J-Doll Review

I have recently purchased my first J-Doll and I am so delighted that I can't resist posting a review. Please note that all pictures of the doll are from a site selling J-Dolls and the copyright is held by the company Groove, Inc. 

The Doll: J608 De Martini

Cost Range: $89 to $240 USD

Issue Year: 2010 

Designer: Jun Planning

Company: Groove, Inc. of China

Doll Type: Mechanical BJD

This doll is surprisingly expensive for her size. At 26cm/10 inches, she is incredibly petite for a doll that is being sold for as much as $240 in new condition. I purchased mine for $89 from an eBay vendor with a solid reputation. The doll was in mint condition and had not been removed from her original package. She did not have staining or any other damage from the packaging.

In other reviews and commentary on this line of dolls, there are a lot of complaints about fragility and breakage. A number of purchasers complained that although they were "careful," they broke the doll's wrists or ankles while taking her out of the package. 

The doll is extremely small with very delicate features. She does need to handled with care, but it is my opinion that breakage that occurred during unpacking was probably due to rough handling. Those who broke their dolls while unpacking them all claimed to be "experienced doll collectors" who knew how to handle delicate collectible dolls. I disagree with their self assessments, I don't see how it would be possible for this to happen unless the individual was rough. I think that some of these individuals may have simply reached into the package and pulled the dolls loose thinking the strips of clear vinyl holding them in place would give way.

Other reviewers have stated that these dolls were supposed to have removable wigs and head caps that popped off so that the glass eyes could be switched out. They expressed dismay that they damaged the dolls while attempting to tear loose wigs and remove face plates. 

These dolls have wigs and face plates that are permanently glued into place. They are not designed for customization like a standard resin BJD. They are not promoted as having removable wigs and head caps by the manufacturer, Groove, Inc. Additionally, it would not be possible for an experienced collector, or an individual of average intelligence for that matter, to attempt to remove a J-Doll's wig and face plates without recognizing that they were permanently glued into place!

The packaging does have issues, which I'll go into later. Different packaging would insure that it was less likely that heavy handed purchasers would damage the doll when unpacking her, but it would not prevent them from breaking her during rough handling.

The doll is very petite with extremely thin delicate legs and arms, because of this, she needs to be handled with the same care you would give her if she was made of resin. She is constructed of hard plastic that is of a superior quality, but is nonetheless fragile. The J-Doll's fragility is not due to bad design or inferior materials. She is fragile because she cannot be otherwise. She is very much unsuitable for children or adults with a heavy hand. 

If you purchase this doll, you will need to store her in a location where she will not be knocked over. A fall from a height could break her just as it would a resin doll. You will also not want to store her in an area where someone careless may pick her up and roughly manhandle her body. These beauties are the spun glass of the doll world.

I've given everyone in my house specific instructions regarding this doll: "Touch her and die!"

When she arrived in the mail, the first thing I did was remove her from her packing and take off her clothes. I was surprised that she had virtually no staining, even though she had been manufactured two years ago and was wearing a dark teal dress. What delighted me even more was the quality of the materials and the workmanship.

The hat, jacket, and red knee socks are made from cotton. The teal skirt set is made from silk. The only synthetic fabrics were used in the lining for the jacket, skirt set, and in the nylon socks worn under the cotton socks. The materials are all top of the line.

The garments were sewn together with the care and precision that I've only seen in Ashton Drake clothing made for their Gene Marshal line of dolls. Only these dolls are so slight that their clothing is about half the size of the garments made for Gene, making them even more impressive. The photographs used in this blog show the doll wearing her teal top backwards. I can only assume that the photographer who worked with her just could not figure things out. The silver chains on her skirt are also not shown to optimal advantage in the photos.

After I removed everything in preparation for washing, I dressed her in a mini dress that had been manufactured for Barbie and posed her on her stand. She will get her little outfit back once all the manufacturing chemicals and excess dyes have been removed.

Everything, including the vinyl tote and the stand with its telescoping pole were just so well made that I was shocked. Even at the high price, I was still not expecting her to be this nice.

Her face up is exquisitely executed. Her tiny face is approximately a fourth of the size you see above, so you can see why I am pleased. 

The picture above shows her close up while still in her packaging. You can see what the top looks like when it is not backwards. The color is off in this photo, her eyes and clothing are teal, not deep blue.

The finish sanding on this doll was flawless. You have to look close to detect seams and all of the seams are spotlessly clean. She was manufactured in a clean environment with high quality control standards. The molding of her hands and feet is amazing; they are superior to the appearance of those typically found on even the higher end 16 inch and larger fashion dolls. The quality of her glass eyes is also excellent. Under close scrutiny, this doll remains impressive.

She is far more delicately built than an Obitsu. Her feet and hands are more delicate than those found on the three 1/6 Obitsu adult female doll bodies. Her wrists and ankles are perhaps around half the thickness of these dolls. She has similar joints and is stiff like an Obitsu. However, she is not tough like these vinyl dolls and cannot be firmly twisted into poses. What works for an Obitsu could break this doll. You have to gently ease her into poses taking care not to put pressure on her lower arms or legs where she is her thinnest and most fragile. Theoretically, she should be able to assume nearly any pose that an Obitsu or Urban Vita (see my earlier review of that doll) can assume. However, the delicacy of her body causes me to recommend caution here.

