Things I no longer buy as BJD collector

Thank you for the suggestion!! I'll check if I can find some locally.

Totally agree. This is the same for me and the reason I don't want to risk it anymore if I can avoid it, it's a lottery. Price doesn't seem to correlate to the quality of pleather. In fact, personally, I've had more this problem with expensive shoes than cheap ones and it's the reason I prefer to go for the cheap ones expecting it to happen at some point and with the intent of upcycling as much as possible of them once they're in very bad condition.

 

Lucky/Blind bags. I’ve gotten too many things that were obviously poor sellers at the shops selling the bags. I have gotten a few good things but really? I’d rather just buy what I want.

 

RIP my ridiculously pricey Luts "Armadillo" armored outfit sets..
The HZ white set with the fur collar...
My Lati Red Adel's and Chaim's full set outfits...

Over here it's always the $$$ things that die the death of a thousand pleather flakes.

 

That is very true, I didn't mean to imply it was a weird answer or wrong in any way, more that I found it weird that my own personal old pieces seem to be much much better quality than the newer ones, and I wasn't sure if it was luck or that quality really has gone down that much as prices keep rising.

 

I made porcellain dolls back in the 80's and have been through many eyes for various types of dolls over the years, but I've yet to find high dome eyes that photograph well and look realistic. Glass eyes in particular, even the high done ones, tend to look very "flat"/unrealistic, thought I have seen exceptions.

I prefer the "cheap" acrylic ones that are sold for reborning. They look very realistic, photograph well, and are a fraction of the cost of a lot of other doll eyes (especially compared to ones marketed specifically for BJD, but in general too). They don't, however come in fantasy variants, but I have limited need for those so shop aroun d for low-dome alternatives if/when that situation crops up.

I've got a couple of pairs of soft eyes that also look good, but they tend to attract dust and look dull very quickly.

Teddy

 

Yet another pleather do not buy vote from me. Oddly, it seems like it's mostly the shoes for me that get all flakey over time where the majority of clothes are okay. It's a total dice roll on what lasts or not.

I haven't bought eyes in several years because I make my own now. I've never bought elastic from a doll company. I hate the eye putty most offer (it feels like old chewing gum to me) as I prefer silicone ear plugs. In a pinch, I've bought poster tack from the Dollar Store. I've never purchased any stringing tools from doll companies as I use shoelaces, forceps and pipe cleaners and they work just fine. I somehow ended up with a head puller but I've honestly no idea where the heck it came from. I do sometimes buy magic erasers but I also use those for cleaning around the house so I'm not sure if it really counts as a doll thing, lol. I rarely buy clothes as the style/type I want is hard to find for what I see as a reasonable price so I make 98% of all the clothes for my boys.

 

Re-stringing tools--Crochet hooks work great for tinies, and for the bigger dolls, I have a piece of jewelry wire I bent into a long hook.

Eye putty--Like everyone else here, I use poster putty.

MSC--Games Workshop makes a varnish that's even better in high-humidity areas AND I don't have to pay to get it shipped from Asia to the US.

T-shirts--super-easy to make, plus I have a Cricut so I can make catty phrases to iron on. :3

Panties--for any size other than 1/12, it's just easier to sew a pair myself and I have TONS of knit fabrics that I can use. (And several of my dolls are in short skirts and kinda need them.)

 

I'm another member of the No More Pleather club, for reasons listed above. It's also annoying finding fabric or real leather shoes, and the sizing can be ridiculous, with over 0.5cm gap between my dolls' toes and the inner toe of the shoe. I plan to learn how to make my own.

Spray sealant. I live in a large apartment building. Even if I spray on my balcony, I don't want to risk the stuff hitting a neighbor on their balcony, or through their open window.

Ball Jointed Dolls. Space is precious, so I'm trying to settle back and enjoy who I have.

 

MSC... there are now cheaper alternatives out there. Back in my early hobby years I didn't practice face ups to conserve my MSC supply and rarely attempted any blushing.

