Blind box BJD often have quality problems since a lot of them are from inexperienced small brands. Oftentimes, they have to keep the production small and affordable because Chinese netizens (their main customer base) can literally cancel them into oblivion if they set the price too high.
Yeah I've seen it happen a lot on xhs, people want higher quality, the company says okay and raises their prices a tiny bit, people rage and boycott the series:/ I guess that's just how it is when a big part of your consumer base (both chinese and international) is gambling/shopping addicts that want to keep buying boxes upon boxes of every single series instead of people who really like what they're buying and are willing to pay just a little more to get better quality..
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Today’s doll of the day is Mimi (咪咪), a Kukaka (库咔咔) doll released in 2023. To nominate a doll for DOTD, please click here! You can check out past Doll of the Day entries here!
A recast is an unlicensed copy of a BJD, a knockoff, a fake. Usually the dolls are bought from a legit company (sometimes not even from the recast company itself, but from supporters), a mold is made (either making a physical mold or a 3D scan) and then the dolls can be mass produced. Usually made in China, but there are exceptions to this.
I'm not going into detail here on why they are a big problem, there are tons of posts about this on the internet. They are bad, they destroy the dollmakers and artists that I love, if you're fine with that, this blog isn't for you.
This blog is for those, that want to buy legit BJDs and don't want to accidentally buy a recast, which is getting harder and harder.
I'll put this under a cut, because this is gonna get a bit lengthy.
What not to do: Google "buy BJD", you'll literally get a ton of Ali Express listings of knockoff BJDs.
You will have to do some research up front, you need to know what company you want to buy. For that, you can go to the BJD hashtag, here, on instagram, sometimes even Twitter, and see if there is something you like. Usually people also tag the company and sculpt, and if not, asking usually gets the reply.
You can also go to one of the many official dealer pages and just click through their dolls to see if you find something that you like.
Stay away from Ali Express and Amazon. Both of these pages are riddled with knockoffs. Idk if there are actually any legit sellers on Ali, if there are, they are few. I think Dollzone sells on Amazon, but seriously, most of the dolls there are fakes.
Ebay and Etsy are also full of recasts, but you can find some legit dolls there.
So, how do you spot a recast store? Let me show you some hints, that are usually a dead giveaway.
A lot of different styles.
This is the header of an etsy shop. While the two on the left might be from the same maker, the other two are very different. (The one on the right is a doll from Fairyland, one of the, if not the most recasted company out there).
Different styles only make sense, if the seller is a distributor/dealer. If it's not a dealer, back out.
Which brings us to the next point:
Generic names.
If a shop were a dealer, they would give you the names of the companies and sculpts.
Example from an official dealer:
See how you can choose the company, size, and then the sculpts? Recast shops don't give you that (there's one exception, that I'll mention later).
They give you "1/4 BJD Doll MSD", "Girl BJD 1/6" or if they wanna go all out "1/3 BJD Doll 60.5CM Full Set BJD Doll With Clothes Resin Toys Best Gift for Girls Hand Made Doll Custom Dolls OOAK Art Doll diy Dolls".
They want to stay as generic as possible, so the newbies that google for "buy bjd" will be redirected to their pages.
If you find generic names, back the hell out of there. I don't know a single company or dealer, that do not tell you what doll exactly you're buying!
Short production time
BJDs take time to make. They are not mass produced dolls, they are casted, sanded, strung and packed by small companies. Even the big names in this hobby usually are just a hand full of people. So it takes time.
Usually between 2-6 months. I don't know any company that actually gives you an estimate below 60 days. Sometimes they ship faster (maybe it's a popular sculpt and they have actually made some for stock, maybe they didn't have a lot of orders during that time, etc), but they don't usually give you a shorter timeline.
If your listing claims the doll will be shipped in 1-2 weeks? Bad news for you, that's pretty sure a recast store.
Price
I hate to say it, but this is an expensive hobby. Dolls usually cost at least $200, oftentimes more. There are some companies that have cheaper prices, but if it goes below $150, I would definitely have a closer look.
Now, the price is usually the last thing that I mention, because before the price tag, you should check for all the things mentioned above. Only if you have a consistent style, specific names, and a timeline that makes sense, then you should check for the price.
I say that, because I know of one Recast store, that tries so hard to look legit, they actually put effort in it.
And that is the BJD Shop.
Look at that. You have company names, you have sculpt names, it looks like a legit dealer (if you ignore that their production time is 1-4 weeks).
But now look at the prices.
Not taking into account that this specific sculpt isn't even available from Fairyland anymore, the price? Is not even $100 (for blank doll).
Now let's look at the actual price by FL:
Rule of thumb: If a price is too good to be true, it very likely is.
So I recommend actually looking for the doll company, if you find a dealer you're not sure is legit, and compare the prices.
A good page for information is Den Of Angels. It's a forum, but a lot of things are easily available without account through Google. For example their dealer list. Is it complete? I don't know, maybe not, but it's a good start.
I hope this is helpful for anyone who isn't sure about a shop they want to buy from.
