Favorite Doll Stand for DD?

What's your favorite type of doll stand for DD? I know Volks has some but they are expensive, -rather have more new doll money! Ebay has a lot fo options mostly from China. So, what kind brand of stands do you prefer? I laso have resin BJd so something that would handle heavier would be nice too.

For resins I think your best option is Volks. For DD there are some other options, but I've only used Volks and Coolcats. I'd recommend Volks over coolcats, but the coolcats stands are fine.

I quite like the Volks Metal Saddle Type stands for their stability and reliability. They have good weight to them which greatly reduces the risks of your doll from toppling over. The positioning of the holding/stabilization part makes dressing dolls pretty easy too if they wear dresses and etc. 

The things I don't like about them are the price and that the clear plastic fastener part sometimes likes to break... However Volks sells replacements for those. 

I do think that it's not bad to eat expenses on a good quality stand because it'll end up protecting your doll in the end. 

It looks like it's out of stock right now on the International webstore though. 
 
Price: 5,184 yen ($46.30) + Shipping
Link: https://ec.volks.co.jp/category/0119/4518992324661.html

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I also have a Cool Cat stand but I don't really like the screw system, nor do I like the tiny and thick acrylic base.

If you want your doll to pose where their legs are positioned wider, the feet will most likely be dangling over the edge. 😕  I have a 1/3 resin bjd on this stand at the moment, but she sometimes tips over once the center of gravity is disturbed.

I'd personally spend my money on a VOLKS Metal Stand instead.

Price: $40~$47 + Shipping
Link: http://us.sk-coolcat.com/front/bin/ptdetail.phtml?Part=acc11&Category=185699

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I've heard good things from my doll pals about the Alice Collections Invisable(sic) Stand. I'm pretty sure @Monty has one of these stands so maybe they can weigh in with their opinion.

The base seems wide enough to distribute the dolls center of gravity. It seems to be pretty stable with resin dolls up to 65cm+! On top of that the price is 5/5 bretty good! The goose-neck arm seems pretty durable and allows for a lot of complex poses I think.

I've been meaning to purchase one for myself but I always scare myself away with the price of the items I have all together in my cart... 

Oh, one of my concerns about the stand is the threaded nut faster in the base. I've read reviews that it sometimes likes to get loose. I think gluing it back in would mostly solve the issue though.

Price: $28 + Shipping
Link: http://www.acbjd.com/invisable-doll-stand-p-8630.html

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This Obitsu stand is similar to the old plastic DD stand (but way beefier). I've seen it in action in person and I quite like this design despite it being pretty bulky. You can get some pretty cool poses out of it, though I think the Alice Collections stand might be a little more forgiving.

It's sort of like a large scale Figma display stand. I am not sure about how fragile it is though, I'd be scared of the plastic cracking... I think it may be compatible with 40cm/MSD sized resin BJD but I do not think it would be able to support anything more than that.

Price: 2,800 yen ($25.01) + Shipping
Link: https://paraboxshop.jp/goods_en_jpy_1838.html

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I've never used this particular stand from Obitsu, but it looks like it might get the job done for dolls around the same side as MDD or DDP. It looks pretty affordable!
I wouldn't really count it on supporting a resin doll though.

Price: 1,200 yen ($10.72) + Shipping
Link: https://paraboxshop.jp/goods_en_jpy_3792.html

 

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There's some other stands out there along with some clever homebrew solutions. 

I have a link for an invisible stand for outdoor photography that utilizes BBQ skewers, heavy gauge vinyl, coated wires, and some tape.

Link: http://www.antiquelilac.com/stand-for-outdoor-posing---tutorial.html
 

I can chime in a bit about the Alice Collections Invisible Stand.   It's been a great stand so far, the goose neck really makes it easy for pose stability, although the images of it actually holding the doll aloft are crap, or maybe they're smaller dolls.  I tried a jumping pose with my DDS and she just brought that right down. lol  Maybe they changed from gluing in the nut on the base, as mine has a small indentation on the bottom of the base, and the threading for the goose neck goes down through the plastic, so there's nothing to come undone, it's held in place really well.  Here's a picture of my girl being held up by the stand on one leg.  You can see the shadow of the stand on the wall, and I didn't hide the clamp, it's right under her breast.

