Moving to another country with BJD

That's a complicated problem! Can you carry anything with you? You could wrap them up really well and put them in a big suitcase maybe? Is that 90 degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius? Fahrenheit would probably be okay, the dolls get shipped all over the world in boxes and I'm sure they get that hot. I'm going to be facing that problem at some point, I plan to teach English or do accent reduction therapy in Japan in a few years.

 

I'm actually having the same problem (plan to move to another country when I can find a job).
Thankfully I only have one doll to worry about but the idea of her not safely fitting in my carry-on is horrifying.

Because you have so many big dolls I would suggest unstringing them and placing them all in your carry-on bag(s) if that is at all possible. Putting valuable/breakable things such as dolls, instruments, art and things of that nature in cargo is generally not a good idea. You never know how roughly your things will be treated, even with a "fragile" sticker on it.

 

If you must put your dolls in cargo, wrap them first in bubble wrap, then a "space blanket" (link at the end of the post). These are designed to reflect body heat back on the wearer, but they will also reflect 90% of the heat AWAY from what is wearing them. Then put the doll in his box with his pillows, and make sure every corner of the box is padded before you close it. Then get a nice solid military trunk (second link at the end of the post), line it with clothing or bedding or other padding, and put the boxes in it. Finish the packing with more clothing or bedding that doesn't look to be worth much money. Close the trunk and lock it.

http://www.amazon.com/Emergency-Mylar-Thermal-Blankets-Pack/dp/B000GCRWCG


http://www.amazon.com/Plano-1819-Storage-Trunk-Camo/dp/B001SAA08I

 

@Youpla
you could also try taking one doll with you whole and just take the heads from the other dolls in your carry-on. And then pack the bodies unstrung into a storage trunk like @Victoria Victrix suggested.
But make sure that your mode of transportation allows trunks, a lot of airlines these days no loner allow them or they charge you huge fees for them.

 

@Youpla, whenever I need to move anything I am concerned about breaking, I use one of those storage trunks. And when I have to put resin into storage during the summer when it gets horribly hot here, I use the space blankets, which work wonders for keeping the heat off. I have not had any yellowing or bending issues with the space blankets.

@Chibi Rat, @Youpla specifically mentioned that the belongings were going into a container, to move by boat. That means all the household goods are being packed up into a shipping container to go by sea. I have several friends who have moved internationally that way. Airlines do not enter into that equation, unless you can figure out a way to bring all your dolls as personal baggage.

 

I moved from South Africa to the United Kingdom six years ago and to be honest didn't think about how safe my dolls would be , I only had 4 dolls at the time and just packed them up and sent them.
They where wrapped in a soft cloth then bubble wrap around that into their boxes and the clothes and bits got stuffed around to pad the box. My stuff went into storage for 6 months before being shipped here so most probably 8 months in total in unknown conditions. They all arrived safely and no visible damage that I can see but maybe I was lucky.

 

Hi everyone!

I've looked over the other moving information on DoA- it was very helpful but I still have a few specific questions if anyone has been through this process or is from Australia and could answer I would be very appreciative!

So it's highly possible that I will be faced with an international & permanent move to Australia from the US. Of course I am thinking about all the practical things I need to worry about for my family and animals but what about the BJDs? I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned- they're fragile and that's an awfully long trip! (though I guess they came over by container too?)

My specific issue is that I have over 20 dolls at the moment and most of them are resin and of the larger variety. What extra precautions should I take if I have to ship them internationally?

I'll have enough to worry about with my family so I cannot bring the dolls on the plane with me- they'll be shipped in some fashion with the rest of the house goods (I suspect anyhow). I've already read about a good military chest cargo container and some brilliant advice on thermal blankets to prevent heat damage to the resin. Is there anything else I am missing?

Lovely Australians -if there are any of you who frequent this board- would you have any advice for moving to your specific country? Inspections for various household items entering the country (I don't want random people handling my dolls without being present!), etc. How are the import taxes and customs?

Again thank you for taking time to read this- any advice you will have would certainly ease my mind!

 

Hi

I'm in Australia so I can answer some of the questions for you and also offer some suggestions. And I also did a major move earlier this year (not international) and I have many, many dolls so I can offer some advice.

The custom charges only apply if items are of $1000 value or greater. This is being revised by the government at the moment so will change in the near future. Customs can open items coming in but I have only had this happen once in my 8 years of collecting dolls, so I doubt they would bother with opening doll boxes. If they do decide to open the boxes they will and you can't be there when they do. To help mark each box with a detailed list of contents on it - specify 'resin doll parts - not toy', 'synthetic doll wig' (natural fibres like wool/mohair or animal skin/fur may raise alarm bells and cause them to check the package).