The only truly poor feature of this doll is her hair. It is in a word: AWFUL. One can easily understand how some had deluded themselves into believing this permanently attached wig was removable and then broke the poor dolls head trying to pry it off. It is so bad that you wish is was interchangeable...you so want to take it off!!

Although the wig does look as good as it does in the pictures shown here. It is made out of such coarse material that it feels very rough to the touch. If I didn't know that it was made from synthetic materials, I could have confused it with horsehair. It does feel like it was cut from the tail of a horse! In the pictures it's shown as it is packaged; with the hair constrained by a band of thread wrapped midway down the length of the hair. If you remove this thread, as I did, you will be horrified to see the hair spring forth into this wild mass of unruly curls that fly out to take up more space than the tiny little doll herself.

I tried to bring the hair in hand by styling it into several small braids. That was impossible. I gave up and braided it into one thick braid. I will do research to see if I can remove the hair by soaking it in warm water. If there is truly no easy way to remove it without damaging the head, I will probably resort to cutting it to about a 3rd its current length.

The vinyl boots were also another negative about this doll. They are attractive and feature very nice detailing in the form of texture and seams that are not visible in these pictures. They are open in a slit down the back. The problem was that they were wedged very tightly onto her feet with the thick double layer of socks making it almost impossible for me to remove them. I made several gentle attempts to pull them free and realized that the application of any real force could damage or break her hinged ankle joints. Luckily, I own an extremely small, but razor sharp pair of scissors made for delicate crafting. I was able to slide the scissors under the vinyl and lengthen the back slit. After doing that, I used a pair of smooth finished jeweler's metal bending/curling pliers to gently pull on the heel while clasping the calf. The trick to not breaking the doll was in maintaining equal force while pulling on one end and holding the other. It worked; the boots look perfectly fine and the doll is unscathed. However this was so difficult to do that I will never buy another J-Doll with boots. I would also not recommend that you do what I did if you do not have high dexterity and scissors tiny enough to slip in and cut open the backs without scratching the doll. You should not have to do what I did to get these boots off.

I will not use these boots on this doll - I will replace them with something better. I swear that I was thanking the powers that be that I was able to get them off safely! Yes...boots from hell!

Another negative was the packaging. Although it should be said that people who cannot remove this doll safely from her packaging should not own the doll, the packaging does increase the likelihood that heavy handed, impatient people will break her when taking her out of the box. She is packaged in a window style box. She is posed on one side while some of her accessories and clothing are positioned on the other. Everything is held in place by clear vinyl strips that are secured on the backside with adhesive tape. Vinyl coated twist ties are used to secure her neck and waist to the packing. She is thus held into her pose. The package is well made and keeps her safe and undamaged. The problem comes in when heavy handed and/or impatient people try to remove her from the box. The cardboard backing to which the doll is attached should be removed from the box and the adhesive tape and twist ties carefully removed before any attempt is made to pull the doll away from the box. I could see this was what had to be done instantly, but I can also see how someone who was impatient might not get this and just try to peel her out of the box. 

I have seen people remove things from packages by pulling on items that were twist tied into place using the force of their pull to undo the ties! Heck, I've seen people remove things from packages with their teeth! Clearly, these people probably would be better collecting vintage pet rocks.

I think that the manufacturer should consider packaging them like BJD or Horsman dolls are packaged. Instead of using tape and wires, they should be held in place by cushioning, making them far easier to remove from their boxes. Dolls this fragile should simply be lifted from their packaging. It is fine to package sturdy dolls, such as Barbie, wired into poses in window style boxes, but for higher end fragile dolls like this, a closed, cushioned box is more appropriate.

Would I recommend J-Dolls?

Yes, but with the warning that you should not add her to your collection just because she's beautiful. You should add her only if you are dexterous and can handle her with delicacy. If you cannot do that, or have others in your household who would handle her roughly, you shouldn't buy her. At $90 to $250, you don't want to risk having a doll that will be broken.

Do I find that I like having this doll in my collection?

Yes, she is complimentary to my collection. All of my dolls, even though they are traditional fashion dolls or BJDs, have similar subtly painted face ups. She suits my style and is a addition that enhances my collection rather than distracts from it.

What is the feedback I've been getting from others who see her like?

Most people who've seen her think she's very pretty. One did say that she was creepy looking and reminded him of a bug, but he has issues with all large eyed dolls with glass or acrylic eyes. A female viewer took one look at her, said she was beautiful and then noticed her arms and legs were jointed and was shocked. She asked why anyone would make a doll this small and thin with bendable joints that were so tiny that they shouldn't even work. She also would not touch her fearful that she could break simply by being picked up. I have her posed with my 27cm Obitsu and her delicacy in comparison with this doll of similar height is visually striking. Although delicate herself, the Obitsu is substantial next to this J-Doll.

Would I buy another J-Doll?

