1. It has come to the attention of forum staff that Dollshe Craft has ceased communications with dealers and customers, has failed to provide promised refunds for the excessive waits, and now has wait times surpassing 5 years in some cases. Forum staff are also concerned as there are claims being put forth that Dollshe plans to close down their doll making company. Due to the instability of the company, the lack of communication, the lack of promised refunds, and the wait times now surpassing 5 years, we strongly urge members to research the current state of this company very carefully and thoroughly before deciding to place an order. For more information please see the Dollshe waiting room. Do not assume this cannot happen to you or that your order will be different.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Dollshe Craft and all dolls created by Dollshe, including any dolls created under his new or future companies, including Club Coco BJD are now banned from Den of Angels. Dollshe and the sculptor may not advertise his products on this forum. Sales may not be discussed, no news threads may be posted regarding new releases. This ban does not impact any dolls by Dollshe ordered by November 8, 2023. Any dolls ordered after November 8, 2023, regardless of the date the sculpt was released, are banned from this forum as are any dolls released under his new or future companies including but not limited to Club Coco BJD. This ban does not apply to other company dolls cast by Dollshe as part of a casting agreement between him and the actual sculpt or company and those dolls may still be discussed on the forum. Please come to Ask the Moderators if you have any questions.
    Dismiss Notice
Severe ongoing issues and concerns with Dollshe Dollshe Ban

Doll stands for outdoor use?

Jul 11, 2025 at 11:15 AM

    1. Firstly apologies if this is in the wrong place.

      I’m in the UK, specifically N.E. Scotland and more often than not these days it’s very windy which makes trying to take outside photos of my dolls quite a challenge. When I say windy I do not mean a light fluttering breeze, I mean bending the tips of trees on average or even ‘goodbye garden fence’ during the Spring and Autumn (Fall) equinoxes. It can get much worse than that but I’m not going to be flying my doll like a kite!

      As yet I do not possess any doll stands mainly because I’m not sure what type would suit my needs. I did see some I thought would be perfect however the person who makes them doesn’t ship outside of the US. *sigh*

      What types or makes do you find most practical for outdoor use?


      Oh nearly forgot, I have dolls in all three basic size categories so would be looking at 1/6, 1/4 and 1/3 preferably. I don’t have anything over 62 cm. I do have quite a few around 1/8 size too though.
       
      #1 Blodeuwedd, Jul 11, 2025 at 11:15 AM
    2. I haven't had to contend with high winds when taking doll pics, but I do pose my dolls a lot, indoors and outdoors, and in action poses. My thoughts...

      I think you'd want a stand with a heavy baseplate. Usually the stands for general doll display and storage have a light base, and rely on the doll's weight standing on that base to keep everything stable. This won't work when high wind is pushing at your doll (a tall object) to topple it over. The base needs to be heavy enough to counterweight the doll's weight on its own, so a solid metal or solid wood baseplate is probably the best.

      Some numbers... my 1/3 dolls range 1.3 - 2.1 kg in weight. I've been buying stands with solid metal bases for them, and they've been 0.8 - 1 kg in weight. That's about 50% the weight of my heaviest dolls, more than half the weight of my lighter ones, so I consider this heavy enough to be a reliable counterbalance for them. I've used these stands outdoors and feel secure doing so.
      Conversely, I recently bought one of the "invisible doll stands" sold at Alice's Collections: it is a bit under 300g in weight, and the weight is mainly in the flexible goose-neck, not the baseplate. I consider this is too light to be useful for me, especially since the weight is not in the base, I would not use this stand outdoors.


      Second thought: a base that has a screw-thread hole. I know at least one Taobao seller who sells doll stands with this hole already pre-drilled into the metal base (I'll link them below). I believe it's typically used to mount the doll stand on a camera tripod using the screw base, so you can move the tripod around without messing up the doll's posing/clothes. But you could screw in a sharp ground stake and then anchor the stand in the dirt. Camera tripods have these "tripod spikes" or "tripod stakes" that anchor their feet (here's an example) - I imagine such a stake could fit into a doll stand if the hole is already there.
      Or, you can mount the doll stand on a tripod, then weigh down the tripod legs with sand bags or similar. But that does depend on the kind of photos you want to take.
      I've done neither of this, but I imagine it's possible. One of the doll stands I bought came with a pre-drilled hole and a ground stake to screw into it, but I haven't tried it yet.

