Things I no longer buy as BJD collector

I'm with you on the "no more pleather"-thing... I've lost a few too many favorite pieces and pricey sets over the last few years to ever waste money or time with that stuff again. Lesson learned, there.

 

I also agree with the "no more pleather" and fortunately, I haven't had to deal with it personally, I just know the stories. But I'm really interested in hearing others' opinions on other things in a "word of warning" sort of way.

 

Magic erasers because dealers (ACBJD etc) pop them into the box every time I buy something It has become my side collection.

 

100% no faux leather stuff

I haven't been in the hobby long enough to really know what 'not to buy' (aside from faux leather). But I do have some general 'no buy' rules:

1) No faux leather!
> Yes it absolutely needs repeating! Don't fall for the pretty leather-like fullset!

2) No metals!
> Unless you know for sure it's stainless steel make or some other non-tarnishing or non-plated metal and won't rust to oblivion in a year

3) No discounted heads
> YMMV, I bought a few discounted Dollmore heads for faceup practice, but other than that, the age/yellowing of the heads might disappoint if you planned to use them for something other than practice

And that's all I can think of at the moment

 

At first, I was like, "Lol. I buy everything." But then I realized there is indeed stuff I no longer buy!

Eye putty - Walmart sells poster putty for $5. Same stuff, and you get tons of it.

Silicone "kips" - they're called flexible silicone washers, and you can get hundreds of them for a few bucks at the hardware store.

MSC (for me) - too pricey, too toxic, too temperamental (humidity, temperature). Water-based airbrush sealant works fine.

Restringing tools - jewelry wire, floral wire, twist ties from play line dolls.

Elastic or wire from BJD companies - shock cord for boats (comes in multiple colors!) and plant wire at the hardware store.

Really, any accessories labeled for "BJDs" are probably repurposed tools from somewhere else that I can get cheaper and easier.

BJD jewelry - human stuff is fine. Anklets and bracelets make perfectly good doll necklaces.

Oh - one thing I will never buy, no matter who makes it: doll belts. I destroy those things. I am Conan the Barbarian when it comes to doll belts. I give up.

 

Have to agree with @juni-fee with wanting to know what others have found out they don’t buy anymore either. I haven’t been too deep in the hobby myself to really know what I wouldn’t buy anymore. Always get distracted by new doll faces so for me, it’d probably be putting a rein on how many dolls I really truly want/can manage!

@MaleficentMrsofEvil, you provided such wonderful information on alternate means of using everyday items around us and not just ones strictly marketed for the BJD hobby! I hope it’s alright that I copy those ideas down for later use! They are really interesting insights.

 

Cannot stop laughing at the barbarian comment xD

 

I agree on No Pleather - I’ve had several items disintegrate. I don’t buy restringing tools - I use a $5 Dritz Elastic Threader and some kitchen twine. I stopped buying wig caps and use fabric store Velcro.

 

bjd elastics, I use shock cord now too.
kips, they are a nuisance
pleather, I don't expect everything to last forever, but boy when it's ready to go, what a huge mess it is to clean up

 

The pleather comments hit too close to home. Watching beautiful doll boots and belts melt into a million fragments has always been depressing. I don’t buy the restringing tools either. All it took was one time for one of them to unbend while I was using it because of the force of the elastic, scratching my doll when it shot backwards, and I’ve never wanted to put another metal hook near one of my resin babies again.

 

I'm lazy, so I do end up buying a lot of things, but here are a few I stay away from.

Casual clothing items- stuff like t-shirts, plain pants, sweaters; I find I can make most of those myself for cheaper
Doll jewelry- again, I can make that myself
Elastic from BJD companies- it's easier to get and cheaper from craft stores
Face protectors- you get a free one with almost every doll (I have TONS) and I guess you can use starbucks lids anyway
Eye putty- I don't like the clay stuff the companies use anyway, and sticky tac is way cheaper and easier to get
Restringing tools (with a caveat)- I highly recommend getting a head-puller tool, it's been a life-saver, but otherwise just use folded wire

 

Couldn't aggree more. Some of my dolls are in danger of goign shoeless as a result, however. I spent a fortune on shoes and boots in the right styles and colours for them that have all flaked horribly and I'm reluctant throw more money at replacing them - they're the sort fo thign that the few places making shoes in real leather don't seem to make and, while not all faux leather doll shoes flake, you have no way of telling in advance which ones will and which ones won't. It's very frustrating.

I don't buy modern clothes for mine (except the YoSD and smaller sizes) any more. They all seem to end up in some variant of vintage, or historical styes as their default, and the few, more recent dolls that do defautl to modern clothes are more than adequately catered for by all the modern suff I still have from mistakenly buying it for earlier dolls.

Other than that it's:

- Eye putty - I bought several packs of silicone ear plugs over ten years ago, and haven't finished the first one yet

- Elastic or wire from BJD companies - There are way cheaper sources for the same things

- Eyes marketed specifically for BJDs - I buy other doll eayes (reborning eyes are realistic, attractive, come in na variety of sizes and colours, and cost a fraction of what the ones marketed specifically for BJDs cost).

