#oh I also loved minifees bjd

[omegalawliet]

Ever since I was fifteen I’ve always wanted a bjd and I still don’t have one 💔

[kosomolski-dolls]

Forwards to 2016 and we’ve reached the first resin babes! It’s Lena’s Doll History 3 - Mal and Caleb!

A lot of stuff happened in 2016. And on a personal level, I had to realise, that life can end quickly. Very quickly. You start thinking about priorities, if a suicide bomber went off about 200m away from where you live...

So in August 2016 I finally gave in and spent $$$ on my first resin BJDs. Yes, dollS. I could not decide if I wanted a boy or girl doll, and since I really had saved up quite a bit of money, and I had just lived through several eyeopening events within a few months and even days, I said, whatever, can’t use that money if I’m dead, YOLO and all.

I got a Minifee Chloe and Mir. I know, everyone and their grandma has a Minifee, and especially Chloe, but I (almost) never cared about what other people had, thought, or deemed popular. She’s pretty and I don’t regret getting her.

My very first attempts of wig making and their first faceups. Oh god, looking back at them makes me nostalgic.

My first plans for them was making them some fantasy siblings, the children of Sun and Moon, inspired by this very old drawing I did a few years ago. That... didn’t really work out, not only but also because I couldn’t get a nice looking outfit for them and while I commissioned several designs, none of them kinda stuck in the end.

So they were kinda on a “hiatus” for quite some time. I painted both again after about a year or so, and while I was happy with their look, I still couldn’t really bond with them...

Especially Mal was troublesome. So much, that I actually thought about selling her in 2018, when I already had a few more dolls and everyone else kinda had their own character and story, but her...

Until that day I finally got inspired again. I made her a new outfit, a new wig and suddenly I felt a spark of joy when looking at her!

Mal is the doll that has went through the most wigs, the most faceups and the most style changes out of all my dolls... and I kinda liked each of them?

In 2018, my dear friend Saphar actually brought to life these wonderful designs I commissioned from General Cowslip that were created with their old Sun/Moon story in mind. Ana made these outfits so wonderfully and now they’re used as ... let’s say cosplays for my dolls? I love taking photos of them, and even though they’re not their real characters anymore, they look quite good in their god-form I want to say!

Uff, that went on a bit longer than I thought! Thanks for reading if you’re still here =D

[sightdoll]

This isn’t done yet, waiting for the eyelets I ordered to arrive. So it isn’t properly laced up, just pinned, but it’s actually the first Minifee specific corset I’ve ever made! And oh yeah Sia is *cough* new *cough.* Her head arrived separately from her body. By like 3 days. Because I’m a dolt. But oh boy do I love that Fairyland tan, I can not resist it! I love Sia too, she’s my Liria stand in actually. I’m so very pleased that she’s a Fairyline body also. ‘Dem fantasy parts! 👌 #LegitBJD #BJD #BallJointedDoll #Minifee #MinifeeSia #MinifeeCloths #SewingForMinifee #SewingForBJD https://www.instagram.com/p/BvsKkhWgXKD/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1kdi8qs648711

[maxtastique]

Anyone in the hobby has heard it a million times, but here's my voice to the chorus.

Recast are a cancer on this hobby and if you disagree with that, then you are the problem. 

I'm not usually this bold with my opinions, but let's look at my boy here Liam. He's a Dream of Doll Ducan from about 2007. He was one of my first doll crushes. I remember finally searching for BJDs and seeing Ducan's haughty smirk and going OH MAH GAHD. This was about 2006 and I had no way to buy anything worth more than $35 at one time, so I admired him from afar. Then I found other Dream of Doll owners who had gorgeous dolls and I started building a wishlist. 

I got my very first doll in 2011 and, while I still coveted that wishlist, I realized that SD dolls were not my size and went with MSDs and yoSDs. I love them all, but I was still quietly captivated by my first BJD loves. Last year, I decided to start making SD clothing and Ducan popped up on DOA; promptly brought him home and I can't be happier.

But why the good-feels story? Dream of Doll is gone. Do a Google search. They are gone. And every bit of investigation I've done points to recast competition is what closed them down.

Recasts harm this hobby. Whether you ignore that fact or not, they do. You can have your cheap doll and enjoy it and many of you brag how the rest of us can't tell. You got a "deal". You "can't ask your parents to pay $500 for a doll". You "want this doll in 'x' skin color" You want "it as soon as possible". You think there's "no difference in quality". You do what you with your money. Justify it as you will.

But here I am. I waited 6 years for my first doll and built a wishlist as long as my arm and now the company I wanted 6 dolls from is gone, because you got what you wanted. I followed my morals and supported artists and you kids shit in my sandbox.

And look, the secondhand market is screwed, companies are shutting down, people are going on literal recast-hunts, and do you think it's going to get better from here?

Stop it. Please.

I'll never have this grail list of dolls. Dolls that I admired for the last 11 years, planning and saving and making sacrifices toward. Maybe I can get them secondhand, but I'll always doubt their authenticity or I'll pay three times what they're worth. It's not fair.

Recasts are harmful. Please, please stop.

And if your fellow hobbists aren't enough to enlighten you, think about this. 

A legit MSD doll from Fairyland is about $300-$500. They have to charge that much because they need to pay the sculptor per doll, plus staff. You think that's a lot? They likely have a web administrator to handle the website, a sales coordinator to pass along the orders, a studio manager, and at least three-four studio employees who need proper safety equipment like respirators and gloves. If you're paying your employees a true living wage and making sure their health and safety is your priority, you HAVE to charge that much.

So you think SL or any other recaster cares that much? $95 for a Minifee Chloe? Are you kidding me? And shipped within 3 weeks? Sanded? Who is casting all these dolls? How many employees do they have? Do they have true respirators or just painters masks? Do they have healthcare and paid time off? Can they support their family working a regular 40 hour week? Come on, you know that your money isn’t going to the person who actually makes your doll, and as many of you that say you “can’t afford” a legit, you should really be sympathetic to them at the very least.

You don't deserve a doll. You can work and save and sacrifice just like I did. You can do it. You don't need to resort to buying a fake copy. We can turn this around. We can unite and truly bring the hobby back. Imagine what we could do if 100% of our doll money went to artists. Imagine the new sculpts! The props! The clothing!! My wallet weeps at the thought. 

When you decide on your next doll, please choose legit. I don't give a shit if you already have recasts or not, just support the artists and their studios. They're the whole reason we have these beautiful dolls. Please support the foundation of our hobby. Otherwise it's just going to collapse.

tl;dr Buy legit cause artists deserve to get paid, but also studio employees deserve a living wage and health-safe equipment, AND your fellow hobbyists are getting screwed over.

[notallfay]

I realised that the #needlefelted #peppermint #mocha that @peppermintpocky made should have also been included in the picture of Myfi and Veps playing with the #vintage #pollypocket, after I posted the other one. Oh well, it's a good excuse to post this one here! I love all the gifts from @peppermintpocky, they're all just wonderful! I hope you don't have to wait too long for your package! #bjd #balljointeddoll #doll #minifee #mnf #abjd #elf #elfgirl #soony #pixie #fairy #dreamhighstudio #vintagetoys #toy #toys #90stoys #90schild #nostalgia #nostalgic #90s