a bjd's lifespan

My first BJD from early 2005 is a bit more yellow then the newer ones but it isn't something that bothers me. I have friends with BJDs that are older then mine that are also somewhat yellow but I still like the way they look. To me the yellowed skin tone is different but not bad.

 

I have a few Luts CP's and a Soom. Not much noticable yellowing at all and I got my first in 2005. My oldest has yellowed a tad, but his skin colour actually looks more realistic now. He is Beauty white, now he looks like Asian nobility (not much tan, but a fine cream skin). So I do not mind the "yellowing" factor at all. Infact compared with soft Barbie like dolls BJD will not degrade to slimey plastic that warps and deforms (a scarey thing that seems to happen to Matel plastics). They seem to hold their integral shape a heck of a lot better.

 

{edit:} ><;;; Sorry, sorry, sorry for not being that thorough, you guys. By past it's prime I meant old and kind of deteriorating.

 

Uh...not really. How do you define 'past its prime'? If you mean an older doll, I think most people would, if they still liked it, give it a bit of freshening up if needed-re-sueding, restringing, maybe a bit of sanding or scrubbing to de-yellow, new faceup and possibly a change of wig/eyes/clothing style. If they no longer wanted it, I'd think they'd sell it on. If you mean one in poor condition or something, again, I'd think the answer would be freshening up/repairs. Unless of course, they didn't want it, in which case they'd probably either sell it or give it away, I guess. I know that if I had a doll that was old and in poor condition I would do my best to restore/repair it or to have it repaired by someone else (if the deterioration was of a sort I couldn't fix on my own). I have a couple of boys who are 3+ years old now (which really isn't *that* old compared to the ones others have which are 5 to ten years old, but they still aren't exactly new) and in need of restringing/sanding or de-yellowing and possiby a new faceup, actually. I just haven't had the inclination to do it as of yet. (lazy lazy lazy XP)

 

I too don't get what you mean by it ^ ^;; sorry.

But if it's as Hominivorax said, I would simply give them a re-do in their faceup as well as restring and clean them. Generally freshen up [ Although I have no idea how to resting or do a FU so my friend does that for me ^o^ ]

 

I'm with Hominivorax - not sure how you mean.
Two possibilities:
1) Esthetically: Some dolls (like people!) get stale with the same character and style and need to be changed up a bit.
2) Emotionally: If you're just not attached to it anymore (or other dolls have relegated it to the shelf for too long), and playing with it for a bit isn't doing it for you, most people sell or give them away.

 

A doll might become yellow over time but there are treatments to reverse that. Other than yellowing, it's not like dolls have an expiration date or something. They don't rot, crumble to dust, or fall apart. O_o

 

My oldest doll is almost six years old, he yellowed, but other than that, he is still beautiful. In fact, he is still my favorite and I don't consider him 'past it's prime' at all! I just, like my other dolls, regularly clean him, make new clothes, get new wigs, have a new face-up done..because it's fun to re-invent his look again and again, and he still surprises me! I think, if you take good care of your dolls, with the years they only become more dear to you, instead of deteriorating

 

I'm strange... I honestly can't wait to have a doll that's cracked and faded. I would love to rescue an abused dolly that someone found was "past it's prime". They don't have to be all pretty and flawless. It's the flaws that bring out the character I think.

 

Well, I would not consider even the first-ever BJDs to be particularly 'old'. I've got other types of dolls that are much older than any BJD could ever be - and if I get bored with them, I make them another outfit, buy them another wig, etc.

I would think I'd do the same thing with my BJDs when I get tired of their look. New faceup, new wig, new clothes, maybe restringing and sueding...
Or if I no longer loved the doll I'd sell it. (I can't imagine at the moment, but then, I'm a very new owner... LOL!!)

 

I'll assume you mean physically old and not your emotional attachment to it or the character it's the shell of, in which case...Uhh...fix it? There's nothing on a BJD that isn't entirely fixable, sure it may end up with some battle scars, but some of us prefer them that way so this is a pretty moot point tbh.

 

Realize the two of you have been together for 30 years, pop her head back on, try and remember where he spare hand is, and ignore her blemishes. The only forever physically perfect doll stays in their box untouched.