      Here's a Taobao seller (Xinshun Exhibition) that sells solid metal stands - product page on Taobao. I own a couple of them and they're tough and heavy. You can get them with a pre-drilled hole for mounting on a tripod or for screwing in a tripod spike.
      I buy most of my doll stuff from China, and so unfortunately I don't know any Western-facing shops or producers who make doll stands like this, and I'm not much into DIYing these things.

      Hope this helps and gives some ideas!
       
      #2 aihre, Jul 11, 2025 at 1:57 PM
      • x 1
    3. Seconding that you’d want something with a heavy base. Something also somewhat wide too.

      Something you could do is take an ordinary doll stand and glue it to a heavy base made with something like bronze or marble, the kind you sometimes see on trophies.

      This is just the first link that popped up so it’s probably in the USA, but linking it so you can get an idea of what’s out there. :)
       
      #3 Leenah, Jul 11, 2025 at 4:23 PM
      • x 1
    4. Thirding that most doll stands are not heavy enough at the base, but you could easily offset that problem by using some sandbags to hold it down. The commercially available tripod ones are perhaps a bit big but they are easy to DIY as you wish - even a random plastic bag full of sand will work (great idea for beach photoshoots lol). With uneven ground, you can also use one under the stand's base to balance it better.

      You'll also want to consider how the stand attached to your doll. Most saddle stands tend to be too flimsy or let the doll move around a lot, so I'd look into ones that attach around the waist or the gooseneck type ones like ACBJD sells.
       
      #4 cobaltconduct, Jul 11, 2025 at 8:34 PM
      • x 1
    5. Random thought and no idea if it would work for your plans, but if you're taking the photos on the actual ground, could you rig up a stand that stakes into the ground? It would be less visible than a big heavy base, and more sturdy.
       
      #5 CloakedSchemer, Jul 11, 2025 at 10:44 PM
      • x 2
    6. I have a feeling you may find this tutorial from Antique Lilac useful ;)
       
      #6 unoa_im_afreak, Jul 12, 2025 at 12:13 AM
      • x 3
    7. I know some people use long metal knitting needles pushed into the ground with the protruding part up the doll's trouser leg or skirt waistband, if that's any help.

      Teddy
       
      #7 Teddy, Jul 12, 2025 at 9:02 AM
      • x 1
    8. Thank you all so much for your responses and ideas, they’re incredibly helpful, insightful and have given me loads to think about even things I hadn’t taken into consideration!
      Not only is the wind problematic but also the very uneven and quite often stony ground in local beauty spots so the options given have helped there too.

      @aihre thank you, I was hoping you’d come to my rescue as the photos you take require good quality sturdy stands.
      I’d been so focused on the design of the ones sold at Alice’s that I hadn’t thought about whether the base would be heavy enough. This is exactly why I thought it better to ask before I buy. :hug:
      The tripod spike idea is also intriguing and would certainly help.

      @Leenah that’s such a great idea too, never would have considered trophy bases but they’re a very good and weighty alternative! :thumbup

      @cobaltconduct I had completely forgotten about tripod bags but they’re also a fabulous idea and perfect, as you said, for sandy locations! My camera tripod broke over a decade ago so, rather ironically, using anything photography related to solve a photography problem didn’t even enter my mind! :doh
      Thank you also for mentioning that saddle stands wouldn’t give me the support I need (oh my goodness it sounds like I’m talking about a bra), that has helped narrow things down.

      @CloakedSchemer this is one of the solutions I had actually considered as it would be perfect for certain locations where the ground is to uneven for a normal stand. I just had no idea how to go about it. :thumbup

      @unoa_im_afreak that’s it, that’s what I was looking for when conventional stands won’t do, perfect for many of the locations around here and can be made to measure more or less. Thank you so much. :hug:
      @MB Lilac even though you didn’t comment on this thread I still feel I need to thank you for the tutorial as it’s such a huge help! :3nodding:

      @Teddy that’s genius, thank you for that idea too. Quick, easy and effective! :thumbup
       
      #8 Blodeuwedd, Jul 12, 2025 at 11:18 AM