Balljoint Doll

Penny’s Blindbox ABJD Doll Unboxing and Review Anime Figure Blind Box Toy Review And Comparison To Azone Sugar Cups Candy Ruru

I just discovered a Chinese company who makes various small Asian Balljointed Dolls with cute anime faceups and full outfits. These dolls use the Obitsu 11cm scale bodies and are fully strung and jointed. They are capable of standing on their feet without a doll stand.

The hair and eyes are all just painted and sculpted on which is different from most traditional BJD dolls. Another difference is that since it is a blind box, you don’t know which doll you will receive.

Another attractive difference is the price. I purchased mine at www.StrangeCatToys.com but I later found out I overpaid. 🙁 read more

Dollfie Dream Dream Choice DDH26 M02 Slim DDS Boy Arrival Unboxing Comparrison

Before we begin, sprinkled in this post are random pics of my dollfie dreams. At the end of my post are comparison pics between different doll bodies. I recently purchased two new Dollfie Dream from a proxy called Sophie Alice aka Sophie Bear on Facebook. You can contact her through Facebook messenger for details on purchasing your own Dollfie Dream Dream Choice Or DCoord. These rare wonderful Dollfie Dream are only available in physical stores in Japan.

This is my second time purchasing a Dollfie Dream Dream Choice using different proxies. The first time I purchased a Dollfie Dream Dream Choice DDH16 Boy on the larger boy body via Japan Doll Direct. You can read my review of that experience here. read more

Is There A Stigma Around Older Gamers?

I’m turning 40 tomorrow. I will officially be “Over the hill” or about half way through the average life expectancy. Although I know plenty of people in my own family who are well into their 90s and approaching even 100. So I think that hill should not be until you’re 50, but nonetheless, society is about to brand me as an old woman. Not only an old woman, but an old woman who plays video games. But that’s OK, because as I’ve gotten older, I have learned to stop caring what society thinks. I remember clearly, the day I turned 25. I’m pretty sure I had a quarter-life crisis. I cried all day and told my family that it meant that I had to give up everything I loved, my toys, my games, cosplaying, anime, etc. I don’t know why, but I suddenly felt shame for my hobbies. Games and anime and cosplay were popular with teenagers and early 20something year olds, but I didn’t know of anyone 25+ who enjoyed those things. Even my closest friends who used to play games with me, had long since moved on to other more adult hobbies. read more

Parabox Otohime 80cm Vinyl ABJD Anime Doll Unboxing Review

About 3 weeks ago I saw Parabox Otohime on facebook in a doll group where members share photos or post buy/sale posts or ask questions about asian ball jointed dolls. Someone was asking a general question about Otohime. I had never seen or heard of this doll before, although I’m no stranger to Parabox, with my first Parabox doll being Obitsu Gretel back in 2006(ish). I was immediately intrigued because she’s so big.

Fast forward to today when my Parabox Otohime arrived. I decided to spend most of the evening after work, photographing my new doll. I did a box opening video that you can watch also if it ever finishes uploading. read more

Doll Review – Volks Dollfie Dream – Dream Choice – Dollfie Dream Brown Skin Boy – Proxy Japan Doll Direct Review

I used Japan Doll Direct to order a Dollfie Dream Choice boy doll in their tan skin. I used website Dollfie Star Choice to view all the different heads and make-up options. Link here: https://dollfiestarchoice.blogspot.com/

I settled on DCH-16 with M01 makeup.

A few things.

1.) It is very expensive. Dream Choice is a system provided by Volks at 2 or 3 of their stores in Japan. You have to either physically visit the Volks stores or use a Proxy – a person living in Japan who can go to the store for you. There are additional fees – because proxys are a type of business model. There are limited heads and eyes and hands and wigs and skin tones available only through this Dream Choice system. read more

DBS Dream Fairy 1/4 Doll Body Review And Dollfie Dream Head DBS Hybrid

I have previously reviewed the DBS 1/3 body (larger doll body). And demonstrated how it can be used with a Dollfie Dream Head. The DBS 1/3 body is only available in a pale white color and is best suited for hybriding with the Dollfie Dream Semi White heads.

The problem was I had a lot of Dollfie Dream Fresh (or Flesh) (Normal Color) Heads… and not enough bodies for them… So one Fresh head was always on a pale body and just didn’t look right.

Most recently it’s been my DDP Ribbon head on the 1/3 DBS body because I had a custom Fresh head that looked cute on the DDP body. The DDP body is really floppy but that’s a review for another day lol. read more

Smart Doll Fortuitous Box Opening Unboxing Video

I recently purchased my first Smart Doll, via a product called Smart Doll Fortuitous. I have owned similar dolls from other manufacturers such as Dollfie Dream by Volks, Hujoo, and Resin Balljointed Dolls, just to name a few. So I already had a good idea what to expect.