Eyes... I have a big stash built up from many years in the hobby even though I have sold some... and can make passable resin eyes if I don't have the size/style I want.

Horns, antlers and the like for small bjd... I am finding them very relaxing to make as they are a relatively (to face ups, making clothing, wigs, etc) quick project from start to completion... if it doesn't turn out how you like, you just attempt another haha

I should also be saying BJDs as I have a lot and currently attempting to trim/refine my collection but there have been so many released in recently months I have been wanting to buy for years that I now have a generous number on preorder

 

Wigs mostly… since Monique closed I have kept all my dolls hair the same. I loved the wigs Monique made and nearly all my dolls have them. I tried a Dolly Planet one recently which was actually pretty nice but I miss Monique’s styles and colors a lot. I think I’ll probably just start making my own now.

Eyes… I haven’t totally stopped buying but I tend to just keep them in my dolls and I don’t buy as many dolls as I did so no more new eyes.

I also don’t commission faceups anymore… for a lot of reasons.

 

Not really a thing but face ups. I may not be the best artist but I'd sooner settle for my work and the peace of mind. Unless the face up artist is right there at a meet or something and can work on my doll on the spot, no thanks. Also , out of curiosity, I looked into people's and company listings and I was shocked by some of the outrageous prices posted. So between that and hearing the horror stories of people waiting for months on end or having their doll heads outright stolen, hell no.

Jewelry: It's honestly so cheap to produce and easier to customize. Plus, I'm not above admitting how easy small pieces are to lose.

Stringing tools: If you're dealing with SD's, you will develop Hobbyist strength lol. Or at least, I did. All I need is ribbon and a pair of pliers.

Carrying cases: They are the most cumbersome thing to lug around and usually only holds one doll. A luggage carry on or a sturdy backpack has never done me wrong.

Props: They're almost always overpriced and not properly to scale, be it size, quality or use.

And yeah, pleather anything lol. I have real leather shoes that cost less than some of these dolls shoes and within a few years, if they didn't crack and deteriorate, they melted.

 

I have such a huge stockpile of magic erasers and eye putty that I can't imagine ever buying those things again.

 

Faceups: The commissioned/company faceups I have are lovely, but I've been learning how to do them myself and want to get the most bang out of my buck on the supplies I got! Also, I feel more comfortable with the possibility of wiping or reworking faceups I did than ones others did. (Like how I need to make some fixes on poor Suha's faceup...) Maybe it's because I did faceups on thrifted playline dolls before ever getting into BJDs - and with pretty poor-quality stuff - but I've found it surprisingly easy to get a faceup I'm happy with on my own!

MSC: Does it count if I never got it in the first place? When I was first starting with faceups, I got a recommendation for Citadel Munitorium, and I've been using that. Why? More temperature and humidity tolerance (though I still make sure to check the weather conditions before starting), and like, half of my dolls are tan to dark tan. I was told to use Citadel to avoid the misting/dusting/whatever whitish cast MSC gives tan dolls. It's worked well so far!

Knit Clothes/Undies/Basic Shirts/Skirts: I can make those, even if man, having a Cricut to make fun phrases to put on the shirts sounds like a blast! Though, I suppose it's more accurate to say I don't intentionally buy these. I have a weakness for the lucky bags Rrabit does in November!

(But as for things I always end up buying, in contrast? ...Pants.)

 

Wallpaper and flooring for dioramas, scrapbook paper has a lot of designs that work! I have yet to start on a room or house for my dolls though

 

Adding onto not buying anything pleather, I hate all man made synthetic fabrics/laces on doll clothes for the most part. It really gives the doll a cheap, stiff look. It really boggles my mind why artists still choose them when collectors are more than willing to pay more for something stunning and flattering for their dolls. So many cute outfit concepts are ruined by a choice of cheap materials.

 

Old Pleather can be mended to some extent with Angelus Leather Paints.

