Questions for owners of older dolls: 10+ years

I was the first owner of my very first dolls but then I found how difficult it was to get certain ones I wanted & started buying second hand as well as new. Since I started in this hobby early on, around 2004 or so & still have many of my first dolls, they've yellowed a little bit but it's not terribly noticible, just a mellowing really. The WS dolls are no longer paper white but rather a pleasing off white color & none of my tan dolls have turned green. I've found that I prefer my old dolls & haven't been really attracted by anything new for a while now so I'm not buying but rather liquidating most of my collection & just keeping a few very old ones that are special to me.

 

My first 3 dolls were all bought from 5 Star Doll in 2011. Neither of them has yellowed much at all. I have kept them out of direct sunlight, and heat, but no other precautions. They are kept on a shelf which is deep enough so that dust does not reach them.

The only doll I have which has yellowed badly is a white skin 5 Star Doll Quintus. Bought him from Denver Doll's in stock dolls last year. Since Quintus has been discontinued for a while, I have a feeling he was on display at Denver Doll where sun or heat may have gotten to him. His yellowing is even and looks like natural skin color. I don't mind, except he is supposed to be a vampire, and would have white skin I imagine.

 

My oldest is an original Soom MD Amber from 2009. I'm definitely not her first owner, but having bought her in 2013, she's been with me for the bulk of her existence.

I... have never heard of 'radioactive green' resin before, unless you mean some of the issues with color stability in VERY early tan dolls. Even extreme cases of yellowing are only caused by years of direct sunlight.

Foxglove (Amber) has definitely changed over the years. The original cream yellow has faded into a white with a slight green tint that I honestly love; it goes wonderfully with her blushing and faceup. She's beautiful to me the way she is. To be honest, my most yellow doll is a Limhwa Half Elf I purchased new the same year, and she was already a pretty defined cream color to begin with like every other Limhwa I've seen.

Brittle resin with age is something I also haven't heard of. There is a crack in the back of Foxglove's head, but that happened long before I purchased her...

I don't treat her any differently from the rest of my girls. I keep her on open display with all the others out of direct sunlight, and the most maintenance she's ever needed is a single restringing and the odd stain removal (somber, black forest witch equals lots of dark clothing).

 

My 10+ old dolls, in order of age:

• Volks SDC Kaede - 2004
  
• Dollmore Calvin - 2005
• Volks SDC Kurenai - 2005
  
• Dream of Doll Twing-key - 2007?
• Volks SDC MSD FCS - 2005-2009?
  
• Dream of Doll Tender Bee-a - 2009
  
• Dollmore Ha Yarn Cho - 2010

All are secondhand, most purchased through DoA. Others, eBay or Facebook.

When did you purchase it?
The doll I have had the longest time is Dollmore Ha Yarn Cho, purchased in 2011.

How yellowed is the resin? How brittle?
My Volks dolls are the most yellowed of the 10+ years dolls but have no chips or damage. My Dream of Doll dolls are the least yellowed, still a white-pink color. Twing-key has a little chipping near her joints. Dollmore Ha Yarn Cho got replacement parts for her chipping/breakage. Due to that, I would call her the most fragile of the older dolls. She's moderately yellowed. She and Twing-key have seen a lot of action with me over the past 10+ years, and I think this is why they have a little more damage than the others. But not by much.

My newer white dolls are more yellowed than these older dolls.

If you have a newer doll, do you prefer the resin quality of the older or newer doll?
I prefer the newer resin from Chinese BJD companies (Doll Chateau, Doll Leaves, Angel of Dream) because there's something more delicate about it.

Do you take any extra steps in the care of this doll?
Almost all of them have some kind of sealant on them. Right now, I'm coating the most yellowed dolls with MSC Matt UV-Cut, but since these older dolls are not as yellow as my newer white dolls, the new dolls are getting treated first.

I have tried some de-yellowing treatments but they were either ineffective or mildly damaging, so I clean the dolls carefully with a Magic Eraser before spraying them with sealant.