This blog post features a video of my unboxing below, and is sprinkled with photos I’ve taken of my new doll. In the video I mention that I thought I’d received her default wig, but someone kindly pointed out to me, that it was actually Crimson’s default wig, which is no longer available on the site, and I’ve had a ton of compliments/offers to buy the wig – but I’m waiting to hopefully get a boy – maybe Gemini – or maybe a custom Dollfie Dream like a tan dollpoint akihabara boy :). So I think I’ll hang onto the wig for now. I do like how the wig is all choppy/shaggy in the back/kinda spikey, I just think it will suit a boy better :). I like my girls to be all girly-girls. lol. read more

Recast BJD

Recast ABJD – A Year Later – Would I Still Recommend Purchasing Recast?

I shared my decision to purchase my first recast BJD, about 14 months ago now. I wrote a very in depth, as neutral as I could manage, post about the pros and cons of buying Recast ABJD which you can read here.

A year has passed now since my first recast dolls arrived, and I have bought many other Recast BJD since then.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

My new #recastbjd #recastminifee #minifeesarang #minifee #sarang #recastfriendly #abjd #bjd #doll from #chinabjd.

A post shared by jenilee (@xenokitten) on

I make all of my recast purchases from Chinabjd on Aliexpress and would recommend them to anyone looking to own a recast ABJD.

I have over 20 legit dolls, and a handful (but rapidly increasing amount) of recasts, mostly fairyland minifees (although I own some legit minifees too).

 

View this post on Instagram

 

My #recastbjd #minifeemio #minifee #mio got a new outfit yesterday. #recastfriendly #kawaii #cute #chinabjd #doll #dolls #bjd #abjd #dollfairyland #fairyland #dollphotography #bjdphotography #abjdphotography

A post shared by jenilee (@xenokitten) on

When I first wrote my lengthy informative piece about Pros and Cons of Recast ABJD, it was mostly just research and not much first hand experience. So I thought I’d follow it up with a new post, a year later, to see how my own personal experiences went in regards to owning a recast.

All photos sprinkled in here are of my recast dolls except at the end I share another alternative that is not recast, but can help you save money, and I actually prefer that over recast, but you’ll have to stay til the end to see that :).

 

View this post on Instagram

 

#littlemimi #mimi #mimisworld #mimiscafe #catcafe #cats #dolls #toys #doll #lati #latidoll #cute #kawaii #bjd my latidoll Luna is a recast. #recastbjd #recastfriendly read more

CurvyGirlsDolls

Curvy Girls Dolls Kickstarter for Plus Sized Balljoint Doll – Get the doll for just a $25 pledge!

Hey please check out this kickstarter for a plus size balljoint doll. It’s 11 inches tall, so it’s tiny. About the height of a Barbie. But look at its voluptuous body. Barbie ain’t got curves like this girl 🙂

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/curvygirls/curvy-girls-dolls-plus-size-fashion-dolls

The doll is jointed. Yes, there are Barbies these days who are jointed too. But this doll improves on that joint system by special ankle joints that allow the doll to wear ANY style of shoes, from flats to high heels, and anything in between.

The dolls were designed by a mother of an interracial family who wanted dolls that looked more like herself and her children. The intent of the Curvy Girls movement is to promote body positivity at a young age and teach that Amazing Comes in Every Size #ACES.

I backed the pledge at the $40 level which allows me to select which doll I want to receive. But if you don’t mind receiving a random doll, you can pledge $25 and receive a random doll.

We all know balljoint dolls are super expensive. Even tiny ones, for a legit non-recast are hundreds of dollars.

But don’t be confused, there are some key differences from Curvy Girls compared to traditional balljointed dolls.

1.) They are plastic, not resin. That probably results in a large cost savings there alone

2.) Their hair is rooted. You can’t buy or swap wigs. Of course, they are offering “Customizeable dolls” but the hair is STILL rooted, it’s just unstyled, so you can cut and style it yourself. The customizeable ones also come unpainted so you can do your own faceup, just like a balljointed doll if you want.

3.) Their eyes are not removable / swapable.

But still for this price… good luck finding a jointed Barbie doll for under 25 bucks, and if you do, the joints arent as good as those of the curvygirls who have much more range of movement.

Being the same height as Barbie allows for Curvy Girls to share the same accessories, the doll house, cars, furniture, etc of a Barbie.

There are several different pledge levels. The dolls come in a basic or premium package. The premium one will have an exclusive kickstarter founder’s collector’s box not available ever again outside kickstarter. And the premium one will come with many more outfits, shoes, and accessories. The little Asian girl even comes with a robotic-looking kitty.

Each of the girls have stories and careers to match the diverse real world that curvy women are in each day in real life. Much like how Barbie can be a Doctor or Astronaut, or other traditionally male-dominated roles. Curvy Girls can also be found in various fields such as Scientists, Mechanics, Animal Rescuers, and more.

Let’s help get this kickstarter funded, pick up some cheap balljoint dolls, and promote body positivity in young women everywhere.

Here’s the official press release announcement from Curvy Girls Dolls Below.

###

CURVY GIRLS DOLLS TO LAUNCH “FAT DOLL” FOR SALE ON KICKSTARTER

Durham, NC – Curvy Girls Dolls LLC (CGD) launched a Kickstarter campaign for their “Fat Doll” on June
6, 2019. Starting at a size 18, Curvy Girls Dolls are truly plus size and will make the perfect addition to the
toy aisle.