I have a bunch of invisible stands from Alice's Collections. You can do the air poses if you balance everything correctly or put some kind of weight at the bottom. the bottom is just plexiglass, not weighted at all. Using the stand for outdoor shoots is amazing because you can bury the base under leaves or sand or whatever. And it looks nice on a table. I have my Miku displayed on my glass desk and it looks nice and open not having a solid base. sorry for the Angel Philia stuff. 

 

 

I have three Volks stands, the one that @Subaru mentions above and these two:

https://ec.volks.co.jp/category/0119/4518992368559.html

https://ec.volks.co.jp/category/0119/4518992368542.html

I like them but am not completely happy with them. Probably because they're designed for SD, the saddle part on both of those is really too large for a DD, especially on the straight one. If you raise it up where it best holds the doll, it will mess up their clothing and push out a skirt especially in the rear. So I end up setting it much lower, but it doesn't hold the doll very well that way. The waist hold version works better but is uglier and also more of a pain if you want to pick up the doll. I haven't seen anything I like more though.

If you want a cheap stand, others here have mentioned buying those from craft stores like Hobby Lobby or Michael's. I'd suggest that over ebay so you can see in person what you are buying. The ones I've seen are just folded metal with a wire for the part to hold the doll. They're not that strong or heavy so I don't think they'd be very safe for resin dolls but should be fine for vinyl.

 

@cfx Oh! Actually, you can adjust the triangle parts on the saddle by either pinching or prying the U-shaped apart the metal is soft enough to allow for this and I have done it with the stands that I have at home.

Thank you for that. I hadn't tried that as I didn't know if they were that soft or I'd just damage them by doing it. That should solve my problem.

THrowing in my support for the ACBJD Invisible Stand. I really like it. As you can see I was able to do airborne poses pretty easily though, as long as you keep it centered I guess? Weighting the base would help a lot though.

I compared it directly to the Obitsu stand here, which I personally do not like. Maybe other people have better experiences than me but I was scared to leave dolls unattended with it as it seemed to drop them if I looked at it funny. Ironically its actually on its -best- behaviour in this vid.

 

The arm of the 1/3 ACBJD one can bend to the extent that it can also hold up a 1/4 doll, which may not be the intended use (I am only doing it because I currently dont have a 1/4 one but am going to buy one soon). I have it holding up my Kid Delf here, and managed to twist it in such a way that its not visible in the photo at all.
I like to bend the arm and manipulate the 'clasper' things into a saddle for the doll to 'sit' on for photos like this.

I'm doing the same thing here. You can kind of see the metal arm between Rin's legs and going behind one of them.

 

The main complaint about the ACBJD stand is that the acrylic base is easy to crack, sometimes just from adjusting the arm. If you support the base while you adjust the arm, it seems to be ok. However, I know that asianed did some work on his, replacing the base with a much sturdier and thicker piece of acrylic. 

I guess the only other issue I have is that the part where the arm bends can take up space/hit the back of a shelf, whereas a stand that is straight wouldn't do that.
I do want to get a few of the Volks stands as well though, and the seat attachments.

i also want to add my support for the acbjd invisible stand! i have the 1/4 sized one for a ddsb because i wanted something that could fit around his leg! 

even with the smaller size it is super sturdy, and while he can’t do flying poses like with the 1/3 size, he can still stand on one leg.

also, like others have said, acrylic can crack, so be careful when tightening the arm onto the base! as long as you don’t crank it as tight as you can using the pressure of a dying star it should be ok!

The Alice Collections Stand is nice for posing, but not so great for cabinets, as the gooseneck rod will usually bend out further back than the base, requiring a deeper space for display.  The acrylic base adds a tiny bit to the doll height, if your cabinets are really tight as-is height-wise for dolls.  I've heard that you can get the stand cheaper on Taobao.