Great post! The only thing I’d add is Resinsoul. They do have estimates under 60 days, and have very cheap dolls! But they are an extremely legit company. They even do resin casting for dollmakers, and cast their dolls in tons of colors.
If you're looking at other types, however- aliexpress is amazing for blind box bjds as you can buy them confirmed and avoid gambling. There's also no blind box recasts so far, so they're all what they say they are. I'd advise against doing preorders there, though, as those can be risky and not give you the right thing.
There are also companies like UfDoll, whose BJDs are not resin and are as such lower priced, but are still original and legit sculpts. Their bigger bodies are expecially popular, because they're less heavy than resin ones and can hybrid well with other company heads:)
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I keep seeing ppl talk about buying blind box bjds from aliexpress and I'm so confused. in other communities aliexpress is known as the scam website alongside places like temu, shien etc. they're the rip-off site. I can't find a particular doll anywhere that's under $200 and it would be cool to buy him directly bc I do NOT trust my luck at gambling on a blind box lol
Yea you can get legit blind boxes bjds on aliexpress. They are not really worth it to making cheap knocks off of so the blind boxes on ali are pretty much just resellers. I feel like the fact that those dolls are manufactured in china for chinise marker also may have something to do with it. You still need to be a careful and like check the reviews, compare prices (cuz some will give some Absurd prices) and sometimes finding the dolls is annoying cuz the nobody agrees on the names but those are in general the blind boxes bjds that they say they are selling.
I so far have gotten (counting) 9 blind box bjds from aliexpress and those were exaclty what i ordered. After-purchase costumer service doesn't exist tho (for small things that dont warrant going throw aliexpress return policies) and if you'll get any of the freebies is up in the air but I did get the dolls I paid for.
(also if the sellers either asks you to cancel the order or say that you need to pay additional, just cancel the order and look for a difrent seller. You'll get the money back and don't have to worry about being scammed)
I'm on the hunt for this guy from Ufdoll's drink plus series! (grape jelly grass I think is the name)?:
I did check aliexpress not long after posting this and found a few confirmed opened boxes, but when I select this particular doll the listings still seem pretty high to me? maybe I dunno enough about blind box reselling etiquette but $120+ feels like a looot compared to the original price of the blind box ($88 on kikagoods).....esp once you tack on shipping costs ToT
it's nice to know that they're legit tho lol. might check out more series that I've had my eyes on! I'd be more than happy to just get the dolls I want. idc too much about extras or freebies, just getting a cute new guy or gal would be enough <3
You should be able to get him! He's pretty popular, which is why he costs more. I got mine from aliexpress too:) there are listings with free shipping. In the end, paying a bit more is better than having to gamble in my opinion.
Also, a good way to search for dolls on aliexpress is to use picture search since some places can't agree on what their names are.
Weird Eldritch horror that has a fascination with humans but not in the scary "take over their mind" way but more in a "humans are so pretty and fragile like dolls, I should collect them"
Dressing humans up in frilly perfectly made dresses and accessories, making sure their skin stays all clean and porcelain-ish, giving them fun little human sized doll houses to live in when they're not being admired on their shelves
Everyone thinks the humans hate it but they really don't. Sure they get treated like toys but they also get free housing, food, clothing, and human connection served up to them on a silver platter
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Waiting on a body for Ruj! (And a pair of shoes lol). It's the huajing 1/4 heroic body and has been in shipping for a couple weeks now, so I hope it comes home soon! My telesthesia boy is waiting for his friend:)
Hey it's been a while since any big-ish project! I'm back with a custom BJD, phoenix harpie!!!
I AM gonna photodump because it took so much work and I'm quite pleased with the results
More under the cut:
Base: Penny's Box birdman bjd: body+ face+shoes from crane, hair from blue flycatcher . I wanted to wait for bird legs but PB was taking a long time so I went "Screw it who cares the dress will be long anyway"
Mods: no sculpting this time,and no changes to the face,but dyed the wings from flesh to a yellow -> orange -> red -> brown -> black gradient, painted the shoes and bird in her hair
Clothes and Stand: made by yours truly from scratch, it deviated a lot from my initial ideas,but keeps the vibe intact. There's 4 mesh pieces at the back to emulate tail feathers,brought together with charms and chains. The stand is made from acrylic,resin and thick wire,I tried to make it look firey. The choker is a leg accessory from a Penny's Box antu deer, that I widened and shortened to fit the neck, and added a charm as a pseudo-closure. I'm honestly really happy with how everything turned out!
I never how big 75 cm boys were until I saw the videos on red note. Yall some of these girls can't even wrap their hand around the waist. There was a video of a lady carrying her doll and I really thought it was a kid. Like I had to do a double take bro. That's when I realized I'd need a lot more space to have one🥲
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I think my Ariathari might be my favorite doll that I have. I usually collect 1/4 and smaller, but she just holds such a special place in my heart. She was the first doll that I saw where I immediately went, "If I don't get her, I will regret it."
Ariathari is a Fairyland Fairyline60 Miwa with default faceup and a small toothy addition from myself. She also has detachable elf ears I purchased from GoldDin on etsy.