I will consider it when I have more cabinet space. As it is, my dolls are crowded and this delicate lady is vying for space with far bigger, rock solid girls like my Tonners. For now, she and the Obitsu gal will have to keep each other company. I do admit, that I am likely to be tempted...and will cave.

What would I change about the doll?

The hair! I think she should have a removable wig and that it should be of a far superior quality. This pseudo horse hair wig is not good enough for her. I also think that Groove, Inc should manufacture a line of clothing for her. It is nearly impossible to find clothes made for her. In fact, I think that I will probably have to use clothes made for Barbie or make them myself, which I don't really want to do. Sewing for a 1/4 or 1/3 doll is a pleasure...but these 1/6 dolls are so small it would be too much like work!

In a later posting, I will feature her and the Obitsu to show the differences in their sizes. These dolls can wear the same clothing and shoes, but they are radically different in structure and appearance. I am not sure which is my favorite, the curvaceous Obitsu or the gracile J-Doll.

Doll Collecting ~ Archiving & Conservation Issues

As someone who has worked as both an artist and a crafts person for many years, I have developed some familiarity with the use of archival quality materials and conservation. I am not an expert - not by a long shot! However, I do have enough knowledge to give helpful advice and to point out issues that should be of concern to you as a serious doll collector.

The two issues of primary concern for a doll collector are the preservation of the actual physical doll and her accessories and the avoidance of exposure to substances and conditions that can cause harm. Unfortunately, some of the standard practices of doll collectors and collectors in general work against the preservation of the dolls themselves.

In this blog, I am going to try to give you all of the information you need to know in order to care well for your precious little people, so that they can be around for a long, long time. I will update this blog whenever I learn something new, discover I need to correct or amend something, or if I think of something that should be included. My hope is that you'll get most of your answers here and won't have to bother with researching complicated scientific details elsewhere. I will also keep it very simple...that works best for me!

I am a practicing visual artist who has worked with acrylics, oils, watercolors, etc. I've learned a bit about archival materials and conservation while learning to paint. I've also had some experience in restoring and/or preserving antique clothing and other vintage items such as furniture, ivory, porcelain dolls, etc. Although I cannot pretend to be a professional conservator with a specialty in dolls, I do have a sound knowledge base, which will prevent me from unknowingly giving poor advice.

Factory Packaging

I am starting with what has to be the most controversial area among doll collectors - the preservation of factory packaging. There are two schools of thought on this 1) You should keep the doll in the factory packaging and dolls that are never removed from packaging should be priced the most highly; 2) You should remove the doll, and display and enjoy her doing your best to keep her in good condition. From a conservation perspective, option 2 is the only option. The materials in factory packaging will ultimately decimate the doll.

When your new doll arrives, immediately remove her from the packaging. Cardboard contains acids that can damage both the doll and her clothing. The cardboard itself is in a state of rapid decomp, even if it looks fine to the naked eye. The wood fibers in cardboard and paper contain a high degree of acid, which causes them to break down rather quickly. Additionally, the packaging will be treated with various chemicals that will off-gas and cause damage to the doll and her clothing. Dyes in the paper can leach onto the doll. Finishes on the backing paper can become sticky and adhere to the doll's skin with the passage of time. Much depends on humidity, exposure to fluctuations of hot/cold, etc. The chemicals in the packaging and the environment they are are stored in will work together to trash the packaged doll. 

These chemicals and their potential for harm will not be disclosed by the manufacturers because they are only obligated to disclose poisonous chemicals. It is safest just to assume they are there - whatever they may be.

If you wish to store the factory packaging, find a cool, dry place to store it. Having it on hand to include with your doll should you sell her, may increase the price by a small amount. 

Personal aside: I have been storing my boxes, but I think that I will probably reach the point where I become frustrated over the space they are taking up and recycle them. I think we need to get over this whole "original packaging" issue and stop rewarding and encouraging the practice, since it does result in a lot of damage to dolls.

Clothing

There are two major concerns with clothing - the preservation of the clothing itself and protection of the doll from dyes and chemicals in the fabric. There is a very simple answer to this - wash the dang things! Doll clothing can be safely hand-washed in cool or warm water. Those items that are exceptions such as real fur pieces, leather, etc. should be stored in sealed packets and worn only briefly by your doll. Silk and other delicate fabrics can be safely hand-washed in cold water using a mild detergent. After washing, thoroughly rinse them following with at least two final rinses in distilled water to remove anything that may have been in your tap water. This washing will remove excess dyes and manufacturing chemicals that may damage your doll or the fabric itself. 

All sorts of chemicals are used to treat fabric: Sizing, flame retardants, starch, anti-microbial agents, water proofing, fade retardants, and so on. You will not be able to determine what may be in your fabric and you will not be able to determine just what the threat to your doll will be from whatever was used, so just wash everything immediately upon purchase. 

The most dangerous chemicals in the fabric is likely to be the sizing and/or starch used on most woven fabrics to give them body and stiffness. Starch and sizing (pretty much the same product) are highly acidic and cause a fairly rapid deterioration of fabric, especially if it is made from natural fibers. Cotton is very vulnerable to damage from sizing & starch and it is among the fabrics most likely to be treated with it by manufacturers. The acid in the sizing can also damage your doll, but the damage will take much longer to make itself noticeable. Sizing and starch are responsible for the general deterioration most commonly referred to as dry rot. In fact, the term dry rot seems to be used to describe just about anything that causes the fabric to crumble into dust. 