Of the older crew, Dollmore Calvin looks by far the newest. He looks like he was kept in a box 15+ years before I got him, never touched. Volks SDC Kaede looks similarly new in terms of little play and exposure.

 

When I am writing this post (2022), I have 3 dolls older than 10 years.

Were you the first owner of these dolls?
Yes.

When did you purchase them?
2009-2011

Do you believe in the fabled "radioactive green" that all resin supposedly turns into?
I think it can happen if you leave any resin exposed to direct sunlight for a long time. I have seen greenish-grey spots on vinyl dolls, but not on urethane resin. Hmm... perhaps I should do some research on this.

How yellowed is the resin? How brittle?
They all show some yellowing.
SOOM MA Sabik is becoming a bit 'peachy'. A nice natural tone.
LUTS Senior Delf Howl stays quite close to its original color.
SpiritDoll Proud (originally white skin) is becoming more yellow than the others.
I am sanding them in every 2-3 years as gently as possible and I can bring them back very close to their original skin tone. Most of the yellowing is pretty superficial. But it is a hell of work.
They still wear their original face-up and there isn't any remarkable contrast between the (sanded) bodies and the (non-sanded) heads. You can see some difference if you look closely, but nothing I would define as 'visible'.
They don't seem to be more brittle as they age.

If you have a newer doll, do you prefer the resin quality of the older or newer doll?
I prefer the 'fresh' tone, but I laugh at myself when I remember how worried I used to be about the aging of the resin before. Now, after more than 10 years I treat and think of their 'skin' as I treat and think of my own: protect but accept. There are reasonable countermeasures we can take in order to slow the process, but it will happen anyway. Our skin will age even if we live in a box - their skin will yellow even if we keep them in a box. But much less and slower than I thought.

Do you take any extra steps in the care of these dolls?
I keep them out of direct sunlight and I always carefully close the curtains when I leave home.
I move them to the shade of a piece of furniture or sometimes even put a blanket on them during the winter months when sun directly shines into my rooms from wall to wall.
I have the maintenance routine I described above.

 

Were you the first owner of this doll?
Yes, though he was actually a store display for Feather-Fall before I bought him. (Old Canadian BJD dealer)

When did you purchase it?
2008.

Do you believe in the fabled "radioactive green" that all resin supposedly turns into?
I remember this being a problem with a few much older Luts dolls but it's not a common problem??

How yellowed is the resin? How brittle?
Oh he's an absolute banana. But his resin is still strong as ever.

If you have a newer doll, do you prefer the resin quality of the older or newer doll?
Honestly I have a newer (got this year) doll from the same company and honestly their resin has improved SO much. I love my old dude but you can tell this company has really made progress over the years.

Do you take any extra steps in the care of this doll?
Not really. He's no different than my others, just...yellow.

 

So I have (and have had) many dolls ~10 years old—here is a bit of a gallery!

Dia (Iplehouse Kamau, 2010)
Kamau in his glory by Indifferent Red, on Flickr

Got him in 2016 or 2017, and he’s virtually un-yellowed/un greened. Which I know because his joints are horrible, and I’m remaking his arm joints so I can tolerate them, so I’ve been sanding off parts and he’s not gone through a lot of colour change. He was bought in 2010 and lived on his box until we met, so that might be a factor.

Soom Vesuvia, 2008

Spoiler: vesuvia

Vesuvia by Indifferent Red, on Flickr
Her colour has mellowed from more or a purple (pearl violet) to grey. She’s totally even, and he factory faceup is Undisturbed. She’s an outstanding example of dolls aging well.