The dolls aim to normalize people of all sizes and promote body positivity because it is important to
introduce this idea at a young age. “I grew up a chubby kid, and I never saw plus size people in the media
– at least not positively,” said CEO Joleen.

Studies have show that up to 57% of adolescent girls engage in many unhealthy ways to lose weight
because of the images reflected on TV, magazines, and social media outlets. CFO Bridget wanted to
create dolls that looked like her for her kids because there are no mainstream, inexpensive, plus size
dolls in stores. She wanted kids to have dolls that look as diverse as they do.

Four dolls will be introduced:
● Kind Aliah (Black American) – owner of an animal sanctuary
● Tough Alex (Mexican American) – activist and law student
● Smart Keiko (Japanese American) – robotics engineer
● Strong Quinn (White American) – award winning mechanic

With this Kickstarter campaign, CGD aims to generate enough buzz to hit the ground running with
production and get the dolls ready in time for the holidays. As an indy brand, fundraising is something
crucial for them and they are asking for your help. Will you help in creating a set of diverse and truly plus
size dolls?

About Curvy Girls Dolls
Curvy Girls Dolls LLC (CGD) incorporated in 2018, strives to make playtime fun for people of all sizes. It
designs, markets, and specializes in plus size dolls with unique personalities, fun fashion, and inspiring
character. CGD helps children learn and develop through play.

Children use doll play as an outlet for emotions, to explore scenarios that they may encounter, and have
control over situations. CGD aims to create dolls children play with that are as diverse as the people in
their lives. With their dolls, CGD aspires to normalize people of all sizes and promote body positivity.
CGD acknowledges that body positivity is important to introduce at a young age since children absorb so
much of their surrounding including negative self-images that can last a lifetime.

High-res images, logos and artwork can be found here: https://www.curvygirlsdolls.com/press-kit/
PR Contact: Bridget G. Co-Founder & CFO
Email: bridget@curvygirlsdolls.com
###

You can follow the project on social media at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CurvyGirlsDolls
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CurvyGirlsDolls
Tumblr: https://curvygirlsdolls.tumblr.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curvygirlsdolls/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/curvygirlsdolls
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/curvygirlsdolls

Smart Doll

Cortex Complete Smart Dolls Will Release Soon

According to this post on the official website, the first full, non-hybrid, cortex smartdolls will release for official launch in just 2 weeks on 6/13/19. The models available will include Mirai Anniversary, Gaia, and Melody. They will be fully assembled dolls, and not model kits.

They had a soft launch of Mirai Anniversary and Gaia Complete Cortex dolls earlier this month, which I completely missed.

I am anxious to see what the prices will be on the 13th when the official launch begins.

The vinyl version Smart Dolls cost 52,000 yen, which is approximately $475 USD. For those not familiar with Japanese import dolls, such as Asian ball-jointed dolls or Dollfie Dream, this price may seem shocking. However, for those who are already collecting other similar dolls, these prices are quite reasonable.

I’ve long wanted a Smart Doll myself, but have been waiting to purchase, wanting to see how much cost savings the Cortex version will provide.

The dolls aren’t exactly the same. The Cortex version will have seam lines and gaps and other imperfections. But if the savings justifies the quality differences, I’m all for waiting for the Cortex dolls. I’m completely in the dark here as to what it will cost so I don’t even want to begin to speculate in this blog post.

The official site has much more info about the differences between the various materials that Smart Doll uses for manufacturing.

A few days ago Pre-orders opened for a Hybrid Cortex officially licensed Idol M@ster Smart Doll modeled after Mika Jougasaki. Of course it sold out quickly. Due to being an officially licensed character, this Hybrid Cortex doll actually cost much more than the vinyl versions of Smart Dolls own characters. So that’s not a very good indicator of how much the Smart Doll Complete Cortex version will cost when it launches next month. We will just have to wait and see.

Are you excited about Smart Doll Complete Cortex Dolls? Do you prefer Vinyl? Waiting for the Model Kits? Share your dolls with us in the comments below.

Recast Dolls

Recast Asian Balljointed Dolls

Table of Contents:

Introduction

What is a Recast Asian Balljointed Doll?

If Recasts Are Available Why Would Someone Want to Purchase a Legit Asian Balljointed Doll?

Why Would Someone Want a Recast Asian Balljointed Doll?

What Are The Risks in Purchasing Recast Dolls?

Closing Thoughts:

Further Reading

The End

I recently purchased my first recast dolls (Shown in the featured image) (Sorry for the bad photo >.< I will update once their wigs and clothes arrive). Anyways, when I purchased these lil cuties I was nervous and not sure what to expect despite having done my own research as well. I own 13 and counting legit ABJD, and although I’m not super active in the doll communities I do like to share photos of my dolls and attend annual meetups or bring the dolls to conventions, and I have a small circle of about a dozen friends I’ve met through the hobby and I worried how owning a recast doll may damage those friendships.

If you’re like me, and have been considering purchasing a recast doll for awhile now, there are some things you need to know, many of which you may already be aware of. Or if you’re like some of my readers, you may have no idea what an Asian Balljointed Doll even is, or why so much controversy exists about the recast dolls.