Damage from dyes is probably the most noticeable and often the most heartbreaking. A simple preventative measure is - once again - washing. All dyes can bleed regardless of intensity, but it is the dark colored clothing that causes the most damage. Dark and brilliantly colored clothes should be soaked in warm water with a somewhat stronger solution of laundry detergent. They should be soaked multiple times to encourage the loss of as much excess dye as possible. I have done this many, many times and have yet to have a single doll garment fade by doing this. Silk and cotton denims tend to show the most dye bleed. It may frighten you to wash silk if you haven't done it before, but it will work out fine and the potential that your silk garment will be a little less bright is far less of an issue then having that lovely doll damaged by the dye. Thus far, I have not had noticeable fading on any silk clothing. 

Even stockings and panties should be washed. Even very pale or white fabrics should be washed!

If you make your own doll clothes, always wash your fabrics before assembling them into garments. Wash them after assembly to remove any chemicals that could have been transferred by your hands.

The dress shown on Evangeline below is a Tonner "Eye of the Beholder" dress that was washed in warm water several times over to encourage maximum dye bleed. Note that it did not lighten the dress or cause any damage to the pleather choker with its inset gems.

Fabric Longevity: According to something I read recently the longest lasting fabrics are the synthetics such as polyester, followed by wool, cotton, silk and linen (in that order). All of these fabrics have the potential of lasting hundreds of years with the exception of linen, which may not last a century under even optimal conditions. Rayon is a natural fiber that is typically a blend of cotton and other natural fibers, it should be treated as such. Wool is the longest lasting of the natural fibers but is the most vulnerable to insect damage. Polyester and similar products have the greatest potential longevity, but are more prone to deterioration due to exposure to UV and heat.

Doll Hair

Although less of a problem then clothing, doll hair can still expose your doll to dyes and chemicals that can be damaging through time. Again, the solution is to wash it. If it is a wig, wash it in cool water with a mild detergent and rinse thoroughly. Gently blot dry with a towel. Rinse rooted hair with cool water and blot dry. If you notice dye bleed on the towel (this should never happen with rooted hair on a quality doll), wash the hair with a mild detergent and rinse. "Fur" wigs may bleed dyes simply because the fibers cannot solidly retain pigment the way saran hair fibers can. If you notice excess dye bleed while washing any wig, and the wig does not stop bleeding dye with repeated rinses, you may want to consider tossing it in the trash. (Also, blog and warn the rest of us!)

Flowers, hats, and other hair ornaments: Wash them. Wash fabrics before constructing hats and other head pieces. Wash purchased headpieces without exception. Most will survive a wash in cold water with a mild detergent. The greater threat than damage to the headpiece is dye bleed into rooted doll hair. Although dye stains can be removed from a doll's skin, dye stains in hair are pretty much impossible to remove. If the doll has rooted hair and it is stained you may have to remove the hair and start using wigs. Metal and plastic clips are usually safe but you should use care in positioning them as you may tear or break hair if you are too rough.

Almost all doll hair is very resistant to fading from exposure to light. However, human hair and fur wigs can fade. As a rule, keeping the dolls displayed in a cabinet with UV glass and making sure they are out of direct sunlight should prevent all but the most fragile of wigs from fading.

Your Hands ~ Goodness, Even You are a Threat!

Almost everyone already knows this, even if they are a total newbie to the world of doll collecting. Always wash your hands before handling your dolls. Your skin secretes oils to lubricate your skin that are detrimental to your doll's health and well-being. These natural oils can give your doll a slick appearance, grind in surface dirt, and may be acidic (this actually depends a good bit on your diet and general health, etc.), which can cause deterioration over time to the doll and her clothing. If you will be handling a doll for more than just a brief period of time, wear rubber gloves. If you are doing a face up or repairing a doll, you will be handling it long enough for the oils to return and you will rub them into the doll's skin. 

Avoid using hand lotion ahead of handling your dolls. Traces of the lotion can remain after multiple hand washings, so if you know in advance that you will be working working with your dolls, hold off on moisturizing your hands. As with all things chemical, think like a conservator and assume that these products do contain something harmful and take proper precautions.

Keep your dolls in cabinets to deter others from just picking them up. Encourage others to wash their hands before handling the dolls and be firm about this, even if they give you attitude! These are your babies and they are costly!

Light Exposure:

Much has been made of UV exposure lately - our bodies, our cars, our collectibles, etc. are all in potentially grave danger from UV rays. It can seem like exposure to any light form can be a danger to anything. At the very least, exposure to light can cause fading. At the worse, it can cause some materials to crumble or discolor (resin). The fear of light has caused so many people to take excessive precautions and spend huge chunks of money on specially designed cabinets with special non-florescent lights and UV resistant glass.