- (some) Shoes marketed specifically for BJDs - "basic" styles like slip on flats, mary janes, and sandals etc are readily available for other dolls in many sizes that fit BJD, aren't in expensive Faux leather that might peel/flake in a few years time, don't have the massive price-hike that being for "BJD" adds to them. I jsut wish the same were true of more fancy styles (like "Victorian"boots)

- Jewelry - I have a collection of lovely bits , 90% of which I never get around to putting on a doll. Its just not something I generally think about when dresing a doll (most of mine are children, rahter than teens or adults so not wearing jewelry isn't a big gap in their aesthetic).

- High dome eyes - The dome restricts the positioning of the eye in the socket so they can usually only be set looking straight ahead. And, no matter how you position them, they make the eyes look crooked in photos no matter how fine they look in person.

Teddy

 

- No faux leather for me either, exception being dolls I can't find shoes for because of their weird size but knowing what will happen and for that reason getting as cheap a pair as possible with the intention of reusing the soles myself eventually and making my own shoes
- Wig caps and wigs in general. I haven't bought a wig in about 10 years, I make them myself and so I don't need wig caps either.
- As cobaltconduct said, magic erasers. I bought one many years ago I still have but I've been receiving even more from dealers, I'm probably set for life
- Doll jewellery, as said, many human one can work for dolls or I make my own.
- Knit clothing since I knit myself.
- I don't buy faceup services anymore, I do my own, I find it less stressful.
- MSC. I hate the stuff. I only used a can many many years ago. I switched to Citadel after that MSC can and I liked it more and used that for years, now it's no longer available and I've switched to liquitex with the sponge method. Learning curve but satisfied to not worry about my lungs as a bonus.
- Anything that is targeted towards BJD maintenance I never buy from BJD places, usually the prices are bloated. So things that have been said here like eye putty, silicone kips, elastic, restringing tools, head-puller tool.
For the head-puller tool, in case it could be useful to someone, I recommend looking for a tent peg puller or a trampoline spring tool, even an S hook without sharp ends if that's enough for you. I guess it will depend on where you're from but those were so much cheaper for me than the tools they sell on BJD specific websites.

I must be unlucky because my dolls always come without one and I don't usually go to starbucks either. If anyone has any suggestions for other things that could be used for this I would appreciate it!

 

I've used plastic cups - I cut the rim off until they're reasonably shallow and make sure to pad around the cut edge so there are no scratches. V cheap n easy to get.

 

-BJD underwear. Sometimes I will buy a particularly cute pair but for some reason i used to think it was a necessity at all times
-BJD Jewelry. It's too easy to DIY it!

 

In terms of modern undies, I tend to go for the less expnsive options sold for non-BJD dolls where I know the fit is close enough.

Period style undies is a combination of buy or make and most of the bought ones arent actually aimed at BJD's

Teddy

 

I'm intrigued by these "no pleather" comments. I have pleather stuff from a decade ago that is just fine (though my dolls have never been in storage and stay in my house in a bedroom, so that might help save them) yet almost everything new pleather that I've bought in the past year already has damage, some started to crack before I even got it fully out of the package.

Which leads me to my (mostly) "no more" thing: cheap stuff. Clothing and accessories, mostly, but some wigs and shoes too. I feel like the last few times I've bought from Ali Express, eBay, and sadly, two of my favorite dealers, I've been extremely disappointed. It seems like at least 1/4 of what I order ends up being out of stock and they tell me to pick something else, which is disappointing enough. And for the stuff that does arrive, the quality varies wildly from pretty good, to obviously cheap, to outright unusable. At this point, I'd rather spend twice as much from a shop whose quality does meet my standards and is consistent.

 

The problem is you can't tell if it will flake an crack until it hapopens. How expensive or inexpensive they are doesn't apper to be a factor.

I have faux leather stuff from years ago that has flaked, and others that are absolutely fine. The cheapest faux leather shoes I've bought my dolls (and I have a LOT of them in different sizes colours and styles bought over many years from a place that is sadly out of business now) are actually the ones that have never flaked or deteriorated. More expensive ones, as well as other brands of inexpensive ones, of various vintages have cracked and flaked, while others of similar vintages have not.

Teddy

 

- Furniture and big props in general: I'm just fed up of props occupying more space than the dolls themselves. I colecct most 1/3 and it's a pain to store huge dolls, but at least they fit in my wardrobe. Furniture most of the time has to be kept on the floor, wich bothers me. Also, I'm not into setting huge scenarios for photoshoots anymore, so it only makes me tired to look at the mess on my doll room. I'm currently selling everything.

- BJD Underwear: I've never considered it important to be honest, so I never bought any. My girlfriend, however, can't let any of her dolls without underwear, so she handmade me some and I use it because she's my sweetpie and it makes her happy

- BJD jewelry, elastics, tools and pretty much everything that can be bought at a local store: As stated above, it's much easier, cheaper and faster to look around for these in normal stores.

About the pleather thing, most of my pleather stuff looks great after 10+ years. Ironically, the itens that deteriorated the most were the ones I bought from expensive shops So... I keep buying the cheap ones hahahah