Soom Gluino, 2010

Spoiler: gluino

Gluino by Indifferent Red, on Flickr
he’s fairly yellow (the white shirt gives him away!!) resin still as durable as ever though! He made it from Brazil, and his box was Obliterated, but he came out okay

Twigling Ylisande (2009) and elfdoll Lydia (2012)

Spoiler: luna and daughters

Luna and daughters by Indifferent Red, on Flickr

So the Lydia head is the mellowed colour most dolls from 2012 seem to head to. She’s not extremely yellowed, but you can see how Time has effected her. The ylisande head, which is on a newer Iplehouse body, was artist-cast on 2009, and still has her faceup, and doesn’t show much yellowing at all compared to the inside of her headcap, which is kind of wild.

Iplehouse Carina (~2012?)/Soom mecha angel body (discontinued around 2013?)

Spoiler: carina

Liriel by Indifferent Red, on Flickr

Liriel again, is mildly yellowed, but she’s large and in charge. There’s no body on the market that would have made her tall enough, but this works nicely. Definitely no differences in strength resin going brittle bc she has to be strung tight!

I have other dolls around the same age, but honestly, as long as you replace your ancient stringing, they don’t tend to feel very different from newer dolls, unless there were poseability changes (like the EID 2010 body having the sliders and the buttflaps!)

 

I have many dolls from several companies that are 10+ years old. most of them have either no, or minimal yellowing that I can see, and none of them unevenly. The most notable is my blue Resinsoul Song, who's yellowed a little into a greenish hue, but still looks great. My Blueblood Valentine (who was cast in some sort of "environmental" resin), looks just the same to me as when he arrived.

Mind you though, I shun the sun and pretty much always keep my curtains drawn to keep out the accursed rays of the great ball of fiery hate in the sky, so your milage may vary.

 

Funny how much time can pass when you're on hiatus. I went on hiatus in 2013 and came back a month ago... and just like that, all my dolls are more than 10 years old.

Here's Justinian and Syr, after an intensive photoshoot this weekend.



Syr is 14 years old. Crobidoll Lance in soft white, hybrided on a modded Dollstown 15year girl body in fresh skin. Both parts are roughly 2008 vintage, and I got them from DoA MP in mid 2009 (head) and early 2010 (body). I don't think Syr has changed at all in colour and resin quality; if she has, I can't see it. The resin colours matched when I bought the parts, and they still match now.

Justinian is 11 years old. Dollstown Mui on Dollstown 15year boy body (pre-2013 version), in oriental skin. I'm first owner, ordered from Dollstown and received in July 2011. He has yellowed, some of the red is definitely lost from oriental skin. The yellowing is uneven - it happened more in exposed parts like hands and face, but the transitions are smooth and subtle, not visible by camera (I can see it by eye only if I'm looking for it). But that just means he's more ivory than pinkish in tone.
Also, Justinian has spent about 10 of those 11 years stored in a doll bag in a dark cool closet, and yellowing still happened. Maybe the yellowing would've happened faster if he was being played with the whole time? but who knows.

Resin strength/quality doesn't seem to have changed with age. Both dolls are solid and sturdy. I keep them out of direct sunlight, but play with and pose them extensively -- trust me, Syr and Justinian work very hard for photoshoots, and both have taken some falls though none too bad -- and they perform wonderfully. Gotta credit Dollstown for making dolls that have become my gold standard for quality. I don't have any newer dolls yet (I'm working on it!) but when I get them, I'll be comparing their resin to these two.

.
I also have Alerion, Volks MSD F06 in pureskin normal. I bought her secondhand in 2009. Her age is unknown but previous owner said she's probably of 2005 vintage (her headcap is not magnetic). So she could up to 17 years old. She has definitely yellowed (even in 2013 she was a bit yellower than new Volks pureskin normal), but it's even and realistic flesh-toned. I don't have new Volks to compare to, but I think she looks quite good for her age.



I think greening no longer happens. It did a bit in the early days (mid/late 2000s) but I think the lighter flesh toned colours have all become very stable, and the tans are mostly stabilized. Maybe the fantasy colours are currently more fugitive, but I'm sure they'll stabilize as demand keeps up and companies keep improving formulations.