If you have resin dolls in your collection, you should protect them from all exposure to UV light. If they are not kept in a window free room, they should be closed in a cabinet with solid doors during daytime hours. Cabinets with UV blocking glass are a good option, but they can be very costly. Retrofitting existing cabinets with UV glass is a great option for those who are good with their hands. Exposure to UV will cause resin dolls to turn yellow and can cause the resin itself to deteriorate. New resins are being made with UV resistant materials and you are strongly encouraged to purchase your new dolls from manufacturers who use this material. The actual effect of UV light will vary from doll to doll. There are other variables, such as finish varnishes, heat and humidity that have an effect that is not fully understood or predictable. As with those bleeding dyes - take the precaution and reduce or eliminate exposure altogether.

If you have a collection of vinyl dolls and/or porcelain dolls, heave a sigh of relief. Although you should not display your dolls in bright sunlight, you do not have to worry about the horrors of UV exposure the way the owner of a resin doll does. Your doll will be fine under normal lighting conditions with exposure to indirect sunlight, such as that which filters through a curtain or from a nearby window. Many of you probably already know this through experience. A vinyl doll can actually take exposure to direct sunlight. This will not cause any damage unless the doll is left in the sunlight for a prolonged period of time. It is the clothing and face ups that could fade with exposure to excessive bright light. A face up done with quality materials, such as Liquitex, Golden and Windsor & Newton paint, will not fade even under extreme circumstances. Factory face ups done by quality manufactures should not fade either. The clothing will be the most vulnerable, but should be fine without direct exposure and do even better if kept in a cabinet with UV blocking glass. (Other plastic dolls tend to do as well as vinyl, however you may wish to err on the safe side and keep them in a cabinet with UV glass.)

I have items that date back to the 19th century and earlier that show no significant fading, so I do believe that ordinary protective measures should be adequate in most situations.

Fabrics that fade readily in intense direct sunlight include cotton, silk, and linen. The synthetics are the most colorfast, however the UV light itself can damage synthetic fibers. My experience has been that cotton fades the fastest in direct sunlight. There are dyes and chemical treatments that resist fading, but you may not be able to determine if your fabric has them and they may be damaging to the doll and the clothing fibers.

Cabinets - You Thought They Were Safe!

You spent hundreds, even thousands on a cabinet and now I am going to tell you that even it could be unsafe? Sorry, but I am going to do just that. The wood, the stains, the varnishes, the various polymer products that could be in the cabinet can off-gas releasing chemicals that can cause deterioration in your dolls and/or their clothing. In fact, some chemicals used in the manufacture of furniture are so dangerous when they off-gas that they can actually pit stones and porcelain. Many museums learned about this the hard way...a closed cabinet concentrates the gases and actually accelerates the damage making it more dangerous to put them in cabinets than to leave them on an open shelf.

Archival cabinets are available from vendors such as Gaylord and these are an excellent option...if you've got a lot of money to spare. Even the smallest of cabinets manufactured with lab tested archival materials can cost nearly as much as a used car. I do know that there are collectors out there who would think nothing of spending a large sum of money for a display cabinet, but that is not an option for most of us.

What can we, the humble collector who doesn't have deep pockets, do to safely display our collection? How can we even know if our cabinet is safe, since we can't test it and don't really even know the first thing about testing? Buy a used cabinet. Off-gassing from the furniture is most pronounced after it is first manufactured. There is little or no off-gassing from older pieces of furniture. If the furniture has been continuously polished using a heavy duty product on the interior surfaces - it is probably off-gassing. Otherwise, an older wooden cabinet should be safe for your dolls. A good, but not 100% foolproof test, is to sniff the interior of the cabinet. If you smell varnish or cleaning solutions, don't buy it.

Keep your cabinet safe by never using chemicals on the inside. Dust and clean the glass with a damp cloth. Avoid placing any scented materials in the cabinet. Yes, some people do put things inside their cabinets to make the dolls smell pretty...not good!

Cabinets with a laminated finish may continue to off-gas forever, so they should be avoided unless you can actually determine that the cabinet is archival (some archival cabinets are made exclusively with metal and man made materials).

Avoid cabinets that use Lucite or Plexiglas instead of real glass. Both of these products are notorious for off-gassing. If they are PVC (polyvinyl chloride) they can do some serious damage.

The best bet if you, or your significant other, are handy with power tools, is to build your own cabinets. You can do online research and find vendors who sell archival quality materials and UV glass. This will offer you a significant savings over purchasing a ready made archival cabinet, but it could involve a huge investment of time and effort.

Clothing Storage

Your clothing should be stored away from sunlight in a place where the items will not be exposed to either heat or moisture. Light colored items should not be stored in contact with dark items. Ideally, each set of clothing should be sealed in an airtight Ziploc type bag. Unfortunately, these bags may be made from PVC containing polymers that may damage the garments. Thankfully, there is an affordable answer. Gaylord, the company mentioned above in reference to the cabinets, sells archival Ziploc type bags! And they are very affordable! You can also purchase archival document sleeves form an office supply store. However, these don't seal closed and cannot be made airtight. Nonetheless, the document sleeves can be a good budget solution if you have a very large collection of doll clothes that you want to quickly repackage in an archival manner.