This post aims to be “Recast Neutral” and present both sides of the argument. At the end of this article you will also find links to external resources for both Recast Friendly/Neutral and Anti-Recast resources for further reading so that you can come to your own conclusions.

Once my dolls’ wigs and clothes arrive I will also do a separate post to review the dolls here on my blog.

I understand there are strong feelings about recast dolls, but please keep the comments civil. Negative comments are fine, but comments that evoke bullying or harassment will not be tolerated. Also if it is your first time commenting on my blog, your comments will be held for moderation automatically due to a setting in the back end. I will publish all comments, yes even anti-recast comments as long as they are civil, but since I am the only moderator there may be a delay of a few days. Thank you for your understanding.

An Asian Balljointed Doll is a doll with balljoints that allow it to move and take lifelike poses. The dolls come nude, bald, without wigs, without eyes, etc. And unlike other dolls they are meant to be customized by the people who purchase the dolls. They even come unpainted. Many manufacturers offer painting services and other customizations for a fee. Others will send their dolls to “Faceup” Artists to be finished and customized.

A Recast Asian Balljointed doll is made by taking a Legit Asian Balljointed Doll, and creating a mold from the doll, then using the molds to reproduce the original dolls often times to resell to people buying them for personal use. Buying counterfeit items for personal use is not illegal in the united states. See below under legal issues surrounding copyright or visit the following source: https://consumer.findlaw.com/consumer-transactions/buying-counterfeit-goods-laws-and-resources.html

A Recast doll is basically a knock-off. Often these dolls are made in China where their copyright laws are very different from most other nations.

There is controversy and drama surrounding Recast Dolls, unlike other counterfeit items, many people feel more strongly and get more heated about Recast Dolls than say, a fake coach handbag, or fake barbie doll. But ultimately a recast Asian Balljointed doll is no different from other counterfeit items. There are pros and cons to purchasing a counterfeit items, such as more affordable price, vs quality. This post wants to help you form your own decisions on the issue at hand.

    • Without Our Financial Support, these companies cannot stay in business and cannot continue to design new dolls.
    • Fewer companies making dolls = fewer dolls to choose from
    • Less competition from doll companies = higher prices / longer wait times / quality issues as demand for dolls from the remaining companies will increase
    • Artists, and the companies employing these artists, deserve to be paid for their work

    • Most of the online communities have strict rules that forbid you from posting any photos or information about your recast dolls
    • Many offline meetup groups, and special doll events and conventions also have strict rules against bringing recast dolls to their events
      • Which they have every right to do, because it is their community, or their event.
      • The problem becomes when a user shares their recast outside of these anti-recast communities, there is still a butterfly affect, and backlash received from members of the anti-recast communities, who feel it is OK to bully users on their personal websites, personal social media accounts, personal emails, or even harass them in real life.
      • The grey area is also the case where a moderator or admin of an anti-recast community may join or browse a supposed recast friendly or recast neutral community and then decide to ban anyone it finds who also has an account in their community.
        • This is a big concern for a lot of people who would be more likely to be openly recast neutral or recast friendly because they fear repercussions and witch hunts from within the larger anti-recast communities even if they don’t own recasts themselves.
        • It’s a grey area because on one hand, it is still their community and they can moderate it as they wish. But on the other hand, if a user follows and complies with the no recast rules within the anti-recast community, that should be where their jurisdiction ends. In other words, theoretically it could also be argued that a user should be free to associate with or join other sites or with members of other sites and their activities on those sites should not impact their membership on other communities as long as they comply with the rules while within that community.
          •  Remember that owning a recast doll, or not, if you’re participating in the recast neutral or recast friendly communities you are at risk, even if you do not own a recast doll yourself.

          Many faceup artists will not work with a recast head.

          • There have even been horror stories of artists smashing/breaking heads and/or not returning heads to recast owners
          • If you do choose to do faceups on recast dolls, even if you do not own any recast dolls yourself, you are forbidden from advertising your faceup services even for legit dolls in many of the large online communities which hurts your ability to promote your services and affects your profitability.

          Even if you find and join recast neutral or recast friendly communities, there are “spies” and “cyberbullies” from anti-recast communities who can find you and not only ban you from their communities, but also publicly humiliate and harrass you online or off.