I like the Volks metal base stands, as the base is thin but heavy enough to keep your doll stable.  So as mentioned, you can have your doll with their feet spread wider than the base circle.  The metal bases also won't show scuff marks as visibly as the acrylic bases.

Cuties makes a similar stand to the Volks waist stand, but it's not as heavy of a base, and the cost is only slightly less than Volks (close to $40).  I found a few in Japan, used, for only $15.

The super cheap metal stands found at craft stores can work for display cabinets, but I don't recommend them for meetups, as a bump can cause a doll to fall over (and on to the floor).

 

I just have the Hobby Lobby $1.50 stands.  They are okay for the most part, as long as you put it around their leg as high as you can get it.  But they are cheap and I have broken one and bent up another.  But they are just find for holding the doll up for display.

I have the three types of metal based Volks stands: central mounted saddle, edge mounted with curved bar saddle, clasp stand.

Of them I like the central mounted saddle stands best.  I like picking my dolls up, and it's just hassle free with that type of stand to pick them up and then put them back.

The clasp stand is nice for when one of my girls is in something like the office girl outfits.  Beyond that, it isn't my favorite.  I won't be buying the edge mounted with curved saddle bar again, because I found that type of stand to be pretty pointless.

Years ago I had one of those plastic stands Volks did.  Those are awful.  Never bother with one of those.  It was a flimsy POC.  Even under a DD's weight it broke to bits.  I have the remains of it serving as a stand for a 1/6 figure, and it's bad at even that.

I put off buying a metal stand for a long time.  But as soon as I got my first metal saddle stand, I knew I had to have a metal stand for all my girls.  They're well worth the expenditure as well as a near necessary accessory, especially if you have more than one DD.

Hmm, I've written about this before, but let's do it again ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ 

My favourite stand is the Volks saddle/U-type stand. Here's a picture I've already uploaded for some reason that shows the DDP and DD versions (DDP is just the MDD stand with an extender for height):

You can pinch the U to hold the doll tight if you need to, and it will hold the doll securely letting you pose it, or just help you hold it when dressing it. For example I've photoshopped it out of these photos,

Pretty Mage by bodolza, on Flickr

Trick or Treat! by bodolza, on Flickr

It's holding her like this,

Stands by bodolza, on Flickr

There's three stands there, the Volks C-type stand to hold Sorbet on the left, the discontinued plastic Volks stand to hold the lower part of the broom (Melty is holding the higher part of the broom with her hand), and Melty's just sitting on the saddle stand by itself with no other support.

The downside is it only works if your doll is wearing a skirt.

 

The other Volks stand is the C-type stand that Sorbet is on in the photo above. Here it is holding up Miku,

Miku f^_^;) by bodolza, on Flickr

This stand is a royal pain in the butt, especially if your doll has long hair. It's annoying to get the doll in there and out of there (if you're careful and patient, it's easy), and you have to get in or around clothes. But it's the normal choice if your doll is not wearing a skirt.

 

I have mixed feelings about the Alice's Collections Invisible Stand. It's a useful choice when you don't have a skirt,

Shining Miku (2) by bodolza, on Flickr

It lets you do off-balance poses and it's not too hard to edit out (mesh is tricky...),

Cute Bunny by bodolza, on Flickr

Or if you just want to hold a weird pose (this is when we were trying to figure out the size of the DDP body relative to DDs, when we just had prototype pictures),

DDP Yaya (compare the hand size) by bodolza, on Flickr

But there's a few problems with it. If you're holding a doll and you want to put it down, and the stand's arm isn't currently in the shape you want, you're kind of stuck because you have to use two hands to bend that arm. This is very inconvenient compared to a saddle or even C-type stand where at least you can shove the doll on the stand to put it down. It's also not as useful for dressing the doll with clothes compared to the saddle stand. Another problem is that if you leave the clamp on the doll tightly (which you kind of have to because it's holding it, possibly off balance so the doll's weight is leaning on it), over time the plastic clamp will leave an indentation in the vinyl. It'll go back into shape after a few days (or you can try a hair dryer to heat it to speed it up), but because of that I rarely leave a doll in the stand unless it's clamping onto thick clothing. So I find it useful for photos or displaying the doll for a few days in a fun pose, but inconvenient to use as a utility stand. I'm glad I have it but I don't use it often.