My beloved balljoint is yellowing to the point of going green, has wig stains, chips here and there, and priceless memories. I'd only give up physical interactions with him if he was delicate to the point of crumbling. Having some old school composition dolls I know crumbling is a long long long way away.

 

At this time, I would likely sell the doll to someone and hope that the new owner could restore it and make it beautiful once again, or that they could enjoy the doll even with its flaws. If I could do face-ups myself, I would try removing the face-up and then attempting to reverse the yellowing and give him/her a new face-up. I've been trying to buy mostly normal skinned dolls lately, though, to minimize yellowing. However, if only the doll's body was damaged/yellowed and the head was still in good condition, I'd just sell the body for a low price and buy the doll a new body.

 

What-what-what???

Geesh... aBJDs haven't been around THAT long. I don't require everything to be the latest and shiney-brightest new! Yeah, it's nice having new dolls, but I love my first one, too.

I got him in '04, which isn't THAT long ago, but old in aBJD terms... His faceup has yellowed a bit, but it's nothing bad and if I wanted to re-do the faceup I could try de-yellowing him a bit, but he doesn't need that yet. I haven't even re-strung him at all! And I only just tried some hot glue sueding on him just to see if it helped (doesn't change much).

So, really, I treat him like my other dolls. I love him just as much as ever and play with him the same...

... If anyone wants to toss their 'old' dolls my way, I'd gladly take 'em!

 

I plan to sand, paint and repair my little "M.F.ers" until I'm dead. If the yellowing becomes so bad that I can't cover it up or anything, I guess I'm just going to have to work with it and mod my dolls into really creepy aged looking things.

 

Since resin is a type of plastic, I'm thinking that barring major disasters I'll probably be old and deteriorating long before my dolls ever will. Their colors may mellow, they may need new faceups and clothing, they may get bumps and scratches, and they'll need restringing; but I can't imagine any of them getting truly "past their prime" in the way I think you mean. I've got some 25+ year old plastic toys around here that look like they're fresh out of their boxes, and I'm betting my dolls will last at least as long as those.

But if something happened to one and it WAS deteriorating badly... I'd try to fix it. Either myself, or sending it to an experienced modder. Or I'd find a replacement for the damaged parts. I already do most of my own faceups, so those will get refreshed over time anyway, so it would have to be actual problems with the resin for me to consider it deterioration.

 

I agree with AmyAngel. I'm sure my dolls will be hanging around looking beautiful after I am long gone. I have some dolls that are more than 100 years old and they still look beautiful.

Though...I do have a hard plastic doll from the 1940's. She has something called "hard plastic disease" She was made with a bad batch of plastic and is slowly deteriorating. I have asked experts and they said there is nothing to do but throw her away as that can't be reversed...I sure hope nothing like that happens with my BJD's!!!!

 

If you have a doll that is in really tough shape (damaged resin from being dropped or chewed) it can be fixed with epoxy and blushed to look almost new again--Buff fixed a guy of mine that had a deep bite in his nose and you can't even see it now. She also sold me a hard luck guy that needed to be sanded down a lot past his cracks (I think he was dropped)--she gave him a new faceup and he's now one of my favorites. If you have a doll that has gone Martian Green or banana yellow there is always Rit dye to make a nifty jet black doll, or heavy pastel blushing. Even dolls with freaky dye jobs can look awesome with some scales, wings or clockwork mods. And if freaky fun is not for you, put the doll up for sale--lots of us love 'project dolls"!

 

I plan on keeping my dollie babies forever! Given the stability of plastics I really expect them to outlive me and I will have a long happy lifetime of painting/sewing/restringing. I dont care if they get yellow, chipped or stained. Everything has their flaws and even if one was -crumbling- I might find some way to keep it displayed in a shadowbox or some other artistic display just to keep my beloved little dollie around. Basically I enjoy new dolls but I love them even more after theyve spent time with me and gotten some battlescar memories, these are more of an emotional investment to me that a financial one, I may change up my collection every now and then but I have my "forever" plans versus playing into the fads

 

I still have even my childhood dolls. I shlepped them to college with me, they survived two marriages, and have lived various places with me including the last 20 years at my current address. My resin dolls will be with me until the end, right along with my Teddy bears and Tiny Tears.