Marina Bychkova's Resin Enchanted Dolls Discussion Part 1

Lostkitten I know exactly how you feel. I started years ago with antique dolls and the prices I paid got higher and higher because we get more expensive taste. I eventually got a nearly mint all original antique French fashion a few years ago that shocked me I paid that. That shock has gone and then in BJD I kept getting more expensive of those too. Then my two ED resins and my almost here Popovy all decked out in wig, shoes, lingerie, and spider stand. To add salt to the wound I just had to pay a huge customs amount yesterday to get her out of jail in customs because they didn't believe her value was the $30 Popovy put on her. Surprise surprise! I live in Canada so didn't have customs to deal with my two resins but did have to pay to Markina the 5% GST upfront. You Americans do not have to do that I think. Seems so unfair to us Canadians we have to. The Government loves to tax on stuff you already paid for with already taxed money. Double tax there but no one can fight the government and win. I do know I will order stuff and pay for it differently next time.

 

My dear Shashy! I am so sorry customs held your lovely Popovy hostage. I think they are all getting wiser to the bjd prices and there is no fooling them anymore. No, thank goodness that is one of the taxes the US has yet to saddle us with but I am sure they will will one day. Last year I rehomed a very expensive DollZone super limited doll thru DoA. The poor buyer wound up having to pay an additional $180 to customs to get him. I paid half of it for her because I felt sooo bad for her. She was in Belgium. In return to say thanks she sent me pounds of Belgium chocolates! I think I get the better end of that deal.

By the way...My Popovy was an after market Magpie from a Russian owner. She came with no wig or clothes so I think I paid about double for her but I ADORE her!

 

Free trade is the only thing that makes me feel okay about staying in US haha.

I feel the same pain as you guys. It seems like a big let down not being able to get something as promised. It's not the best choice especially when there's a lot of freelancers available. *shrugs*

 

Lostkitten, ummm Belgium Chocolates. We were there 3 years ago and the chocolates are so good. So how many pounds did you gain? Haha

why did you pay double for your Magpie when you can order from the sisters? Did you want it instantly? When I contacted them I was able to put in my order immediately but it took 3 months to be made. I had quite a lot to be made though what with the fancy wig, shoes, lingerie and spider stand. Some people have said they had to wait to get their order in.

Did yours come with pierced ears? Cuckoo has them bur I requested that.

 

I was very very cautious with the chocolate! made it last as long as I could. Why is it that one pound of chocolate will put 10 pounds on your hips lol?

I saw the opportunity to get Magpie right away. I had a short window of opportunity moneywise so jumped at the chance. It was the only way I could ensure I would have one.

 

So I wonder if the resins that were supposed to happen soon will be out after the eBay doll is sold? Wonder what's happened with that? I guess Marina doesn't want to have too many things going at one time. I did get my resins quite quickly after I paid. Under 2 months. That was nice to not have to wait long.

 

Did anyone see that ebay auction- the doll ended for $55,000+ yes- more than Fifty five THOUSAND dollars- um, wow. I wonder if they actually paid? Ebay must be pretty happy at its cut.

 

What would be their cut? Is it a percentage with a limit?

 

Well, I am now on the waiting list for resin doll. I am not holding my breath... But who knows, miracles may happen! And I also reserved the newest edition of the book.

Would anyone have so many dolls, that could make a comparison photo of ED doll with Soom Mini gem, or Tonner 13" doll and/or Tiny Kitty? I have found some comparison photos in the net, but I have not found comparison with these dolls.

It is a pity that recently there has been available only those extremely expensive dolls and 'normal' people have no change to have the joy these delicate beauties can bring. I am waiting for a basic Angel Egg doll and it might be that I don't even "need" ED doll after that. Angel Egg doll is of course bigger than Ed, but she is delicate and human like. (but then again, I am a dollaholic...;D)

 

Well the ebay "final value fee" would only be $250, but paypal (owned by ebay) would then charge an additional 3.9%. Although- I guess if you consider that gallery fees are more like 30%, she probably considers this a much more profitable way of selling one of her pieces (also it is more likely to reach more people).