Never, and I strongly repeat NEVER, use mothballs to store clothing. They are hazardous to your health. Simply breathing the fumes can cause serious health problems. Prolonged exposure in seniors who were taught to use mothballs to protect stored clothing, is a serious and potentially fatal problem. If you are in a position where you must handle items that have been mothballed, wear protective gloves and use a respirator. If you are actually considering using this foul stuff use this link Are Mothballs Toxic?

Shoes

The primary problem with shoes is staining. Suede and synthetic suede are probably the worst culprits when it comes to dye bleed, followed by real leather. Shoes cannot be safely washed, as this will destroy them if they are not made with water resistant glue.  An easy solution is to use acrylic varnish - the paint on variety usually sold right next to the artist's acrylics that you've purchased for your face ups. These varnishes are easily painted onto the inside surfaces of the shoes and can create a barrier between the doll's foot and the shoe. I've used Liquitex varnish with good results. This varnish is flexible, it does not make your shoes rigid and will not deteriorate with normal use.

Cloth and ribbon shoes may become stiffer with the application of varnish, but this will not present a problem. The acrylic varnish can also make your fragile cloth and ribbon shoes more durable.

Suede and synthetic suede may still dye bleed after varnishing, especially if they have dark or bright dyes. I have personally been so frustrated by suede, that I have decided not to buy any more shoes made from this material. Suede shoes made for the larger feet of SD BJDs may be lined, which should offer enough protection especially after you've varnished the interior surface.

In closing...

I hope that I've been helpful! I hope that I've given you some good ideas for safely caring for your collection. I hope I've inspired you to question some of the dangerous practices some collectors engage in such as keeping dolls in original boxes and not washing the clothes, thereby speeding their deterioration in the mistaken belief they are preserving value.

I will be updating this as I learn more and hope that people who read this post will share problems they've had related to the conservation of their collection.

Obitsu Doll Update II

My lovely 27cm Obitsu doll has undergone many changes...

CAUTION - DOLL PORN

I tried a second face up, which I am not pleased with for obvious reasons. Unlike the first one, this face up is not so horribly botched that I am afraid to post it. As you can see, her dang skin shines more than her glass eyes. She also looks harsh like a tart ready to sell her wares on the street, something I really don't like in a doll. I also didn't like the eyelashes I applied and I am not sure that I will use applied eyelashes on my small dolls. The painted eyelashes actually looked better alone than the "insects" I glued to her lids later.

I still need to work a bit on my eye positioning skills, but they are not as mispositioned as they appear - the flash makes it look more off. I swear that I'll have them perfect and look hours or days later and they've moved. (Could be ghosts?)

I worked on her while working on a SD BJD head that was much larger. The larger head did come out better, but this was more due to the fact that it was resin than to its size. The matte finish was truly matte on the resin doll. I gave them both the same number of sealant coatings, but the Obitsu head was the only one that shined afterwards. I've seen other pics of shiny Obitsu doll heads posted online, so I think it is possible that it is a problem caused by the softness of the vinyl and I will alter my spraying technique for the next face up.

Nonetheless, she still looks decent enough to display as she waits for her new face up. She is shown above wearing a special addition Barbie fairy costume. The wig is a Monique wig which is far more beautiful than it looks in my photograph. 

Her breasts are pretty much bursting from the Barbie dress. I am so jealous! I did have to have at least one doll with a huge bust line.

I now have a "Spirit" resin doll head mounted on this body. She had a more finely featured face, but isn't quite as pretty. Spirit is manufactured by Illusion Spirit and has normal sized eyes on a fairly-like face; the Obitsu girl has abnormally large eyes on a human like face. I have received feedback from people who overwhelmingly like the Spirit head over the Obitisu head, primarily because she doesn't have the large eyes. However, I do like the Obitsu head myself and plan to put her on a less curvaceous Obitsu body after I finally have a face up I like.

Until I had done the second face up on the Obitsu head and had installed the Illusion Spirit head on the Obitsu body, I had a strong preference for the Illusion Spirit head. Now that I have had time to "live with" both heads and evaluate their potential, my opinion of the appearance of the Obitsu head is far more favorable. I do hope that my next face up is closer to the ideal I have visualized.

The doll head shown to the left is the bare Aildoll/Custom House Ceebee I gave a face up to at the same time I worked on the Obitisu doll. Although, the matte finish came out better on her, she was just as difficult to paint as the much smaller Obitsu doll head. I purchased her new without one of those pairs of random eyes they all seem to come with preinstalled. I wasn't sure I'd actually liked her until I bought her eyes and tried them out. Although she will not be one of my favorites because she's an adult female with a somewhat infantile face, she is still very cute...with the eyes installed! 

I don't think the face up is better on this doll, the fact that it does not shines makes all the difference. She looks good enough to display as she waits for next face up. I will glue on her eyelashes after I have a face up that is satisfactory, which may take a couple more attempts.

I've had considerable experience painting with both acrylics and oils on canvas, so I already possessed all of the materials and the basic skill set long before I ever thought of purchasing a doll. However, my years of working two dimensionally on a radically different surface mean that I have to make adjustments in my approach and technique. Therefore, even though I have an advantage in that I can actually work without my hand shaking and know how to blend paints, I am still a beginner.