The stand extenders are a nice feature of the Volks stands. It's cheap and easy to convert the stand to an SD16 stand, or convert the MDD stand to a DDP stand.

I prefer saddle stands, it's easier for me to hide the saddle part than it is to hide the clamp kind sometimes lol.

I have the Volks metal saddle & two w/ plastic saddle seats I got off of Taobao. The Volks one is super sturdy, my SD17 RG Williams usually has dibs on it lol. If you are going to go for a stand that can handle both DD and resin dolls--- you should def use one with a heavy base. Although if your resin doll is a bit floppy, a stand with the clamps/waist grip would be better.

I got my AC air stand from taobao-- I would say it ended up being a similar price ( after throwing in cost of using a proxy + exchange rate of CAD -> USD -> RMB and shipping lol ) I would also only trust it with a 1/3 resin doll IF you weight the base... Otherwise I kinda feel it's a gamble lol. The arm is pretty sturdy tho ^^ If I wasn't super lazy it would probably be my stand of choice for outdoor photos.

Thank you for the links!

I'm another fan of the Alice's Collections stands; I've got two and definitely want more. That said, I do think I'd like to try a 70cm model on my DD girls. Given how much better the 1/3 stand holds up my MDD, I think that the larger stand may be better for truly airborne poses.

I do also have a few of the cheap hobby store type stands; they're alright in a pinch but they're pretty annoying for anything other than a fairly simple standing pose.

 

*edit* Also, don't discount the value of a bench or chair, they're a great display option too. One of the chairs I have was meant for American Girl size dolls and it works great, though I repainted it from green and pink to black and bronze. I've also scored other chairs, a bench, and a sofa from Goodwill, and have seen a bench at Hobby Lobby that was meant to be a plant stand.

Edited December 2, 2019 by Poofiemus

I quite like the Volks official one, pretty sturdy with a big base.

I tried the cheaper 3000 yen one by Azone and it feels shoddy in comparison, with a tiny base.

Seeing this topic again I'll add some comments as my opinion has changed somewhat since my earlier posts here. Volks changing the webstore and links to everything makes me not want to link there but I'm not sure where else to reference the stands.

Anyway, I had both versions of the all metal saddle "C-type" stands:

https://dollfie.ec.volks.co.jp/category/D_DISPLAY/4518992368559.html

https://dollfie.ec.volks.co.jp/category/D_DISPLAY/4518992324661.html

I much prefer the straight one that has the rod come from the center of the base, for several reasons. I think it just looks better; I get that the point of the bent one is the upright rod can be behind the doll, but I don't find it any less noticable there, and I don't like the look of the bend. Functionally, I find the straight one holds the doll better and has more chances to hide it. The triangle supports on the saddle are quite a bit larger than on the bent one, and I initially thought this was a disadvantage because it's more likely to have the stand push a skirt or other clothing outward where it doesn't look right. However, the width of the triangle supports is wide enough it's not necessary to raise the stand that high. It will still support the doll with good stability even if those supports are just pressing against the thighs instead of the lower torso.

I also figured out if I turn it around from the way I had been using it, it works better lol. One of those two triangles is bent inward at the ends, and I'd been putting that on the rear as it seems like it follows the butt more, but I've had better luck with that on the front.

I sold the bent stand and kept the straight one and plan to buy more.

On 4/24/2019 at 12:40 AM, Ayuuya said:

I prefer saddle stands, it's easier for me to hide the saddle part than it is to hide the clamp kind sometimes lol.

In general I agree, and it's easier to just pick up the doll off that stand type. However, in pants or other outfits where I can't hid the stand, I find the Volks "A-type" waist clamp stand to be better, because I think the saddle being visible is ugly and distracting, and makes it look too much like the doll has been placed in some kind of torture device.

