For the Love of Old-School

I'm pretty sure the reason my SDC Kurenai is so yellow is because I lived near Charleston, South Carolina for a few years (2008-2010). There is no hiding from the sun down there, at least not if you don't want to keep your doll hidden in a dark closet. I took her out for photo shoots in the beautiful flowery parks a LOT. The rest of my (newer) SDCs are several shades lighter (un-yellow-er??) and I honestly think it's because they've spent their lives in good ol' cloudy northeast Ohio and have never met the Southern sun. I kick myself sometimes for letting her get SO yellow, but in a way I think it's just a physical manifestation of the fact that she's always been my favorite.

 

@Silk You're shattering my beliefs … hehe, I also have a Domuya body and it's yellowed more than any of the other dolls.

Last dollmeet we came to the conclusion we'd just let our dolls yellow with dignity.

 

Oh god, the same thing happened to my Migidoll Jina girl! I was living in Savannah, GA at the time in houses that barely had air conditioning. She's waaay more yellow than the dolls I got after moving to Atlanta. That heat!

 

Domuya used special easy-yellowing resin. My tan Fin is still tan, but not the same tan.

 

And then there's the old Souldoll "limpid resin," a.k.a. super-Frenchy-French with a side of frites. Yellows while you watch!

 

LOL I'm gonna start saying "watching dolls yellow" instead of "watching grass grow" or "watching paint dry."

Back on topic though, I'm always amazed to see an older doll that *isn't* yellowed. A friend of mine recently got a Kurenai, and she must have stayed in her box these past 13 years because she looks practically new next to mine! I just can't hide my dolls away like that. I have to play with them, even if it's just changing their position once a week.

 

One of my absolute favorite things is seeing older sculpts with modern faceups. They often look so amazing! While I love alot of older sculpts (love a lot of new ones too ) I don't feel the same way about classic faceups. I just feel like the craft has improved so much, that it's easy to write off the classics when not newly painted.

 

Totally agree with you @Sillypeach , those older sculpts have so much potential that the original face-ups really didn't enhance. I love seeing older dolls beautifully painted. Some gorgeous dolls in this thread, I am so glad it is here.

My Syo came back from being painted, and I think she can hang out here as she is one of the really old elastic band head cap types.

Marni by Flowergirl Fashions, on Flickr

 

@flowergirl she is darling. I agree, a new-style faceup can really bring out the best in an old sculpt. I'm enjoying all the eye candy in this thread.

 

Hi all!

I've been into bjds since 2004 and still have ALL of the dolls I've bought! -- 15 or so are 2009 or before.

I love the old styles, but also love pretty much all the new styles too (which is why I'm in doll-hoarding territory now). I do agree that styles have changed a lot and it's easy to spot the older sculpts... but I think there are a fair amount of similar styles still being made. I'm not sure if the old styles will come back in style, exactly, but they may never quite go away... (Fairyland is still making and re-releasing sculpts similar or based on the old ones.)

CP Elf El, bw, was purchased from CP through Liria in 2004, and he's my first bjd. Luts Juri '05 bw head was purchased here second-hand just after it was made (gift head), with original faceup. They are still my favorites, although I really love a lot of my new dolls in different styles, too.
11-04-Fantasy_7973a by aprilllee, on Flickr

Yellowing... Not too bad. It's mostly because they are bw. And it's mostly in the old MSC. but I don't want to mess with the faceups so I'll deal. Otherwise, I don't have much of a yellowing issue with my old dolls. I've had problems with my two french resin Bambicrony colored elves--but that was a known issue and happened within months. Mostly the Misty Blue color, which turned green-ish. Too bad, because the original color was lovely and the greenish isn't, but mine isn't as bad as some similar dolls I've seen--which turned a pea soup green!

Link here:
11-03-group_7497

 

@Alewife Aww thanks! She is vying for top spot in my affections with my F10 at the moment, something I never thought would happen because I didn't much care for her blank.

@april lovely couple! Juri 05 is my favourite of the old delf sculpts, those smiling eyes are just so characterful. Love the colours your pair have going on ^^

 

@april Beautiful color scheme for your lovely couple! 2004 … the BJD community has seen a big variety of different styles since then. I'm glad the older styles are still being loved and didn't just get out of fashion when the more realistic sculpts entered the scene.

It's true, the older sculpts were already very well done and detailed back then. The face-ups … not so much. I also love to see the magic new face-ups do to older sculpts. Finally one can see how sophisticated the sculpts really are and they suddenly seem less like a pretty thing for the shelfr and more like a real character.

Um yeah, and I've parted with my Amakusa's old face-up, too, and made him my own doll. (After all, I'm not a doll museum, but an artist …) I like him so much better now!
Beowulf by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

 

I do love seeing new faceups on older sculpts, but I think there's something charming about the original faceups. I don't know if it's nostalgia or what, but I always get a little giddy when I see one.

 

Agreed... Like I said about my Yori up-thread, There are a few of those older faceups that I just have serious reservations about replacing. Yes, they're simple and not at all up to modern standards, but as time goes on there are fewer and fewer examples of that style around, and the collector in me does value them for that reason. They're a historical curiosity.

 

I'm with @Brightfires on this one --- at least where some of my old faceups are concerned. This one, for instance (on my Customhouse Unique Sully from 2003, still going strong):



I just can't imagine her looking any other way -- I think she's fabulously retro, and I love those wild CH eyebrows.

 

Oh Cynthia! Your CH Sully is gorgeous!

Yes, the Custom House eyes brows were very distinctive. I love them!

 

I love the "old-school" dolls, they were more original, in my opinion. Now that every doll has the same faceup style, the same sculpt and the same great amounts of photoshop... they all mingle into one in my head. Hardly any is outstanding. I prefer "classic" dolls myself. Also because of financial reasons, to be honest lol xD My favouire are the loved&cared after, super old dolls in modern clothes and modern-style make-up (no sharp lines, just lots of blush and light brown, Korean-style eyebrows - it looks boring on the modern dolls, but brings out the best of the classic, original sculpts