          • Even if you yourself do not own a recast doll, and merely want to label yourself as “recast neutral” that means you don’t buy recasts, but you don’t care if others buy recasts, these “spies” will label you as “Recast Friendly” and bully and harrass you the same as they would an actual owner of recast dolls.
            • I was in a number of facebook groups when the whole recast neutral thing first took off a few years ago. I merely wanted to say, hey, I don’t really care what you do with your money, that’s up to you, and to label myself AGAINST all this cyber bullying drama that goes on in the hobby.
            • But I left the communities due to fear of becoming a victim of bullying myself by association with those owning recast dolls.
            • On one hand, I see the bully’s point of view, if you are “turning a blind eye” from the problems of art theft and copyright infringement, you are enabling others to continue to purchase recasts
            • But on the other hand, similarly, if you “turn a blind eye” on all the cyber bullying and drama, you’re enabling users to continue to cyber bully, threaten, and harm other users as well.
              • You might think, well they own a recast so they deserve to be bullied or threatened but you don’t know anything about this person and owning a recast doll is far from the worst thing a person could do.
              • Many people take the bullying to such extremes that it becomes very stressful for the victim and spills into many other aspects of their daily life.
              • Many people view owning a recast as negatively as robbing a bank, or other “large scale” theft. Which is blown pretty out of proportion. For one thing, owning or purchasing a recast (yes even when you know it is a recast) is NOT illegal in the United States as long as it’s for personal use, while other forms of theft and robbery are illegal. Source: https://consumer.findlaw.com/consumer-transactions/buying-counterfeit-goods-laws-and-resources.html
              • I’m not saying owning a recast is perfectly OK or that there are not victims or consequences that the industry experiences, or that recasts should be viewed as widely acceptable, but it’s far from the level of extremity that many anti-recast users view it as and does not necessarily instantly make someone the scum of the earth or invalidate them as a person. People all have flaws, weaknesses, sins, etc. Not a single one of us on this Earth is perfect.
                • Many anti-recast people jump to wild unfounded illogical accusations / assumptions / conclusions about the people owning a recast about their other morals, characteristics, personality traits, and personal life that make the person appear as scum.
                • They tell everyone to shun and not associate with this person. Even if they already know or are friends with the recast owner.
                  • This is in my opinion horrible, encouraging people to end years long friendships because their friend owns a recast
                  • Encouraging friends to shun and not associate with their friends who own recasts, and even encouraging them to join in on the cyber bullying against recast-owning friends
                  • If you choose to end a friendship with someone because they own a recast doll, you’re not a good friend.
                    • I personally don’t care if a friend owns a recast doll. It doesn’t matter to me. It doesn’t change my opinion of them, and it doesn’t break our friendship or invalidate what I already know to be true of that person.
                    • Friendships aren’t about doll drama. Friendships are about shared memories and experiences built together over time and about other personal traits and qualities.
                    • Being a good person, or a good friend, isn’t automatically negated by owning a recast doll. That’s silly. I much rather have a friend who cares about me as a person, makes time for me, gives me good advice, shares things in common with me, does things for other people, makes me laugh, smart, fun, funny, witty, caring, warm, etc. Owning a recast doesn’t negate all those other things or the years of history we’ve built together.
                    • This is just hypothetical as I don’t know anyone who actually owns a recast, before you want to witch hunt or harrass any of my friends, I’m just saying that if I discovered one of them did own a recast doll, it wouldn’t really change my opinion of them. My love for my friends goes deeper than if they own a recast doll or not.

                    In my own opinion, and in that of many recast neutral / recast friendly users, owning a recast doll is no different from downloading a “free” mp3 without the artist’s permission / without funds going to the artist. It’s no different than owning a fake Coach purse handbag, or fake pair of “designer” jeans or sunglasses. It’s no different from watching a stream of a mostly text/visual video game (visual novel, otome game, most rpgs, etc), or no different from watching a new release movie online for free.
                    All of these things are crimes and “wrong” – but how many people, including yourself and your friends do at least 1, or more of these actions? If it’s up to the cyber bullies, you should end all friendships and relationships with these people.
                    I’m not saying everyone does these actions (downloading MP3s, owning knock off fashion items, watching movies online, using their friends’ netflix accounts, or etc)
                    But I am saying, think about someone you know who does these things… If you don’t know anyone who does those things, picture hypothetically that you discover a very good friend has done this. Would you automatically hate that person and never hang out with them or talk to them ever again? I doubt it. You’d be more likely to remember all the times that friend was there for you, that they did something nice for you, nice for their community, nice for their country, nice for their other friends, nice for their kids, nice for their spouse or significant other, or nice for a random stranger even.
                    You might be thinking, oh my friend is so nice and so good, and so moral they would never own a recast doll (or download an mp3, or watch a movie online, or buy knock-off fashion items or login to their friends’ netflix account, or etc.) — But the reality is, there are millions of people like your friend who is so nice, and so good, and so moral (in other areas of their life perhaps) that DO own a recast doll, (or download mp3s, and etc). Owning a recast doll, doesn’t necessarily make someone deserving of the extreme levels of bullying that exist in the hobby.
                    You have no right to make assumptions about a person, especially regarding their character, their personal life, their moral judgement. Yes they made a poor moral choice buying a recast doll. However, there are far worse things than owning a recast doll. There are people who lie, who cheat, or murder, who commit adultery, have affairs, harm animals, harm children, commit fraud, or numerous other more serious crimes / immoral decisions.
                    And owning a recast doll does not automatically make someone more likely to commit these other more serious crimes / immoral decisions, not anymore or any less likely than anyone else.
                    The wild jumps to conclusions / assumptions about people’s personality traits, morality, and judgement are where I take huge issue with a lot of the “anti-recast” drama. – If they left the personal assumptions aside, and just made it about the dolls, that’s one thing that no one could really take issue or offense with, but instead, they launch these horrible personal attacks and witch hunts, and in my opinion that behavior is way worse than owning a recast doll. If you ask me who I rather be friends with, I would choose the person owning the recast doll, any day, over the person who is committing cyber bullying and harassment.