On 4/23/2019 at 3:12 AM, foo said:

This stand is a royal pain in the butt, especially if your doll has long hair. It's annoying to get the doll in there and out of there (if you're careful and patient, it's easy), and you have to get in or around clothes. But it's the normal choice if your doll is not wearing a skirt.

That sums it up really. I think I also just need to learn exactly how to handle it to get the doll in and out and adjust it. I did notice it doesn't really seem to me like you can adjust it tight enough to hold a DD really securely; I assume it's because it's really designed for the SD waist sizes.

Just to clarify or eliminate confusion, as far as I can tell from the Volks pages, this is the "A-type" stand and "C-type" is for the saddles.

On 4/22/2019 at 3:06 PM, Gabriel said:

I have the three types of metal based Volks stands: central mounted saddle, edge mounted with curved bar saddle, clasp stand.

Of them I like the central mounted saddle stands best.  I like picking my dolls up, and it's just hassle free with that type of stand to pick them up and then put them back.

The clasp stand is nice for when one of my girls is in something like the office girl outfits.  Beyond that, it isn't my favorite.  I won't be buying the edge mounted with curved saddle bar again, because I found that type of stand to be pretty pointless.

I just quoted you because you basically said exactly what I did, in fewer words.

I'm sure the Volks wood stands are about the same though I don't know if the bases are as heavy and thus stable. Still, if you prefer the aesthetics of wood over the shiny metal I'm sure they are good. Personally I don't really like wood finishes on stuff whether it's doll stands, furniture, or my walls.

9 minutes ago, cfx said:

I'm sure the Volks wood stands are about the same though I don't know if the bases are as heavy and thus stable.

The scale I used wasn't a digital one so the numbers I provide will have some error built in. The wood base weighed in at 270 grams, while the metal one was 425 grams. I personally never had stability issues with the wood base.

21 minutes ago, cfx said:

In general I agree, and it's easier to just pick up the doll off that stand type. However, in pants or other outfits where I can't hid the stand, I find the Volks "A-type" waist clamp stand to be better, because I think the saddle being visible is ugly and distracting, and makes it look too much like the doll has been placed in some kind of torture device.

Amber disputes the idea of which stand is the torture device.

Amber: "Get me outta here!"

 

I purchased one of the "Invisible" stands and was disappointed that it looked different from the photo images. Instead of a C clamp holding the doll it came with a zip tie that went around the doll. They were "one use" only type ties so once it was on the doll the only way to get her off was to cut it. So, I replaced that with some soft white velcro. I wrap the velcro around her waist, under her clothing. (She has protection tape there)  

 

The photos I have here are from when I first got the stand and was trying out some poses using Yuiko (Snow Miku DD) 

 

20 hours ago, cfx said:

In general I agree, and it's easier to just pick up the doll off that stand type. However, in pants or other outfits where I can't hid the stand, I find the Volks "A-type" waist clamp stand to be better, because I think the saddle being visible is ugly and distracting, and makes it look too much like the doll has been placed in some kind of torture device.

Ah, memories of going to Japan and asking to buy a stand, and seeing the Volks store staff giggle when describing where this stand goes. I guess some things are funny despite language barriers. 😂

9 hours ago, Ikataru said:

I purchased one of the "Invisible" stands and was disappointed that it looked different from the photo images. Instead of a C clamp holding the doll it came with a zip tie that went around the doll. They were "one use" only type ties so once it was on the doll the only way to get her off was to cut it. So, I replaced that with some soft white velcro. I wrap the velcro around her waist, under her clothing. (She has protection tape there) 

Making the stand come with a zip tie like that sounds cheap and makes it very inconvenient to use. Besides that, the base being translucent blue now doesn't really live up to the "invisible" name at all. The change of the support from chrome to black seems ok.

2 hours ago, qudoll said:

Ah, memories of going to Japan and asking to buy a stand, and seeing the Volks store staff giggle when describing where this stand goes. I guess some things are funny despite language barriers. 😂

That's awesome.