I can't help but think that now that if Maria can earn $55,000 for one of her dolls on ebay- she may be less inclined or inspired to work on dolls on the list.

No help for that though I guess. Only 17 more months for me to go...

 

I am thinking the same way Calacticat...
I know that if would get lots of money from the outfits I sew for dolls, then I would really slow down and have holidays abroad now and then (it has been couple of years when I last time went for holiday... )

 

Lately I have been steering away from the ED forum mainly out of sheer frustration. I really don't see a resin ED in my future with the wait list as long as it is. And I agree if one porcelain doll fetches that much why would any artist spend time making an army of resin beings? Even on the secondary market the cost is astronomical. One porcelain that I inquired about had been originally purchase for $8000. The current offer was at $42000 US and that was not even an auction. I can't imagine this won't affect the price of secondary market resin ED dolls too. So my dream to own a resin ED may forever be just that...an unattainable dream. The part that makes me the saddest is not that I can't afford the $2000 of the resin ED's as quoted when I put my name on the list. It is that there will be no resin doll at ANY cost available.

 

I found out about Marina's little beauties thanks to a friend, who is not even interested in BJDs, but found them randomly. I owe her one, as they are truly marvellous creations.

I'm the type of person that prefers big SD sized dolls, because of their adult mature bodies, but Marina's dolls are mature and tiny, and that's why I still love them, even with their size In fact, their size is just perfect, it gives them this pixie/fairy feel to them. I wish more companies made things similar, as I couldn't possibly afford an Enchanted Doll myself, too out of my budget.

True dat. Their breasts are perfect. Small and normal and perfect. Ugh, I can't tell you how many dolls I've seen that make me sick at the sight of their ginormous boobs. To me, anyone who owns something like that seems like a perv. I can't help but think that, I'm sorry.

Congratulations on the arrival of your beauties! She's so pretty! Is that a Barbie dress? Do they even fit Enchanted Dolls? That would be nice, as it would be easy to find clothes for them if so.

I'd really appreciate any pictures detailing a review on them from anyone who received theirs. I'd really like to know how they were assembled. From their tiny eye holes to the wigs. Whether or not they have head caps etc. The wigs look like they're threaded on the head. Yes, threaded, that's how soft this resin looks like in pictures lol. Kinda like vinyl.

I really love the idea of having them in tins, and ones that are illustrated by artists at that!

Only negative thing I can think of about them is the fact that they're too expensive/delicate to be modded/customised. I would never attempt such things on these dolls, that's just too risky. So if I ever get my hands on one, the probability is slim to none, I'd probably get it for display only. Just something to spice up my collection, not to be "played with". The only thing you could possibly do to play with them is maybe change the wig. Other than that, not much room to play with. Also, because it is oh-so-rare and not many people have it, it is going to be hard to find troubleshooting help. Like a broken or loose elastic, re-stringing problems, etc.

 

I have to say, Marina is always very good at personally helping people that have a problem with her dolls. She is very nice and helpful. That is one thing that shouldn't be a problem for anyone that can actually afford to get their hands on one of her dolls.

 

sometimes it's really hard to get into contact with her, since she would be busy with either helping others or doing her projects. I tried contacting her a couple of times

 

@Chamillia

The ED wigs are made by gluing on small amounts of silk or hair to a plastic wrap covered doll head. The glue forms the wig cap and makes it removeable. I use this technique myself often to make removeable wigs. You can see photos of this method as it is being used by Marina on her blog. In her creation of the doll Daphne the photo journal there is a photo that illustrated this wig making technique.