The wig shown on CeeBee is a D.U.C.K. wig purchased from the Doll Peddlar. It works well on round faced dolls with large eyes like CeeBee, but isn't very flattering on dolls with more normal faces. It is very well constructed and the hair is exceptionally nice and had virtually no fly aways.

Future Planned Updates on the Obitsu Lady:

• Clothing & Shoes - What fits, what needs to be altered, quality issues, pitfalls of Barbie clothing, etc.
• The face up of the new Illusion Spirit resin head
• The face up of the Obitsu head and new body purchase
• A body comparison of Obitsu with recently purchased J-Doll complete with "doll porn"

Urban Vita Doll Review

Specs: 16.5 inch mechanical BJD fashion doll, 19 points of articulation, full range of motion 
BJD: Ball Joint Doll, dolls with ball joints are BJDs regardless of whether they are mechanical or strung together with elastic. Obitsu dolls are hybrid, using a combination of ball and hinged joints. Mechanical BJDs and hybrids tend to be the most posable and often, also the most durable.

As anyone whose done research on the Horsman Urban Vita doll knows, this is a doll collectors either love or hate. Reviewers describe her as being constructed from the "finest vinyl and ABS plastics" or "cheap plastic like an action figure." The reality falls somewhere in between.

When reviewing any doll, it is important to realize that everyone has different tastes and that what is beautiful to some will not be beautiful to others. Additionally, people who love a particular line of dolls, tend to love them passionately, so being overly harsh about the appearance of a doll will hurt someone's feelings. Out of respect for Vita fans, I will admit that I find the Urban Vita head sculpt to be cute and appealing, but not beautiful at the level of something produced by Robert Tonner for example. That is simply a subjective opinion, based on my taste, rather than something that is empirically measurable. 

I recently purchased my Urban Vita through a trusted, well established, eBay vender. She is the new "In the Buff" Urban Vita. She's bald and nude! Her head size takes standard wig size 5-6, so there is a vast selection of wigs available that will fit her. I've included numerous pictures of my Vita in this blog so that you can see how attractive she looks in a wide range of wig styles and colors.

She has a very fair complexion with light green eyes and intensely red lips. The face up is painted in a simple, bold manner, which is too harsh for my taste. Although the wigs soften her appearance, I still don't really like the way she looks in comparison with my Asian, Tonner, and Madame Alexander dolls. My taste runs towards subtle, natural appearing face ups, so Vita looks a bit like a tart to me. With that said, she's still very cute, as you can see.

One of the things that I feel make an Urban Vita a good purchase is her price (this one ranges from $60 to $80) and her posability. She can be a great doll for those who like to photograph their dolls in natural settings. Her body is also a very affordable option for those who are considering purchasing a JaimeShow replacement body for their Tonner fashion model heads.

She is equal to an Obitsu doll in posability. In some areas she exceeds the Obitsu. For example, she is outstanding for seated poses, which an Obitsu does about as well as a Tonner. She can assume relaxed slouched and draped positions better than any doll I've worked with. Her knees are easily kept together for ladylike poses, her feet have a full range of motion allowing them to be curved to the side gracefully when she's sitting. The Obitsu can assume a few more poses than a Vita, but doesn't look as graceful or as natural.

Her joints move more freely than any doll I have in my collection. She holds her poses nearly as well as an Obitsu. Unlike the Obitsu, once she's posed moving her can cause the pose to shift a bit. Obitsu owners know that once you've posed that doll, you can move it around without disturbing the pose. In fact, someone told me you could throw an Obitsu against the wall and it would still keep its pose - I have no plans to test that theory.

The Vita stands independently almost as well as dolls that have fixed ankles. She is well balanced and can stand well in heels. (As with all my dolls, I don't display her standing without a stand and only pose her free standing when I take pictures. Free standing dolls will ultimately topple over.) Because she is well balanced, the Vita can stand in a variety of poses. Unlike some of my Tonner dolls, I am not limited to just a couple of poses - her arms don't tilt her over if her torso is kept fairly straight.

Her head, hands, and feet are made of vinyl. The rest of her body is constructed of a hard polymer material (plastic). The plastic is not fully rigid and will not split under normal stress or fracture easily when dropped. You don't need to be as careful with Vita as you would be with a resin doll. However, she should not be manipulated into position with the firm hand you might be used to using with a far more sturdy Tonner or Obitsu product.

It's my opinion that Horsman should actually look towards the higher quality vinyl and plastic products used by Obitsu, Tonner, and Madame Alexander. The same doll, made using better materials would be a far superior product. Nonetheless, this doll is still a good addition to a collection, espeicially if you are looking for an affordable, highly posable fashion doll.

Horsman has engineered the Vita's joints extrodinarily well. In fact, in this one area, they exceed Obitsu, in my opinion. She moves with a fluidity only seen in strung BJDs. But unlike strung BJDs, you don't have to hold (or tie) her in her pose. You can let go and she stays!