However, I myself prefer to work in real leathers, and only offer Pleather when people want plastic instead of animal products. I'd rather just sell them a woven ribbon belt than a pleather one, I feel, personally, but I have some of it so until it runs out I will try and make it an option.

I usually don't let myself buy shoes any more unless they're VERY high quality and some type I cannot make. The fun of Medieval-ish Fantasy dolls is that I can make those shoes, but not modern ones. I don't feel so bad about upcycled Pleather if it's on my own dolls' feet because if they ever wear out or flake up (Not common here- it's a VERY dry climate) then I can replace them in an afternoon.

 

I'm totally into shoes, so if I were in the anti-p-leather team, I'd have nowhere near as many shoes as I have,

However, there are many things I cannot envision paying for:
1. as others have mentioned - anything that can be easily purchased anywhere but is labelled as "BJD" and priced accordingly then. So, elastics, eye putty etc.

2. Faceups. I don't care if someone will go with the "you can't put a price to artwork" line... they are usually terribly overpriced and super generic. It's just easier to learn it myself... and I'm in the process, with some ups and downs.

3. clothes that I can easily make generally. So this does NOT inclide ties, men's shirts (although I've recently triedone and I'll see how it goes) and men's suit jackets. Oh, and doll sized, washed denim items.

4. expensive cameras.

5 expensive eyes... the cheapest glasses, preferebly in a bulk from Alice's Collections... my thing

 

White leather-back wigs. All the ones I've had have just disintegrated after a few years. As for pleather, I have shoes that are probably twenty years old still in perfect shape and ones I bought two years ago that are peeling. I also went in search of an old pleather coat I was thinking of repurposing, only to find it glued to the two coats on either side of it because the pleather had turned into a sticky mess. That was - icky.

Clothes for the most part as my sewing has started getting better. I was looking at dresses on Etsy for my DT Seola a couple of months ago and found myself sounding just like my mom, who was an *amazing* sewer back in her day: "That's way too much money for that! I have a pattern; I can make it for her."

 

I no longer buy cheap eyes. I bought a ton of “placeholder” acrylics, enough that I won’t need any more for years. I’ll buy nice eyes, once I figure out the size and Iris size that a particular doll calls for, but I won’t buy any more cheap eyes. Just the nice urethanes that dolls with an established need for eyes get. And I’m trying to reuse my nice eyes from my face company that’s unfortunately gone under. I have 2 pairs of “good” eyes looking for a home.

string. Seriously, so many companies have sent me extra string and S-hooks, I’ll probably never need to buy string or S-hooks unless I start making my own dolls or anything wild like that. I have so many unused strings that whenever someone needs a replacement, it just comes out of the hoard.

old pleather: I had a pair of volks pants from an outfit from like 2015 literally turn to dust on my doll once. Now I accept that pleather has a shelf-life and I don’t buy pleather anything unless I’m okay with it falling apart (like a fullset with a pleather component for instance).

pastels: I got some really good artist pastels, and a set of the Mungyo pastels that Soom sells, and I’m good. I may occasionally decide a colour is worth getting a “good” pastel of, but I really don’t buy a lot of pastels these days. Maybe 1 new colour a year now that I have a good set!

acrylic paints: I got a nice set forever ago, but I use primarily my pastels and watercolour pencils for faceups, and only occasionally bust out the paints, so I don’t often buy more paint. Exception made for iridescent watercolours, which get used on most of my faceups, because I love shiny things.

my offbrand dremel: I bought an offbrand “king Canada rotary tool” thinking I’d one day replace it with a proper dremel if I got into modding. I’m into modding, but I found my offbrand dremel is more than sufficient on its own, and I don’t need the name brand item.

I also no longer pay for faceups, because I like painting my own much better. I get to bring my character out in the resin, and if the faceup chips, I know how to fix it. Also means I don’t have to Mail our heads for months on end to get them painted, or risk losing things in the post. And it means I can redo as many times as I need without losing much money on MSC and pastels and the like!