 

I have Soom Teenie Gem Grit from the Little Guardian release, I think it's 2010.

Were you the first owner of this doll?
Nope, I am a second owner of the doll.

When did you purchase it?
I bought the doll past summer from the first owner on a Facebook market place, who got it from Soom during the original release.

Do you believe in the fabled "radioactive green" that all resin supposedly turns into?
Never seen resin turning green, but probably can happen, but it depends a lot on the original color of the resin and what additives went into it.

How yellowed is the resin? How brittle?
The doll is grey skin, so it's not yellowed at all or I cannot see any yellowing. The resin is not brittle at all, it's very nice quality. The first owner has kept the doll in it's original box and never did a face up, that has probably also helped.

If you have a newer doll, do you prefer the resin quality of the older or newer doll?
I have newer dolls from Soom, but I would have to say I do not see much difference in the resin quality. Maybe it is just the grey resin, I don't know. I really like resin quality in both old and new dolls.

Do you take any extra steps in the care of this doll?
Not really. I keep all my dolls away from direct sunlight.

 

I have a Volks MSD F0-7 from 2004!



Were you the first owner of this doll?

Nope!

When did you purchase it?

I bought her earlier this year from Dollyteria.

Do you believe in the fabled "radioactive green" that all resin supposedly turns into?

I believe in it but I haven't seen it myself.

How yellowed is the resin? How brittle?

She's pretty yellow and has some worse yellowing/staining on her forehead (covered by her wig lol). She's not brittle at all! I feel just as comfortable handling and posing her as my newer dolls, Volks or not.

If you have a newer doll, do you prefer the resin quality of the older or newer doll?

They're about the same to me. Some of my newer dolls have less quality resin, and some of them don't. I think Volks dolls are made really well, and that quality lasts even 18 years down the line. (18 years?!)

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

I've cleaned her up the best I could. (She had some marks and dirt. Everything but a faint stain on her hand and the staining on her forehead cleaned off great!)

Other than that, I just make sure that she's cleaned and posed comfortably. By that, I mean that I don't leave her in extreme poses for long periods of time. I do that for all my other dolls too though.

 

My oldest dolls are all 13 this year. I have three tan Bamibcrony Emilys from 2009, as well as a WS Migidoll Owen head from the same year. While the Emilys have all maintained their medium brown resin beautifully Owen has gone pretty yellow. Luckily it works for his character. I have a Leekeworld Mabel head and Dollzone body of unknown "normal" skin types that I am not sure of the year on but they're fairly old, and seem to have kept their color better. They still match, at least!

Words cannot express how happy I am that all of my beautiful Emilys have not turned green. There's no difference in the resin quality/sturdiness I can tell between them and the most recent doll I've purchased who was made in 2020.

 

My oldest doll is one i got 2nd hand. My Volks Hewitt 2nd hes from 2005 and his body is from daydreamdolls tho idk what year that is. His head has def yellowed but it matches his body well so i dont mind. His resin is still thick and strong after all these years (he survived a flight from korea to the US after all lol). My other oldest doll would by my minifee shiwoo who i got off of Y!Japan. Idk his age but he was on the old minifee body and pretty yellowed so id say hes from one of the older releases

. Also the "radioactive green" in the original post....do you mean The infamous Beauty Green? that only happened with Luts whiteskin dolls back in the day and has since been fixed lol

 

Even if I collect BJDs for around 15 years, I kept seldom of my firsts dolls, so I own little 10+ years dolls... Only 3 are currenlty 10+, and some will turn 10 in 2023.
The oldest is from 2009, then 2011 and 2012. I'm first owner of them. One may be 10+ but I don't really know when she was done, and she is a second hand doll. (A glorydoll Lucy)
None are radiactive green. I must admit I keep my dolls mosty in their box, in a room with suitable temperature and humidity (never less than 16°C, for example). Two are in dollshe pure tan and paletan resin, and they are very stable colors when not expose in direct sunlight. The third was NS and she turned nearly WS. A nice creamy color. I saw no special brittle.