Her body is beautiful, she is slender and toned with shapely, graceful legs that are somewhat longer than those on the average fashion doll. Her breasts are medium sized and she is moderately curved at the waist, so that she looks like a normally proportuned woman. Her hands are very well proportuned. They are naturally sized instead of being abnormally small and short in length, which is a common problem with fashion dolls. The hands have wonderful fingernails that extend beyond the fingertips. Unfortunately, they were so poorly painted that they may as well have been those little depressed square shapes found on most other dolls. Her hinged feet are very cute. They are shorter and chubbier than most dolls her size making it difficult to find shoes that either fit and/or look good. I have found that it's best to just test shoes from your existing collection. You will find Sybarite, Tonner, and Gene shoes that will work and ones that won't. She cannot wear Madame Alexander shoes. She is also one of those rare dolls that can wear thong sandles. (I so love this feature!)

Now on to the totally unacceptable feature of the Urban Vita. Her entire body is painted! Yes, this is true. Horror or horrors! She is molded from flesh toned vinyl and hard plastic and then everything is airbrushed with a flesh toned paint. This is not done because her plastic body needed to be matched to the vinyl head, hands, and feet, it is done to speed up the manufacturing process. I know of no other producer of fashion dolls for the adult collector who engages in this practice. In my opinion, it is done to conceal sloppy manufacturing. The finish sanding was poor and their assembly area must be unclean because dirt had been glued into some of the seams. Basically, they take a beautifully designed and engineered doll, make it out of second rate polymers and then try to paint it to hide the flaws.

In the picture shown above, you can clearly see that she is a beautiful doll. The dark blond wig softens the harshness of her face up. But I am still not satisfied, since she does not go well with my collection of Tonner (Ellowynn Wilde, Evangeline Ghastly, Tonner fashion dolls), Madame Alexander (Alex Fairchild Ford collection), and Asian dolls. She looks harsh, in my opinion. She doesn't have the subtle, finely executed face up that all my other dolls have.

Because of my disatisfaction, I had someone with professional expertise in vinyl and plastic completely strip her of all paint and remove the face up. They also finish sanded her so that she now looks smooth. There are still a few areas where a faint trace of dirt can be seen in the seams, but these are so faint that you can only see them up close. The body looked so much better afterwards. In fact, just looking at her "new" body had me online ordering a replacement head. She now has a Tonner "Death Becomes Her" head (Magnolia face sculpt) and she looks wonderful. The Tonner head's pale skin tone is a near perfect match; it is so close that the difference has to be pointed out before it is noticable and it actually matches better than the original Vita head. She became a different doll with her lovely Horsman body and stunningly realistic head.

The "Death Becomes Her" is a special edition zombie doll head. She was given a face up designed to make her look aggressive and...well...dead. Her hair is wonderful - very thick and soft. I like the face up, it is bold without looking trashy, but I am planning to give her a new face up once I've refined my skills a little more.

Right now, my Tonner/Horsman hybrid doll is sitting in my display cabinet wearing a black and white Goth body suit, black thigh highs and brown leather boots. She's waiting for me to sew the rest of her ensemble for her. I was so excited that I immediately designed her a special Goth outfit! It will be months before I get to it!

It is remarkably easy to put a Tonner head on a Vita body. Use the hot water soak method to temporarily soften the Tonner head and then pop it onto the Vita body before it cools and resumes its rigidity. The Urban Vita's head is made of a much softer vinyl and can be gently eased off without soaking in hot water - it took me two seconds to gently remove it. The Vita's neck and neck knob are nearly the same size as a Tonner doll's, so the Tonner head fits so well that looks like it was made for the Vita body. The Tonner head will not flop around and will as move as freely as it did on a Tonner body. In fact, installing  these heads on Vita bodies produces far more satisfactory results than putting them on a vastly more expensive JaimeShow body. (If you've never done this before, please research Tonner head removal before trying this. Please do not attempt this with boiling hot water - it doesn't need to be that hot and you could scald yourself!)

WIGS - With the exception of the short platinum bobbed wig shown in the picture above, all of these wigs were manufactured by Monique. They range in price from $10 to $30 dollars. All are high quality. A customizable silicon head cap was used to keep them in place. The short platimum bobbed wig was manufactured by Hujoo. The band around the outer edge of the skull cap is tighter than the internal bands and this causes the wig poof up. The hair is also unacceptably coarse, so I won't recommend this company. With the exception of the Hujoo wig, all of these wigs were purchased from the Doll Peddlar an American vendor who offers exceptional customer service. 

 

JEWELRY: I strung the necklace using glass beads and findings purchased from JoAnne's.

CAT: Not manufactured by Chinese people using dog or cat fur.

SHOES: Manufactured by Tonner. Part of the Ellowyne Wilde "Bright Lights, Big City" outfit originally sold on a Prudence Moody doll. 

OUTFIT: Custom made for DeeAnna Denton dolls by a Scandanavian seamstress. I've actually lost her contact info and will add it if I find it. Stockings, panties, bra, and corset are all part of the same set. This lady is known for creating wonderful outfits for DeeAnna and Silkstone dolls. Wish I could find her info!!!