfie uses for calling Volks dolls only, u can call dollies from other companies as "SD" size, "MSD" size, "Yo-SD".
About money - better save for longer time but get what you REALLY like, otherwise you can get disappointed and ll think this hobby is not really for you.
Take a look on companies, spend more time on this - you will find your "dream doll" one day. I can understand you, you want to get dollie as soon as possible, but you know, i've waited for my first one for a long time as I wanted something I really like, and I was happy when I found it. I have 5 now and all of them is precious for me, tho i'm picky about dollies.
Good luck.

Good luck.

[Maverynthia]

Well, Super Dollfie uses for calling Volks dolls only, u can call dollies from other companies as "SD" size, "MSD" size, "Yo-SD".
About money - better save for longer time but get what you REALLY like, otherwise you can get disappointed and ll think this hobby is not really for you.
Take a look on companies, spend more time on this - you will find your "dream doll" one day. I can understand you, you want to get dollie as soon as possible, but you know, i've waited for my first one for a long time as I wanted something I really like, and I was happy when I found it. I have 5 now and all of them is precious for me, tho i'm picky about dollies.
Good luck.

Good luck.

Actually Volks is starting to crack down on people using the SD and such I hear, since it is their copyright/trademark.
What if her dream doll IS a Bobobie? Are you trying to imply that because it's cheap it can't possibly be a "dream doll"? This is something I've been seeing a lot when people have a limited budget and are told to save up for their "dream doll". Considering the fact that people say that and on the other hand turn right around and sell their "Dream Dolls" I would say if you have $200 and you want a doll, to buy the one you like in your budget, instead of being told to save up because you can't possibly want one of those "cheap" dolls.

And the way the market is going there are constantly new face sculpts all the time so finding a "dream doll" is almost impossible unless you use the DiM MiniMee service and get exactly what you want.

[Emera]

Very few dolls nowadays will NOT come to you assembled, so you shouldn't have to worry about it too much! It is useful to know how to assemble your doll, of course, in the event that you want to do something like clean, customize, or coat your doll with protective sealant. In that case, you can simply Google or do a forum search for "BJD stringing tutorial."

Another good resource for you to see the variety of dolls out there is Gigglegeek's BJD compendium (http://gigglegeek.dk/bjd.htm) - it's not totally up-to-date, but it's pretty exhaustive, and will give you a great idea of what companies are out there, what sizes of dolls they make, and what their general price ranges are. People have already made good suggestions for lower-priced BJD companies, but it's still fun (if frustrating and tempting!) to see what else is available.

I don't RP my dolls (although they do have personalities), but I know that many people do, and have begun forums/communities specifically for that. I think that generally, it's more common for people to make photostories of their dolls - there's a gallery subforum just for photostories, so you can check them out in there.

Also, to clarify the terminology that Cold.April.Sky and Maverynthia mentioned: although you will commonly see these dolls called Super Dollfies - the name used by Volks, the first commercial company to make these dolls - they are more properly & generally referred to as ball-jointed dolls, or Asian ball-jointed dolls (BJD/ABJD), since Super Dollfie is Volks' trademark, as Maverynthia said. However, because Volks set the precedent, you'll still see people using Volks' terms as general names. Thus 60 cm dolls are often called SD's, 45 cm dolls are often called MSD's (M for Mini), and 25 cm dolls are often called YoSD's.
You might like to check out Aimee Major's FAQ at Den of Angels (http://www.denofangels.com/) for more information in that vein.

Sorry if I repeated anything you already knew, and have fun!

[Cold.April.Sky]

Maverynthia I'm trying to imply that if her Dream Doll is Bobobie/Resin Soul then go for it, if not - wait and safe and buy what you like. Personally I don't care what people like and if they sell or keep their dolls - they can play with dolls heads in football if they want, up to them.
I never have difficulties with finding right mold as in now days more realistic molds a made, which is I prefer.
Teruchan, I heard Angell Studio dolls is poseable and some of them made from French resin which is look nice, and they cost less than some other dollies. And as Emera said, DOA has good FAQ and also huge database, very useful!

[Teruchan]

Hi again! Thank you all so much- this is waaaay belated, but I guess to update my status:

I have a bobobie- he was my first- he's gorgeous and I love him! I looked at a lot of dolls in my price range- and above it, and while a bunch of the more expensive ones landed on my wishlist, Mikah was the one for me!

I also managed to finangle a Tan planetdoll Roseanne named Peitan. She's adorable (but feisty.) I'm really pleased with her!

Lastly, I had gotten my heart set on an Unoa L-Bi, and I had just about given up on EVER being able to afford one when I spotted a boy body on ebay for less then $400- thus Morghan has arrived bringing my complete collection up to 3.

It's funny to see my post where I'm all super n00b-ish, thank you all for putting up with me! Dolls take over as a hobby so quickly! I never thought I'd have one when I first posted here, and now I've got 3 plus 3 floating heads, and one that I'm saving for right now from Dollmore!

Thanks again everyone!