The FAQ :: Updated 12/02/11

Sep 26, 201010 min read

Deviation Actions

Published: Sep 26, 2010

9.8K Views

Important

Please take any questions related to buying from specific companies to the company websites, they all have Q&A boards for that specific purpose, from now on I wont be responding to such questions as I am not a company rep.

The FAQ

Please bare in mind that this FAQ is intended to answer questions that I get asked regularly about my own dolls. While I have been in the hobby for a few years now I can't claim to know everything there is to know about BJDs, especially when it comes to companies I have little to no personal interest in. If you do have general questions about BJDs rather than ones specific to my photography or my dolls please do a search over on DOA ( www.denofangels.com/forums/ind… ) first. I will attempt to answer any questions I can but please understand I never intended this as a question and answer about the hobby or doll buying in general.

If the below doesn't answer your question then please feel free to ask, but please ensure you've read the below first as it gets very tiresome answering the same questions over and over again when the information is right here...

My FAQ's split into three sections:

Image Policy (regarding the usage of my photos)
Camera/photography (The camera/equipment I use plus links to tutorials I've done)
The Dolls

The FAQ relating to my dreadlock wigs can be found here

.Image Policy

Can I feature your photographs on my blog/journal?
Sure, go right ahead, I'm very flattered if you want to feature any of my art on a blog or the like but please include a credit and link back here if you do.
Can I use your characters/photos for my roleplay or story?
I cannot stress this enough. I will never, under any circumstances give permission for the use of my characters or doll photos to be used by anyone else for their own writing or RPing. My characters are just that, MINE. Make your own.
Can I use your photos for Avs/sigs?
No. I'd prefer it people didn't make avatars and signatures or layouts with my photos, nor use them for facebook profile pics.
Can I use your photos for drawing references?
Of course! I have no problem with people using my photographs as references for their drawings providing credit is given.
Please note, this only means for reference for poses etc I don't give permission for people to straight up copy or trace my photos.
You don't need to ask my permission for such use but I'd love to see the result. ^^
Can I use your photos for my stories? I.e. either as reference for my own characters or stories based off the photo?
No.
My dolls are all based on my own original characters and as such already have their own stories that I'm slowly working on getting out of my head and onto the page. It's cool that our OCs might look alike but please, remember they are OCs and not stock photos.

.Camera & Photography

What camera do you use?
Many of my old photos where taken with a Canon EOS 450d though I've recently upgraded to a 60d.
What lenses do you use?
Most of my doll shots are usually taken with either my Canon 18-55mm f/3.5 IS, Sigma 28-75mm f/2.8 or my Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM.
The 50mm is my absolute favorite though.
What set up do you use?
An awesomely ghetto one For my indoor shots I usually use two daylight lamps (though sometimes just one for more dramatic lighting) and either fabric or a sheet of wallpapered MDF for the backdrop.

I have a lighting tutorial that explains a lot of how I do things here: www.denofangels.com/forums/sho…
and another here: dieux-faux.deviantart.com/art/…

For outdoor shoots I usually rely on available natural light, occasionally supplemented with a reflector.

.The Dolls

What are BJDs?
BJDs, ABJDs or Asian Ball Jointed Dolls are dolls sculpted and sold by companies in Japan, Korea and China. They're typically made of resin, strung with elastic and have, as the name suggests, ball based joints. They're highly customisable, which is the main draw for a lot of people.

They come in a variety of sizes but the most common are:
• SD(super dollfie) which are around 60cm tall
• MSD (mini super dollfie) which are around 45cm
• Tinys which can be anywhere between 15 and 30cm tall
• and 70cm+ (the tallest at the minute being 90cm)

When you buy the dolls they'll typically come fully assembled but naked, bald and blank. Most companies offer a 'face up' service, meaning they'll paint the dolls make up for you but a lot of owners prefer to do that themselves.
There are some dolls, known as full sets or limiteds that will come with face ups, outfits, wigs and accessories, these tend to be the exception rather than the rule though and the price usually reflects this.
Do you make your dolls?
I wish. One day maybe but no, while I do customise them, all of my dolls where made by people far more skilled than I. See below.
Where are they from and how much do they cost?
• Ryu, Miho and Yuri are from: www.migidoll.com
• Dia, Chalco, Chrom, & Beyla etc are from: dollsoom.com/
• Kira & F-16 are from: www.volksusa.com/