                    If you own a “mix” of legit and recast dolls, it tarnishes your name/reputation in the community, and may hinder your enjoyment of the community aspects of your legit dolls. Once you’re labeled as owning a recast, even if you own 20 legit dolls, and 1 recast, that 1 recast reflects so strongly against you that most anti-recast communities will treat you poorly even if you never share that 1 recast anywhere on their community and only share your legit dolls. Once you are discovered to own recast dolls it is a big risk. Are you willing to take that risk? You have to ask yourself how important is being part of the community to your enjoyment of the dolls? Not everyone cares about sharing photos of their dolls or participating in meetups, etc. But if you do, then owning a recast is sure to bring you a lot of misery and stress.

                    • For example, you might post pictures of your legit dolls, with or without your recast dolls, on your own personal site or social media, and you might receive negative comments, even if that picture contains no recast dolls, because maybe your account has other pictures that do have recast dolls.
                      • Online drama in other communities:
                        • There are hashtags that many of the anti-recast users want recast owners to use.
                        • Many recast owners are afraid to “oust” themselves by admitting to owning a recast doll because they know:
                          • 1.) that it is wrong
                          • 2.) that they will have to suffer cyber bullying and possible repercussions from other communities and users.

                          Other recast owners do not even know they should be tagging their dolls as recasts, because they do not participate in the anti-recast communities where these hashtag “rules” originated.
                          Anti-recast communities and their members try to enforce their views/rules/regulations outside of areas of their control (such as wanting to enforce hashtags or ban photos of recasts from popular social media sites, such as instagram, youtube, twitter, or going as far as wanting to shut down or bully users who build websites for their recast dolls, not to sell their dolls, but maybe to share photos, roleplay, write stories, character descriptions, and so on.)

                          • In reality though, the only thing they can really do is report the content to the site owners, such as reporting your content to youtube or facebook for violating some sort of facebook or youtube policy about bootleg items if even such a policy exists hypothetically speaking.

                          Even if you are just posting the recast dolls on your own personal websites / social media pages, you will get a lot of hurtful comments from anti-recast users so you must be prepared to deal with the cyberbullying that comes with owning a recast. You must have very thick skin. The comments do not stop at just remarks about your dolls, but remarks about you as a person, your morals, your ethics, and even calling into question details of your personal life, relationships, or other drama, anything they can find against you, they will use to their advantage to shame you for owning a recast. Some remarks even go as far as telling recast doll owners to kill themselves, or talking about breaking, burning, trashing, or harming the recast dolls, and or even suggesting committing theft and property damage or even bodily harm of recast doll owners, through doxxing (posting private details online such as address or phone numbers) or other harmful cyber bully tactics.
                          Or you could always just always keep your recast to yourself, do not ever mention owning a recast and never show photos of your recast or take them to events, even ones labeled as recast friendly, for fear of being discovered. But this eliminates your ability to enjoy many aspects of the hobby which may be important to you.
                          This is a lot to think about – and even if you don’t care about supporting the artists, chances are, you do care about being bullied and/or want to enjoy your dolls with other members of the doll community. You should really think carefully about if you can withstand the cyberbullying and about what you are giving up or missing out on by owning a recast. If it is your first doll, chances are you want to do all of the things that come with owning a doll and being part of the hobby and community. Owning a recast will paint a large target on your back right from day one and forever tarnish your reputation in many online and offline doll communities. Once you own a recast you can never redeem yourself in the eyes of most of the community. Even if you sell or throw away or give away your doll, you will always be looked at with suspicion by the anti-recast community.

                          • That suspicion even spills over to those who have never owned a recast before; there have been countless instances of someone owning a legit and being accused and bullied for owning a recast, when the doll was in fact legit to begin with.
                          • The best way to protect yourself against cyber bullying is to never purchase a recast, and always keep your COA, box, and other items, as well as registering your dolls online if the specific company where you purchased your doll from allows registration.

                          • Even many anti-recast communities admit that newer recasts have improved in both quality and communication practices and that it is getting more difficult to easily spot a recast based solely on quality alone.
                          • However, just like not all legit doll companies have the same levels of quality assurance, the same goes for different recasters. Some recasters have higher quality and better communication than others.
                          • Even those recasters with higher quality sometimes make mistakes or deliver poor goods, just like even some high quality legit doll manufacturers sometimes make mistakes.
                            • The most common quality issues surrounding recasts include:
                              • Shrinkage; when a recast is made, they use an existing legit doll as a mold. When that mold gets old, new molds are created from the mold of a recast, as time goes on, each mold gets slightly smaller and smaller and the resulting doll therefore gets smaller and smaller too.
                              • As a result of shrinkage and/or the molding process, there is sometimes a loss of detail around fine areas such as the eyes, nose, lips, or ears of the recast doll.
                              • Another issue is often the magnets used to attach fantasy parts or hands/feet are weaker than those supplied by the legit companies.
                                • Sometimes too there will be wrong magnets, where it repells the body part instead of attract, making it impossible to assemble.

