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.