 

Most of the dolls have magnets in the head and then you glue a magnet on the wig cap. I have two resins and that is how mine are done. I also made a long white mohair wig. It was quite a lot of work because first I had to make a fake head the exact same size as the doll head. Then I put plastic wrap on the head, then I glued strips of thin medical gauze onto the head to make the shape. I then took this stuff off of the fake head and trimmed the head cap to the shape I needed. It really helped I had Marinas wigs to copy from. Then you put this wig cap on the real doll and make sure it is OK. Mine was a tiny big too big because my fake head was a tiny bit bigger than the doll even after measuring so many times. It is so hard to get the exact same size and shape especially if you don't sculpt much like me. Anyways is was OK, just isn't exact like Marinas but no one would notice but me. So then you start gluing rows of wefted mohair on the wig cap that is back on the fake head that is covered with new plastic wrap. The hardest part is the top part. It has to be sewn by hand carefully and you have to get the ends nice. That took a couple of tries but I eventually got it perfect. I glued the magnet on and voila. There are a few other little details you have to figure out while doing this but that is basically it. Since I made this last wig I have sanded my fake head down a bit. I hope it is better as I have lots of mohair to make wigs with. It is kind of fun but time consuming. I did make a wig before this good wig and it was with some older wefted mohair and I used way too much, the wig is too full and the top part wasn't that good. Too bulky. It was a good learning experience.

Another thing as for the comments that these dolls are too hard to get and too expensive. Well, that is just a fact of life. We can't get everything we see. I know it is very frustrating because I had almost got one of the porcelains direct from Marina years ego and then she got too busy and I never got one. I won't pay the prices those dolls are going for now. The two resins are a nice alternative even if they weren't porcelain. They are gorgeous. Unfortunately they are becoming as rare as the porcelains now. Maybe one day there will be a lot more of Marinas dolls available but I don't see that happening any time soon. She works at her own speed and that isn't fast as there is just her doing it. I guess there could be unpainted resins made available but that isn't what Marina wants to do for some reason. I think she likes her dolls rare. That is her right as this is her business. It will turn people off though and some will give up but many more are waiting for their turn to get one of her dolls.

There was was comment about Barbie doll clothes fitting. Yes they do but are very short. Also Tiny Kitty fits very well. Again too short. ED has the body of Tiny Kitty, Barbie as well but with smaller boobs but you need to lengthen the legs and arms but that is easy to do while sewing.

 

You ask, I deliver. Enchanted Dolls can wear Barbie outfits or Fashion Royalty outfits. Not everything is a perfect match but I'll show you some examples of my EDs wearing Barbie or Fashion Royalty clothes :
Moira wearing a 'Bride of Dracula - Countess' Fashion Royalty dress, Arya (my porcelain ED) wearing a Barbie dress and Arya wearing a Fashion Royality dress

I also bought some clothes from Clear-lan (http://www.clear-lan.com/) which are meant for Momoko/Fashion Royality/etc. The tops and skirts fit them very nicely. I ordered them in FR-busty size.
Some examples are Gwen with a top from Clear-lan, Gwen wearing a top and skirt from Clear-lan and Moira in a dress from Clear-lan

So as you can see, ED clothing doesn't always have to be expensive.

I also have some photos of my girls before their faceups. You can see some of the differences between the two sculpts this way. They do have headcaps and you can change their eyes. When they first arrived, their eyes weren't inserted so I had to do that myself. It's as easy as with any tiny BJD.

The Asian sculpt is on the left, the European one on the right.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8536/8674749403_b7ba5d3271_z.jpg

European on the left, Asian on the right.

Hope that helped answer some of your questions. I can't really tell you how they were assembled. They're strung quite tight, which allows them to pose amazingly well. I haven't had the courage (or seen the need) to restring them.

 

@ Eiko82:

Thanks so much for delivering! I absolutely love the clothes on that website, and especially the ones on your girls. I wish they offered the same styles for BJDs, as I'm always constantly looking for trendy/edgy styles of clothes for my doll, not anything cutesy or lolita which most stores offer. That countess dress drapes wonderfully, and the top and skirt on Gwen is jwenkdmkmedfclmwkv. She's so pretty and delicate :')

You're a lucky dolly mama, haha. Did you use eye putty for the eyes? I don't own a tiny, so I don't know if it's the same or not. And don't worry, I wasn't asking for a detailed restringing review on them, just how they were strung in general.

Thanks so much for the info!

 

Eiko82 those Fashion Royalty clothes look perfect. I didn't know about them fitting, so now I need to find some place that sells them. Thanks for the info.