                                Stringing and other issues internally in the doll can result in a doll with inferior posing abilities compared to the legit versions.
                                Sometimes dolls arrive with two left feet, legs, or other mismatched body parts, this is perhaps the worst flaw of all because it significantly affects pose-ability.
                                Sometimes dolls arrive broken, damaged, etc in shipping. Sometimes shipments get lost. Sometimes they send you completely the wrong dolls or wrong parts.

                                • When this happens sometimes you’re left with poor customer service (or no response at all) and lose your money and receive damaged goods or no goods at all.
                                • Even legit doll companies can have issues with quality control or communication; however, the problems seem more common with the recast companies. Some people get perfect dolls and perfect, prompt, friendly polite customer service even from recasters. It just depends. It seems most legit doll companies have a better more consistent record at providing better quality products and customer service.

pokemon center

I Want To Take an Anime and Manga Tour in Japan

Animate - The World's Largest Anime Store
Animate – The World’s Largest Anime Store

OMG… I want to do this. (Maybe Next Year – I don’t have Vacation Time left this year since I will be going to Peru this summer) Their next tour is in just a few weeks, and seems to only happen once a year, in March coinciding with the International Anime Festival AnimeJapan.

https://japandeluxetours.com/japan/group/anime-japan-tours#anime3

Visiting Japan is my life long dream. (sadly, mostly just so I can go shopping for anime, game, and doll stuff lol. Although I do want to do the museums and cherry blossoms and hot springs and other cultural things too – though mostly, I’m just a big geeky nerd who loves anime and wants to go shopping – which is what this whole tour is designed for <3)

It’s not that much money (well OK it is, but it’s cheaper than I expected honestly). Guided 6 Day Anime Tour in Japan which includes hotels and Guides through all the “anime” spots in Japan (since I can’t speak Japanese a Guide would be helpful…)

Only $1,500 a person, includes hotels for each day. I’d just have to have airfare, and LOTTTTTTTTSSSSS of money for food and shopping. Like seriously I’d probably want to have another $1,000 with me just for shopping lol. If I buy a dollfie dream or custom volks doll or something that’d eat half that budget right there. Then there’s all kinds of cheap (but cute) dolls / toys / figurines, etc.

I wouldn’t want to go by myself either – I would hope my boyfriend would go with me but if not then I’m pretty sure that I could find a friend or family member to take… If I had to pay for both of us that’s $3,000… The tour includes several meals but I’d need money for more meals (Let’s say $100 a day food budget X 5 days $500) Airfaire is probably close to $1,000 a person too So not counting shopping expenses I’d need $5,500… I want to mainly go shopping so I’d want at least $1,000 for shopping for myself that’s $6,500…. which still… isn’t that bad because of all the things this tour includes.

This tour includes all of the Ghibli and other museums, the largest anime stores, and even admission to an anime convention for one day. OMG and an anime theme park another day… OMG it includes real life mario kart racing too…. omg…

The number 1 place I want to visit actually isn’t on this tour – that place is Doll Point Akihabara – Volks store where you can buy Dollfie Dreams and Asian Balljointed Dolls and Accessories – including some items available only in the store and not sold online.  But that’s OK because the tour gives you free time in the evening and one free day where you’re on your own without a guide.

My dream / life goal / bucket list… lol…

Now that I have my passport I can actually do stuff like this O_O!!! Now I just need money (lots of money) (and to wait for my vacation time again lol).

https://japandeluxetours.com/group/tour/anime-japan-tour-6-days-a

Tour Includes

  • 6 DAYS
  • 5 nights accommodation
  • 7 MEALS
  • 5 breakfasts
    2 lunches
  • TRANSPORT
  • All transport shown

Details:

  • 4 nights Western hotel
  • Daily Breakfast-Buffets and 2 Lunches included
  • All ground transportation in Japan during the tour
  • Complimentary Airport Transfers (see details)
  • Admission Fees, Tax & Gratuities at all included Destinations
  • Full time service of licensed English speaking tour guide & separate bus driver
  • Japan Deluxe Tours Handbook and Tour Goods Package
  • Free Wi-Fi in Bus & Most hotels
  • read more

    Nendoroids, Chibi, Chibi Figures, Anime, Anime Figures, Figma, Figma FX, Scale Figures, Doll, Dolls, Toy, Toys, Black Friday Anime Sale, Anime Deals, Anime Discounts, Otaku, Tokyo Otaku Mode, Kawaii, Cute, Kawaii Anime, Kawaii Anime Figures, Kawaii Toys, Kawaii Anime Toys, Kawaii Figures, Import, Imported, Imported Figures, Sanrio, Hello Kitty, Love Live, Anohana, Card Captor Sakura, Madoka Magica, Link, Zelda, Animal Crossing, Hatsune Miku, Hatsune, Miku, Miku Hatsune, Vocaloid, Vocaloids

    So Many Cute, Sexy, Kawaii, Beautiful Anime Figures On Sale!