With dolls I would suggest posting some ahead if you can - maybe even post the bodies and have them stored ahead of time. When I moved I carried the most rare & expensive doll heads on me and packed just the bodies in their boxes and had the movers take care of those. The thermal blanket for protection if they are going in a container seems like a brilliant idea. I would double box each doll as well and use as much bubble wrap as you can. Take off any fragile parts like feet/hands/removable elf ears/wings etc and wrap them separately. Remove hooks as they can scratch or dent if parts move around in transit.

Are you aware of the very strict restrictions on animals coming here? It can be a bit of a shock for people who haven't heard of them before.

Hope that helps If you want to ask me anything else feel free.

Eva

 

I would suggest contacting a freight fowarder or international shipper who is familiar with Australian laws. There are very strict quarantine regulations and they do inspect shipments. They aren't so much interested in your things, but soil and insects that might be contaminating them, and plant material that might be in your packaging materials. An experienced shipper should get the paperwork details right and keep your things in good condition.

If the quarantine officials inspect your shipment they will require you to be there and open it personally. There are fees......

There is a fairly extensive list of what can't be imported, so make sure to check the paperwork from the Australian government which I assume they have given you.

I'm not sure about the rules for bringing in your personal items, but i doubt there would be customs charges, again there should be details in the gov paperwork.

 

Thank you so much @phae_11 and @kez! I can't tell you how much I appreciate the information. That's exactly what I was looking for. Once I began reading about the strict importation laws I began to get nervous- not because I'm expecting anything out of the ordinary but I've never even considered moving so far away from home before.

I will try to ship ahead of time if I can and can get an address ready. There's a lot of moving parts and if it goes through this will be the biggest move for me- ever. We're still in negotiations so it may not even happen but it's looking likely so I really wanted to ask people what I need to be concerned about moving forward!

I did know a few things about how restrictive New Zealand is and how people have to go through decontamination for certain places. So I knew Australia would (likely) be more labor intensive moving there than other places in the world.

Reading about animal importation was one of the first things I did! I understand it has changed from 180 days in quarantine to 10 days- which is really good news. I'm sure as we get more definitive information coming up that I'll be able to make more decisions.

Thank you both, again, for replying- it has really helped out.


****** Update ******

My original thread about moving specifically to Australia with BJDs and what to expect as a result has been merged with a "Moving to another country with BJD" thread. I appreciate the mod's fastidiousness & diligence for keeping the forum tidy but I'm really only interested in replies about Australia and not other countries or "moving" in general. I've done the latter plenty in my life. There's often times different issues with moving to different parts of the world and I was/am looking for specific information on Australia- not generalities.

If anyone has additional information on specifically moving to Australia, Australian customs or shipping/ the bjd hobby within Australia that they don't mind sharing, I would love that information in a PM if you have the time. Thanks so much in advance and hope to talk to you soon!

If anyone else has info please let me know via PM and thank you again in advance!

 

Dear Youpla! It's so sweet to find you here (it's aquabliss on Flickr ), just as I was making some research on the same topic!

So we share the same fate! We move all the time, every two or three years (usually from a city to another, but this time it's overseas) and I always ask myself why I'm making everything so harder and more complicated for me, as I even have difficulty to pack and carry my own essential things around. Yet, I keep getting more dolls :/

6 months later, I'm going to move to another country, too. You already know that I have a lot of off-topic cuties and this time I'm going to have 2 (or even 3) BJDs with me. I still insist on separating/unstringing everything and put them into the luggage with a lot of soft clothes and wrapping, but... Even thinking about it puts me in so much stress. Do I need to say that I don't like the looks and weird questions when that particular luggage is going under X-ray?!

And my dolls are mini size, so I'm really curious about solutions for large sized dolls. It would be great information if you and all the fellow movers here would share the details after successfully completed operations I'll do that too. Good luck to everyone carrying precious cargo

 

I myself will be moving in January. My greatest fear is that the hobby is almost non existant to where I am going. Not to mention that shipping costs will grow higher for me.

I'm moving from the US to Mexico. A huge change and all, but I'm taking my dolls with me. I have the option of sending them off with the company that will ship out my other belongings. However, I decided to take them along for the road trip with me. A three day drive.

I'm excited for the change, but sad that I will no longer be near people in the hobby. And of meets here were rare, now imagine in Mexico. Then again, who knows? There could be a while community there. We'll see.