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a bjd's lifespan

Mar 17, 2008

    1. I have a couple of dolls like that... Al, my favorite Breakaway, is from the "Beauty Green" period of CP white resin and is slowly turning the color of pea soup. And Muninn, my battered second-hand Bliss, who apparently had a pretty rough life before I got him, is scratched, stained and so massively, unevenly yellowed that even sanding didn't make much of a difference. They're not what I'd call "beautiful" dolls any more.

      But I've kept them anyway, because I'm attached to them. No matter how green Al turns or how much like a patchwork Muninn looks, they're going nowhere. My affection for them absolutely trumps any concern over their imperfections.
       
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    2. I still have my first (and only) doll that I got back in 2007. She's definitely yellowed over the years but I've grown rather fond of her new skin tone now actually. So she hasn't crossed the 'past her prime' for me yet. ^^
       
    3. I second this statement. These dolls haven't been around long enough to be deteriorating, unless they are being mistreated, or there is a bad batch of resin. I have some non-ABJD that are older than I am, and there are other people who collect dolls that are over 100 years old.
      I think, as with many other things in our consumer society, that these dolls suffer from a "newer is better" angle sometimes, but they are made with the intent for them to be changeable be lasting. The fun is in the upkeep. If they stay with me long enough to pass them down in the family, hopefully they will continue to give another generation happiness.
       
    4. Everyone keeps say BJD haven’t been around that long. Out of curiosity does anyone know when the first BJD was made and what it was.;)
       
    5. Well, if you're talking about ABJD's made of resin and not the antique German ball jointed dolls or whatever, the first ABJD was a Volks Four Sisters (Sara, Nana, Kira and Megu), first released on the 28th of February, 1999.

      As for the 'deterioration' of these dolls: I don't care if my dolls yellow or not. I have an 8 year old doll in my posession and he's yellowed, but I think his skintone is more beautiful than the newer dolls from that company. It's softer and feels more real. So unless I'm dealing with a doll coming from a bad batch: let the aging begin!
       
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    6. Thank you, Silk. I’ma big History buff. I love to know wherethings come from and how they evolved. I must say I laughed when I saw your answer. Every ones saying old, 1999, it’s old. The History book I’m reading rite now started pre -Yamato Period and I just got up to the Heian Period and I’mthinking things are starting to look familiar. ;)
       
    7. I have not gotten a doll yet and to be honest I'm pretty worried about all of these conversations about dolls yellowing, cracking and chipping. How long does it take on average for a doll to start yellowing? I'm getting the impression that it only takes a year or two which is a little ridiculous for something that is so expensive. Or is it just a you pay for what you get kind of thing?

      I was really hoping to get a doll to make clothing for and take a lot of pictures but if it's not going to survive being handled for long it might just be better if I looked for something else.


      How long have your dolls survived? Can they be posed a lot or do you have to not touch them much? Is there a brand that you've noticed doesn't last as long before problems start popping up? Is there a specific time period before you expect to have to restring/re-face up?
       
    8. These fears have been discussed many times, and (as I think you suspect) as long as you take the reasonable care of a doll that you would take with any possession that you value, your doll will last a lot longer than you or any other human being will. You can find all those discussions if you take some time to search, but here are some places to start:

      Some of the threads in General Discussion:
      http://www.denofangels.com/forums/s...w-much-sunlight-do-you-allow-your-doll-to-get
      http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?405992-Resin-yellowing-Paranoia!
      http://www.denofangels.com/forums/s...ks!-Oh-no!-But-have-they-changed-how-you-feel

      Threads in Picture Requests:
      http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?237790-Showing-signs-of-age-but-beautiful
      http://www.denofangels.com/forums/s...ts-of-their-doll-s-resin-turning-yellow-green

      There are still more threads about faceups, restringing, etc. in the Painting, Customizing, and Esthetics subforum. The Search Forum button works really well! ;)
       
    9. It depends how tight you like your stringing elastic. I have not restrung any of my dolls and the oldest one I have is from 2004.
      I would not get too worried about any of these questions, but you do need to keep your doll out of direct light do not sit her on a window ledge. Keep her in an area far away from the widow. Watch the sun as it passes across the room if it hits her for long move her to somewhere it does not hit her. You live in Texas which is hot but if you do this and have airconditioning you should be ok about yellowing. The yellowing varies depending on the company some use UV protection now this helps a bit.
      Also some yellowing can actually look good! these dolls are not fragile.

      I actually prefer some of the older molds, most of my dolls are from 2004 - 2006 period as I like the old head molds and bodies from certain companies. The yellowing on these dolls varied allot and I think it had to do with if the person kept the doll next to the window or lived in very hot climate and did not have airconditioning.
       
    10. I agree to check the links posted above. BJD's are very sturdy. These dolls CAN chip and break, but that is usually on thin, fragile parts (and they break from falling or unusual force, NOT from posing or normal use) or from major accidents (falls onto brick or tile from a high shelf, car accidents or being run over, chewed up by a dog, that sort of thing). They'll yellow, but it's usually subtle and rarely truly unattractive. It's just what that sort of resin DOES, and is not a fault. If you're especially concerned about yellowing I'd suggest getting a pinker NS doll, then any yellowing will just make it peachier. Most people here (including me) can tell you of falls their dolls have taken that resulted in no damage whatsoever. They do need maintenance, as any elastic degrades over time (ever seen undies that have been washed too many times?) and faceups might get scuffed up, but really it's not a big deal. If you look at the "emergency" section in customizing you'll see the worst-case scenarios there - and the majority of them are either mods gone wonky or failing to research before doing something to the doll... or gluing in a magnet backwards, which is easy to do and happens unfortunately often. There are a few true "OMG he fell and his head broke open" ones, but they're not common and more importantly, they're almost always fixable. I think almost everything short of being burned in a fire can be fixed, and there's even a thread about someone doing just that!