    Nendoroid Link: Majora's Mask 3D Ver. 11

    Tokyo Otaku Mode just announced a week long sale for all in-stock anime figures and free gift wrapping. Now’s the perfect time to buy some new figures to add to your collection, or buy something for that special otaku in your life.

    Powered by Dealspotr | Additional Tokyo Otaku Mode promo codes

    Here are some of the ones I would love to pick up in the sale including Figma’s Nendoroids, and scale figures from anime and videogames such as Card Captor Sakura, Zelda, Vocaloids, Anohana, Love Live, Animal Crossing, Hello Kitty, and more. Check the sale for these and hundreds of other beautiful and cute anime figures! Sale ends November 13th or while supplies last in-stock.

    ABJD, Asian Ball-jointed Doll, Asian Ball-jointed Dolls, BJD, Ball-jointed Doll, Ball-jointed Dolls, Balljoint Doll, Balljointed Doll, Balljoint Dolls, Balljointed Dolls, Migidoll, Migidoll Discount, Migidoll Event, Migidoll Anniversary, New BJD, Limited Edition, Limited, Limited Edition BJD, Free BJD, Free Asian Balljointed Doll, Free ABJD

    Migidoll 5th Anniversary Event ABJD Ball-jointed Dolls – New Doll and 30% Off Select BJD

    siho
    siho

    NOTICE: MIGIDOLL CORRECTED THE PRICING FOR FREE EVENT ITEMS. THE CORRECT PRICING IS AS FOLLOWS:

    1) Who? : all the customers who use migidoll site during event time
    -. Over $ 50 – Silicone cap 1ea(Size is selectable)
    -. Over$ 150 – Wig (You can chose the design, size of “Wig” – Color is random)
    -. Over$ 250 – Love type head 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    -. Over$ 350 – Cute type head 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    -. Over$ 450 – Style type head 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    -. Over$ 550 – Love type set 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    -. Over$ 750 – Cute type set 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    -. Over$ 950 – Style type set 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    ** (It will be shipped at random when not selected.)

    ———————

    Just got this email from Migidoll. For One Day Only You can Get one of their best selling models for 30% Off. You can also get a free doll when purchasing a large order! – The dolls included in the discount are Siho, Joe, Shion, Cho, Jean, and Hyeon. I can’t decide which one I like best. Shion is really handsome. Jean is really cute, he has a friendly, feminine looking face. Adorable.

    This is Siho:

    This is Joe:

    This is Shion:

    This is Cho:

    This is Jean:

    This is Hyeon:

    If I’m reading this correctly, if you spend $95 or over, you get a “free Style type set 1ea, white, normal skin” — am I correct in assuming it’s a full doll? If so, that is a huge discount as the list price on “Style type sets” is $477.  Migidoll made a mistake on their pricing – by leaving off a zero at the end of each item lol – big difference LOL.

    Migidoll also offers layaway, making this event very attractive.

    4. Migidoll’s 5th anniversary event!!

    The first event! -> Migidoll’s happy birthday event on June 06!
    (AM 12:00 – PM 11:59 in Korean local time)

    Today is Migidoll’s 5th anniversary.
    So we prepare the special event on June 06 only.

    Please do not miss this good chance to get some dolls at 30% discounted rate.

    * Event Doll
    – Siho, Joe, Shion, Cho, Jean, Hyeon

    The second event! -> Gift as per order amount.

    * Event date : 10 am on June. 6, 2016 ~ 6 pm on June. 30, 2016 (Korean local time)

    1) Who? : all the customers who use migidoll site during event time
    -. $ 5 over – Silicone cap 1ea(Size is selectable)
    -. $ 15 over – Wig (You can chose the design, size of “Wig” – Color is random)
    -. $ 25 over – Love type head 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    -. $ 35 over – Cute type head 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    -. $ 45 over – Style type head 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    -. $ 55 over – Love type set 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    -. $ 75 over – Cute type set 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    -. $ 95 over – Style type set 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    ** (It will be shipped at random when not selected.)

    MIGIDOLL EMAIL HAD AN ERROR ABOUT EVENT GIFT PRICING.

    I emailed Migidoll inquiring about the event, and they notified me that they made a mistake – Correct pricing is on migidoll site and is as follows:

    1) Who? : all the customers who use migidoll site during event time
    -. Over $ 50 – Silicone cap 1ea(Size is selectable)
    -. Over$ 150 – Wig (You can chose the design, size of “Wig” – Color israndom)
    -. Over$ 250 – Love type head 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    -. Over$ 350 – Cute type head 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    -. Over$ 450 – Style type head 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    -. Over$ 550 – Love type set 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    -. Over$ 750 – Cute type set 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    -. Over$ 950 – Style type set 1ea (White, Normal Skin)
    ** (It will be shipped at random when not selected.)

    2) Notice
    – Event goods will be provided per order. (1 goods per 1 order)
    – Multi orders will get multi event goods.
    – Order amount does not include the shipping charge.
    – Other companies’ goods in our site do not for this event. (Sadol, Enchanteddoll eyes and etc.)

    And lastly, they have announced a new limited doll – really handsome. Named Evan. None of my dolls have facial hair, it’s kinda cute LOL. He has a more “mature” look.