I have a 9 years doll that I kept for some years on my worktable. She was in direct sunlight, and she has turned banana yellow on one side (shame on me). It depends a lot of how you store them!

 

I own just one head which is becoming 10 years old this next march and I haven't seen any changes in coloration in it within all those years. That said, she hasn't been exposed to the sunlight more than necessary as I keep all my dolls inside a cabinet in the same wall the window is, so that way it's impossible for the sun to touch them directly at any hour. My two oldest full dolls will turn 10 next year (2024) and it's the same with them. They are all normal colored skins (more yellow or more pink), but I think I can safely assume the sun is your greatest enemy when it comes to resin color changing.

 

Pretty sure my Shinydoll is my oldest doll. I am not her first owner. She has definitely mellowed, but she’s not green! Her resin feels ‘different’ but not brittle. Despite her dainty appearance, she actually feels quite solid. I think she has possibly been restrung at some point, so that probably helps, but I think it’s also down to her design. Her neck joint is a thing of beauty. She is hands down the best poser of all my dolls. She was a grail and I love her to bits.

 

My oldest dolls at or above the 10 year mark are from 2008- 2013. Most are Fairyland dolls in "normal" skintone but I do have one in white skin. The others are a Bambicrony in "normal" skin, an Angell Studio in gray, and a Chibi Unoa in fresh (i think). They are a mix of second hand a d bought straight from companies.

The only doll that has even the slightest green tiny is my white skinned pukipuki. I got her second hand. I believe she was 2009? She has a slight green tint but its nothing terrible. She's tiny it doesn't show much and she's a fairy type creature so it is forgiven. I generally don't think resin is going to turn radioactive green, I would be shocked if any new white tones turned green at all.

My gray skinned doll seems to be more blue than gray. Lol. So there's something going on with his colors. But he's a fantasy color so gray or blue doesn't matter much. Just an interesting turn of events.

Of my "normal/peach" resin dolls none of them have turned green. I wouldn't even say they've overtly yellowed? They have just... mellowed. They're a softer cream instead of a perky pink?

I would say all my dolls have "mellowed" as their pigments have changed and faded over the years. I store them all away from the sun so the dolls I have bought straight from the company's don't have uneven "mellowing" or yellowing. But a LOT of my second hand dolls have severe fading or yellowing based on direct sunlight.

Have not noticed any resin being brittle after all these years.

I don't know if its because of the resin being newer but I am enjoying a lot of the heftier and smoother feeling resin a lot of the European artist dolls tend to have. I don't remember resin early in my collecting days feeling like that aside from maybe Magic Mirror Dolls. But I really love it.

I keep all my dolls out of sunlight and uv rays and I usually store them without wigs and clothes to prevent any staining.

 

After reading through this thread it seems resin dolls hold up well over the years. Very reassuring.
It seems like resin does fairly well with the test of time, better than vinyl anyway.

 

I joined the hobby in 2009 so all but 2 of the dolls in my collection are 10+ years old. My crew includes Volks, Elfdoll, Dollstown, Dollshe, Soom and B&G Doll.

My oldest doll was purchased in 2020 secondhand from the DoA marketplace: a ca 2001 Volks Oldskin Nana in normal skin. The resin is stunning. It feels like porcelain. I purchased my first doll from Denver Doll Emporium in 2009, a B&G Rin in normal yellow skin.

None are anywhere near green.

With the exception of my Narae, they yellowed evenly. The Narae was Pinky French resin and she came to me extremely yellowed.

None are brittle.

My newer dolls were purchased in the past 2 years, one is Volks and the other is Iplehouse. I don’t have a preference for the resin.

I like to play with, craft for, photograph and enjoy my dolls. They sit around my studio, away from the window. I have 2 on stands on my desk. On bright days, I set up a room divider to shield the dolls. I change their clothes regularly to avoid staining. I play gently with them and no one seems worse for the wear.