      If you take reasonable care of bjds, your great-grandchildren will probably be marveling over them. Or selling them on for college tuition, maybe. Just be careful not to sit them where they'll easily fall onto a hard surface, and don't leave them in direct sunlight or a hot car. They're more durable than porcelain, I think, and there are some of those around that are over 100 years old.
       
    11. I think if you do routine maintenance on a doll it will survive a lot longer. Scrubbing your doll with baking soda, or other anti yellowing products every couple of months will help slow that process. There's many useful threads suggesting what works well. I've had some of my dolls for years and they get dirty but none of them have yellowed.

      Every doll will have to be restrung eventually. The elastic wears out. That's normal.

      No face up will last forever, but they will probably last for years if painted by an experienced artist and sealed well and provided you take care of it. The only reason porcelain dolls don't have to be repainted is because the paint is fired into the clay.

      If you realize these things before you buy a BJD, then you won't be disappointed.
       
    12. My dolls get taken to work with me, have been dragged around historical reenactment events where we're living in a tent in field for the weekend, to SF conventions, etc. One was take home by a friend's toddler for a couple of weeks. These dolls aren't fragile. I've had one broken finger on a doll that fell off a statue in the street at a meet in London, but I just replaced the hand, so it's not a problem. They get a it grubby with handling, but a wipe down with soapy water deals with that.

      Yellowing - well it varies from company to company depending on the exact resin they use for their dolls, but generally it's a gentle all-over change of colour and not that obvious unless you compare them with brand new dolls or parts and I honestly prefer them a bit yelloed as most "normal" BJD skintones are too pale and pink for my liking.

      Faceups can fade - I've just had my first BJD repainted because his had faded, but its been years, another of my older ones has had her faded blush and lip colour enhanced, but didn't need a full repaint. The rest of my gang seem to be getting along fine without problems. I've had one doll with damaged face-up that needed redoing - a scrape in the MSC sealing one cheek, no idea how it happened, but it was a doll I'd painted myself, when I was fairly new to it, so I might not have applied the sealant spray properly and it just started flaking on that cheek.

      Mostly, you just have to be careful not to leave them where the sun can get at them for long periods. My partner's tanned Limwha Mano has gone piebald where he was displayed in the wrong location for weeks and the sun has yellowed and faded his skin on all the parts hat weren't covered by clothing and wig. Fortunately, my partner is slightly colour-blind and the difference is slight enough that he really doesn't notice it, so it isn't a problem for anyone but me.

      Teddy
       
    13. I also have dolls dating back to 2004.

      I haven't restrung any of my dolls (although I have pulled and tightened some strings).

      I have not had to re-do any faceups.

      I have my 2004 is a white skin. He's a bit yellower, but just looks like he's more Normal Skin. It's mostly the MSC, though. He came with a second head that I had wrapped up and took out last year. That head is still totally white! So even the white can stay white for a long time if you're really careful. But I don't mind the slight yellowing. It looks even and is not a weird color at all.

      I have two french resin dolls --one was a pale blue color that started fading right away. It still looks OK, but that is the worst problem I've had with resin color shifts--and it was a known problem right from the start.

      All my other dolls are pretty much as good as new, I think!

      There were a few dolls with problem resins, but they aren't universal problems. And sometimes it varies from batch to batch. AND it also matters just how picky you are about things. I don't worry about it, really.

      I think my dolls will last longer than I will, so I'm not so concerned. I know there's a lot of talk about it resin changing, but I think it's not as big a deal as it seems.

      ---Oh, and I don't treat my dolls with kid gloves! I haul them around to meetups a lot. On trips. In luggage. And don't keep them in their boxes but always out on shelves. (Not in a lot of sunlight, but I've brought them to outside meetups.)
       
    14. Thank you for the links. I've never been on a forum with a functioning search forum and, being brand new to BJDs, had no idea what to search for; I'll keep this in mind.

      The majority of the pictures didn't show much of a difference and the ones with evidence of change didn't look bad to me. It also looks like certain companies have more problems than others do; as I'm not interested in said companies, I think I should be pretty good to go when I do get my doll.
       
    15. Thank you all for your responses! Though it sounds like there are occasional bad lots of resin, it's just the way it all works and so shouldn't be a major worry for me.
       
    16. @DiSpy: Well, the original dolls are about 10 years old now, Volks started producing them in 2000? 20001? Somewhere around then. A lot of people have dolls from around this time.
       
    17. I have an F11 old discontinued volkks White resin girl (no uv protect in the resin) and her head looks like it has not yellowed at all !
      I think the key her is she must have been kept out of the sun.
      I also have an F07 NS that looks not yellowed! so yes these are about ten years old.
      One thing to keep in mind is the resin batch colors, this has changed over the years also for most companies.
       
    18. I wouldn't worry about it. I plan on keeping my dolls for a very long time. I don't see a problem with yellowing (it's going to happen regardless) and as long as it's even, you shouldn't have a problem. :)
       
    19. I know some people dye their dolls' resin. Could you dye a doll's resin to counteract yellowing? If so wouldn't that mean a doll could be around indefinitely?

      Or does the resin deteriorate over time to a point where it's no longer a viable option for anything other than decoration? IE does the resin get to a point where it's so weak or brittle it can no longer be handled?
       
    20. Resin doesn't really deteriorate. You could dye a doll, but only if you wanted to make it darker. The only other remedies for yellowing are sanding and/or lightening treatments like baking soda+peroxide. Blushing or airbrushing lighter is an option, though.