Rarest Defunct Companies/Artists

The ones I can think of off the top of my head would probably be:

Kanon Yui/Rui (?) - Released 2 sculpts in 2005
RML/Real Missing Link - They had several early sculpts that I think have pretty much disappeared. There's still a website out there but those early heads are gone

 

Love this thread idea!

I'd say Production Ariadne isn't very widely known, nor is Minawadou. I only have some unpainted heads from these artists so nothing to really show there, but the Production Ariadne bodies are really interesting! I know there is a thread here with at least a couple of photos: https://denofangels.com/threads/production-ariadne-discussion.230863/

If you want one that's a real unknown, there was a Korean artist called Heart or Heartdolls that sold from DollnDoll. They only had a few sculpts, and most of them had weird names: Soap, Safer Tattoo, and ELVIS DODO. God, the name alone made me want the doll, but he also came with a blue sculpted pompadour wig (which I think was also resin). I never saw owner photos of any of them.

 

Damptales did a few heads in 2007ish, Kiruru was the one I owned for awhile - an MSD with cute downturned elfy ears. Nowadays that general combination of size/features is much easier to find from bigger companies but it was really novel at the time!

 

Your wish is my command! This is the only photo of the doll I had saved. XD

 

That's oddly adorable.

CloakedSchemer, I saw the same listing on eBay but just assumed in scrolling past it that it was a description for the doll, not a company name. That's what I get for not doing any research.

 

Ten odd years ago, one DoA member created a doll called Liebchen. It was humanoid with a cat smile, and covered joints. When the BJD Obrarium(sp) was published, you could place an order through the book, though they were available for sale before that. There were only 150 ever made, and at the time I thought they'd be in demand because rare. Now, I think I'm one of a very few who remembers them.

 

That Star Spangled Dolls Daphne is pretty! (Yes, I just HAD to go search her on eBay!) And that Elvis Dodo is adorable!!

Only company I can think of, that I'm sure some might remember, is KizDoll. I wanted their boy Vince SO bad! Then they disappeared before I could get him.

 

I have a Damptales Kiruru head! I was also going to mention elfINDOLL, who disappeared years ago. I still have one of their tinies.

Elvis Dodo is really unique! The blue hair is so cool.

 

I don't know if they qualify, because I don't believe they are on-topic for DoA. However, one of my grails is a mature 40cm-ish BJD, by an individual Japanese artist whose brand name is Egoips, they have sculpt named Marius, whom I've wanted since they had a similar 1:6 head sculpt version in the early 2000s. They don't sell outside of Japan, I've never seen one outside of Japanese blogs, and I would probably never get a proxy service to try and get one. I only ever seen one on Mandarake (thanks to a kind soul, here on DoA). Sadly, he was badly yellowed and missing a few pieces. I still would love to be able to get one brand new, someday, although, they haven't updated their blog since 2018 and their shop seems closed now. T_T;;

Edit: Just used the translator, and it seems like their last post on their blog says they are no longer producing Marius. So the are a defunct company now, there goes my dream of owning one. DX

 

Star Spangled Doll later changed names to LE Doll. I have one because I have all the weird/little known dolls. They were primarily a dealer out of Las Vegas if my creaky memory serves me. I have an AoD/LE Doll Collaboration Adonis and on his box it is stamped Starspangleddoll.com in silver. There were only 38 of him made. He is an unusual-for-the-time size of 57cm. He came with regular and sandal/thong feet, regular hands and a set of fist/grasping hands and a resin piece that's supposed to make switching the hands/feet easier. I originally got him with the default face-up and later (when I could afford it) had him repainted. I bought him new in May of 2009. Once again relying on memory, I believe there was another SD sculpt that was also limited to 38 that was a female.

This is Kijika with Moswen (AoD Chi in tan)
Moswen & Kijika 1 by ID Locke, on Flickr

 

Pavilion BJD comes to mind. They only made like 3 heads and 1 yosd body. I especially like their lion head. It's too bad that they don't exist anymore. I think their work is great.

 

I feel like I should mention Elysium. From my quick research, it looks like they had a small resurgence a few years ago when they released two new heads, but from what I can tell their website is now gone. But even when they were still around I feel like not many even knew about them. Perhaps because they only sold heads?