Questions for owners of older dolls: 10+ years

In my research, I learned that the BJD scene really kicked off in 1999 (when I was born!).

That got me wondering, where are those 19-year old dolls now? Are they still kicking? Restored and well kept, sold off in a yard sale, or collecting dust on a shelf somewhere? Plus, I've been curious about how BJDs age. I'm not talking 3-year-old yellowing, I mean dolls that are ten or even more. What will happen to my dolls when I'm 40?

So, DoA, tell me about your oldest dolls! What's changed about them over the years? Tell me about how you've kept them together (or not!) What changes have you not been able to fix? Do they have any scars? Tell me the stories behind them!

 

I had an old Volks Megu from 1999-2000. She needed a bit of work when I got her, but otherwise she was solid as a brick. All the old Volks dolls I've owned "yellowed" into a pleasant, pale cream color. My friend Katasha has quite a few older Volks dolls as well.

Volks was the only modern BJD maker back in 1999 (Super Dollfie garage kits). A couple of other Japanese and Korean artists were inspired by Super Dollfie and appeared a couple years later, but BJDs specifically from 1999 will be Volks, and very rare due to the limited quantity made.

 

I have a few old dolls, I have a 1999 four-sisters, 1999 F-15, and a 1999 F-08. Also have a 2001 Leona who is on the older side.

The old resin has aged pretty well in my opinion, but the engineering definitely leaves something to be desired, especially with the legs.

I quite like the older sculpts, there's something about them that makes a lot of modern sculpts seem awfully derivative sometimes

 

I have one of the old Volks dolls, a now discontinued original F-10. His head sculpt reads 1999 inside although that may not be the year he was cast. I have a hunch he's been kicking around at least since 2002. He looks quite good despite being whiteskin, since Volks oldskin was pretty solid and opaque and he has clearly been treated gently by his previous owners. He's yellowed, but to an attractive creamy color. I'll put up a profile for him tomorrow when I can snap a photo of him.

The Volks old SD body is notoriously awful to pose. I have him wired and hot glue sueded so it's not nearly so bad but I don't trust him to stand unaided. He reminds me more of an antique ball jointed doll than an action figure, the way modern hyperposable BJDs feel today. The sculpt is so lovely though. I always felt that when you hold a first generation SD, you can see exactly why modern bjds caught on like they did. The doll feels exciting, full of life and possibilities. It feels like something you want to care for and treasure, and I certainly do treasure this doll. It feels like owning a bit of history.

I know there are a few dedicated old Volks lovers out there, hopefully they'll chime in with pics and info. Probably some of the next oldest dolls you'll find are Customhouse. Now those are some beauties!

 

The oldest doll in my own crew is a Sweet Dream Lucas from 2003, but a friend has a pair of Volks' girls from 1999 and 2000... They've all aged pretty gracefully. Their joining isn't as sophisticated as "modern" sculpts, but they're still solid dolls.

A lot of my Cerberus Project dolls and my Latis also date from the early to mid-2000s. They're still in good shape, but I'm careful about how I treat the gang. They're very much treasured in spite of being old-school and out of fashion.

 

There is a thread about older/old-school dolls in the Gallery forum, and I feel like there is another thread about older dolls in this forum as well. The oldest resin doll I own is from 2006 a SoulDoll Paris, he still looks pretty good, with minimal to no yellowing (r even yellowing). The oldest resin head I own is from 2005 a CP VDES, I can't compare her, because I got her as a floating head. The oldest non-resin doll of this kind that I own is a Volks DDI, the original type with partially strung body and hard-plastic for most of the body, and a soft-vinyl chest piece -- the head was also harder vinyl than what current DDs have. My large resin dolls live in my closet, so I can't say I see any difference in color on any of their parts, like other people would find in dolls that are displayed (head caps that are less yellow compared to the faces, etc.).

 

My oldest is an Angel Region Ren, from well before they were owned by Soom. I don't know his exact year, but probably 2006-7. Of course, I've only had him since 2013, got him on ebay. His resin could pass for a current-year's "normal", though it's a bit lighter (he started as white). He's absolutely the most sturdy out of all 20-something of my dolls, and other than the four-legged centaur, he's the only one I trust to stand on his own. His resin feels really solid, and there are very few current companies that make anything like it; closest I have is Island Doll.

In short, he's held up really well.

 

My avatar pic is a recent photo of my oldest doll, a 2003 Volks MSD Hewitt. His opaque "oldskin" resin has held up really well, it seems to have yellowed less than the "pureskin" resin Volks transitioned to the following year. He's had several accidents since I've played with him so much, but there isn't a chip on him, thanks to the sturdy resin. He still has most of his original 2003 face-up, too (I intend to keep it on him as long as I can!) I think he's in amazing shape for a 15-year-old doll. (That being said, I finally switched out his body this year for a slightly newer version that's easier to pose. The resin itself had held up well, but dolly joint engineering has moved on...)

EDIT to update that I posted again below with a more detailed response after cleaning the mentioned doll!