A pretty comprehensive list of BJD companies and links can be found here

There are quite literally dozens of different companies around these days making BJD's and hundreds of dolls to choose from ranging price wise from $200 to $2,000. Most standard (non-limited) SD sized dolls are around the $500 mark.
Where do you get the dolls with the hooves/weird legs/tail etc?
My dolls with hooves or other similar features are all from SOOM (dollsoom.com). SOOM produces limited edition dolls once a month that more often than not have unusual features like hooves or a tail and so on. These dolls are usually available for just a month -hence the name 'Monthly Dolls'- and once that months over are no longer available to order.
If you're lucky they usually pop up on the second hand market on DoA somewhat regularly, but usually for an inflated price.
Why spend so much on a doll?
There are many reasons I could reel off but personally.... because I want too. I get a huge amount of enjoyment from working on my dolls as well as photographing them, I find it to be a very rewarding and artistic hobby.
How much have you spent on these dolls?
Honestly? That's no ones business but my own. Use the links and do the maths if you're that curious.
Wow, you have so many dolls. Are you rich or what?
eh, frankly... no. I'm really not. Far from it. While I'm currently a student I bought most of my dolls while I was working full time. I save hard and make use of layaways (paying in installments). But again, my financial situation is really no ones business but my own.
Can I buy your doll?
My personal collection is just that... personal. I don't buy dolls with the intent of just selling them on, if I decide to sell one it's because I either need the cash, have found a better doll for the character or need to make room for a new arrival.
If I do decide to sell one I will usually mention it on a journal here on DA and post a sales thread on both DOA and my livejournal. So please don't proposition me, if I want to sell a doll I'll put it up for sale and likewise please don't ask me to 'keep you in mind should I decide to sell', because a) I have a crap memory and will honestly just forget and b) I find it rather presumptuous given that if I do sell I will always offer them to my friends first.
What body is so-and-so on?
I have a few dolls which are hybrids, mostly my migidolls as I'm not a fan of the migidoll body or they don't match it.

Amery (Migidoll Miho): Souldoll body
Kanja (Migidoll Tan Ryu): Volks Sunlight SD13 body body (long legged)
Finnian (Migidoll Ryu): Volks SDGr
Hew (Esthy Peroth): None at the moment, will possibly be Luts SDF
Adrian (Migidoll Yuri): As above
Did you paint your dolls?
A few of them... but when I paint my own dolls it's usually just a temp one before I send them away for someone more skilled to paint

• Amery, Hades, Harry and soon Rafe, Anath, and Harmonia etc where (or are going to be) painted by oceanumbrellas
• Ares has a company face ups
• Dryas was painted by zeroislove
• Finnian was painted by Ladious on DoA
• Hermes was painted by EngelMech
• Kanja was painted by Bread17 on DoA
• Chronos was painted by SDink on DoA
• Evelyn was painted by AndrejA
Do you make your dolls clothes?
That's the plan eventually but at the moment my sewing isn't really up to scratch so the vast majority of my doll clothes are bought.

Stores I buy my dolls clothes from include:
Sadol
Leekeworld
Dollmore
Luts
Soom
Crobi Doll

Though there are many more companies out there that specialise in BJD clothes, and most of them also stock eyes and wigs for various sizes of BJD.
What eyes does so-and-so wear?
Fenris & Hermes - Gumdrops from etherealangels.com
Finnian & Anath - Dollmore 'D Glass Eyes'
Amery - Glass eyes from Ginarolo on DoA
Barley, Ares & Harmonia etc - SOOM (Nada single dome)
Oh wow your doll looks like so and so!
Not to sound overly harsh but I'm honestly not interested in hearing that you think one of my dolls looks like your favorite anime character or your ex-boyfriends' best friends' cousin, I get it a lot and it get's really tiresome, especially when they really don't and the likeness is a stretch at best.

So please, just... don't.

.More Info

Wow that was a crappy and brief FAQ...where can I find some real info?
Den of Angels denofangels.com/forums/index.p… is by far and away the largest english speaking BJD community on the internet. Just about any and all information reguarding BJD's is on there somewhere if you look for it.

Also... A list of BJD companies and links may come in handy