 

My Tohya head is from 2004 and it's already pureskin (the one from dolpa12). Even if it's yellowed, for me it has really nice warm colour!

 

While not quite that old, this is Amir who is 11 1/2 years old. He was my first doll. He's an Angel of Dream v1 Chen in white skin. He's the first version of the Chen sculpt on the first 1/4 boy body, quite different from the current version of Chen, and honestly I like him better. He's heavier than current AoD resin, has a more detailed and mature body, and I think his face sculpt is more distinctive. However, I don't like that he was made before headcap magnets were a thing and so his headcap is actually s-hooked to his body stringing and near impossible to remove. He's held up really well, no real damage other than some minor scratches and his eyebrow is slightly gouged from a fall, he has yellowed quite a bit, but he's a creamy color not banana or green. The weirdest part is that I had him for something like 10 years without unstringing him, he never needed it. In fact, I'm pretty sure his current string IS his original string! They sure don't send them with string like that anymore. He also came with his box and a CoA, which was fairly unusual for cheaper dolls in 2007.

 

My oldest is a Dollstown Seola from around 2005-2006, although I got her in 2014. I would guess she's yellowed, but I don't have another DT doll to compare her to. The older bodies have ridiculous knee joints that just twist and buckle every which way, so standing unaided is out of the question for her. Nevertheless, I adore her. She was also my first BJD - I fell in love with her when a friend of mine owned her, and was lucky enough to bring her home when she downsized her collection.

Here she is after her most recent faceup, which I'm still very much learning how to do.
Fawn by Beth Simmons, on Flickr

 

My oldest is my 2004 Customhouse petite ai Little Friar, she is really yellow and her joints are not very good. She cannot stand straight, her legs are bend. 2nd oldest is my Volks yosd Kuuta, he is yellowed evenly and not much difference from newer volks yosd.

 

• Isao Nanjou Ver 1 2004 August
• Yukinojou Sawaragi version 1 Dec 2005
• F38 Christian Dec 2008 (Sato)

Were you the first owner of this doll?
No for Isao and Yukinojou, yes for F38 Christian

When did you purchase it?
2008 for Isao. 2009 for Yukinojou and 2008 for F38.

Do you believe in the fabled "radioactive green" that all resin supposedly turns into?
No unless perhaps if it’s 100 years old.

How yellowed is the resin? How brittle?
Very good resin condition. I would say, not noticeable in photos.

If you have a newer doll, do you prefer the resin quality of the older or newer doll?
No preference. The older resin is sturdier.

Do you take any extra steps in the care of this doll?

Handle with gloves only, never touch faceup. Did not remove hot glued eyes on Isao and Yukinojou. Loosely strung. Kept in original boxes most of the time. Always displayed on doll stands. Preservation of original faceup and accessories by making an effort to clean, mend, replace or fix accessories due to age. Dolls more than 10 years old do not go out frequently on photo sessions and conventions.

I hope to take these old dolls to Volks Dolpas so that other collectors can assess their resin condition. I cannot tell the extent of yellowing because I keep seeing them for so many years. More accurate if others looked at it. I cannot believe Isao is not yellowed. Yukinojou’s body was yellowed when I got him when compared to Isao.

URL to Isao and Yukinojou’s photo taken recently. https://flic.kr/p/NZHt9q

 

My oldest doll isn't quite 10 years but he's wonderful. I'm his second owner. His resin feels a little less smooth than my newer dolls but I love the feel of it. He's probably mellowed but I don't have a comparison, there's no hint of green though, if anything he looks more like he has a very light tan in comparison to some of my other dolls who are very pale, so his skin is the most realistic colour probably. He's probably my heaviest doll though and he feels very sturdy.

 

Dollzone Megi is my first and oldest doll. My next oldest doll is Nabarro's Boys Har who I purchased in 2011 so not yet at the 10 year mark with him.

Were you the first owner of this doll?
Yup!

When did you purchase it?
I received him June 2008. Ordered him in April or something?

Do you believe in the fabled "radioactive green" that all resin supposedly turns into?
Not with my Dollzone Megi. He is a tan skin doll. He is definitely yellower than before, but nowhere even near shades of green. He is the most well-traveled of my dolls and has seen a lot of sun!

How yellowed is the resin? How brittle?
It's noticeably yellower, but still similar to his original tone. Other brands I have experienced have changed more drastically. One of my secondhand dolls is an Angelsdoll Baku which is a tan that turned a much more unpleasant color. No change in brittleness.

If you have a newer doll, do you prefer the resin quality of the older or newer doll?
I have certainly come to like newer tan skin tones available (Dollzone's tan was a bit on the "spray tan orange" end of things), but TBH I have never felt any doll was especially bad in resin quality. Though I used to have a Shinedoll Gentleman body whose ankle chipped in shipping when I received it from the company and when I sold it, it chipped the other ankle in transit and the buyer remarked the resin was easier to sand than any brand they had experienced when they just sanded it to even it out. So I guess that one probably had the weakest resin of my dolls.

Do you take any extra steps in the care of this doll?
Nope. I didn't break him as a newbie with no idea how tension strung dolls worked, I figure I can't break him now with my current experience level.

 

The doll in question is a Dollstown Seola on the 7YO body, from appx. 2005-2006.

Were you the first owner of this doll?
I'm actually the fourth. I don't know who her first owner was. Her second was Pat from DDE, her third was the friend who bought her from there when she worked there - back when they still had the storefront. I bought her from my friend about two years later.

When did you purchase it?
2014.

Do you believe in the fabled "radioactive green" that all resin supposedly turns into?
I've heard stories of both one early batch of Luts and some very early tans turning green, but I've never seen it.

How yellowed is the resin? How brittle?
She has a more golden cast to her skin compared with some of my newer dolls, but i also don't know her exact skintone - and since she's my only DT doll, it may actually just be her skintone is more golden than pink. She's a lovely shade that doesn't look yellowed at all. And as for brittle - she survived a fall off the back of the sofa onto the metal baseboard without a scratch.

If you have a newer doll, do you prefer the resin quality of the older or newer doll?
Neither. I don't feel like any of my dolls are of less than excellent resin quality.

Do you take any extra steps in the care of this doll?
Not because of her age, but because her leg joints are not the best-engineered joints on the planet and her knees in particular like to buckle at the worst times. So no standing her up unaided.

 

No, no, no... it's not ALL resin that turns into radioactive green! In fact, no resin that I can recall turns radioactive green.

Resin will yellow. Some more than others.

Old French Resin, because it was translucent or clear-ish... sometimes yellowed quickly and badly because you could see the clear resin (without a lot of pigment) better, and because it had less pigment than other resins, also less opaque colors, the colors sometimes faded quickly, which also showed the basic resin yellowing. They did not have any UV protection, etc. So, some people's dolls used to yellow badly if they were early days (in the Oughts -- 2003 to 2008 or so) French resin.

"Beauty Green" was a sort of joke with those who owned early (in the Oughts) Luts/Cerberus Project Beauty White (ws) dolls that had a more greenish cast to the color. The resin might come new with a more greenish, rather than yellow/creamy-white shade to it, or the greenish/yellowish shade might increase over time--but never was actually GREEN, and certainly not radioactive. (I own a bunch of bw early CP dolls. Some are slightly more creamy now--more towards light ns than ws, some have a less yellowy cast and might be described as greenish white, but aren't really green.

"Green" happened with some early (again, in the Oughts) French resin colors-- primarily "Pea Green" happened to Bambicrony Misty Blue colored French Resin made in 2007 only. The problem was that resin colors were in the early days, the blue resin was very pale blue, and it was French resin without any UV protection. They turned yellow within months or a year, some more than others. Green is what happens when blue fades and yellow is added, by the way. (I own a Bambicrony Misty Blue Kumi elf who hasn't turned pea green, but has yellowed a lot.)

"Green" also happened with the very first Iplehouse EID Real Skin bjds. This happened back in the Oughts, too. Some dolls developed uneven spots that were of a greenish shade of tan. Again, companies were still trying out colored resin recipes. Iplehouse quickly changed the recipe and have been making Special Real Skin for a decade without the problems of greenish uneven yellowing. (I have an early Iplehouse EID --but in Special Real Skin and he's not green.)

Those are the major cases of turning green. It's very rare as far as I know.

This is a CP Elf El beauty white head from 2004 and has a slightly more greenish shade than the more creamy/yellow white of my OTHER elf el head that arrived at the exact same time. It means he's more white, really. I think mostly because I used UV-cut MSC on him rather than the old MSC...

MSC also yellows, particularly the old non-UV-cut stuff!!!

(he's wearing a grey wig)
11-06-FDQ-MercyPhoto_9138 by aprilllee, on Flickr

 

All my dolls live in their boxes and only come out of them when I take them somewhere or am sewing/doing something with them. They don't see much light period never mind anything like actual sunlight.

I have 2 AoD dolls from 2008, in tan, and they've not greened at all. Matter of fact, if they've mellowed, it's dead even and I can't tell. I bought them direct from AoD, so I'm their first owner. I have 2 Unidoll boys (a WS Ark and a NY UH-08 Elf) from around the same time but I'm not the first owner of either of them. The WS Unidoll isn't really very white looking, but it's my understanding that brand new Unidoll WS had a yellowish cast to begin with. The Unidoll NY also started off as very yellow when it was brand new so judging how much it has mellowed is really tough.

I have an RS boy in the old blue made in 2009 and am his first owner. The old blue that RS does is/was an extremely pale blue that could be mistaken for a dingy white unless he was beside a WS doll, which he'd then look blue-ish. I think he was a wonky batch as he's turned a very lovely and perfectly even turquoise green (which actually works better for his character so, yea!). I have other RS boys in red, WS, dark tan and dark grey and they don't appear to have really changed colour. The WS might be a touch more creamy but that could be just the lighting playing tricks on my eyes.

None of my guys feel brittle and I have dolls from 34 different companies spanning 11 years of production.